Submitted by Nicole Latino on the 2012 summer session program in Australia sponsored by the School of Education…
Finally, we have reached Sydney! I cannot believe there is only one, yes one, week left in Australia. Where did the time go?? I feel like I just got here!… After a two hour flight, we arrived in Sydney. Our hotel is relatively close to Darling Harbor so that afternoon we explored the harbor; grabbing lunch and doing some grocery shopping. That night we ventured back to Darling Harbor. It was really picturestic seeing the lights from the buildings reflected in the harbor water.
We were given a private tour of the Sydney Opera House on Saturday morning. I don’t think I have ever seenor been in a building that was so architecturally magnificent. I am really gratefully that we were given a tour, because I was given so much information about the history of the Opera House that I would never have known otherwise. Our tour even stumbled on a rehearsal for one of the opera’s later that night. We saw some of the sets, and heard the orchestra play a couple of songs. After the tour, we sat on one of the sightseeing buses and eventually we ended up at Bondi Beach. We got a picture with a local surfer. Accidently, a girl in the group got soaked because an unexpected wave snuck up on her. Good thing the weather in Sydney is very mild in the winter. (So no worry of hyperthermia) That night we headed to Darling Harbor for Saturday night fireworks. The fireworks were awesome. Maybe the best I’ve ever seen. Later that night we headed to the 3 monkeys, a local bar where we danced the night away listening to a live band.
On Sunday, we went to the Sydney Aquarium. We saw beautiful fish, sharks, corals and sting rays. We even saw Nemo, Dory and Bruce! (Finding Nemo reference.) Afterwards, we headed to the Rocks, for a small market. The market was very artsy and fun to walk through. You’d think we would have had enough of markets by now right? Well, you would be wrong! (Remember, we are a bunch of girls and we are in need of souvenirs) So after the Rocks Market, we headed to Paddy’s Market. That night we stayed in our rooms to work on one of our projects.
Monday was our final Australian school visit. This time we went to a school with a lower SES called Belmore South Primary School. The school had some interesting forms of assessment which focused more on student growth rather than high means testing. We got a tour of the school, observing some classrooms for a few minutes and we had a sit down tea with some faculty, where we discussed their policies and they answered some questions. After the school visit, a group of us went to the mall close by for lunch and a little shopping. At 5 pm, we left our rooms to go to see a play at the Sydney Opera House. We watched Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood. The play was pretty bizarre and had some really funny and confusing parts. We all got dressed up to go see the play, because hey it is the world famous Opera house for crying out loud! The Harbor looked stunning reflecting lights from the skyscrapers, Syndey Harbor Bridge, and Luna Park.
Tuesday we encountered rain! It was the first rainy day we experienced in Sydney and of course it was the day we planned to climb the Sydney Harbor Bridge. We didn’t let a little rain and clouds deter us, and at 2pm we left for the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Our group chose the twilight walk, which means we would get to be walking onto of the bridge during the day, watch the sunset, and continue the walk during the night. After signing our life away (not really!) we suited up. The wardrobe for the walk consists of a lovely one piece suit, a belt, rain jacket, headphones, headlamp, as well as the optional items including a fleece, gloves, beanie and handkerchief. Walking the bridge takes roughly 2 hours. I thought I would be more tired from the walk, I mean it’s a steep bridge, but the pace was very leisurely. I think the worst part were the ladders! I was not a fan of those, especially switching between ladders, but the views were spectacular! I mean absolutely stunning views of the Opera House, harbor, and the city. If you are going to do this walk, I would recommend the twilight time slot, because you get to see the harbor during the daylight and then you get the treat of seeing it all lit up at night. Our tour guide confided that he took Will Smith, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Linkin Park, Matt Damon, and Blink 182 up on the tour. How cool is that!? I’m really glad I did the bridge climb, not too many people can say they climbed/walked on top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge. For dinner, we went to the Pancake house on the rocks. I got the vanilla choc surprise; a buttermilk pancake, and a chocolate pancake with a scope of vanilla and chocolate ice cream. (Nutritious right?) it was delicious! Tuesday is probably one of my favorite days from this whole trip….We also had class in the morning. (Just in case you were worried, we do have class since it’s not a vacation.)