A Great Day in Sydney

Today was an all around pretty fantastic day. We woke up around 8 to catch the metro into the city to meet up with our new friends, Becca and Joe. We had been messaging back and forth yesterday to figure out how we could meet up and decided on breakfast at Pancakes on the Rocks - a famously delicious pancake place located in "The Rocks" section of Sydney, close to the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

We had such a great time hanging out with Becca and Joe who, as it turns out, are basically identically myself and Jon. We quickly discovered that we just are the same people - ideas on travel, values, thoughts on life - you name it. It was so much fun meeting them and hanging out with them for the day!

From Pancakes on the Rocks (where Becca and I ordered the same dish (chocolate pancakes with chocolate ice cream) and Jon and Joe ordered roughly the same dish (eggs, bacon, etc.)...) we took the fast ferry from the Sydney Harbor to Manly Beach, about a 20 minute ride away. The ferry ride was amazing and it was SO beautiful out!

We arrived at the beach and hung out for about 3 hours, enjoying the waves, the sun, the PERFECT weather, and wonderful company :)

Manly Beach was BY FAR the nicest beach we've been to on our trip so far. We'd been told it was the place where locals go to the beach in Sydney (as opposed to Bondi Beach which is more touristy) and sources did not lie - the beach was B-E-A-UTIFUL.

After our lovely morning, we grabbed some kebabs and left for the ferry back (MUCH windier on the way back into the city but still lovely!)

Overall it was a lovely morning but it was unfortunately time to say goodbye to our new friends because it was time for us to..... climb to the top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge!

I had seen the Bridge Climb on a few TV shows (mostly Modern Family) and decided that I really wanted to do it. Despite the fact that it cost a bajillion dollars and that Jon and I are both slightly scared of heights...

At 3 pm we made our way over to the bridge for our 4 pm climb. We got geared up, went through safety briefings and gear checks with our guide, Jason, and then we were off!

While it's definitely a touristy thing to do, it was a LOT of fun and (close to) worth the money. While in a lot of these activities where you pay to go to the top of buildings, etc. you are timed and only given like 15 minutes, we basically had free reign of the bridge for about an hour. It was awesome! Our guide was very friendly and made us feel comfortable while climbing and telling us all about the bridge and its construction (of course none of which I remember...but it was cool at the time!) We spent a ton of time wandering the bridge and enjoying the views with our fellow climbers (we were only a group of 6 and he said normally there are 14 people per group - so we were nice and small) before heading back down to the safety of the ground. Not gonna lie, it felt GOOD to be back on solid land, but it was definitely an awesome experience!

After the climb we went in search of dinner, ending up in Sydney's oldest bar, The Fortune of War. And what did we order for dinner? Jon got a salad with chicken and I got....CROCODILE!

I'd wanted to try it while we'd been in Australia and hadn't gotten a chance yet...so I figured it was time to "grab the croc by the tail" and try it :). And ya know what? It was pretty delicious!! I would not shy away from ordering it again!

After dinner we VERY TIREDLY made our way back to the apartment for some well deserved sleep. More adventures in the morning!

Jess' highlight of the day: too many to name! Pancakes! Friends! Beach! Bridge! Croc!
Jon's highlight of the day: climbing the bridge

Kangaroos and Koalas, Oh My!

Today we slept a bit late, showered, and went off to find breakfast. Unfortunately...everything was basically closed lol. Womp womp. We went back to our AirBnb to figure out our next move and luckily Damien was there to point us in the right direction - to the Bike Shop! Whichhhhh is a bike shop in the back and a breakfast bar in the front...and they make the most delicious egg sandwiches! Score! From there we caught the metro toooooooo ANIMALES!!

One of the things I'd been most excited to do in Australia was to hang out with some Kangaroos and Koalas. While we'd been fortunate enough to see wild Koalas in Melbourne, we had yet to see Kangaroos...and it was about time!

After taking the metro and the bus for...quite a while... we ended up at Featherdale Animal Sanctuary, a well known place about an hour West of Sydney CBD with TONS of animals includinggggg KANGAROOS AND KOALASSSSSSSS :).

Some fun facts about Koalassssssss:

- There are over 700 species of Eucalyptus but koalas only eat 20 of these species. Eucalyptus leaves are filled with cyanide (ruh roh!) and Koalas can only digest these specific 20 species which have lesser amounts of the poison than the others. Also, these leaves are 60% water which is where Koalas get most of their water.
- Koalas have over 2 meters of intestines - one of the longest of any land animal.
- Koala's fur is so thick that ticks and most other insects can't get to their skin.
- Koalas have grey and black hair on their backs and white hair underneath their bellies. When they are cold they ball up to expose their black backs and when they are hot they spread out on their backs to expose their bellies to cool down!
- Their gestational period is only 34 days, after which the baby Koala, the size of a bean, is born. It then climbs into its mother's pouch and stays there for 6 months before it's ready to come out and begin living on its own. Between 6-12 months the koala continues its life in and out of its mother's pouch before being totally kicked out at between 10-12 months old.
- In order for baby Koalas to get used to the cyanide in Eucalyptus leaves, the mothers will eat additional eucalyptus leaves which they will then poop out in a mixture called "pap". The babies then eat the pap which coats their stomachs and helps to increase their immunity to the cyanide in Eucalpytus. Yum!

After learning about these adorable critters while waiting on line it was finally our turn to have fun with them! MAN were they cute!!

While it's illegal to hold koalas in Australia, we were able to hang out with them and pet them (they felt kind of like a plush rug, a little stiff but fairly soft).

After hanging out with lots of Koalas for a while, we continued to explore the sanctuary finding... a GIANT CROCODILE (about 20 feet long - sorry no picture!) AND we finally found cassowaries!:

They are actually kinda scary looking - glad we didn't encounter any in the wild!!!!!

PENGUINS!:

Penguins are endemic to the south of Australia! Who woulda thought!

ANDDDDD the deadliest snake in the world...the Inland Taipan!

In addition, we saw TONS of birds, dingos, wallabies, echidnas, anddddd KANGAROOS!!

There was a whole area with open kangaroos grazing and you could hang out with them, feed them (even though none of them wanted the food I offered them. Womp.), and pet them!

They were so adorable and so much fun to hang out with! I spent a LOT of time with the roos :-p.

They were super well behaved and seemed to enjoy being pet. It kinda seemed like they were a fan of the attention :).

Overall Featherdale was a great place and we had a wonderful time connecting with the animals and learning about them. After checking out the kangaroos we decided to forgo the bus and walk back to the metro. A long but worthwhile walk which helped us catch the train just in time! We arrived at the RedFern stop (after both falling asleep on our hour long trip) anddd then realizing we actually wanted to head into town to check out Darling Harbor. So we left the train station and had to go back in to the station......... anddddddd we had to pay double! It sucked! So instead of realizing ahead of time that we wanted to go an additional 3 stops (which would have cost us an extra 40 cents total), we needed to pay $16 extra to get into the city. BOOOOOOO.

When we arrived in Darling Harbor we wandered into the annual Greek Festival! As mentioned in a previous post, Australia has the highest Greek population outside of Greece. We got gyros for dinner (which redeemed Australia for the awful Greek food we'd eaten in Melbourne) and enjoyed the sunset over the harbor.

before heading back to the apartment. Looking forward to our adventures tomorrow!

Jess' highlight of the day: KOALAS AND KANGAROOS!
Jon's highlight of the day: Featherdale

Onward!

Today we woke up at 6 am for our flight to......Sydney! With no surprises at the airport (and no more thrown away goodies - hooray!) our flight left pretty much on time around 9:30. On our flight, we just so happened to be surrounded by a number of Americans - a couple from Louisville, another couple from Boston, a couple from Dallas, and a couple from Brooklyn! We were sitting in a three-seater next to the guy from Louisville and having a lovely chat when the couple in front of us turned around and said "Did you guys do the whole quit your jobs to travel the world thing, too?" Turns out they are from Brooklyn and had done the same to travel for 7 months, currently in month 5 of their journey! Such a small world! When we got off the flight we exchanged phone numbers and emails with our new friends, Becca and Joe, and said we'd try to meet up at some point in the next few days since we are all in Sydney til March 2nd! We then proceeded to travel with them in a shared taxi to our AirBnb destination, where they got out to find accommodations for the night, and we went off to meet our hosts!

We were greeted at our AirBnb by Damien and Alicia who welcomed us and gave us a tour of the space where we will be sleeping in........ bunk beds. Oy. Don't worry, we knew it when we booked it. While not ideal, it was also the cheapest place we could find in a nice location in Sydney. So bunk beds it is! Alicia went off to work and we hung out with Damien for a bit before heading out to explore the Redfern area of Sydney where we are staying. We wandered from the apartment to the local bookstore, GlebeBooks, to look for a a guidebook on New Zealand (ya know, since we know nothing about it and don't have a book on it anddddd will be exploring it by camper van in the next few days for two weeks!) After finding a zillion books on New Zealand we finally settled on one and after a quick stop at the apartment, we headed out to visit the world famous Sydney Opera House!

We then took the metro to Circular Quay. The LIRR in New York could take a few notes from their book because....

The metro seats can flip back and forth! So you can change the seat arrangements whenever you want! WHAAAAATTTTTTT? Amazing. That said, the price is roughly the same as the subway in New York ($4 New Zealand dollars (about $3 USD) to $2.75 US for the NYC subway (whereas the LIRR is like $16 one way!)) so no excuses LIRR!

From there we walked outside to a beautiful view of the Sydney Harbor Bridge and the Sydney Opera House!!

Once at the Opera House we headed down to the Opera Bar which overlooks Sydney Harbor for a few drinks.

 

And while we were looking out over the harbor what did we see?? A Royal Caribbean cruise!

We hung out at the Opera Bar for a while before walking around the area and grabbing dinner at the Quay Bar and then taking the metro back to our apartment for some GLORIOUSLY fast internet and blog updating! Amazing!

Excited about exploring the city tomorrow :)

Jess' highlight of the day: drinks at the Opera Bar
Jon's highlight of the day: going to the harbor

Adventures in the Daintree

Today we set out at 6 am to travel north from Cairns to the Daintree Rainforest. At least 120 million years old, the rainforest is the oldest one in the world. To give you some perspective, the Amazon is about 12 million years old. Crazy.

We arrived in Port Douglas from Cairns around 8 before hopping on another bus to get to the Daintree!

We wandered around the rainforest for about an hour, looking at lots of plants (some over 1,000 years old!) and plant species, although sadly not many animal species.

This tree is over 1,000 years old!

Our guide, Mick, had told us that we needed to be on the lookout for Cassawaries.

WHAT on Earth is a Cassowary??

Cassowaries are one of two species of flightless birds endemic to Australia (the other being the Emu). They somewhat resemble ostriches, although they have several distinct features which include a very colorful head/neck, a waddle similar to a turkey, razor sharp talons on their feet, oh, and a large "horn" looking growth on the top of their heads:

Image from Google Images

Mick told us that they are usually not dangerous, although, if they feel threatened, their claws could basically decapitate you. Awesome. What in Australia CAN'T kill you? He also told us that there are currently only somewhere between 1,000-1,800 Cassawaries and they are currently on the extremely endangered list. Here are some interesting facts about Cassawaries:

- While Cassawaries "horns" look sharp, they are actually incredibly soft. To the touch, they have the same level of strength as styrofoam!
- Since their ears are so small, the "horns" are thought to be used to deflect sound down into their ears, improving their hearing.
- Female cassowaries are fairly nomadic while males remain in the same territory for most of their lives.
- When females are ready to mate, they go to a male's territory. After laying eggs, the males are responsible for raising the eggs and teaching the young to survive.
- Cassowary young stay with their fathers until 2-3 years of age, after which they go off, either in search of their own territory (males) or to wander and find mates (females).

Quite interesting...but unfortunately we didn't glimpse any today... but we did see some signs warning drivers of Cassowary crossings on the road...

This sign was originally warning about speed bumps... but locals added some nice "before" and "after" shots of Cassowaries....

After driving further through the Daintree, our next stop was our Crocodile River Cruise!

We were pumped about our river cruise and seeing salt water crocodiles up close. While we had seen fresh water crocs in Africa (a la our adventures in South Luangwa National Park...), saltwater crocs are MUCH bigger (they can grow up to 20 feet long!) and pretty ferocious!

So we set out on our river cruise with high hopes... which quickly deflated as our guide told us that it's pretty rare to see wild crocs this time of year. That's because they normally come out of the water only to sun themselves on the rocks to warm themselves up. However, when the outside temperatures are around 90 degrees (as is the water temperature), it's not as necessary for them to come out...which leads to...some disappointed tourists searching for hidden crocs. Womp womp.

Despite not seeing any crocs, it was still a beautiful, albeit HOT, day on the river for a nice cruise :).

Mangroves on the river :)

From the river cruise we headed off to lunch at a beautiful secluded spot along a babbling brook where we were able to canoe (for about 10 minutes) and eat a delicious meal of ham sandwiches, salads, and salmon. Yum! Also at our lunch spot we got to hang out with lots of baby turtles :)

While stopping for lunch I realized what time it was - about 9 pm in New York...or time for PASEsetters! For those of you who don't know, before we left New York I had worked for an organization called the Partnership for After School Education (PASE), an organization dedicated to supporting and strengthening afterschool programs in New York City. Every year PASE hosts an annual gala to honor extraordinary individuals who exhibit true devotion to the lives of young people during out of school hours. For the last 4 years it has been one of my favorite days of the year, honoring these incredibly deserving afterschool professionals as well as celebrating PASE's role in strengthening the afterschool field. Standing by the river it was definitely a time of reflection for me to consider the crazy way the last few months of our lives has played out. I miss PASE and my wonderful PASE family, but I'm also so grateful that Jon and I have taken this opportunity to explore the world and expand our horizons. Here's hoping this year's PASEsetters was as incredible as the last four and that hopefully I can catch another event in the future :).

(PS - if you're interested in supporting quality afterschool in NYC you can check out PASE's website at www.pasesetter.org!)

After leaving lunch we headed off to Cape Tribulation - the exact point where the Daintree meets the Great Barrier Reef. And it was pretty darn beautiful:

While the Cape is absolutely beautiful, it was SUPER hot out with little shade near the beach. While tempting to swim, Mick had told us to be sure not to go in or near the water becauseeeeee....it's box jellyfish season!

Ya think they're a little concerned about warning visitors not to swim?!?

Box Jellyfish are THE single most deadly animal in the world. Relatively translucent with tentacles that can reach up to THREE METERS (9 feet!!) in length, I'd say it would be a good idea to stay out of the water. Mick told us that it would only take one foot of one tentacle touching you for about 10 seconds to supply enough venom to your skin to kill you. NO THANK YOU. Soooooo instead we stayed out of the water and enjoyed the views before taking a quick restroom break where we found.... HUGE golden orb spiders!

I have seen some big spiders in my life, but NOTHING like these before!! The spider's body itself was probably around 3 inches, wherein its legs made it probably around 8 inches total in diameter. FREAKIN TERRIFYING!!!

After that I was quite glad to get back on the bus (although I must admit it was SUPER cool to see spiders that big!) Back on the bus we stopped at a "biodynamic and organic ice cream shop" (I got hazelnut chocolate and Jon got pumpkin ginger...a little different...) before our last stop at the Alexandra Ridge Look Out:

From the lookout we could see quite a bit off the Eastern Coast of Australia, from Cape Tribulation all the way to Port Douglas. After stopping at the lookout we began our LOOOOOOOONGGGGGGG journey back to Cairns, again switching buses in Port Douglas. Our new driver, Greg, was QUITE chatty and enjoyed telling us just how far away from the city our hotel was (I timed it. It was literally 7 minutes outside of town.) Regardless, it took us from 5:30 until 7:45 to arrive back at our hotel and we were fairly tired. We walked next door to get fast food from Red Rooster (pretty delicious - similar to Wendy's) and then checked our internet and updated our blog for a while.

Time for bed - headed to Sydney in the am!

Jess' and Jon's highlight of the day: Cape Tribulation

Daintree Rainforest

Today we were off on an adventure to the Daintree Rainforest, so I figured first I'd give you some fun facts about the rainforest :).

- The Daintree became a World Heritage Site in 1988 and has been protected ever since.
- The rainforest is home to the oldest race of people - Australian Aborigines who have inhabited the land for over 40,000 years.
- The Daintree's area only consists of one third of 1% of all of Australia, however it contains:
- over 250,000 species of animals and insects
- over 50,000 species of plants
- 30% of all the reptile species found in Australia
- 30% of all the mammal species found in Australia
- 60% of all the frog species found in Australia
- 65% of all the butterfly species found in Australia, and
- 12 of the 19 angiosperm species (ancient flowering plants) found in Australia...making it the most bio-diverse region in the country.
- When it was discovered, scientists found several species of plants and animals thriving which were previously thought to be extinct.
- The Daintree area, specifically "Cape Tribulation" is the only location in the world where two World Heritage Sites meet: The Daintree National Forest and the Great Barrier Reef!

Super cool - looking forward to our adventures there later today!

Oh, Pool.

Today was a pretty fantastic relaxing day. We decided we deserved a day to sleep late, so we slept late. Until 9:30! And it was glorious! From there, we headed to the mall to mail...a package home! Huzzah! We were SOOOOO excited to get rid of a few of the goodies we've picked up along the way here. While our bags haven't been completely unmanageable, they haven't been super comfortable to carry around either. We sent our package home by "sea mail"...so hopefully it will reach the US in about 2-3 months lol.

Our next stop was the pool. Our FANTABULOUS hotel pool where we lounged around, relaxing and talking to family for a few hours. We decided that it was definitely our favorite pool we've enjoyed while away so far.

I mean. Seriously.

After relaxing at the pool we took the hotel's bus into town to wander around and explore Cairns. Annnndddd we quickly discovered that there really wasn't much to see or explore... Many people had told us that, but sometimes you just need to see it for yourself. Fortunately, we only planned to have a few hours there anyway, which was plenty of time to wander down the esplanade and then stop to enjoy the lagoon in the middle of town next to the beach :).

The esplanade and lagoon are great public places to relax and hang out. The lagoon is basically just a town swimming pool, with one side more "pool-ish" and the other more "beachy". We stuck to the beach side and enjoyed the sand and sun for a few hours before heading to a smoothie shop for some drinks.

After our smoothies (ok, my smoothie and Jon's beer...) we did a quick stop in the Night Market where I bought... a BOOMERANG! I'd been eyeing these bad boys for a while and I decided it was finally time to take the plunge. I mean, c'mon. Everyone needs one.

After the Night Market we headed to a restaurant overlooking the lagoon for dinner...but not before stumbling upon a row of trees FILLED with fruit bats! More than a little scary!!!

Sure, they're fruit bats - but LOOK HOW MANY!!!

We arrived back at our hotel around 8:30 and decided we needed more pool time, so night swimming was definitely in order :).

All in all a pretty fabulous and relaxing day. Tomorrow's an early start as we head off to the rain forest!

Jess' highlight of the day: night swimming! (Also, my tan is deepening even with wearing 50+ sunscreen every day all day. Pretty big fan of that ;-))
Jon's highlight of the day: night swimming