Australia Trip: Sydney

Using my precious time off, I've taken a trip to Australia. Leaving plenty of jealous Korean friends behind, I flew to Kuala Lumpur and then on to Sydney. 

I spent three days there, so I'll give you some highlights in case you were thinking about coming down here and didn't know what to see. 

First off, find a good location to stay in. My hotel was one station away from the main train station and it was absolutely wonderful. It's super easy to get connections that way.

The first day I went to the National Maritime Museum, which tells visitors about Australia's inseparable connection to water. You can buy a ticket just for the museum or a combo ticket to board the ships they have outside (worth it). You can climb aboard a destroyer, submarine, and a replica of captain Cook's ship (galleon? Barque?). There were some children on a field trip to the museum--they wear red sun hats. Delightful. A highlight here is seeing the patrol boat they used as HMAS Hammersley in season 1 of Sea Patrol! (it rolls like crazy though--I'm sure plenty of sailors got sick on it)

I went to the botanical gardens and walked to the end of a peninsula to get a good view of the harbour. One thing about downtown Sydney--everybody is jogging! Seriously, one or two joggers every 10 seconds. 

The next day I slept through my alarm and woke up 3 hours late! I caught a train to the Blue Mountains (2:00 away) to do a hike to a valley. When I left Sydney it was sunny and nice. When I arrived in Katoomba it was 5•C and WINDY! I was not dressed for it at all, lol. I talked to a visitor guide and she said in the valley it would be protected by the trees. Okay. It was a great hike! Totally worth it. I took 900 steps down into the valley, did a gorgeous hike, and took a steep incline train out. 

That evening, back in Sydney, I went to a performance at the Sydney Opera House, conducted by my favourite conductor/composer John Adams! It was so nice to hear him live. The architecture is very interesting and the music was challenging and thought provoking. 

The next day I went to Bondi ("bon-die") Beach and did a walk along the coast to Bronte Beach and Waverly Cemetery, the most scenic cemetery in the world. 

Afterwards, I went to an area called The Rocks, near where the cuise ships dock. Had some great Parisian baking and a delicious coffee, then a look around at the old sandstone buildings.

I boarded a plane to visit Melbourne and my cousins Jackie and Conor and their family. Really excited to see some family and spend time with them!!j