Sydney Part 1

The view from my exam seat

SYDNEY! Yes we are now in Sydney and it is just as amazing as I imagined.  First stop after checking into the hostel... A view of the Opera house and the Bridge!
Unfortunately the fun had to be paused after our first afternoon in the city. Midterms started the next day (Friday) but they were over by Sunday and then it was time to enjoy the city.  We did however miss St. Patrick's Day which was Saturday because we all had to study but we could hear it going on all around us (Sydney LOVES St. Patrick's Day).

Found some white wine and fresh basil in the free fridge!
So we made shrimp for dinner with rice YUM!

Anyway to the fun stuff! After exams Paige and I walked to the Apple store to get my phone unlocked and to get a sim card (yay now I have a phone that works!). Along the way we pasted a large shopping area of the city and made note of some places to stop by on our way back. Also I should mention that the Apple store was 3 stories tall!!!!!! On the way back to the hostel (aka YHA) we stopped in a few shops and I got a dress, so now I have a dress to wear!

Walking through Hyde Park on our way to an Art Gallery
(from left Lyla, Eric, Hilary)

We didn't spend too long in the city and other than my Apple store outing I didn't really go many places other than the grocery store. But we did have class outing to the Australia Museum in Sydney and an art gallery.  In both places we saw Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art. In the art gallery we got to see some contemporary styles of art now done by Aboriginal people that was mostly political or activist work.

A sailboat on the harbor and the view from the Manly Ferry

The gallery also had a few works by some of my favorite European artists that I got to see as well.
Following the art gallery a bunch of us went to the famous Manly Beach via the Manly Ferry (which has free wifi).

Canoeing in the Royal National Park

After a few adventures in the city it was time to get back out into the bush so we headed to the Royal National Park for a canoe and BBQ. We also got to go for a swim on a beautiful beach and no bush adventure would be complete without some bush tucker (that's bush food) and a talk about how the Aborigianl people of that area used the land.