I Never Want to Leaf

Day 3
We got a new dorm mate this morning from Scotland, Alix, and her and I decided to do the hostel activity together which was the Coogee to Bondi walk. This is a 3.5 mile coastal walk passing a couple different beaches with gorgeous views and is only a short bus ride from Sydney. There were probably 40 or so individuals from the hostel on the walk which made it a great way to get to meet people. It was very humid out and unfortunately due to the fog and smoke in the air, visibility was limited which was sad but it was still great to see. Bondi beach is beautiful and there is a pool right on the water which is one of the many pictures you see people post while in Australia. We had some free time to hang out on the beach and then we all grabbed lunch at the Wake Up Bondi hostel where we got a special lunch deal. I got the chicken schnitzel (schnitty) which is a thin chicken breast that is covered in bread crumbs and deep fried, they have them everywhere in Australia and they are surprisingly good. After lunch we made our way back to the hostel and I got showered and ready for the night. I grabbed dinner with Holly, a girl I met on the walk, in spice alley which was a hidden alley off the beaten path filled with different types of Asian food. Tonight at the hostel they had an hour of free cheese and wine, it was Goon wine which is Australian’s shitty boxed wine but hey, it was free. Then the hostel had a silent disco that a couple of us went to before heading to bed.

Day 4
Today I went with Rose (a girl I met on the Bondi walk) grabbed brekkie and then got on the train to Milsons Point and walked across the Sydney Bridge. Afterwards we walked to The Rocks where we walked into local shops, got fresh fruit smoothies and listened to some live street music. We then went to the Royal Botanic Gardens which is similar to Central Park but has more of a garden feel to it with a lot of flowers, trees, and lizards. It was beautiful and surprisingly big, you forget you are in a city when you are walking through it. We sat on the grass near the water for the afternoon after grabbing lunch at a cute little street cafe. My dad’s friend Nick (who he knows from working together and who I have met a couple of times) and I got together for drinks on a rooftop bar after he showed me their Swiss Re office space. The rooftop bar had AMAZING passion fruit spritzer and great views. After a couple of hours catching up, Nick recommended that I check out Newtown, which is a young neighborhood with restaurants and bars. After I grabbed dinner Alix and I decided to go and check out Newtown for a couple of drinks. Our hostel is in the center of Sydney right across from the train station and bus station, easy to get around and walking distance from a lot. All you need for public transportation is an opal card and then you just tap on and tap off at the stations or on the bus/train and it charges you based off the distance traveled. We hopped on the bus and when we got there we started walking and came across a bunch of closed tourist shops and like 3 bars with no one in them. We stopped at one and had a beer, I figured that I must have misunderstood Nick because it was far from what he was explaining, there was no one around. When we went back to catch the bus we realized that we had walked the wrong way and it actually looked like a really fun place. We were both so tired that we decided to go back to the hostel and head to bed instead of staying out.Read more