The morning of the 14th, we headed out for a tour of the Opera House. It is a pretty fascinating building. The design was actually picked from a series of entries into a competition. We learned about how it was built, all the history behind it, and what goes on today. Really interesting tour.
From there, we made our way to Olympic Park. On our way, there was the beating of a security guard (we saw the blood on the ground and police taking pictures), and additionally got delayed because someone three stops ahead of ours got hit by a train. Not a great day to be at the station…
In any event, we made our way to Olympic Park, of which we only saw a bit of the outside. We then took a tour of Commonwealth Bank, one of the largest in Oceania, and learned about their business model as well as their environmental setup and building – which is 90% recycled! We came back to the hostel for a quick second, and headed off to the Waratahs game (they’re the team we’re working for, by the way). We grabbed dinner at a pub on the grounds of the stadium, and it was kind of neat to see the similarities and differences between how the U.S. watches sport and how Australians do. First of all, there were so many more people here, all watching the same game, and all cheering for EVERY play: all focused intensely on the game itself, with small side conversations when necessary. People SCREAMING at the TV as if the players could hear them, and of course, drinking lots. I love that atmosphere. We then made our way into the stadium…
GO THE TAHS! Despite the fact that I was exhausted, the rugby match was amazing and we all had a spectacular time. We were sitting right behind the uprights, front row. Not too shabby! Union (or rugby in generally) is pretty hard to get a grasp of if you’re new/American, but we were able to understand enough to get by. The Tahs won, which means they get a home semi-final match, which is worth about $700,000 to them. I don’t think they’ll have time to listen to our presentations next week. They may be a bit busy…After the game, we actually got to go rush onto the field, where the players were there signing autographs, taking pictures, and celebrating with the crowd. That would NEVER fly in the states, and it was amazing to see how nice these guys were, considering how massive they are. You think NFL players are big? These guys are GIGANTIC. I honestly think their thighs were the size of my torso. Seriously.
Another early morning jog through Hyde Park was great in the cool weather. You barely even sweat because there is practically no humidity and the air is just so crisp. They are also setting up for the Sydney Half Marathon which is tomorrow (technically today) and I got to watch workers put out cones and such.
We headed out to UTS for our last “class time” before our report is due…which isn’t for another three days, but I guess timing just works better this way. In any event, our group got our video done, and hopefully we’ll do well. I think the idea is solid, and with our limited time and resources I think it’s pretty decent. Now we’ll just have to see what the professors think.
From there, we got to go on our own for lunch. With A$10 in hand, people went their separate ways. I was the only one who really wanted to explore, so I made the most of it. First stop was in CityMarket, which is like a giant indoor flea market type place, where I got a chicken skewer for about 2 bucks. Then I headed over to the famous “Harry de Wheels” for a traditional Australian meat pie with peas…delicious! From there, I decided to make Kevin proud and I explored China town which is about a two minute walk from our hostel. Believe it or not, I was able to recognize foods in the shops if not by name but by look. These places were SOOOO CHEAP. Giant pastries, custard buns, sponge rolls…for about a dollar each: needless to say I had a field day, and all for under our allotted A$10.
I then grabbed a bus to meet the group at Circular Quay, where I met a really nice Scottish girl with whom I talked for the entirety of the ride. She has been traveling for the past 6 months all around, and we just had a nice talk for the 10-minute ride. When I got to the ferry, I met up with the group to take the ferry over to Manly. However, our ferry was delayed because Jessica Watson (the 16 year old girl who just sailed around the world) had just come in to Sydney, and landed herself at the Opera House. As our ferry took off, we were able to see the Opera House PACKED (and I mean PACKED!) with thousands of people there to watch her speak/the ceremony the held in her honor. Pretty amazing.
So we got to Manly, and man(ly) was it beautiful (sorry, way too easy). Brendan swung by and we played a bit of rugby on the beach, hung out for a bit, and walked along the corso (main street/shops/stuff). He headed off to work, and we grabbed some dinner as a group. A bunch of people headed off back to the hostel, and I stayed back to wait for Brendan and find out a little bit more about his home turf. While I was waiting, I found out that there was a Max Brenner: Chocolate By The Bald Man restaurant on the Wharf, and I was a happy camper. I’ve heard so many amazing things about his restaurant in NY, and didn’t realize there were any (there are actually a few) in Australia. In any event, I walked in, got lost for a few minutes, and met these two girls – a Sydneysider and her friend from the UK, and we discussed how amazing the restaurant was and just how much fun the experience is. We also talked about our travels…etc.
After they left, I continued to walk the corso and explore around the wharf, when I heard a woman exclaim, “THOSE ARE THE BIGGEST LAMINGTONS I’VE EVER SEEN!” I turned to look into the bakery on my left, and saw giant square “things.” Having heard of lamingtons before, but not knowing what they were, I said, “I’m sorry for the ignorance, but I’ve heard of lamingtons, I just don’t know what they are…” She gasped, started explaining them to me (they are square pieces of sponge cake dipped in chocolate and covered with coconut), and was telling me how the ones in the shop were probably no too fresh, but fresh baked ones are fantastic! She then asked how long I was in Sydney, and had I been there longer she actually offered to make them fresh for me in her home and invite me over for lamingtons and coffee! Mind you, this woman was probably in her late 50s and with her husband. She then offered to buy me one, and of course I declined and thanked her a million times. We started talking about my travels, and I spoke with her husband about where they had just come from…etc. The next thing I know, she (Anne-Marie) opens my bag and places, “THE BIGGEST LAMINGTON SHE HAS EVER SEEN” into my bag. I offered a million times to pay her back, but she and her husband refused, telling me it was my gift from Australia. It was fresh: it was delicious, and it was an amazing gesture from two random amazing people.
I picked up a bottle of wine at the bottle shop and headed over to a pizza place where I met Brendan and his friend Beth for kangaroo pizza. Yes, I ate kangaroo – and he or she was delicious. From there, we headed to Max Brenner where we all got (the real drinking kind of) hot chocolate – I had dark, Brendan had mocha, and Beth had mint -, and shared a banana-chocolate pizza. AMAZING! Next time, we’re getting chocolate with pop-rocks!
From there, we headed to a bar, grabbed a cocktail from a teacup, and by then it was time for me to catch the last ferry back to Sydney, and the last train back to the hostel.
Here I am, at 3:45AM, full, tired, extremely happy, and ready to explore Bondi beach with a few people in about 3 hours before our flight to Cairns.
I'd post more pictures, but Blogger isn't cooperating. I may just have to keep giving links to Facebook. SORRY!
-Josh
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