Wellington, New Zealand

Yesterday the ship docked in Sydney Australia. We got off the ship and and caught a cab ride with our friends Jim and Arcadia. We got dropped off at the aquarium. We got a map and started walking along the waterfront and we bumped in to a man named Martin who we met kayaking in Tonga. We walked with him for a while until we came up on a man sitting underneath the tree stretching. The man asked us what country we were from. We told him that we were from the United States. He offered to buy us a cup of coffee he said follow me. March and walked along and we followed the man. His name was Asad. He lead us to a café and ordered us a flat white (coffee with just cream). He told us all about himself which was kind of confusing and hard to understand for me because English was his third language. After this happened he got up and left.

Us with Asad

We continued on our way. We kept walking along the waterfront until we came in view of the Sydney Harbor Bridge. From underneath the bridge we took some pictures of the Sydney opera House. After that we asked around for directions for getting to the top of the bridge. Once we were on the bridge we walked across it and took pictures. I was terrified but it was good fun. 

Me in front of the Sydney opera house

Next we continued along the waterfront to a large contemporary Art Museum. Which was totally free of cost. It was one of the strangest things I have ever witnessed in my entire life. Inside there was a dead tree branch with granite rocks nailed to it, bandages wrapped around it and test tubes poking out of it. The entire museum made me very uncomfortable. One of the "artworks" was just a blank canvas. After we made our way through the museum and continued down the waterfront to the ferry Harbor where there were many stores and fun restaurants and shops. We continued and made our way towards the opera house.

We were both getting hungry so we stopped at a restaurant where we met two guys who were having lunch together. They were sitting below a large menu on a chalk board. We asked them what to get. They said that the steak was good. But there were more exotic things on the menu. There was kangaroo, emu, and crocodile. The two men thought that that was disgusting. We ordered a pizza with all three meats. After we finished our pizza they invited us to sit and have a drink with them. It was fun. I asked them about religion and we did our best job witnessing. We pray that it effected them. 

      Me with the three meat pizza                                                             Me with the two men we me

After that we continued walking until we arrived at the Sydney Opera House. It was very very cool but was not like the photos. It it was not as brightly colored as it seems in pictures. We were not able to go inside but I did get to touch it. Woo Who. as we were leaving we bumped into our friends Wendy and Roger. We decided to walk through the botanic garden next to the opera house with them. There were lots of birds and cool plants. We walked with them for a while then got sidetracked and they continued. After a time in the garden we went to the small gift shop and decided not to buy anything. We then headed into the city. 

My mom in front of the Sydney Opera house

Me in front of the Sydney harbor bridge

Me by some Bamboo in the Gardens

We aimlessly walked around until we stumbled upon the Sydney mall called Westfield. It was a mall that took up several blocks of stores. We eagerly walked around looking for samples of food and fun things to take pictures off. All we bought was a piece of carrot cake. It was delicious. Then we headed back to the ship.

Today we got off and walked through a mall where we bought some gifts for some other guests with birthdays coming up. Then we headed to the fairy port and got our opal cards (fairy passes). There was a half an hour of wait time for the fairy we wanted to take. 

A picture of the Sydney Opera house from the fairy

We wandered around and got some ice cream while we waited. I had 1 scoop of cookies and cream and 1 scoop of devil’s chocolate. It tasted like Oreo's dipped in chocolate pudding. It was phenomenal. It was from a place called The Royal Copenhagen. 

We stopped for a while and listened to a man playing the didgeridoo. It was very neat.

After that we boarded the fairy which took us to manly beach. When we got there we went into an Aldi and got some snacks since we only had ice cream for lunch. We then went to the actual beach where we rented some boogie boards and rode the waves until large dark clouds rolled in. 

We got out and went to return the boards when it started pouring rain which soon turned into hail. We ran to grab our things and sought refuge under an awning for a small restaurant. We then walked through the heavy rain back to the fairy. We walked back through the mall where I got some lifting gloves and my mom got some special honey from a little gift shop. Right as we were getting back to the shuttle my mom tripped on a piece of bubble wrap and broke her toe.

     Sydney Harbor Bridge and Opera House as we sailed away     Birds eating trash outside of a gift shop
                                                                                                       (I just thought that one was funny)       
It was a fantastic day.