Sydney - Zoo, Bondi/Tamarama, and Hillsong

On the days between locations, when I was at the grandparents' house, I tried to find stuff to do either on my own or with the family to make the most of my time in Sydney.

The first thing I did on one of my in between days was go to Taronga Zoo. I was checking out of my hostel on the day the family planned to go to the zoo so I met them there. I did some walking on my own since they had already been through the nocturnal and Australian sections. Some time later on I met up with them and we did a bit together. Other than the great view of the Harbour, the nocturnal exhibit, and the seal show... I honestly wasn't too impressed with the zoo. Part of the problem is that I've been to the Wildlife Habitat in Port Douglas where I got to sit with, pet, and feed the kangaroos and wallabies, so nothing measures up anymore. The other part is simply that... it's a zoo... it can only be but so different than any other zoo... they had a lot of the same animals as the zoo back in Melbourne and back home in Asheboro. I did get to have my first ride in a cable car there though, so that was cool. And I saw my first wombat and Tasmanian Devil.

The second thing I did on one of my in between days was go to Bondi Beach and Tamarama Beach. On the way to Bondi to start off the journey I got yelled at by an Aborginal for "stealing their pattern" (I was carrying a bag Gran had given me to use to go to the beach). Little did this lady know that that particular bag was bought by Gran and Daniel at an Aboriginal market entirely run by Aboriginals to sell their own original products and support the Aboriginal community. However she and the younger guy she was with were absolutely wasted (at 10am might I point out) and everyone on the bus was aware of it. Unfortunately alcohol is a known, huge problem in the majority of the Aboriginal communities. Anyways, sometime after that ordeal they got off the bus and just a couple stops later, so did I. I was at Bondi beach!!!

Because it was a weekday and the day started off cloudy, it wasn't super packed so that was nice and the sky cleared fairly quickly. There is this real sense of culture at Bondi, mostly created by the surfers, but the old buildings in the background and the occasional nudity added to that as well. I sat on the beach and watched the surfers as I ate my lunch... but not before I managed to surprise myself with an amazing feat - changing my entire outfit, on the beach, without ever exposing myself. Seriously, this required talent. The day started off somewhat chilly and cloudy so I wasn't sure if it was going to get hot enough for a bathing suit, so I had on pants and a t-shirt and packed my bathing suit. After 10 minutes or so of getting situated on the beach the sky started clearing and it started getting hot, but I didn't know where the bathrooms were and certainly didn't feel like trudging all the way to wherever they were just to change. I planned it out in my head before taking action and then went for it and was very pleased with the results. I maintained my modesty but ended up in my bathing suit and I didn't even have to get up.

 

I sat there for a bit and then packed up to head on to the coastal cliff edge walk that leads to a couple different beaches. The cliffs were gorgeous and offered fabulous views of the coast. I ended up at Tamarama Beach where I sat on a cliff edge that was under a cliff edge, so it was cool and shaded, kind of like a cave. Here, I had lunch, and watched more surfers do what they do. The beaches in Australia are different from the ones back home because when I look left or right down the shore back home all I can see is beach for miles in either direction, but here your line of sight is always cut short by a cliff/rocks/mountains. Tamarama Beach was the smallest beach I've seen here (or anywhere for that matter). It's a deep beach, meaning there is tons of sand going from the shore and then heading inland.

After I managed to pull myself away from this piece of paradise on the edge of Sydney I headed back to Bondi, but not before challenging my fears and sitting with my feet hanging over a cliff over the ocean. I don't even want to think about high it probably was. I sat on the beach and hung out in the water a bit at Bondi and then packed up and headed up the grassy hill for the shops. After some browsing I hopped on the bus and headed back to the house. As I was on the bus I couldn't believe that on the edge of this city is such beautiful beaches and little hidden gems like Tamarama.

The one other in between day that I decided to do something, was the Sunday I went to Hillsong Church. I have already written one post on this: http://www.dreamjourneytooz.blogspot.com/2013/01/hillsong-god-is-moving.html but I will write a bit more about my experience. The night before I signed up with their concierge service so they knew ahead of time that I was coming, had a packet of information ready for me (which was useful for my smashbook/scrapbook), had a seat saved for me, and they sat with me. It was big, but not as big as I was expecting. I feel like KPIC back home may be similar in size, which I've been to several times. Every seat wasn't filled though because it was their "early" service so that may have affected my perception  It was really cool to get to sing along live with Hillsong to songs I've practically grown up on. The other cool thing about Hillsong is that because their music has a particular sound and flow, even if you don't know the song it is easy to sing along. The message was so relevant to where I'm at right now and what I'm doing and the speaker used visual aids and analogies throughout to make his points which made the message very clear and quite entertaining actually. After the service (and after getting over the shock of the fact that Daniel was there, read the other post linked above) I went to their shop and bought a t-shirt because I'm a tourist and a Hillsong fan and that's just what you do. ;)