Still Reminiscing

Hey Everyone! Well it's been a while since I gave a valid update on our "holiday" to Australia so I thought I would take some time to write a note. We walked for hours every day to see as many things in Sydney as possible only to realize there was not enough time for it all. I absolutely love Sydney... I would love to come back and spend more time in the city. It is like New York with a beach! It's great. Our last day in Sydney (Friday 12/09) was fun ... we walked around the Botanical Gardens which is one of the prettiest scenic walks I ever made. There were thousands of fruit bats (not the little ones in Austin but HUGE ones) hanging from trees and people stretched out on the grass. The paths lead to the water and have cliffs that overlook the harbour and Sydney's Harbour Bridge and Opera House. I don't think we could have taken any more pictures of the Opera House while in Sydney. It seemed to amaze us every time we saw it. We finally had to force ourselves to stop taking pictures and choose the best ones to keep! haha

INTERESTING FACTS!!

We also walked through Hyde Park and saw the Hyde Park Cathedral and the Convict Barracks Museum. There was a historian in the building who gave us a detailed explaination of the museum and told us many interesting facts. For instance: Do you know where the saying "The cat's got your tongue" came from? It is because the weapon used to whip the convicts was called the Cat of 9 tails and it was a rope that had 9 little ropes hanging from it with spikes or knots on the little ropes (intended to break the skin). When they said "The cat's got your tongue" it was in reference to the fear instilled in the convicts that kept them from talking. Another saying "Draw the short straw" came because the floors of the rooms were covered in straw and they would all draw "straws" and whoever drew the shortest one would get killed and that way the others would be sent to another prison. Interesting tidbits huh?

I think Danny would have killed us if we didn't head to at least one pub while we were in Sydney :) just kidding we had been to a whopping 2 others... so we went to an awesome one called the Hero of Waterloo which was located in the Rocks district and was built in the 1800's. It was in the original stone building and had about 6 small rooms that you could chill in. Absolutely awesome! The other we went to was the oldest pub in Sydney named the Fortune of War and it was also quite a sight to see and be seen!

Meagan and I figured out the benefit to packing light on Saturday morning when we tried to haul all our stuff up a short hill to breakfast and then back down the hill and up escalators and stairs to the train station! We furthered our understanding of the importance to pack light when the airport told us that we could only put 1 bag in carge and it could only weigh 20 kg!! We each had about 70 kg of luggage!! Yikes... nothing a small fee wouldn't handle. Grrr... we'll learn next time!