Where do I begin. I just spent 10 days of my mid-semester break traveling around parts of New South Wales and Queensland, Australia. I feel like a whole lifetime existed within those 10 days. Yesterday as we drove back into Toowoomba, the shadows creeping out from bushes of gorgeous blossoms, it felt like a lifetime of changes had taken place. Spring is finally here, and it's beautiful! I can see why they call Toowoomba the Garden City. But back to our travels. Let me start in Sydney.

It was like rewinding time to the day I first arrived in Australia and the plane touched down in Sydney. Only this time it was evening. Roy, a friend of Jenna's, met us at the airport, and helped us maneuver our way through the confusing bus system back to his house where we would stay the next 4 nights. Then we headed down to the harbour.
Gazing up at Sydney Bridge and the Opera House, lit up with hundreds of lights in the night sky, was like stepping into a postcard. The opera house reminded me of a mirage, with the way it seemed to glow as though it might be too beautiful to be real.

Sunday: In the morning we went to Marourbra Beach, which was walking distance from Roy's house. We discovered the hard way that the sun in Australia is so strong that you burn extremely easily and quickly. My back is still peeling.
While walking back from the beach, I took about 30 pictures of the different houses. I'm always amazed at how different and unique the houses are from one another.
In the evening we went to Hillsongs, a huge church based in Sydney that provides praise music to churches all over the world. There are two main churches, one in the Hills and one in the City. The Hills branch is the original one, but I have heard from lots of people that the City church is way better. I don't know what's true, because the Hills branch was an hour away from us, so I didn't get to go. We just went to an evening service at the City church. But I loved it! There were lots of young people, a great message, great music, and the atmosphere really came across as heartfelt and personal for a big church. Roy said that around 7,000 people attend the City church, while around 14,000 attend the Hills.
After Hillsongs, we were walking to the grocery store (Coles), and suddenly Jenna stopped dead in her tracks. We all turned and looked at two rats... we were trying to figure out what they were doing. You could see the wheels turning in Jenna's brain... it was like she was thinking "Are they eating each other? ...No... Wrestling? ...No... Ohhhh ewwwwww!!!!" It became an inside joke and everytime we walked past that spot over the next few days, we'd burst out laughing and look around to see if we could find the rats.
That night we went down to the beach with a bottle of wine and some cheesy nacho doritos (Jenna chose the cheese kind so we could be classy - you know, wine and cheese? Close enough.) It was a beautiful night, slightly chilly, with the waves rolling up in front of us.

Monday: We found a bus tour of Sydney, similar to what you'd find in London... you know, the double decker bus with an open top and a recording telling you about the buildings you are passing. After taking the full tour, we got on and off at different stops, including the Botanical Gardens, Sydney Hospital (supposedly if you rub the boar's nose in front of the hospital and drop a coin into the fountain you'll have good luck... I don't think it works :)), Parliament (this was my favorite! We got to walk around inside, too), and The Rocks... we did a lot of shopping too. I found some adorable black knee-high boots for only $15!!!
After dinner we decided to dye my hair red. I love it! I think it actually looks natural. I was really scared, but I'm so glad I did! And it's a great story. "Where'd you get your hair done?" "Oh, just in Sydney, Australia!"
Afterwards we went to an Aussie Pub. We tried to get into "The Fountain of War" (I think that's what it was called), which is the oldest traditional Aussie Pub in Sydney, opened in the 1800s, but it was closing just as we got there. Sadly.

Tuesday: The highlight of my entire time in Sydney was going to the Sydney Opera House!!! We saw "The Gondoliers," an Australian comic opera. It was the best performance I've ever seen! (And though I in no way am claiming to be any sort of expert, still I have watched a fair amount of performances, seeing as I'm a music major, and this was my all-time favorite!) I was on the edge of my seat, soaking up every second. Three hours later it felt like 10 minutes had gone by. I wish it had lasted forever. They did a great job. I would recommend The Opera House to anyone who goes to Sydney. Make sure you see it!

On Wednesday we caught a plane to go on to the rest of our adventures... so read on to my next blog!