First Day in Sydney!

I am so happy to be back in Australia. It just feels different here. With the people just a little more friendly, the sights a little more intriguing and the choices a little fresher. It adds up to be one joyous atmosphere, even in a busy city like Sydney.  We arrived at the Metro Hotel in Central Sydney (right downtown…well, it is actually in the middle of China Town we realized,) and freshened up after the flight from Fiji. Instead of letting the fact that we woke up at 4 am affect our fun, we just dropped our luggage off in our room and headed outside! It was a bit cloudy but nice here, in the mid 70s. We cant seem to escape the intense wind though! This couldn’t be more opposite from our stay in Fiji. There were only 26 rooms at our Inn in Fiji, and here we are back to city life with skyscrapers and taxis everywhere…ooh and of course I noticed the many gelato and ice cream options within our 40 minute walk to Darling Harbour. We were in the mood for something different so we found a Thai Restaurant down the street. The challenging part was choosing between the (literally) 30 Asian cuisines just within 6 blocks. We found the most authentic looking one (that was still normal enough) and tried the spicy Pad-Thai and chicken. Delicious! I laughed at the fact that the other girls have no idea what Sydney is like expect for websites, brochures and my stories…yet we land in the middle of what could be any country in Asia.  I’m glad we walked past the area and we could see the amazing architecture of Sydney’s buildings, clever parks definitely designed by engineers and a diverse line up of restaurants and ships around Darling Harbour. My favorite part of the day (well except for the cappuccino ice cream at night) was how it seemed like all the business men, still dressed in their suits, were with their kids in the early evening playing in the parks and pushing their little children on the swings. It seems like everyone figured out the healthy balance of work and play to find true joy in their lives. Very uplifting. I think the lack of sleep over the past four days is catching up with me now…heading to bed because we have an early and big day head of us. Tomorrow we are going to the Wildlife Sanctuary 40 minutes out of Sydney on a metro-rail to walk through the bush and pet koalas and feed kangaroos!