A shuttle came to pick us up at 8:30am sharp. We had already cleaned our room, taken the sheets off of our bed, and cleaned our two bathrooms, plus hauled down all of our luggage by the time the driver showed up. The very nice couple in charge of the temple housing came out to wish us a safe trip.
Ride to the airport: 1 hour. We rode in a huge 14 seater van with enough room for all of our luggage. It was a miracle that we could get everything in the car.
Airport- check in. My flight didn't leave until 1:50 so I had to wait a bit before I could check in. The other girls were flying out on a different airline so this is where we parted ways. The one thing that I don't like about flying by myself is having to watch your luggage all of the time... besides that it's kind of nice.
Flight from Sydeny to LAX: 13 hours. The flight took off an hour late but we got in only 20 minutes late which was nice. It was rather an uneventful flight. No one sat in the middle seat which meant I could spread out a bit- so nice! We had to go through customs meaning we had to pick up all of our luggage and then get admitted into the US. It was SO easy which was nice! The best part was walking to customs when I saw the Welcome to the United States of America sign that continued to say below "Bienvenidos a los Estados Unidos de America."That is when I knew that I was home. :) Boy it was so nice to be back in familiar territory.
Flight from LAX to Colorado: 3 hours. Also rather uneventful. There was SNOW on the ground when we got in! Yes- SNOW! Plus it was pretty freezing but it felt good- like the way early spring should feel! This is where I had my first taste of REAL MEXICAN food in months!! Oh nothing can compare to the taste of fresh Mexican food. Especially when you haven't had it for a long time.
Flight from Colorado to Hunstville- 3 hours. This was a small plane and there was a storm heading into Huntsville (the best welcome home present- a nice big thunderstorm!!) so it was a pretty bumpy ride but it was my last airplane so I wasn't going to complain. I got in at 11pm April 18th- technically the "same" day that I left. It was the weirdest feeling... The family was there with welcome home balloons and hugs. Pretty soon the suitcases were in the car and we were on our way home.
Even though it was midnight by the time we got home my family stayed awake a bit longer to hear a few stories and for me to give them the little things I brought back for them (I just couldn't wait!). Then they all said good night. I ate my first bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios then took a long, hot shower, and finally fell into the soft, clean, purple sheets of my own bed. Home at last!
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Last day!
Here it is! The last day of the Australian adventure! We woke up and got ready to go back to the temple for a session- Andrea, Sara, and I. The earliest session is at 9 so we went while the other girls headed off to the beach. The season was so nice! Again- the temple is such a great place :). Afterwards we took the bus and headed off to Manly beach to find the other girls. It was a gorgeous day- the rain left! We got off the train and then onto a ferry for a 30 minute ride over to the beach. Before the ferry we stopped for our last time at McDonalds to try the last of the taste of American burgers. The Texas burger was by far my favorite- I think the BBQ sauce is definitely something I've missed!!
We met the girls around 1 and walked around the beach. The water/surf was super strong so it wasn't very inviting to swim but walking across the sand was nice. We really only stayed for just a little bit. We did a little shopping and then headed back into Sydney. We got back and went walking around a section of town called the Rocks. I went into one of the shops and got a boomarang! We also went and walked through the Royal Gardens by the opera house. Despite being in the middle of a giant and very busy city the Royal Gardens are peaceful, beautiful, and well kept.
Around 5 Sara, Elise, and I met Janessa at St. Mary's Cathedral for the 5:30 mass. Yes, mass. Janessa had been before but the rest of us hadn't and we thought it would be neat to experience in such a beautiful cathedral. Mass was a neat experience- it was definitely very thought provoking. Afterwards we left to go meet the rest of the girls from the program by Darling Harbor to get some dessert and enjoy the harbor before heading home. We walked over to Chinatown to pick up some dessert and then back to the harbor. It was such a beautiful evening and the best way to spend a final night in Sydney.
All too soon it was time to hit the bus station and head home. It's hard to believe that a week is really over. We spent the rest of the night putting the finishing touches on packing and watching Resucers Down Under- we had to we were in Australia! I'm so looking forward to home but not looking forward to that million hour plane ride tomorrow... at least I'll leave and get home on the same day.
We met the girls around 1 and walked around the beach. The water/surf was super strong so it wasn't very inviting to swim but walking across the sand was nice. We really only stayed for just a little bit. We did a little shopping and then headed back into Sydney. We got back and went walking around a section of town called the Rocks. I went into one of the shops and got a boomarang! We also went and walked through the Royal Gardens by the opera house. Despite being in the middle of a giant and very busy city the Royal Gardens are peaceful, beautiful, and well kept.
Around 5 Sara, Elise, and I met Janessa at St. Mary's Cathedral for the 5:30 mass. Yes, mass. Janessa had been before but the rest of us hadn't and we thought it would be neat to experience in such a beautiful cathedral. Mass was a neat experience- it was definitely very thought provoking. Afterwards we left to go meet the rest of the girls from the program by Darling Harbor to get some dessert and enjoy the harbor before heading home. We walked over to Chinatown to pick up some dessert and then back to the harbor. It was such a beautiful evening and the best way to spend a final night in Sydney.
All too soon it was time to hit the bus station and head home. It's hard to believe that a week is really over. We spent the rest of the night putting the finishing touches on packing and watching Resucers Down Under- we had to we were in Australia! I'm so looking forward to home but not looking forward to that million hour plane ride tomorrow... at least I'll leave and get home on the same day.
Opera House from the water
Gap out to the open sea
Manly Beach
Customs Building
Royal Gardens
A few different soft drinks we don't have
Darling Harbor
The Blue Mountains!
Despite the rain we decided to continue with our plan of going to the Blue Mountains. It was a good 3 hours by bus and train. Of course we had to get Magnum bars while we waited. I had the white chocolate strawberry one with cookie pieces. Yum! It felt just like Harry Potter because the train was above ground and we got to see vistas and beautiful valleys open up as we traveled. It was quite rainy and misty but that made the landscape seem even more mysterious. The other three girls fell asleep for a bit but I stayed awake to make sure that we didn't miss our stop and also to enjoy the scenery. We got out and found the bus that would take us to the famous landmark called the Three Sisters. We got off the bus and walked out to the over view and guess what we saw- mist! Lots and lots of mist! It was like that scene in Jurassic Park when they walk into the giant pterodactyl cage and the dinosaur comes out of no where and picks up the kid. It felt like something would come out of the mist. It was pretty creepy but also neat. We then looked at the diagram of what we are supposed to be seeing. It was a cool view at least in my imagination. :)
We went for a short little hike to walk out in nature. It was really wet but beautiful. Just as we were turning around to go back two beautiful parrots flew overhead and landed on the trail barrier. Their bright red feathers looked so cool against the misty background! After our walk around we decided just to head back into the city. I probably would have stayed and hiked more but it was starting to rain harder and getting a bit cold. The train ride back into the city only took about 2 hours. We thought we might have time to walk across the harbor bridge again since Janessa- who was with us- hadn't done that yet but by the time we got off the train we only had 45 minutes before we had to be back at our housing to change and go to the temple. So instead we decided to get some dinner- the all American classic McDonalds to experience yet again their "taste of America" campaign. This time I tried the California chicken burger with chilly lime sauce. It was SO good (speaking from someone who stays far away from McDonalds). Then we had to experience their 30 cent cones as well as their hot fudge Sunday ice creams just because.
Then we went home and got ready for the temple. The other girls did baptisms at 6:30 and Sara and I did initiatories. The Sydney temple was so beautiful and it was nice to be in such a peaceful environment. I'm so glad that we stayed close by the temple. Afterwards we met the girls outside and went home to watch Finding Nemo. It was so much fun being able to watch that movie and see all of the places that we've been! I'm glad we had early night... I'm definitely getting ready to be home. While watching the movie I repacked all of my stuff so that tomorrow I could enjoy my last full day without worrying about packing.
We went for a short little hike to walk out in nature. It was really wet but beautiful. Just as we were turning around to go back two beautiful parrots flew overhead and landed on the trail barrier. Their bright red feathers looked so cool against the misty background! After our walk around we decided just to head back into the city. I probably would have stayed and hiked more but it was starting to rain harder and getting a bit cold. The train ride back into the city only took about 2 hours. We thought we might have time to walk across the harbor bridge again since Janessa- who was with us- hadn't done that yet but by the time we got off the train we only had 45 minutes before we had to be back at our housing to change and go to the temple. So instead we decided to get some dinner- the all American classic McDonalds to experience yet again their "taste of America" campaign. This time I tried the California chicken burger with chilly lime sauce. It was SO good (speaking from someone who stays far away from McDonalds). Then we had to experience their 30 cent cones as well as their hot fudge Sunday ice creams just because.
Then we went home and got ready for the temple. The other girls did baptisms at 6:30 and Sara and I did initiatories. The Sydney temple was so beautiful and it was nice to be in such a peaceful environment. I'm so glad that we stayed close by the temple. Afterwards we met the girls outside and went home to watch Finding Nemo. It was so much fun being able to watch that movie and see all of the places that we've been! I'm glad we had early night... I'm definitely getting ready to be home. While watching the movie I repacked all of my stuff so that tomorrow I could enjoy my last full day without worrying about packing.
Yum!
The view from the train
What we are supposed to be seeing.
More of what we are supposed to be saying
This is what we are actually seeing
More of what we should be seeing
You cannot mail letters by simply putting them in your mailbox (letterbox) but you can either put your letters in this place or go to the post office
Train station. It's not quite platform 9 3/4 but it works.
Don't forget your pram- aka stroller
Yum!
Museum, Observatory, and Aquarium!
We were out of the house by 8:30 so we could be at the Australian Museum right when it opened at 9:30. We of course decided to start a lasting tradition (lasting as in the last three days in Australia) of having a morning Magnum bar pick me up. Today's flavor the Magnum cookie sandwich- have sandwich half ice cream bar dipped in chocolate with nuts. Yum! The museum was amazing! I paid the extra $10 to see the amazing Alexander the Great display. There were artifacts from over 2500 years ago. It was amazing! Honestly, I didn't know much about him or his history so it was neat to learn more about his life, making me ever grateful that I live in the 21st century and not 300BC. There were ancient pieces of armor, statues, sculptures, jewelry and money pieces. The most interesting thing that I learned was that many archeologist attribute the success compilation of the old testament into Greek because Alexander brought such a wide expanse of people under the same kingdom, speaking the same language.
The rest of the museum was pretty interesting too. It was focused more on showing different animals, insects, and birds of Australia than anything else. After briefly glancing at the snake and spider part of the exhibit I said a silent prayer of gratitude that I do NOT live in Australia! It was pretty neat to look at the dinosaur fossils and structures that they had on display. They even had a section for animals that appeared to have lived in Australia during the ice age. There was this huge wombat like creature that was as big as a polar bear that they had a model of. Even though it was supposedly harmless and only ate plants I'm still glad it's no longer around.
There was also a huge display set apart for interesting rocks and minerals. There were lots of rocks of pretty amazing colors. Have you ever seen a bright yellow rock before? How about a sea green rock with dark blue splotches? Pretty cool. I also got to see a real mummy. Pretty awesome.
After the museum we left to met Janessa over at the observatory. At 1pm every day a giant ball that sits on the top of the observatory drops. In the past ships coming in from long sea voyages would be able to reset their clocks when they got into port by knowing that when the ball dropped it was 1pm. The ball
is regulated according to the movement of the stars. We had to run to see it in time but we made it. Boy was it a hot day. After running up the hill to watch the ball drop we walked inside (a bit on the sweaty side) and had a good look around. There were some pretty cool things like old telescopes and constellations that we don't have in the northern hemisphere. There was even a room that showed animated videos of the Aboriginal beliefs of how a few prominent constellations came to be. It was really interesting.
After a few hours we went back to walk around the Rocks- a part of the city near the harbor. It was such a beautiful day! Around 4 we started looking at restaurants along the warf. We decided to enjoy one expensive meal looking out over the harbor. It was a such a beautiful day and because we ate before the usual opera house crowd we had a chance to just relax and enjoy the scenery. We definitely felt very fancy ordering food that we could hardly pronounce and a bit cheap when we realized that $30 for pasta seemed ridiculous :). After our fancy dinner. the girls went to the opera to see the ballet perform. Since ballet isn't exactly my thing I opted to go to the aquarium instead. And boy was that a good decision.
The aquarium had some of the coolest animals- some I've never even heard of! Such as the Dugong- a creature looking like a manatee with the tail of a dolphin. There was an awesome exhibit where you could walk through a tunnel and see the dugong swimming around you. It was neat to see such a big aminal swim so close to you. There was also a really cool shark tunnel to walk through. If that wasn't enough you could also walk above the tank and watch the sharks and dugongs from above. There was also a gingantic tank full of all sorts of animals that come straight from the Great Barrier Reef. As part of the exhibit you could walk through a tank with water above, below, and on both sides. I could have stayed there for a few more hours but it closed by 8 so it was time to head back to the bus. It had started raining pretty hard while I was at the aquarium but luckily there was a break for just long enough for me to get on the bus home. Another great day in Sydney!
The rest of the museum was pretty interesting too. It was focused more on showing different animals, insects, and birds of Australia than anything else. After briefly glancing at the snake and spider part of the exhibit I said a silent prayer of gratitude that I do NOT live in Australia! It was pretty neat to look at the dinosaur fossils and structures that they had on display. They even had a section for animals that appeared to have lived in Australia during the ice age. There was this huge wombat like creature that was as big as a polar bear that they had a model of. Even though it was supposedly harmless and only ate plants I'm still glad it's no longer around.
There was also a huge display set apart for interesting rocks and minerals. There were lots of rocks of pretty amazing colors. Have you ever seen a bright yellow rock before? How about a sea green rock with dark blue splotches? Pretty cool. I also got to see a real mummy. Pretty awesome.
After the museum we left to met Janessa over at the observatory. At 1pm every day a giant ball that sits on the top of the observatory drops. In the past ships coming in from long sea voyages would be able to reset their clocks when they got into port by knowing that when the ball dropped it was 1pm. The ball
is regulated according to the movement of the stars. We had to run to see it in time but we made it. Boy was it a hot day. After running up the hill to watch the ball drop we walked inside (a bit on the sweaty side) and had a good look around. There were some pretty cool things like old telescopes and constellations that we don't have in the northern hemisphere. There was even a room that showed animated videos of the Aboriginal beliefs of how a few prominent constellations came to be. It was really interesting.
After a few hours we went back to walk around the Rocks- a part of the city near the harbor. It was such a beautiful day! Around 4 we started looking at restaurants along the warf. We decided to enjoy one expensive meal looking out over the harbor. It was a such a beautiful day and because we ate before the usual opera house crowd we had a chance to just relax and enjoy the scenery. We definitely felt very fancy ordering food that we could hardly pronounce and a bit cheap when we realized that $30 for pasta seemed ridiculous :). After our fancy dinner. the girls went to the opera to see the ballet perform. Since ballet isn't exactly my thing I opted to go to the aquarium instead. And boy was that a good decision.
The aquarium had some of the coolest animals- some I've never even heard of! Such as the Dugong- a creature looking like a manatee with the tail of a dolphin. There was an awesome exhibit where you could walk through a tunnel and see the dugong swimming around you. It was neat to see such a big aminal swim so close to you. There was also a really cool shark tunnel to walk through. If that wasn't enough you could also walk above the tank and watch the sharks and dugongs from above. There was also a gingantic tank full of all sorts of animals that come straight from the Great Barrier Reef. As part of the exhibit you could walk through a tank with water above, below, and on both sides. I could have stayed there for a few more hours but it closed by 8 so it was time to head back to the bus. It had started raining pretty hard while I was at the aquarium but luckily there was a break for just long enough for me to get on the bus home. Another great day in Sydney!
Look! Alabama in the Sydney train station!!
The "All About Bones" section of the Australlian Museum
Some of the cool rocks
More cool rocks
And yet another cool rock
The Australian Marsupial Lion (what they think it looked like)
The Diprotodons basically like a giant wambot. This thing was huge!!
Aboriginal artifacts
These are hats used in Aboriginal ceremonies
Aboriginal art
More Aboriginal art
Me on Observation Hill
Just walking by the bakery
Just cool
The Opera House
Practically every day there would be an Aboriginal man would sit out along the harbor and play his didgeridoo with some pretty sweet beat boxing accompaniment.
My fancy dinner- gnocchi! Or potato noodles. Yum!
Platypus
More platypus
Crown of thorns starfish.
Dugong
Dugong
I know it's a blury picture- but it's the tail of the dugong
Cool shark
Part of the coral reef exhibit
More coral reef
The cool exhibit that surrounds you in water
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