A Weekend in Sydney

So Caroline, Amanda, Brittany and I went into Sydney a little earlier than the rest of the group. We arrived in Sydney just after 6 on Friday. We settled into our hostel and decided to explore Sydney at night since we always left for the train when it started to get dark previous times we had gone into the sydney. A couple of our flatmates had been to this bar called the O-Bar. It was on the 47th floor of this building on George Street. This bar however was different. It had a rotating floor which allowed you to get some nosh and drinks and watch from a 360 degree perspective of the city all lit up at night. The Bar was absolutely exquisite! it had a modern vibe and a mix of a younger and older crowd! It honestly was breathe taking and was just another point (among the many) that I had fallen even more in love with Australia. Australia has such a presence. its not like New York City or even Los Angeles. It has a feeling of difference and acceptance where I feel America is just starting to explore. While up in the O-Bar I honestly felt humbled, here I am in one of the most beautiful places on the planet and it gave me the opportunity to just soak up all that has happened and all that is still to come. So the Four of us sat in silence. Don't get me wrong we talked a lot but there were points in the night where there was silence and reflection, which is hard to come by when everyone is trying to experience everything in such a short amount of time.  We even met another American at the O-Bar, she was a waitress and came here to study abroad when she was in college and just felt like she didn't have enough time here and is now on a work visa. I was extremely jealous!  But as we left the O-Bar and made our way around the city we stopped at the Famous Century bar and then headed to bed to prepare for the bridge climb the next day.


On saturday we met up with the rest of the group at our amazing hostel right near the sydney harbor! it was called the YHA, even though it was expensive it was one of the prettiest places we have stayed. It had a roof top view of the harbor and the bridge that we would be climbing. The Hostel sat right on the rocks and the hostel was built on top of an old excavation site. It was BEYOND cool! but from there we walked over to the bridge climb which consisted of 3,000 steps and stairs! Since I`m a little bit of a thrill seeker and adrenaline  junky this was going to be an absolute blast! We suited up and learned our gear and practiced on an indoor small scale version of the actual bridge climb. Our Climb leader Brett was amazing and we were lucky enough to be his last bridge climb, since it was his last day working there. As we began to climb we saw an arial version of Sydney and learnt more about the bridge. Everything from the stone from the aboriginal people who believed with one touch it could give you strength and courage to the 6 million rivets that make up the Sydney Harbor Bridge and the people who worked on the bridge and even lost their lives. It was crazy and such an amazing experience!  I bought a photo of me at the top of the bridge climb which you can see of facebook! but honestly it was one of the coolest things ever and it was so liberating! I loved every second of it and learnt that I have no fear of heights whats so ever and have pretty good balance! haha. After the bridge climb we got ready for dinner at this place that serves Emu and Kangaroo and Alligator Pizza! it was called The Australian Bar where my roommate Melissa and I split a pizza and Then I headed off the Pasha Ivy which is a club in Sydney that has 5 floors and is part inside and part outside! It was so cool! and i got a 10 dollar dress which I wore! lets just say the night was very fun and I had a great time and day for that matter!!!

Sunday we went on a speed boat that whipped us around the Sydney harbor and did all these donuts and got us soaked! we wore purple ponchos which made me with of High Point and how President Qubein would be very excited about the vast amount of purple present! The mix of speed and water was enough to get the guys screaming too! We all by the end of it were drenched in harbor water. Again the thrill seeker in me loved every second of it! which was the perfect way to end the weekend! 

slideshow of more photos!