On Friday we had sports day and OZ tag was awesome once again. We went 3-0-1 bringing our total team record to 8 wins, 1 loss, and 3 ties. We won the first game 2-0, the second 8-0, the third we tied 1-1, and the last game we won 3-1. The last game we played the team that had defeated us the first week of interschool sport. They really wanted to win this time because the coach of that team is the teacher of some of my players. They were so happy and pumped to have won that game. Once again I got them more cookies after the game, which they loved. We have one more week of interschool sport and I know the team is going to do awesome. That last day of interschool sport will also be the last day of my students teaching here in Australia so it will be a day filled with excitement and joy along with emotion.
After school, Tracy (a year 6 teacher and the principal’s wife) drove Theresa, Katie, and myself to her house to drop her kids off. It was really cool to be at my principal’s house. They had two cats, a dog, three chickens, and a blue-tongued lizard. I tried to not sit down because of the dog and cats. They had an infinity pool that has a normal pool at the top and goes down like a waterfall into another pool. The kids (Year 3 and 6) were telling us that they do backflips off the top into the pool at the bottom. After, Tracy took us to the Sunshine Coast Airport and we were on our way to Sydney for the weekend. Upon arrival we took a train to Central Station and walked to our backpackers. The backpackers was pretty dirty and dusty but that’s what you get for 25$ a night. My allergies were killing me and I could not stop sneezing. We went out for some cheap Thai food and it was delicious. I got super spicy Panang curry and it was beyond delicious for ten dollars.
On Saturday we woke up extra early to go to the Paddington Markets. At first I thought the markets would be super cheap, kind of like flea markets but it was so pricy for absolute junk. After the markets we hopped on the public bus and were off to the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour (Harbor) Bridge. When we got off the bus we could see a glimpse of the bridge. My adrenaline was rushing because of how excited I was getting. It truly was an incredible sight to see. We still couldn’t see the opera house yet because it was hidden behind a tall building. We took tons of pictures of the bridge and kept on walking. Once we turned the corner around the footpath the Opera House was shining brightly from the water. My first impression was that the Opera House was much bigger in person than I imagined it to be. I took heaps of photos around the Opera House and we went inside. We couldn’t get too far inside because there was a show going on. They were showing ‘South Pacific’ during that time. We did go inside the store to buy some souvenirs, which was still cool. That took a big chunk of the day and eventually we walked to the rocks, which is right near the bridge. The rocks are where the first settlers landed when they arrived in Australia. After we walked across the bridge to Luna Park, which is an amusement park that is free to enter. The place was creepy because it had clown faces surrounding me everywhere I looked. They weren’t ordinary clowns; in fact they were extremely creepy. At nighttime, some of the students from the other schools went back to the Opera House to see a symphony concert but I opted not to go because I thought I would fall asleep. If they had shown South Pacific again then I probably would have gone because I think that is much more interesting.
On Sunday we woke up early and went to Bondi Beach. This beach was incredible because it is a beautiful beach that is surrounded by city life. It is kind of like imagining a beach in Central Park. There were high rises surrounding this beach. We went to the markets at Bondi because they are only once a week. Once again the markets were pretty useless. After we ordered calamari and chips for lunch. This place was voted best seafood in Sydney so we figured it would be delicious. They put Japanese mayonnaise on top. At first I was a bit hesitant to have mayo on my calamari but I tried it and it was arguably the best calamari I have ever had. It was beyond delicious. We ate the calamari on the grass that overlooked the beach, which was nice and relaxing. There were seagulls all over so we had to constantly scare them away. After lunch we went on a walking trail that overlooked the ocean. There were many cliffs and cool rocks so it was a bunch of fun taking photos. After Bondi we went back to the Harbour to take pictures of the Opera House and the bridge at nighttime to see what it looked like at nighttime.
On Monday we were given permission to take one day off from school, which was another reason we took a weekend to go down to Sydney. We started our day off early because we had a 4:00 flight to catch in the evening. In the morning we went to Darling Harbour which was much more upscale. There were a ton of people walking around in business suits and ties. The area was still nice. The aquarium, zoo, and museum were all located in that area but we didn’t go because we were short on time. We went to the Sydney Tower but didn’t go all the way up because it was too pricy for us. After the Sydney Tower we had just over an hour so we went to a Chinese Garden, which was actually peaceful. The garden was located in the middle of the city but it was still very quiet. It was only 6$ and we got to see a lot during that time span. For an extra 10$ we could have dressed up in Asian dresses which would have been absolutely comical but we had to get back to the airport for our flight back home to Queensland.
Once we got back to Queensland we took the wrong bus and went up North when we were supposed to be traveling South. We ended up spending approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes on the bus, which is longer than our plane ride. It’s okay because we still got back to the apartments at 9. It is definitely better to take the wrong bus there rather than in Sydney. I would definitely say this extended weekend was well worth the time and effort. I am so glad we made the most of our time in Sydney and my body is absolutely exhausted from all of the constant walking around.
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