Day 5 -- June 12

At the beach

Summary:

At the cove

Sydney Opera House

This morning we went to a cute little cove with a great view of the Opera House and Bridge. We took pictures there, then went to a rocky trail where we could see the opening of the harbor. We took a relaxing ride around the city for a couple hours seeing main sites and visiting places with a great view of the city. Alec, our tour guide, told us interesting facts and stories about the history of the places we were driving by. We stopped at a small, beautiful beach that was almost completely empty except for a few joggers and a surfer. We wrote in the sand and took pictures by the water before stopping at a cute little cafe across the street for hot chocolate and a muffin. It started raining by the time we got back to the bus. Then we took a lovely little boat tour around the Sydney Harbor and arrived at the Sydney Wildlife Center. I loved going in and seeing all the native animals! Then we had a nice meal at the center before going back to our hotel.


Top three best/worst things about traveling you've learned up to this point in the trip?

Koala at Sydney Wildlife Center

Tree at Sydney Harbor

One of the worst things I've learned is that turbulence can ruin the whole trip. It makes your mood go from good to terrible, and you're cranky and irritable because you feel like crap. Another thing that can make you adverse to traveling is the effects of Dramamine on you. When I took it right before going whale watching (which, of course, was cancelled right after I swallowed the pills) I immediately felt super drowsy and sleepy. I fell asleep at least twice at the mall we went to instead of whale watching (I probably would have fallen asleep with or without the pills -- everything was closed!), and I kept swaying. I felt the ground rocking under my feet as if I actually were on a boat (which is slightly ironic, because Dramamine is supposed to counter the effects of seasickness, not create them). I felt dizzy and exhausted, and I was miserable. Then, after lunch, I felt all wired up and alert. I felt strangely paranoid, and I had a very short temper. The ground was moving even more, and I felt like I was going to burst into tears any second. Probably the third worst part of traveling in my perspective is the prices. Everything is really expensive, and Australia seems a lot more jacked up than New Zealand. When a group of my friends and I went to an Italian restaurant for lunch, the bill was almost $150! My friend is out of money because he keeps buying overpriced merchandise. It's been really frustrating and stressful. On the other hand, one of the best things I've learned is that it's best to be prepared for anything. The weather in New Zealand and Australia has been very unpredictable lately, and we've had to cancel and/or reschedule a lot of our plans (i.e. surfing, whale watching, etc.). Also, it's fun to travel in a group. More people means more ideas about where to go and what to see. However, it's best not to have too large of a group, or things can get out of hand. Lastly, the very best thing about traveling that I've learned is that it's okay to mess up. It's okay to get lost, to have to reschedule, to miss your bus, to have to go to plan B, because what you do when it's unplanned is who you really are when you travel.