February 23rd (Wednesday) - March1st (Tuesday): Sydney

February 23rd (Wednesday)

I believe that the laid back lifestyle has worn off on Josh and I.  Who else would come to Sydney with a dead cell phone, no map and no address for our hotel.  Needless to say that by the time we found our hotel we not only went across the bridge but we also went through the underwater tunnel that goes across the tunnel.  During that adventure we ran through two toll boths and could not pay (pre-pay pass only) so I am currently trying to find the number to contact them to clear up the tolls (we currently have three parking tickets, 1 speeding ticket and now probably 2 toll both tickets).

Our hotel is right downtown so we spent the rest of the day walking and touring the sights. 

Tunnel under Sydney Harbour:

February 24th (Thursday)

Brent landed yesterday and was feeling better (was quite sick right before coming).  He met us at our hotel and we toured the Sydney aquarium and Paddy's market together.  This market reminded me of the Adelaide Central Market.  You can buy souvenirs for super cheap ;)  We met up with Nick and Kayla (friend's Brent is staying with) for supper. 

Shark replica:

February 25th (Friday)

We went and did a tour of the Opera House - it was great!  Josh was sick of walking so we took the Sightseeing tour bus around the city.  We toured more of the harbour and went to Nick and Kayla's for supper and a round of Cranium.

On the tour with our headphones so we could hear our guide:

February 26th (Saturday)

Josh and I took the ferry to Bondi Beach - it was a beautiful beach but I was unsure of the currents and the extremely large waves.  This is where they film a reality show called Bondi Beach rescue and we found out why.  In the few hours that we were there we seen about 5 people get rescued. 

The TV crew:

February 27th (Sunday)

We got an early start on the day - at 7:00 Josh's alarm went off and right after another alarm went off briefly.  We ignored it - a few minutes later it starts again and on the loudspeaker it was the fire marshal asking for everyone on level 5 to evacuate the hotel.  I started thinking that we are on the 7th floor and if there is a fire I don't want to be above it.  I always thought if I was ever in that situation I would try to grab as much stuff as I could - nope, just made sure I grabbed my purse and our passports.  It was mayhem at first because on every floor one of the two fire exits was locked.  We finally found the other one that was open and went ot the lobby.  It was funny afterwards seeing everyone in there house coats, pajamas and bed hair.  It was a false alarm - someone decided to have a early morning smoke in there room.  Needless to say I was disappointed we didn't get any sort of a discount. 

We took the ferry to the Taronga Zoo.  It was huge (had to take a lift to the top and work your way down.  Lots of animals and really clean.  We went to the Imax (largest in the world) and watched Titanic 3D. 

February 28th (Monday)

We were waiting for the ferry to Manly Beach so we decided to do the Thunder jet boating experience.  The boat goes 85km/h and does tons of tricks.  They gave everyone a poncho to wear - it was the start of the day and we thought it would protect us.  As you can see from the picture we were completely soaked.  The ponchos proved to be more of a decoration.  We were going to go on a harbour dusk cruise but to save some money someone told us to go to Manly and come back in the evening because it takes you through the harbour.  It was a beautiful cruise through the harbour.

March 1st (Tuesday)

We picked up Brent and headed out on the open road.  Today it is Thursday and we arrived at Byron Bay.  My next post update will be from March 1st on - we are enjoying the beach and we booked two cruises (sail the Whitsunday Islands and a 4 by 4ing adventure on Fraser Island.   

Josh, Brent, Nick and I were going to do the Bridge Climb - but the cheapest climb was $200 with the ideal one being $300 and we decided it wasn't worth it. 

Miscellaneous Pictures:

As we were walking this lady walks up and was asking people to listen to a piece of music and she wanted to videotape you to see how you react to the music - originally I said yes Josh said no - but then I told her I would probably just stand and smile.  She then wanted Josh instead - Josh had no reaction ;)