It was a very early start to the day today...but with good reason. I had a breakfast date with some koalas. The alarm went off at 6:15 which I admit, I was not happy about since I had had such a tiring evening before. Anyway, I packed up my bags, checked out of the hotel (they put my big bag in storage for me for the day) and got a taxi to Wildlife Sydney at Darling Harbour.
At 7:15am, the workers let us into the zoo and we got a guided highlights tour before the place was open to the general public at 9am. It was really cool. I got to see butterflies, snakes, frogs, tasmanian devils, wombats, wallabies, kangaroos and many other creatures native to Australia. The highlight were the koalas. We were led onto the rooftop of the animal sanctuary where they had several tables set up as well as two Koala enclosures. They served us a buffet breakfast with every kind of food you could want and we got to watch the koalas eat eucalyptus while we dined. This was special because our guide told us that they sleep about 20 hrs per day so it's lucky to see them awake. After breakfast, we got to go into the enclosures with them and take as many photos as we wanted. We could get as close as we wanted too, as long as we didn't touch them. They were sooo cute.
I visited the zoo for almost 4 hours in total. There was a dark portion that I looked at last where they kept all the nocturnal animals. That was pretty freaky too.
After I left, I decided to go next door to Madame Tousauds wax museum. This was not something I would normally care too much about but it was free as part of my Sydney Attractions pass. It was fun. They had figures of many famous Australians like Keith Urban, Nicole Kidman, Greg Norman, Heath Ledger, etc. They also had some famous world figures (e.g., Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela) and singers (Rhianna, Katy Perry). Many of them looked really real. It kind of freaked me out!
I stayed there for about 45 min and then I went next door to Sealife, Sydney's aquarium. This was also free as part of my city pass. I enjoyed this a lot. There were lots of small tropical fish and pretty coral/plants, but they also had platypus, sea hoarses, turtles and massive rays and sharks. There were underwater tunnels so you could watch them swim over you. They also had two very rare sea animals (the only two in captivity in Australia). I will have to look up the name but they were large and white/grey and looked like a cross between dolphins and seals.
After the aquarium, I decided to walk around Darling Harbour in search of a restaurant for lunch. I wanted to eat at "Blue Fish" restaurant because I got a free meal with my pass. The restaurant was on the complete opposite side of the harbour, which made the walk long but I got to see the whole harbour. The harbour itself was very lively with outdoor performers/music and decorated for Christmas with lots of Santas. The restaurant was nice and I got to eat on the patio, but in the shade thankfully. It was a scorcher. I had the Fish and Chips which was yummy.
I finished lunch around 1:45 and then I took a walking bridge across the harbour and then walked all the way north on George St. to Central Quay, where the Opera House was. I took some pics of the house as well as the bridge and then I went into the Opera House and booked a 3pm tour. I chilled for half an hour (it felt great to sit down) and then my tour started. It was neat to hear how the place was built and about the unique architecture. I found out that the outside 'sails' are made of concrete but covered with over a million small white porcelain tiles. I got to see inside the different concert halls too (3 I think) which were really nice, but not as huge as you would expect.
The tour finished at about 4:40 and then I walked all the way back to my hotel (35 min) to pick up my bag. I then took a cab to my new hotel where I was meeting my Gap tour group. I arrived around 5:30pm. I was staying at Vibe Hotel Rushcutters. It was very nice, and just to the Southeast of the main Sydney attractions. My roomate was already in the room when I arrived. Her name is Mary and she's from Toronto also. She seems very nice.
I took a shower and got sorted and then all the Gap group members met in the lobby at 7pm for an orientation meeting. We are a very diverse group in terms of age and personality, but we're all from Canada, USA and the UK. Unlike my last trip, I'm one of the youngest here. Most people are nice but there are definitely quirky folk and many are retired.
After the meeting, some of us went to the pub across the street for dinner. I had chicken schnitzel which was good but it was more breaded, fatty food and fries. Lbs, lbs, lbs.
We stayed at the pub till probably 10 or 10:30...service was slow...and then returned to our rooms. No internet for me because they wanted $26/day extra for WiFi. We went to bed. I was beat!
T
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