Sydney

Sari and I booked another adventure to Sydney. We left from the Brisbane airport on Friday night and got to the Base Sydney Hostel around midnight. We were a little worried about how the hostel would turn out, because things always seem to look nicer online, but we very surprised by how clean and nice it was! We went up to our room to find 3 sets of bunk beds, picked the 2 open beds, and went to sleep right away. The next morning, we woke up early to get breakfast and get picked up for our tour through the Blue Mountains! A shuttle bus picked us up and took us for a drive through Sydney. We then stopped to see some wild kangaroos, and had a later stop on Flat Rock for a gorgeous view of the Blue Mountains. At the next destination we went for a short hike to see the Katoomba Falls. After that, we made a quick stop for lunch, and then made our way to Scenic World. There, we had the option of going through the Blue Mountains to see the Three Sisters Rock Formation via the Skyway, Railway, and Cableway. Sari and I decided to just walk along the pathways instead to see all the different views…which were all breathtaking! Next we took the bus back through Sydney, through Olympic Park, and then took a ferry ride to Darling Harbour. This was really neat because we arrived back at night when the Harbour Bridge and Opera House were all lit up. When Sari and I got back to the hostel we got ready for a night out in Sydney! We went to the Scary Canary (a bar attached to the hostel) and then to Ivy, a popular night club in Sydney.



Flat Rock




Blue Mountains






Three Sister Rock Formation



Katoomba Falls





















The next morning we woke up and made our way to Bondi Beach. It was a lot of fun to relax on the beach and walk through all the little nearby shops and cafes. Once it started raining we found a bus back to the hostel. The sun and beach took a lot of energy out of us, so we went to the Scary Canary for a little bit and played a game of pool and hung out with other students and backpackers at the hostel. We really enjoyed the hostel because we got to meet so many friendly people around our age from all over the world-it was like living in the dorms again!



Bondi Beach

Monday morning, Sari and I checked out of the hostel, rented a locker to put our backpacks in, and went for a walk around Sydney. We walked across the Darling Harbour and went exploring through the Australian National Maritime Museum. After that we made our way back to see the Harbour Bridge and Opera House during the day. Right next to that were the Botanical Gardens so we went on a stroll through there as well. We took the long way back to get our bags so we could see more of the city before heading back to the airport. Once at the airport, getting home was another adventure with delayed flights, closed train stations, and lack of buses. We ended up spending more money than planned and getting home much later than expected, but it all worked out and the Sydney trip was worth it!