The Blue Mountains 

The past 72 hours have been quite a whirlwind! Someone had told me that it is easier to mentally cope with a 10 or 12 hour time difference, but what can mess with your head are the one and two hour time changes. And on the 20th of May when I flew from Bali to Sydney, that is exactly what had happened. I took a red eye flight, and if you have been reading my previous blogs you’ll know that I do not sleep on planes…
Sydney is only ahead of Bali by two hours, but when I got to the house where I was staying I completely crashed. I slept for almost 5 hours! In Sydney I was staying in Millers Point, which is near The Rocks and Circular Quay. That is a very touristy area where the opera house and famous bridge are located. I did end up going to visit a very cool church my first night there and met some really solid people which was awesome. Always good to worship with people from around the world. 

On the 22nd I had a lovely relaxed day walking around Millers Point and exploring a weekend market that was going on right outside the place I was staying. I also met up with a friend from Detroit who was living in Sydney which was really nice. Always fun catching up and seeing familiar faces when traveling. 

After meeting up with my friend, I ventured to a couple museums and also walked through the Royal Botanical Gardens. 

Yesterday I had to wake up very early because I had to meet a tour company at 7:30am called the Blue Mountains tour group. I was scheduled to meet this group at a hotel which was a 25 minute walk from my place. And of course I overslept for the first time since being oversees, and jumped out of bed at 7:04am. I was practically running to this meeting spot and the tour group almost left me! Thankfully I made it on, but did get leering looks from a homeschool family that have probably never been late to anything in their lives. 

Then the bus went to pick up the rest of the group, which ended up being at Circular Quay…right outside of my hosts home… Of courseeee.

The tour was a day trip to the Blue Mountains, which was about a 90 minute drive including a bit of traffic from Sydney. The beginning of our tour started out at a wildlife park where I got to spend time with koalas, hold snakes, and take selfies with kangaroos. 

Next part of the tour was visiting a look out point called Echo Point where the view of the blue mountains was just immaculate! 

Next stop was Scenic Would, where some of us from the group went on the skyway they had there, which was 270 meters across with glass floors. We also rode the steepest railway in the world (52 degree incline) to the bottom of the valley. And then we went on the cableway…but I can’t recall any awesome facts about that ride. Sorry.

I had met a really nice girl from Ottawa on my tour named Karina. I also got to know a really cool couple from California named Lulu and Daniel. And a mother and daughter from Texas. We had so much fun on our tour together we all went out to dinner at a German restaurant afterwards. 

I was so tired after that full day to touring and laughing and eating with new friends, I was sleeping like a baby by 10pm when I got to my hosts home.
Right now I am currently at the Sydney International Airport waiting for my flight to leave for Christchurch, New Zealand. Very excited to be traveling through New Zealand! I am not expecting to be greeted my Hobbits or Elves or anything like that, but I know it is a very beautiful country in its scenic views and also known for their extreme sports. I also know that I will be going into their winter. 

I am very ready to start my adventure in Christchurch!