May 26

The Opera House at night

Today started off like any other with breakfast at the hostel. After breakfast some chose to go back to bed while we had some down time, others walked to the opera house and others took advantage of the closest Starbucks. 

Rooftop View

Every Friday they have a market through the streets that have homemade apparel, jewelry, food and much more. Most of us took advantage of it and enjoyed live entertainment by the harbor. Those who didn't; went to see the botanical gardens. Before we went on a tour of the rocks (the historic area we are staying) a few people hung out on the rooftop for a quick nap. 

One of the pop up food places

The first street of the market

 On The Rocks Walking Tour we learned that Australia's history started with convicts that Britain sent to the U.S. and then they traveled for 8 months to Sydney on unpaid work. The aboriginal people took the large slab of rock and dug out partsparts to create houses and steps. Now it is considered an active archaeological sight and as you walk around you can find glass boxes of things that the archeologists found through the years. Population boomed when Australia had their own gold rush. In the 1900's as it got busier, 1 of 5 children died. In the Garrison church we got to see a few of the names of people that died on the windows. Now Sydney has a growing population rate of 1,000 people a week. 

The mural behind the cars is what this street looked like in 1930

Bridge made out of sandstone, that the convicts cut out to have access to the other side

View of common looking alley way; very narrow

We stopped at Orient Hotel for a group dinner, before we headed out to the cricket grounds to watch the Sydney Swans in an AFL game.

At the Cricket Grounds, we watched the Sydney Swans AFL game (Australian football league). The game is played way different than NFL, imagine it like a mix between soccer and volleyball. The final score was 81-75; the other team won; but it was a good match both ways.

Tonight is the first night for Vivid Sydney. Which is essentially a light show throughout the city. They project lights on buildings that interact with music. They also have a variety of different pieces throughout that add to the beauty.