SYDNEY BY LAND
We arrived to Sydney on Saturday night, but were so jetlagged that we fell asleep right away. The next day, we went on a boat ride with our friends to see Sydney from the water. Then the day after that, we went on the famous-ish walk from Bronte Beach to Bondi (pronounced bon-DYE) Beach. And today, we went on a walking tour of downtown Sydney. So our days have been very busy, very fun and very active.
On the Bronte to Bondi walk, we saw amazing views everywhere. We were looking over an old railing with its paint peeling from constant exposure to the sun to the stunning panoramic views of the ocean. It was breathtaking. We saw surfers that looked like tiny figurines against the ginormous vibrant blue waves. We saw crowds of people swimming in the baths (swimming pools) with waves crashing onto them. We finally arrived to the north side of Bondi Beach and tried to jump into the crashing waves, but it was hard to do because the water was absolutely freezing. We eventually got in the water, but our bodies went numb.
Today we went on a tour of downtown Sydney with Scott, who was born and bred in Sydney. We went to many important buildings:
One of those buildings was Town Hall. The construction started in 1868 and finished in 1890, so it took 22 years to build.
Another important structure was one that everyone knows — the Sydney Harbor Bridge! The bridge took nine years to build and cost almost $7 million. Now, you can walk, drive or take a train across it. You can even climb over it!
We also saw the Sydney Opera House. The Opera House took a very long time to build because the architect quit in the middle of it when they didn’t pay him. He did eventually finish the Opera House when they begged him to help and fix all the mistakes they made without him. All of the orchestras that had played there said that there were horrible acoustics, so they asked him to help. He was very generous and he said yes. All in all, the opera house took 42 years to build because of this conflict. But then, he wasn’t invited to the opening! Obviously, he got mad and never came back to Australia again.
The End!