Sydney - The Rocks

January 11 - 14

I got on my first Sydney train (which are double decker) headed for my first hostel. I was headed for The Rocks - an area in Sydney that has European history dating back to 1788 and even older with the original owners of the land, the Indigenous Cardigal people. The Rocks is a curious place with tourist attractions, old pubs, old shops, cafes, markets, and high end shopping. You get a little bit of everything when at The Rocks. I arrived at Wynard Station and did a lot of backtracking trying to find the hostel (didn't have a map and some of the small streets connected and others didn't and you wouldn't know until you got to the end whether it would or not). The hostel was really nice - big kitchen and lounge area, nice location, convenience store right next door, view of the Bridge and Opera House from the roof deck. The hostel is really unique because it is actually built over an archaeological dig site as the archaeologists are working to discover more about the people who lived there, their life, the area, etc. Once I finally found it I had to store my bags in their holding room because I was quite early but then I immediately set out to explore the beautiful city that is Sydney.

Some recovered items from the dig site underneath the hostel

I climbed one of the pylons at the four corners of the bridge to the lookout at the top. It was there, standing at the top of the pylon with the wind blowing in my hair and the sun shining on my skin looking over the Bridge and the Opera House against the background of a sparkling harbour and brilliant blue sky, that Sydney made me cry (and not for the last time). I was on the phone with my mom telling her how badly I wished she were with me experiencing this. I then started telling her how I was feeling at the moment and I couldn't really come up with the words for it. I finally said, "I've been dreaming of being here and seeing these things for 12 years and I've finally done it. It's the feeling of dreaming of something, working hard to make it happen, and then finally seeing it accomplished. I've done it mom. I've really really done it. I, with God's help, have made my dream come true." It was at some point during this explanation that the tears started.

Not perfect, but enough for you to get an idea of the view

After I pulled myself away from the beautiful view I headed over to the Botanic Gardens to check out another view of the Bridge and Opera House from Macquarie's Point. On the way I checked out the Government House on the edge of the gardens. After I pulled myself away from that beautiful view I backtracked back towards my hostel so I could get my room and set everything up before finding dinner and heading to the other side of the harbour. I got the room - 2 bunk beds and only one had a bed taken so I got a pretty good choice of beds and I chose the other remaining bottom bed. There was AC, a locker, and a bathroom attached for just those of us in the room. I set up my bed, locked up everything else, and set out for the evening. I had dinner at the hotel (pub/bar/restaurant) just a couple doors down. It was named The Australian Hotel, which turned out to be the oldest continuously licensed pub in the city of Sydney - opened in 1824.

A reminder for the Americans and other right-hand-side-of-the-roaders 

My first (and nicest) hostel bed

After dinner I headed across the bridge to the other side of the harbour for additional, beautiful views of the Bridge and Opera House. I started at Milson's Point / Luna Park and then took a ferry over to McMahons Point and Blue's Point. At Blue's Point I played on the playground for quite some time - mostly swinging and spinning - while I watched the sun set. Once the sun finished doing its thing I headed back across the bridge for some gorgeous city light, night time shots of the Bridge and Opera House. I can't believe all this was only day 1 and little did I know this would set the pace for the entire 3 week holiday...

Day 2 at the Rocks I started off with a tour of the Opera House where I learned quite a bit actually like it is the youngest building on the World Heritage list, there are 1,056,006 off white and beige tiles on the sails that are self cleaning, and it was supposed to take 3 years and cost 7 million dollars but instead took 16 years and cost 102 million dollars. The Opera House is also where I got lost for 30 minutes. The tour doesn't finish where or even near where it started so we had to find our own way back to the cloakroom. The Opera House and I have a love hate relationship now. Then I headed to Redfern (another suburb in Sydney) for an art installation that was part of the Sydney Festival, called Song Dong (the artist's name) Waste Not. It wasn't exciting, but it was certainly thought provoking. The installation is compiled of over 10,000 objects (bottle caps, rusty chairs, scraps of cloth, broken toys, and so much more) collected by the artist's mother over 5 decades during China's Cultural Revolution. I hurried back to my hostel to shower and get ready for the main event of this entire trip - The Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb (post link: http://dreamjourneytooz.blogspot.com/2013/02/sydney-bridge-climb.html )!!! And so day 2 was complete.

How the sails are constructed

The Concert Hall - Where I watched BLAZE

It's size is only comprehensible when you are right next to it - see me?

Song Dong: Waste Not

For day 3 I went to check out Hyde Park, the Archibald Fountain there and St. Mary's Cathedral on the perimeter. When I went into the cathedral a service was actually being held so that was interesting to see a bit of and then they let out so I got to walk around, see some of the people doing the water thing, see the priest (I think that's what they're called), etc. When finished there I got on a bus back to Circular Quay and then walked over to the Rocks Discovery Museum. The museum was so well put together, organized chronologically, and had tons of artifacts. It was also informational but in a way that let you choose how much information you wanted or didn't want. Then it was time to rush back to the hostel to shower and get ready to see a show - BLAZE - at the Sydney Opera House.

I've never seen a live hip hop performance at the level this was. I was excited to be getting back to my dance roots (even if I was just watching) and to be doing it in the Opera House no less!! In one way or another the dancers touched on every style of dance - partnering, tap (there was entire tap piece), lyrical, contemporary, ballet, street/breaking, hip hop, and more. My video of the performance is on my blog at this link - http://www.dreamjourneytooz.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/tamarama-entertainment-and-blaze-v6-v8.html or on youtube at this link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lZI4Tt12FM. Most of the performers had immense strength and quite the personality which they were able to portray from the stage. All of the dancers though had such massive amounts of energy and positive attitudes that the audience was sucked into the performance - entranced at times while laughing at other times. The set was huge - designed to look like a bedroom, there was a bed, drawers, a fridge, tv, etc. And the lighting projected onto the set made something so simple so versatile and added even more depth to the dancers' movements and stories. I couldn't have thought of a better way to wrap up my time at The Rocks in Sydney.

On the 4th day I packed up, checked out, and said good-bye to the beautiful area that is The Rocks in Sydney on the Harbour. The Rocks will always be special to me as that was where I spent my first time in Sydney, stayed at my first hostel, and where I got to make my dreams come true.