Sydney City

-

 Sydney city 

Hi, I’m Sabrina Merli, and my blog post is about the city of Sydney. My favorite stop on the trip was Sydney City, so I'm excited to share my experience!

We started the day bright and early with the Sydney Bridge Climb at 9 a.m. We were environmentally friendly by walking 45 minutes to get there instead of taking Ubers. When we arrived at the bridge, we saw photos of many famous people who have done the bridge climb. Some of my favorites were Katy Perry, Barack Obama, Ben Stiller, and Oprah Winfrey. Seeing these made me feel better about doing the climb, knowing that over 5 million people have done it before. The climb opened in 1998 and focuses on community, inclusivity, diversity, and the environment.

Because our class is about ecotourism, two things stood out to me: the Bridge Climb has a Climate Active certification, and the climber certificates we received are made from 100% recycled materials. I ended up really enjoying the Bridge Climb, even though it was far out of my comfort zone—I’m terrified of heights! I pushed myself, and I’m so happy I did. The view was absolutely breathtaking. You could see the Sydney Opera House, which we later visited, as well as boats on the water, including cruise ships and ferries heading to the beach. You could also see Luna Park, an amusement and theme park.

After all the climbing, we went to brunch at Pancakes on the Rocks. I got pancakes and scrambled eggs, which were delicious.

Later, we headed to Bondi Beach. I think it’s the largest and most crowded beach I’ve ever been to. It was so fun to have free time to relax and swim in the water. We made sure to use reef-safe sunscreen. The waves were massive, and it was incredible to watch some experienced surfers. I learned there’s even a TV show about the beach called Bondi Rescue,which features lifeguards rescuing people. After about two hours, it started to get a bit windy and cold, so we decided to head back to the hotel to shower and dress up for the evening.

We walked 30 minutes from our hotel to the Opera House (being environmentally friendly again) to see it up close, take pictures, and admire its architecture. Afterward, we explored some souvenir shops nearby.

To end the day, we had dinner at a Mexican restaurant near the bridge called La Camino Cantina. I ordered chips and guacamole, which were super tasty.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Glow Worm Tour/Flying Fox, O'Reilly's Lamington National Park, Brisbane

-
Image
A Night with the Glow Worms Led by our guide, Nathan, we explored the dark, mysterious rainforest, and learned some surprising things along the way. It was one of those adventures that makes you appreciate nature even more. The Walk to the Glow Worms Our journey started with us all holding red flashlights so our eyes could adjust to the dark. The red light wasn’t just for show—it helps you see without ruining your night vision. We were surprisingly able to see some creatures in the dark forest on our way to the glow worms.  Nathan pointed out some cool (and somewhat intimidating) creatures. One was the  Bark Frog, an endangered species that blends in perfectly with the bark of trees. We had to look closely to  spot it.  Another interesting critter we learned about was the  Lamington Crayfish . These crayfish can live up to 30 years and grow as big as 30 cm. Nathan shared that it’s illegal to catch or harm one of these crayfish, with fines up to $5,000 and jail t...
Read more

Mole Creek Caves & Honey Farm, Tasmania

-
         On Tuesday, January 7th, we had the opportunity to go to two amazing places in Tasmania. The first one was Mole Creek Cave in Mole Creek, TAS. At the beginning, the tour guide did a land acknowledgement. While I came into Australia knowing that this land belonged to the Aboriginal people, I did not know which specific tribes lived in the places that I would be visiting, so I was glad that I was told. If I can find the time, I want to learn more about the Pallittorre tribe that originally inhabited Mole Creek.      Throughout our time in the cave, there was a big emphasis on not touching anything, (the oils on our hands can mess up the mineral formations) which reminded me of the concept of “leaving no trace”. However, there were pieces of limestone as well as other rocks that we were allowed to touch before going into the cave so that we could get an idea of what they feel like. Everyone in the class was very respectful of this, and we ...
Read more

Caroborree, Thunderbird Park, Brisbane

-
Image
  On our last and final day in Brisbane, the class practiced and prepared for a traditional Aboriginal celebration called a Corroboree. Corroborees are a performance of song and dance that represent Aboriginal spirituality. To start the day, the men and women were separated and told that we could not see each other in our clothing or jewelry until the Corroboree celebration in the evening. For the women, we started with traditional gift making, also known as the second law in Aboriginal culture. The goal of this first activity was to take pieces of shaved, wet palm, and weave them into their pieces of jewelry such as bracelets, anklets, and necklaces, to wear during the evening celebration. Lydia, Douglas’s niece who helped teach us song and dance, said that palm is the material used as it’s very abundant and durable. grass can be used but it’s hard to find strong grass. The palm will last for decades after drying and can also be used to weave into other things like baby carriers. ...
Read more