Sydney!! :-)

From January 13th to 16th, 2018, Giada and I went to Sydney.
Since our flight was already at 6am on January 13th, Giada stayed with me the night before. In the evening, we wanted to order an Uber for the early morning because this airport is very remote (which we unfortunately didn't know beforehand...). However, this did not go as planned because the Uber arrived immediately. So Giada went outside and explained to him that we didn't need it yet, but only at 4am. The Uber driver was very understanding and gave us his number so that we could text him when we wanted to go to the airport. Of course, we didn't have to be told twice, and we negotiated a great price with him. While it would have cost between $70-$95 through the Uber app, he drove us to the airport for only $50. So it was worth accidentally ordering Uber for the evening ;) He actually came just before 4am and picked us up - and we arrived at the airport - at 4:30am.... and after just one minute, we were already at the gate (there's only one). Consequently, we were the only ones at the airport. So we sat on the couch in the children's play area until boarding :) That's how it all started.

After just one hour on the plane, we were already in Sydney. Since we only flew with carry-on luggage, we were able to leave the airport directly after getting an Opal card for public transportation. For $17, we took the train to the hostel, or rather the station closest to the hostel. Then it was a 15-minute walk to the hostel to ask if we could leave our luggage there until check-in at 2pm. Well... all of a sudden, we already got the keys to our room. It was ready - perfect for us. Just a quick nap, then go shopping, then into the city. In Sydney, everything is within walking distance (at least in the city center), so we walked from the hostel towards the Opera House. Without navigation - through the Botanic Garden and then we could already see the Opera House! The excitement was huge. It was gigantic and we still couldn't believe that we were actually in Sydney. So we took a lot of photos of the Opera House. Then we went to the other side to take more photos before continuing to the set of Dance Academy. I don't know if you know it, but the show aired on KiKa, and as a child, I really liked it and always wanted to go to that dance academy (even though I never had dance lessons, I just thought the idea was great). And now I was finally there! As a child, I could only dream of it! So many photos were taken on the spiral staircase, which also plays a very big role in the series. After that, we continued towards the pavilion, where the dance students always hung out and practiced during their free time. The atmosphere in the pavilion was unique, and when I eventually stood all alone in the pavilion, I had to try out my dance moves haha ;) Of course, there are photos of that too. It was an indescribable moment for me to finally be in that pavilion/dance/etc. I never expected it!
Afterwards, we headed back to the hostel, where we quickly changed before going to Domino's to treat ourselves to a pizza for dinner. Then Giada went to the Opera House for a show, while I slept in the hostel and answered my messages.

The next morning, it was time to get up, get dressed, have breakfast, make sandwiches for the road, and quickly meet up with a friend of Giada's host family who wanted to take us to the Royal National Park. After meeting her, her husband, and another friend, we set off. Finally, it was time to walk/hike. Going downhill went well. While Giada and I wanted to continue to the Figure 8 Pools, the others stayed behind (except for the friend whose name I don't know - he came with us). Now it was just climbing over rocks - and that took about an hour. I've always loved climbing over rocks, so it wasn't a problem for me. For me, it's like a 'playground' ;) The waves were very high, so we had to be careful (the Figure 8 Pools were actually closed that day...). When we finally arrived, we couldn't see the pools because there was too much water on the rocks. Nevertheless, we took many more photos before heading back to the beach where the others were waiting. After a quick picnic, we made our way back - this time uphill... It was much more exhausting than the way there, but we made it, although we were completely exhausted. Then it was back to the hostel, where we took a break, which basically means: we both fell asleep. Then we quickly cooked and ate in the hostel kitchen, and then we went back into the city because there is always a show on the outside of the Opera House at 9pm, which we wanted to watch. We also wanted to walk across the Harbour Bridge. We arrived just in time for the start of the show. I also uploaded pictures of the Opera House when it was illuminated for the show. It was quite impressive. While Giada briefly went into the Opera House, I met Jonathan. We had a nice chat and in the end, he walked over the Harbour Bridge with us. The view from the bridge is gigantic - especially at night. So many more photos were taken. After crossing the Harbour Bridge, we went back to the Opera House for some more photos and then back to the hostel.

Monday morning. We took the train to Central Station, where we had to wait an hour for our train to the Blue Mountains. After two hours on the train, we arrived in Katoomba, where it takes about 45 minutes to walk to the Three Sisters. (You could have also taken a hop-on hop-off bus, but we preferred to save the money and walked). So we walked through a cute shopping street with small stores where we stopped here and there. Then we even got some bread as a gift from a second-hand store before we actually continued towards the Blue Mountains. Finally, when we arrived, we were amazed. The vastness was simply insane. We took a few photos and then walked further towards Katoomba Falls, which were unfortunately a bit disappointing. We imagined a huge and beautiful waterfall - the reality was a very small waterfall with very little water. Nevertheless, we took a few photos, but this waterfall didn't impress us. At least the path to get there was beautiful! After that, we went back to Katoomba Station, from where we returned to the hostel. Since we didn't arrive until around 10pm, we had to start cooking immediately because the kitchen closes at 11pm. We had potatoes with frozen vegetables and sour cream again! Yummy! Just when I was about to finish washing the dishes, the owner told me that it was time to leave. I asked nicely if I could quickly finish washing the two pieces, and fortunately, he didn't kick me out and I quickly finished washing. Back in the room, Giada and I talked for a long time before we eventually came up with the great idea of finally applying nail polish, which we hadn't done in Australia yet. Of course, bright blue ;) We continued to chat afterwards, so we didn't go to bed until around 2am... and our alarm clock was set for 7:30am.

Last day in Sydney. Today we're going to the popular Bondi Beach. Unfortunately, it was very windy, so the beach was deserted (usually it's always crowded). So we were able to take great photos there, and of course, I had the wonderful idea of doing a handstand on the beach. I thought the idea was great, even though I've never been particularly good at it. Well, the first few times went well too. There were already great photos, but we still needed the perfect photo. So I tried again. And unfortunately, I fell over on the other side - it hurt quite a bit. For now, that was the end of handstands.... but at least we got the perfect photo! ;)
Jonathan was our personal photographer today - he spent our last day in Sydney with us. I also did the Bondi to Coogee walk along the coast with him while Giada went shopping. The views were great, but it was still very windy and all the beaches were closed. There were warnings everywhere about how dangerous it was and that swimming was prohibited. Too bad. But then there was a Blue Pool or whatever you want to call it, which is filled with saltwater from the ocean by the waves (you can find a photo above - I don't know exactly how to describe it). Jonathan and I went swimming there briefly before continuing the Bondi to Coogee walk. When we finally arrived in Coogee, we took the bus to Central Station, where we were supposed to meet Giada. Now it was time to say goodbye to Jonathan, pick up our bags from the hostel, and head to the airport. This time, we didn't take the train all the way to the airport, but got off one stop early to save about $13. For that one stop, we took the bus, which only cost us $0.50. Then we were already on the plane back to Melbourne. We landed around 8:45pm, and Giada's host father picked her/us up from the airport and even drove me home, where I just fell into bed.

Sydney is a beautiful city with the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge! I was totally impressed. But other than those two sights, there isn't much else to see, so I'm glad I was only there for 4 days and not 8 months (like in Melbourne) ;)