Sydney!

We landed in Sydney at about 8am AUS time.  After 36 hours without a shower we were ready to make an impression to the lovely people of Syndey.  We gathered our bags (not without a stop at the duty free shops first), went through customs, and caught the shuttle as soon as we could.  We got to our hotel, but unfortunately our room wasn't ready.  The guy could tell we were having a rough go, so he gave us a free drink coupon to use in one of the hotels many bars.  He was my new best friend.  We left our luggage and took of to the Sydney Fish Market for a delicious lunch.  We figured the smell of fish would mask our unshowered selves. Maybe?  

The fish market was awesome; a really fun, hectic environment.  My mom and I split some sushi, fish and chips, and the most delicious calamari ring I have ever had.  My family always orders calamari when we go out and I have never like it...but this. was. incredible!  We wondered around there for a bit and then headed back to our hotel, hoping that our room was ready.  We checked in and sure enough they had a room ready for us, it was an upgraded 2 bedroom apartment room!  Yes indeed, he was my brand new very best friend.  We got to the room and just lounged around for entire too long, while enjoying our awesome view.  You can see the fish market in the distance, it's that big white roofed building in the back left.

We called everyone to let them know we had arrived, showered, and then hit the city for some dinner.  We stayed at Star City in Darling Harbour so we caught the ferry from there to Circular Quay.  I love the ferries, they are so much fun and give some really great views of the city.  From Luna Park you get an awesome view of both the Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House.  Plus it's cool to go right under the Harbour Bridge.  You don't realize how massive it is until you're right underneath it.  We got off and walked around around Sydney Harbour, taking some obligatory tourist photos in front of the bridge and the opera house.  I have been to Sydney a few times before but I never get tired of it.  The city has such a cool vibe.  It's metropolitan, yet being on the water gives it a laid back feel.  Any way, we walked around a bit before settling in at a nice restaurant with a great bridge view.  Mom got her seafood fix while I got reacquainted with my love for kangaroo.  mmm mmm mmmmmm!

After dinner we went back to the hotel and went straight to bed.  It had been a long day and we knew we had a busy next day as well.  I slept like a baby that night, it felt great to be in a bed...not an airplane seat.  We got up bright and early for our wine tour of Hunter Valley.  It was about a 2 hour bus ride out of Syndey, but definitely worth it!  Our tour guide was fabulous and kept us entertained the whole ride up.  We stopped at 2 vineyards, a cental "town" area (with more vineyards) for lunch, and then hit up one more organic vineyard on the way out of town. it was such a fun experience.  My mom and I got to see some beautiful scenery, drink some amazing wine, and meet some really great people.  We had lunch with an older man from South Africa who travels around the world trying out all the well known vineyard areas, which has now become my new life goal. :)   

I highly recommend it if you're planning a trip to Syndey.  

We got back to the City around 6 and decided to use our free drink coupons.  Star City has a bar on the 17th floor with a 270degree killer view of the city.  We went there to watch the sun set, have (yet another!) a glass of wine, and enjoy a delicious appetizer of garlic prawns.  We stayed up there for a little while and then went down to Harbourside, which is a strip of shops and tons of restaurants in Darling Harbour.  We shopped around trying to decide what we wanted to eat, and settled on something quick and easy (yet so very, very delicious), a kebab.  

Kebabs are one food that I fell in love with last time I was here and it's something you can't find in the US.  It's similar to a gyro, but different.  You just have to have one to understand.  It's what gets me through when I'm having intense chipotle cravings.  :)  So we ate and again went back to the hotel to rest up for another early, and busy, day.  We were moving on from Sydney to our next stop, my final one: Townsville!  We still had to adjust the luggage situation because we were already at max weight and space and had purchased quite a bit of duty free liquor and had accidentally brought our winter coats with us!  There was no hope, so we decided that we would try and sneak extremely heavy carry ons with us.

The airport shuttle picked us up at 5am, which was quite the early rise.  I prepared myself for the day with some leftover kebab and a cup of nescafe (another things I fell in love with last time I was here).  It turned out to be a bit more chaotic than planned because my mom and I were on different flight, and to our surprise, different terminals.  I got off first and hoped that it would all work out for her.  I managed to sneak my oversize carry on with me, but I later found out that my mom was not so lucky.  She got busted and had to leave some of her stuff in a locker at the Sydney airport.  No bueno.  That began the span of bad luck.