Australia Has Lots To Do Besides Kangaroos

On our very first night in Australia, we went to a rugby game and they wrestle like crazy! My mom got us seats up close and all I could think about was how could my friend Piper play this game at school! She must be very tough! The game is so different than football back home.  They make piles the whole time.  It seems super rough too.  

Our hotel was in the most amazing neighborhood.  It had the best restaurants and walking around was super cool.  I found the best spot for porridge. That is oatmeal back home. The area is called Kings Cross. It reminded us of the French Quarter. 

We spent a lot of time walking around Sydney. That was how we found the new Disney Movie called Beauty and the Beast. We got tickets for the evening show and they were making a huge deal about it. Everyone was dressed fancy and the theater was a very fancy theater that they even decorated! Even the bathroom was nice with a grand piano in it.  The movie was really great. Go see it!

We got special tickets to tour behind the curtain at the famous Sydney Opera House. That meant we had to go before the sun came up so we could have our tour before the people came to rehearsal.  It was really cool.  We got to see the green room. We got to see how they worked the curtains.  We got to see how they moved the scenes around. We got to stand in the orchestra pit. W saw under the stage where the trap doors are.   We got to even have breakfast with the crews that were there to work and the performers there to rehearse.  It was really cool to stand on the stage and look out at the audience and pretend what it was like to perform there. They have several stages at the Opera House. The one for plays was small but really cool.  You have to be very strong and small to work behind the scenes on that stage because they use ropes to move everything on stage. I loved hearing all the stories about life at the Opera House. The ladies kiss a wall before they go on the stage for good luck! You can’t take photos everywhere because it is against the law.  The laws are for safety, the performers and the scenes. 

We took a tour around Sydney to discover all about it’s start as a country. It started as a part of England. They would send their criminals there! Now it is it’s own country, but it is a young country. Guess what!? Sydney was the first to make plastic money. It even makes plastic money for lots of other countries like Singapore for one.  Plastic money can get wet and it won’t tear apart. We also found that they don’t have the Easter Bunny. They have a Bilby instead! It is like a mouse mixed with a bunny. It was a very long tour and we walked EVERYWHERE! Good thing was we saw a lot of interesting art and places. One place to eat and drink doesn’t have a sign. Just a light out front. If the light is on, it is open.  Cool, right?! We even found an alley that had lots and lots of bird cages and you could hear birds chirping. It was to show how the city made all the birds go away. It was a great tour but so long! Mommy liked it because it was a free tour. 

Sydney is a city surrounded by water and you can use your bus ticket to take the ferries. We took a ferry to Manly. It was a great boat ride and we feel in love with the city of Manly. They have a cute little town and everyone walks around barefoot with their surf boards. We went to their aquarium and saw the coolest things. The have a guy who will walk around with you and tell you a about all the things there. It was like having  private tour guide. And you can go swimming in the shark exhibit. No way!! We stopped for dinner on the beach to watch the surfers. A big storm came and the surfers stayed out there and surfed! Our way home on the ferry took longer than the hour it should have because we had to wait for an ambulance to get to the huge cruise ship blocking the ferry terminal in Sydney. The ship was suppose to be leaving on it’s trip but a passenger got sick. 

We spent a really sunny day at Bondi Beach. It is a really big beach with lots going on.  They have a cool graffiti wall and a skate board park. The life guards were really good about telling people to move out of the rip tide. They had to say it all the time. We saw lots of kids learning to surf at surf school too.  They have great little restaurants all around and we found a really cool restaurant that mommy wishes we had at our little beach back home. All their restaurant are very open and are mostly outside or have big walls that open up when the weather is nice. 

Sydney has lots of great art. They have really cool fountains, graffiti and museums. The museums are even free! We went to an exhibit about Andy Warhol. It was all about his early years.  It made me want to draw! 

We went to Blue Mountain. It isn’t blue but it is covered in eucalyptus trees that make it look blue! We finally got to see kangaroos and koala bears! They have a law that says you can’t hold koala bears! You can hold kangaroos but that would be hard. They are very friendly and one even jumped up on me. We saw other Australian animales like the dingo! It is a dog that is so cute. And the flying fox. We went into the mountains and saw waterfalls! We rode in a cable car high up in the sky. The bottom of the car is glass so you can see below it! We also went on the steepest railroad in the world. It is at a 52degrees angle and feels so crazy scary! It was an old mine railroad car. I was freaking out! It is too scary but I loved it! 

Sydney, Australia and the Blue Mountains were amazing. The people were so nice and everyone liked to talk to us. It was a great place to visit! And it is almost winter here! Opposite to back home. 

Well, bye!