Tuesday the 25th, Wednesday the 26th, and Thursday the 27th
Tuesday:
I took the Bondi part of the tour bus and stopped in Bondi. The day was a bit overcast and since its the off-season as well the beach wasn't particularly lively. The streets were lined with the usual shops and cafes, etc. It wasn't that exciting. When I got back to the city I explore the Hyde Park area, which has the Hyde park barracks, the Anzac memorial (or one of many I should say), the NSW State Library (I took lots of pictures for you mom), and killed some time in the Botanical Gardens again. That night I had tickets for Will Anderson's comedy show at the Sydney Opera House. It was hysterical. The Opera House Bar that is right on the harbour has an absolutely breathtaking view of the bridge and the opera house at sunset. I highly recommend it.
Wednesday:
I signed up for a tour of the Grand Canyon area of the Blue Mountains. It picked me up at 7:30 am and didn't get us back until 7:30 pm. The Blue Mountains are only about an hour away and we got to see the Three Sisters (which after seeing I have no idea why they are well known) and the Katoomba falls as well as the three hour hike which took us down one side of the plateau and back up it via steep stairs built out of the natural rock and tree roots in the mountain. It was pretty strenous on the way back. The rock formations were really quite amazing with huge overhangs and sheer cliffs. I made good friends with a couple of the girls on the trip (one from the states and one from England). We went out to dinner when we got back at a restaurant in Darling Harbour which was my first real restaurant meal since Easter and was quite nice.
Thursday:
I slept in yesterday and met my friend Alana from Contiki for lunch downtown. We got sandwhiches (actually I got my first bagel since leaving home!!!! yay) and ate picnic style in the Botanical Gardens where we met up with some of her friends from work and uni. Afterwards I walked down to Circular Quay and caught a ferry to Manly beach. Manly beach is really nice. The large beach part is picturesque and the walking area with surf shops and cafes is quite cute. It has more of a Santa Barbara touristy kind of vibe than an L.A. kind of touristy vibe. I spent the afternoon on the beach reading and walking around peeking into the shops. I ate at a mexican restaurant (which as usual got "mexican" all wrong but was actually still good) on the beach before heading back to the wharf and catching the ferry back downtown.
