Saturday, April 07, 2007 crossing off my to-do-in-this-lifetime list
finally, another thing to cross off my to-do-in-this-lifetime list: visit australia and dive the great barrier reef. done!
There were so many things that I wanted to do while in Australia. So many things I wanted to see. Luckily, I was rational enough to realize that we weren't going to be able to do them in two weeks. Uluru, Perth, Melbourne and Tazmania will have to wait until the next time I make it back to the land down-under.
We spent our time in Australia hanging out with friends and seeing the sights in Sydney, admiring the views of the Blue Mountains, and just relaxing and working on our tans at the beautiful Hamilton Island. I also had the chance to go scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef which was definitely a dream come true.
Now, let me shut up and share some of the pictures with you (mainly because I really don't know where/how to start to tell you what an amazing time we had).
Not too long after our arrival, Matt took us to Bondi Beach. It's probably the most popular beach in Sydney. It was a bit too cool to hang out and lay down on the beach but we did walk around the area and checked out the stores. Afterwards, we grabbed some Greek food for lunch and then headed back to the apartment to recuperate from the jetlag before we met up with some peeps for dinner.
Maz took a couple of days off to take the tourists around. On our second day in Oz, she and Steve took us to the Blue Mountains, about an hour and a half from Sydney. We spent awhile admiring the view and then took a half hour hike down to see The Three Sisters (a set of three rock formation) upclose. It was a hot day and what seemed to be an easy hike proved to be a bit more taxing than I thought it would be. After that short hike, we ended up just lounging by the area until it was time to head back to the city.
click on thumbnails to maximize photos
I felt like a geriatric while in Sydney. After every activity, I felt the need for a nap. Needless to say, we took one after coming back from Blue Mountains. Matt let us sleep until five minutes before we needed to head out again for dinner at Ray's favorite Japanese restaurant in the city (the name escapes me at this time - sorry!)
After dinner, Ed and Jill took us to Opera Bar for a closer look at the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. We spent a lot of time trying to get some decent pictures with the bridge on the background and what I have on here are all that I have to show for (a lot more than Ed has to show for! nyaaah).
We spent Thursday at the Sydney Aquarium and the Wildlife World. It was pretty amazing to be introduced to the many - some deadly, others VERY deadly - creatures that thrive in Australia, a country considered to be one of the most unhospitable to living things on Earth.
After all that walking, we headed back again for yet more sleep prior to hitting up 333 for pre-wedding celebrations with the Googzies. Many drinks were consumed while we talked, laughed and bopped our heads to the music (Matt was DJing that night).
Friday turned out to be beach-gorgeous. We took advantage and headed out to Manly Beach with Matt and Mikey. Since driving there would have taken forever, we took a quick bus ride to the ferry station and a half hour boat ride to the town of Manly. The boat ride was awesome since it gave us a great view of downtown, the Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House.
I took this picture while we were on the boat on our way to Manly beach. Although we were at the Opera House grounds two nights before, this was my first encounter with the Opera house where I was able to see it's full grandeur.
After Manly, we rested a bit and then headed out again for our first ever rugby game, courtesy of Steve and his brother-in-law. That game was pretty gruesome. I mean, these guys weren't wearing gear like our football players yet they were going at each other like their lives depended on getting that ball. Most of the time I didn't know what was going on but I have to say that it was so cool to be sitting there, watching it all unfold not too far away from our seats.
On Saturday, we all got dressed up and headed to the Sydney Botanical Garden to witness the Googz wedding. The ceremony and the venue were both perfect. Very beautiful and romantic. Afterwards, we walked over to the American Club for the reception.
We felt pretty honored to be invited to Lon and Paul's wedding. We've only known each other for a couple of years but we absolutely adore the two of them and I'm glad we were able to be a part of their special day.
We had an early flight to paradise - i mean, Hamilton Island on Sunday. We stayed there for four days and it was such a contrast from the days that we spent in Sydney. We had fun at both places but while at Hamilton Island, we didn't do anything but relax. I think the most stressful thing I did while there was scuba diving and only because I didn't want to end up killing any of the corals!
So, yeah, I finally got to scuba dive at the Great Barrier Reef. It was more amazing than I ever imagined. I mean, the dive instructor told us that visibility was bad and he was right. but, even with only a few feet of visibility, it was still an awesome, AWESOME experience. At one point, I was swimming side by side with this huge turtle which we followed around for quite a bit. The corals were amazing - I have never seen so many different ones! And the fishes! They were everywhere coz, duh, it's the effing ocean. But there were so many of them!!! (DUH again!!!). My old camera has an underwater kit but Steve still has it so I had to buy this other camera but I didn't realize until we were out in the water that it didn't have a flash. So, I'm not sure how the pictures will come out. I'm hoping for some decent ones, specially with the turtle. I'll post when I get them back.
I was really sad to leave Hamilton Island not only because it was so gorgeous there and we were having the best time just lying around and eating and lying around and eating but, also because it meant we would have to come home soon. We flew back to Sydney, had dinner with friends and finally had the chance to drive across Harbour Bridge courtesy of Ed and his sexy car. The following day, we did a bit more shopping prior to meeting up with Maz and Jill for some drinks. Afterwards, Ed picked us up in his sexy ride and we all headed out to the Sydney Dance Academy to sample their hiphop dance class. Ed and Jill are regulars and Maz just started going regularly again so, they were pretty good. I won't speak for the hubs but, I have to admit, I don't think I did too well in that class. I always thought I could dance but to learn an entire routine of steps seemed such a foreign concept to me. Nevertheless, I had fun. I was sore afterwards, but I enjoyed myself. After the class, us girls headed out again for a couple more drinks before we called it a night.
The following day, we had breakfast with Mattie just before he dropped us off at the airport. On our way there, we got a call from RayRay to say our temporary goodbyes. Afterall, I know I will be seeing them again. Soon! =).
