Day 30 + 31 + 32 + 33 + 34 - Saturday November 6 - Wednesday November 10

Well, I've just gotten back from Sydney and what an awesome trip it was! I was only there for three days but Cameron and I managed to fit in every activity we had planned so there wasn't a wasted moment. I'll start off my blog by writing what I did on the 6th, the day before I left, but my Sydney trip has to be one of the most exciting experiences in my whole life so I will focus a lot more on that in this entry.

Saturday, the 6th of November wasn't an extremely exciting morning. I woke up at around 10AM and finished up my last blog post then finalized my last blog post. Other than that Cameron and I just sat around until dinner time. Since before I had even arrived in Australia I had been planning all of the attractions and restaurants I had wanted to visit, and out of all of them one stood out of the crowd. A restaurant called "Food Fantasy", located inside of the Gold Coast Casino (Conrad Jupiter's) was very appealing, as it was advertised as a seafood buffet. Finally Cameron and I decided to go check it out, as he's never been there either. We got there early at around 5PM and just walking through to our seats I knew that the meal would be absolutely amazing. I can't even describe all of the different dishes out and ready for us to select, but I'll try to remember my favorites. There was a salad bar; it had a variety of lettuces, dressings, tomatoes, croutons... anything you can imagine adding to a salad, even strange ingredients like artichoke heart and water chestnuts. There was a selection of about 15 different pasta/pre-made salads such as seafood salad, traditional pasta salad, a squid salad, a spicy thai salad and much more. There was also a large selection of fish dishes like smoked salmon, baked halibut, a whole salmon you were able to grab the meat from and a variety of others. In another area of the buffet you could pick from hot and asian dishes like chow mein, salt and pepper calamari, deep-fried prawns, a vegetable stir-fry, and a seafood mix. If you walked over to the kitchen there was a tray covered in ham, roast beef and roast lamb with cups full of gravy, sauce, and a tray of buns and garlic bread. Closer to our table was a small table covered in about 15 different types of cheeses and crackers. Next to that was a large selection of breads you could slice, about 20 different varieties of just bread! Right behind us was a section with prawns, crab, and Morton Bay bugs. I couldn't believe you could eat all of the crab you wanted, if I wasn't in the mood to try a bit of everything I think I would have just camped out there. The last area of the restaurant I haven't mentioned was the desserts,which had about 30 different selections to pick from. Chocolate cake, cheese cake, crème brûlée, bread and butter pudding, vanilla slices, chocolate mousse, fruit tarts and cream puffs were only a few of the items that made my mouth water. Basically the entire restaurant was like a food heaven and three times the size of the one at the Moose Factory in Edmonton. Cameron and I were there for around two hours going back and forth trying a little bit of everything. It could be considered one of the best dinners of my life and it was so overwhelming when it came to choosing what to have first.

After dinner we started to head down to the car park, but not before we visited the casino for what was intended to be a few minutes. Cameron and I put 10 dollars into the penny machines and somehow it lasted for around an hour and a half! I will have to try to stay away from slot machines in the future, as I was up 15 dollars at one point but got too greedy for more and lost it all. It's certainly fun though, and the money stretched further than it did on my birthday so I didn't feel as bad about losing it.

We headed home after that and went to bed early, as we had to be up at around 6AM for our flight the next morning. On the way home we went to an area called 'Strawberry Road' that had the most beautiful view of the whole Gold Coast, and I just had to take a picture of that night as well.

On Sunday the 7th of November Cameron, Mr. Styles and myself got up at around 6:00AM to prepare for the drive to the airport. I double and triple checked my bags and then we were off. The Gold Coast airport is much closer than the one in Brisbane which is where I first arrived. It only takes about half an hour to get to the one on the Gold Coast whereas it takes over an hour just to get to the city of Brisbane, let alone the airport. Cameron and I quickly found the area for our plane and only had to wait about half an hour before boarding. The plane ride was smooth and quick and it felt like no time at all before we had landed in Sydney. We headed down to the airport doors where all of the cabs were waiting and hopped into one of the available ones and we were on our way to the hotel. At about 12:30PM we arrived at the hotel and dropped off our bags to be looked after in their storage room. The hotel was so much different than I had imagined it to be. One of the words I'd use to describe it is 'grand' because it towered above me when I looked up and the building itself is quite sophisticated and classy. It used to be a wool factory in the 1800's before it was restored and converted into a hotel so the inside still retains many of the details of the factory, such as the large columns and wood-paneled floors. We were too early to check in and weren't able to visit our room at this time so after we dropped off our bags we decided to explore a bit of Sydney and go for a walk. On the second floor of the hotel there is a walkway that leads almost directly to Darling Harbour, so after about 5 minutes we arrived at one of the most beautiful areas of Sydney and one of the prettiest places I've ever seen.

Darling Harbour is a large U-shaped area of water where boats are able to drive into and be stored. It is surrounded by many different restaurants, shops, and the Harbourside mall. Just nearby is the Sydney Imax Theatre, which is home to the world's biggest screen. Street performers are constantly doing tricks and shows for passerbys and on either side of the harbour is the National Maritime Museum as well as the Sydney Aquarium and Sydney Wildlife World. Darling Harbour is just near the heart of Sydney and besides being one of the prettiest areas it also is within walking distance of the majority of the cities major attractions. I felt so lucky that our hotel was only a few minutes away from this incredible area, and I can't imagine staying anywhere else. After walking the loop of the Harbour, which takes about 10 minutes, we walked inside of the Harbourside mall and explored the shops. We picked up lunch while we were there and then got an ice cream each to eat by the water. The view is just unbelievable. You are able to see several skyscrapers (there are hundreds in Sydney) as well as many of the expensive boats and there was even a cruise ship in the distance! Since the aquarium and the Wildlife World are just nearby there is actually a mini-train that goes all around the harbour from the Harbourside mall on the one end to the Aquarium and Wildlife World on the other. It's only about a 10 minute walk, but it is a cute way to get from place to place especially for families. There is also an area to catch a ferry on either side of the Harbour, one is beside the National Maritime Museum and the other is just past the aquarium. The National Maritime Museum was quite interesting to see even from afar as it had a big navy boat out front as well as a real submarine. Once we finished our ice cream we headed back towards our hotel to check in.

When we got our room keys we discovered we were staying on the 8th floor, which is the highest I've ever been in a hotel (I think I've only ever been in 3 hotels altogether anyways). Once we got off the elevator on level 8 it was a very unique setup for the rooms. Instead of a flat, square floor to walk on there were walkways that went all the way across the 8th floor, but you could see over the sides below and above you! Since the building used to be used as a wool factory the architecture has stayed the same. From just outside of our room in the hall we would be able to lean over the railing and see all the way up to the penthouse or down to the main floor. It was quite different for a hotel but sort of neat to know that the building is somewhat historic in a sense. Our room itself was quite large with a very high ceiling, a full kitchen, and a balcony. Unfortunately our balcony only gave us a view of the building beside us, but it was cool to be staying in a room with a working stove, a washer, and a dryer. We didn't end up using those appliances but it kind of felt like staying in an apartment for a few days. Cameron and I unpacked to make ourselves at home then went back downstairs and across the walkway to head to the aquarium.

I don't even know where to begin to describe the Sydney Aquarium. It is unlike anything I've ever seen, and I saw hundreds of different types of fish and animals that I couldn't list them even if I tried. We were there about 2 - 3 hours but I wish we would have stayed the whole night. There were fish from all over the world, jellyfish, sea horses, sharks, sting rays, manta rays, turtles, penguins, dugongs and much more. Some of them  were only native to Australia while others were brought here from around the world. I loved seeing things like the stone fish (the most venomous fish in the world), the bright pink jellyfish, the three different types of sea horses, the dugong and the huge variety of different types of sharks. It was incredible to walk through some of the aquariums, especially the ones that were nearly complete cylinders and allowed you to look both above and beside yourself at the different fish. It was absolutely stunning to see the bottom of a sting ray as it passed above me, and to watch a shark swimming just underneath my feet. I spent quite a few minutes in the underwater aquarium that spotlighted the sharks, watching the different faces get so close to the glass it felt like I could touch them. The turtle was especially cute, walking on it's front legs and floating around the see-through tunnel, and the manta and sting rays were literally as huge as my whole body. It was so creepy to stare into the face of an eel, and I couldn't figure out how some of the fish were able to swim without fins! Overall it was such a memorable experience, I know I will never forget the feeling of viewing all of the stunning animals. I was completely in awe just to be near them and it's one of those experiences I will keep with me forever.

Once we were finished at the aquarium we walked outside and along Darling Harbour, looking at all of the different restaurants and their menus. In Australia every restaurant's menu is either posted outside of the building or on a stand connected to the sidewalk so you can see what they have to offer before you sit down and order. We settled for fish at chips at one of the many beautiful restaurants overlooking the water and we had a very nice meal. The atmosphere is just incredible, I would love to look out at that harbour every day of my life.

After we finished dinner we discovered a tiny little store called 'Lindt Chocolat Cafe' nestled in between two of the restaurants on the Harbour. Upon walking in I was overwhelmed with the amount and variety of chocolates lining the walls and the menu for the cafe itself. There were a ton of different varieties of lindt chocolates I've never even seen such as cookies and cream, caramel brulee, peanut butter, spearmint, irish cream, hazelnut brulee and orange chocolate. Not only was there a huge selection of chocolates to pick from, the menu was also incredible, offering chocolate cakes, cookies, waffles, fondue, milkshakes, hot chocolate and sundaes all featuring Lindt chocolate. Cameron and I were so excited to try something made with Lindt chocolate that we got 3 things to share; a chocolate fudge brownie sundae, a chocolate strawberry dipping plate, and a chocolate milk. They were all incredible and the quality of the chocolate was noticeable. I knew that if my mom were there she'd be in heaven as well because I know she loves Lindt.

After our dessert we walked back to our hotel, which luckily only took a few minutes, and headed to bed early. I was really looking forward to the next day which was going to be spent at Taronga Zoo, and it did not disappoint.

An upside down Eel

A huge Crayfish

Eels heads

A Dugong

A close-up of the Dugong

A unique Seahorse

A Stone Fish

A baby Shark

The Sydney Aquarium

Darling Harbour

The Lindt Chocolat Cafe

The 8th of November was a Monday, which I assumed would be a pretty decent day to visit the zoo. I was hoping it wouldn't be too busy, and it turned out to have just the right amount of people; just enough so that the place wasn't empty but not too many that you couldn't enjoy visiting with any of the animals privately. That morning Cameron and I headed to Darling Harbour to have our breakfast at the Harbourside mall food court. We picked up a sandwich each then started to walk towards the Maritime Museum, as there is a ferry station just outside the building and the best way to get to the zoo is using a ferry. It was a beautiful, humid day outside so when the ferry arrived we got a spot right at the front so that the wind would cool us off. I was so excited to be going on a ferry for the first time because I haven't had much experience in any type of boat. I didn't even know what to expect before it appeared, the only ferrys I'd ever heard of before were the ones that took people to Vancouver Island and were used to transport cars. This one was not extremely large and had two levels you could sit down on with benches outside and seats inside. I am glad I got a seat at the front because it gave me the most beautiful view of the city, the harbour and the water as we cruised down the river. The wind rushing through my hair was just beautiful and I felt like I could stay on there all day since it isn't often I get to go on a boat ride. Along the way I saw about 2 huge cruise ships that reminded me of the Titanic. They were so big and had so many levels I couldn't understand how they could possible float. One of them had a gigantic TV/movie theater on the deck as well as a basketball court, a fitness center, a golf area and a pool. I would love to go on one of those for a week! I also had the opportunity to see Luna Park, the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House while making my way to Circular Quay to catch the ferry that leads straight to the zoo. Luna Park is a small amusement park that was built in 1935 and has been maintained and updated since then, making it a somewhat historic site in Sydney. The Sydney Harbour Bridge is iconic of both Sydney and Australia, and I know that when I first pictured the country itself the bridge is one of the very first things I thought of. When you see videos of Australia ringing in the new year this is the bridge the fireworks are always shooting around and above in celebration. Just beside the bridge is the Sydney Opera House, which is a very beautiful and unique building. It's the main performance venue for shows and concerts in Sydney and I bet it would have been neat to venture inside of it and see what the interior is like as well. Either way, the ride just to Circular Quay was incredible.

Once we got to Circular Quay we had to take a connecting ferry to the zoo. Circular Quay is a wharf just outside of a very populated and busy area of Sydney. It has many different terminals for ferrys so if you're transferring from one to another you have to go here, much like a bus terminal at a mall. We were able to get on the ferry that leads directly to the zoo and it got us there rather quickly since it didn't have to make any other stops. When we arrived at the zoo Cameron and I took the Sky Safari up to the top of the zoo so we would be able to make our way down. The Sky Safari is a cable car that stretches all the way across the zoo, and I was terrified dangling over top of some of the exhibits as I made my way up. All I could think was, if I fall right now, I'm going to land amongst the gorillas! Luckily I made it to the top unscathed. The zoo itself is incredible. I'm sure I've said that about a lot of things here, but I really mean it with this one. I remember visiting the Edmonton Zoo with Cameron a month or two ago and it's just pathetic compared to this one. It is absolutely gigantic, with so many different sections and areas to visit that in the 6 hours we were there we barely made it through the whole thing. The environment for the animals was extremely spacious which is nice to see, as I'm sure not many zoos can provide a lot of room to accommodate so many different types of animals (about 2,600 different species). I really enjoyed walking through each area, spending a few minutes seeing each animal and just seeing how they spend their time. There were several different types of birds and a few different aviaries, kangaroos, wallabies, emus, koalas, wombats, tasmanian devils, a bilby, lizards, frogs, giraffes, zebras, gorillas, monkeys, a nocturnal section with bats and other night-time creatures, a snow leopard, a hippopotamus, a meerkat (like Timon from the Lion King!) and so, so many more. My favorites of the day were the gorillas, as they were so human-like it was scary. The baby gorilla was about the size of a 4 or 5 year old child, and he kept playing with a palm frond, hitting the huge gorilla that I assume was his parent. At one point the giant gorilla grunted, swept up a bunch of twigs on the ground, pulled them close to him with his extremely long arms, then simply fell right over onto them and went to bed. I could have spent hours there watching them. It's so neat to see an animal that is so similar to humans and to compare how we evolved and how different we really are. Another animal I enjoyed seeing was the hippopotamus, as there was both a pygmy version and a regular-sized one. They were both so sweet and unique looking, and as friendly as they looked from afar I'm sure they're dangerous up close. A lot of the animals seem quite lovable and sweet when you watch them from behind glass and bars, but I don't know if I'd want to be up close and personal with a bat or a bearcat any time soon.

Unfortunately we had to cut our zoo visit short at about 3:30PM as a storm seemed to be heading our way and Cameron and I didn't want to be traveling home by water when it finally touched down in our area. We only waited about 20 minutes to get picked up from the zoo and taken back to Circular Quay, but that's where our troubles began. The woman at the counter apparently told Cameron to go to Dock 5 to catch our ferry, but once we got there we noticed there was both a 5A and a 5B side. There was already a ferry at 5A and it was boarding, so we didn't have much time to think about it before it was going to take off, so we hopped on as well. This turned out to be quite a monumental mistake, as 5A and 5B are very different ferrys that go in completely different directions and areas in the city. Basically, for an hour and a half, Cameron and I got a lovely tour around the residential area of Sydney as the ferry we were on dropped off and picked up business people heading home from their days at work near Circular Quay. It really wasn't the worst experience, because even though we didn't get on the right ferry we didn't have anything planned for the night anyways and the trip itself was quite nice and relaxing. The storm had went away by the time we go to Circular Quay from the zoo, so there was no rain or winds to worry about as we floated around. At first we were a little upset about having to way for an hour and a half just to get back to Circular Quay where we started from, but it's a fun memory we'll have and a lesson I don't think I'll ever forget about how to properly catch a ferry.

We got back to Circular Quay at about 6:30PM by which we were starting to get hungry. Once we hopped on the correct ferry at 5A it only took about 20 minutes to return to Darling Harbour, then another few minutes to find a nice restaurant to eat at. We picked another one with a beautiful view of the water and our food was excellent. After dinner we did another stroll around the water, looking up at the buildings and then down at the boats tied up for the night. We went back to the hotel afterwards to get ready for the next and final day in Sydney.

Darling Harbour and the view from the ferry

The sky safari (from inside one of the cars)

A Komodo Dragon (he was 3 meters long and nearly 150 pounds!)

A Star Tortoise

An Iguana (about a meter long!)

The Pygmy Hippopotamus

A Bongo

A Meercat

Vultures

A Chicken and it's Chicks crossing a walkway (not part of the zoo!)

A Peacock sitting on a roof

Bearcats

A  Tapir

A Fishing Cat (with webbed feet)

Stick Insects

Tree-kangaroo

Wombat

Taronga Zoo

The 9th of November, a Tuesday, was a great last day to spend in Sydney. The weather stayed nice and sunny the whole day but not to the point it would burn you, and the breeze was just perfect. To start the morning off we caught a cab to a place I'd read about online called the Bourke Street Bakery. It was only a few blocks away, but the traffic in Sydney is so hectic that it took about as long to cab there as it would have to walk. The streets are absolutely covered in people and there are about 40 waiting at each and every crosswalk walking in packs to and from their destinations. It is what I imagine New York City looks like as well, with all of the huge buildings, bustling streets and barely-moving traffic. When we got there we noticed it was an extremely small bakery, with the area the customers stand in to order being slightly smaller than a regular-sized bathroom. Everything was quite cramped but there was a lot of items on display to order than somehow fit into the show window. Everything looked amazing; there were meat pies and sausage rolls, fruit tarts, lemon curd tarts, cinnamon rolls, danishes, chocolate tarts, french pastries, croissants, breads, rolls, and so many more items that were tailored just for breakfast and lunch. Cameron got a meat pie and a sausage roll while I ordered the carrot cake, which seemed to be the most popular item the online reviewers recommended. They were completely right since it turned out to be the best carrot cake I've ever had, and I'm not even that big of a fan. Cameron loved his meat pie and sausage roll, and from what I've tried of them they were incredible. I got a chocolate tart to take with me after we finished and then we caught another cab to the Sydney Tower, our next destination. We were right near the middle of the city so it was easy to pick up a cab to get to where we needed to go, although the time we spent waiting at the lights inside of the cab was pretty depressing.

The Sydney Tower is Australia's 2nd tallest free-standing structure (the Q1 at the Gold Coast is the 1st) and it's also the tallest one in Sydney. The shape is basically a long rod (where the elevators go up) that leads to an oval observation deck at the very top that offers a spectacular view of the city. The observation deck gives a 360 degree view of the city, and there are several sets of binoculars so you can zoom right into anywhere you want to look. Besides the observation deck there is also a few revolving restaurants just above it, and if you're daring you can go on the sky walk which actually takes you outside of the building. My legs were shaking just standing at the top by the elevator and I had to wait a minute or two to even move away closer to the windows. I felt a bit like jelly as I made my way to the viewing area to look down at the city surrounding me, and it took a good 5 or 10 minutes just to calm down enough to take some pictures. Once I got used to the fact that I wasn't going to fall out of the building and it wouldn't collapse while I was inside of it I really enjoyed seeing the city in such a way. I never realized just how many buildings there were in city, literally hundreds and hundreds of them line the roads. Many of them are hotels, but the majority are large businesses situated there. From the tower I was able to see the hotel we were staying at, Darling Harbour, the river, some of the stadiums, a few parks, and so much more. I enjoyed using the binoculars to look down at people sitting in one of the parks as it just seems so strange to think that at any moment in that city someone may be able to see you from Sydney Tower. Maybe as Cameron and I were leaving and walking back to Darling Harbour there was a set of binoculars following us as well. We stayed up at the top of the tower for about half an hour before heading back down, as there was a lot we were hoping to fit into our last day. At the bottom levels of the tower there is an upscale shopping center which the building is based on, so Cameron and I took a look around before we left to get to our next attraction. There were so many expensive stores such as Gucci, Guess, Mulberry and Nike and I wouldn't even want to go into a Gucci store to look at the price tags. It was neat to see all of their fashions up close though, as most of them I'd only ever glimpse in a magazine. We went to their food court on level 3, which has to be the most posh food area in a mall that I've ever seen. The seats were all plush and soft, the tables looked like marble, the floors were spotless and the restaurants all charged about 20 dollars just for lunch. We didn't have much to eat there but it was interesting to see the types of foods they offered, like gourmet hand-crafted burgers, pizzas with the most random ingredients and desserts and pastries I've never heard of before. I tried something called a macaron, which I'd only ever read about before in food blogs. We don't sell them anywhere in Edmonton because they are quite fancy and difficult to prepare, and it was exciting to get to try something I normally wouldn't get the chance to.

Once we left the tower we decided to just walk back to Darling Harbour, as it seemed to be quicker, easier and cheaper than getting another cab. It only took us about 10 minutes, and again I was happy that we decided to stay somewhere so close to the center of all of the cities attractions. We headed to the Sydney Wildlife World, which is just beside the Aquarium and about the same size. It was a lot like the zoo except smaller and more compact, with a different variety of animals to meet. When we first walked in there was a large spider exhibit, and I can't say that I enjoy any type of bugs, but especially not spiders. One of the men standing by the window looking in actually told us that his daughter was leaning against the glass just before and she ended up FALLING IN the cage because someone had left it unlocked, and the workers were currently counting the spiders to make sure none had got out. Needless to say I pretty much ran to the next area of the building and hoped a spider didn't follow me there. From there we went through the reptiles section, the crocodiles, the nocturnal area, the grasslands, the rainforest, the wallabies, the koalas and then ended with the butterflies. It didn't take nearly as long to get through as the zoo but it was still a great experience with some new animals I hadn't seen before. I specifically enjoyed the butterflies, and a few even landed on me while I was in their area. It was extremely humid in there, but I thought it was worth it to get to actually hold a butterfly on my finger. I wish we had more places like that to explore in Edmonton, as I know any little kid would love to walk through a building that exciting every once in a while.

Once we left Wildlife World we headed back to the Lindt Cafe to pick up some chocolates before we headed to the hotel. We tried one of each of the unique varieties of chocolates that Lindt doesn't sell in regular packs, and we planned to try them once we got back to our room. We also stayed for a few minutes to have a dessert each (I had another sundae, it was the best I've ever had!)

When we got back to the hotel we stayed there for a few hours and just relaxed and packed our bags to head home the following morning. We came down for dinner at around 7PM since the shops in the harbour stay open quite late for dinner, and we had one last meal beside the water. I tried my best to soak up the atmosphere and the setting because I don't know when I'll see something so spectacular ever again. I wish it was possible to bring the scenery home with me so that everyone else could enjoy it as much as I have, but I guess that's what pictures are for.

After our dinner we headed back to our apartment and went to bed extra early so we'd be able to get up early enough to check out and catch out flight.

Our hotel right in the center

A close-up of the hotel

The view from Sydney Tower

A 5 meter Saltwater Crocodile (named Rex)

A Quoll

Bats (with creepy faces!)

I have no idea what this guy is, but he was my favorite to watch because he kept putting his head to the glass to play with me!

A Bilby

A very comfortable looking kangaroo

A Cassowary

Another Wombat

A Kookaburra

Sydney Wildlife World

Two of the fountains at Darling Harbour

The 10th of November was pretty boring other than our flight back to the Gold Coast. We got up at 8AM, got ready, checked out, took the shuttle bus to the airport and caught our plane back. The plane was nice and quick, and it was mostly smooth other than when we went down through the cloud to land. It was a somewhat cloudy/rainy day on the Gold Coast so I think that had something to do with it. Once we got back to the house we just unpacked, relaxed, and explained our trip to Cameron's parents. I wrote some of my blog but unfortunately I need more than an hour to sit down and explain what all I did in Sydney. Lucky for me, I'm finally done explaining now and I can get some sleep! I'll update the pictures tomorrow, there's just way too many to do at the moment and I'll be gone to Brisbane tomorrow and won't have time to do another blog for a few days.