Sydney!

                Pretty much the first thing I did today was head back to the beach.  (Okay, that’s a lie.  I lied in bed for awhile, ate breakfast, played around on my phone, THEN went to the beach.)  Because I don’t have much time until classes start, and Coogee is just too beautiful to pass up on a day like today.  I swam in the Pacific Ocean for the first time today!  That was pretty exciting.  The ocean doesn’t taste too good when it gets all up in your nose and mouth, but the water was the perfect temperature today, so I didn’t mind a bit.

                I also took my snorkel along today, so I could take a look underwater at Giles Baths, the rock pool next to the beach.  It’s just incredible down there!  The fish there are so used to people that you can swim right up to them and they don’t care until you’re just about touching them.  Giles Baths is a small area, but I think I circled it three times before I got tired of watching all the fish and other sea life below the surface.  I wish I could’ve taken pictures!

                For lunch I ate at one of the many small restaurants in Coogee, where I had probably the best veggie burger I’ve ever eaten, and a healthy portion of fries.  Like all the other shops, this place was locally owned and open-air.  I watched a few pigeons even fly in and peck around at the ground before being chased out by the owner.

                But anyway, enough about what I had for lunch.  You don’t care. The most interesting part of the day today was when a group at International House took a trip downtown for a walking tour of Sydney.  The city is actually a lot closer than I thought—about a 30 minute bus ride—and costs just $3.50 to get there.  And honestly, the city was more than I expected it to be.

                The trend of open-air restaurants continues even in the city, where the sidewalks are wide and cute local places are plentiful.  We mostly walked around historic parts of the city, but even those were beautiful in their own right.  The oldest buildings are all made of sandstone, which was the building material of choice back in the colonial days, apparently.  Thus, the old buildings were very recognizeable.

                We also walked through the Royal Botanical Gardens, which is situated right in the center of the bustling city.  The gardens are free for all to walk through, and provide a quiet natural sanctuary in the middle of Sydney.

                Both plant and animal life were really fun to see there.  I was unable to get a picture, but we saw a few wild lorikeets (basically large parakeets) fly by in all their rainbow glory.  The wild birds around here are so colorful; it’s honestly like being in the jungle.

                Our next stop was the Sydney Opera House!  Of course I took a million pictures, because it’s the most iconic landmark in Sydney, and I was kind of amazed that I was seeing it with my own eyes.

                I guess everything kind of hit me in that moment.  It had been slowly sinking in that I was now across the world in a totally new hemisphere, but now I think I fully realized that I was here.  In Sydney.   I was seeing this landmark with my own eyes; it wasn’t just a picture on a screen anymore!  So seeing this building for the first time, I had a bit of a Moment.  A very happy, giddy moment.

                When our walking tour was over, we went to this restaurant called Pancakes on the Rocks, which is right off the main harbor.  Apparently it’s famous for their steaks and pancakes, which is an odd combination, but they did not disappoint.  I ordered a stack of pancakes with grilled bananas, walnuts, and chocolate ice cream on top, all drizzled with their house chocolate sauce.  It looked more like a dessert than a meal, but it was just heavenly.

                I also ate it way too fast.

                The dish behind mine was called Devil’s Delight, which was chocolate pancakes with chocolate sauce, chocolate ice cream, and strawberries.  I tried a bite, and the pancakes tasted like brownies.  It was all so rich, I’m not sure how he finished his whole plate.

                And now I’m back in my room, thoroughly exhausted from today.  During dinner I learned about some other snorkeling spots I can’t wait to check out, but tomorrow’s temperature is going to be in the upper 90s, so I don’t think I’ll be heading over there tomorrow.  I also got sunburned a ton today, despite my best sunscreen efforts.  The ozone here is kind of incomplete, so the sun is much more intense here than anywhere else.  In simpler terms, the only sunscreen they sell here is SPF 50+, because anything else simply doesn’t work.  So, I might give myself a rest tomorrow and stay out of the sun for awhile.

                Anyway, goodnight!  Message me, people!  I love and miss you all!