Last Time in Sydney

Yesterday, my roommate, Pat, and my friend, Abby, and I went to Sydney all day yesterday.  We caught the 7:30 a.m. train from Fairy Meadow to Sydney.  After arriving in the beautiful city of Sydney, we went to Paddy's Market, a market frequented by tourists on the hunt for cheap souvenirs.  And I found just what I was looking for!  A few great souvenirs for my family.  After that, we got back on the train to head to a different part of Sydney.  That's something I've learned since I've been here... Sydney is so big, there are several train stops within it.  I've usually stayed on the "Inner City Circle," which brings you to the main part of Sydney.  We got off at "Central" to go to the markets and then we got back on to head to "Circular Quay," where the famous bridge and Opera House are located.  Actually, the train is situated above the roads and is surrounded by tall buildings.  However, after several minutes of riding from Central to Circular Quay, all of a sudden there are no buildings anymore and you can see all across the Sydney harbor... at the sun glinting off the bright water, the metal of the Sydney Bridge beaming, people walking along the boardwalk near the ferries... it's just an incredible sight.  I think that's one of the sights I'm going to miss the most after leaving here.


Anyway, after leaving Paddy's Markets, we went to Circular Quay to go to a different market.  We ended up not being able to find it, so we went to St. Mary's Cathedral instead.  According to Wikipedia, "
The Metropolitan Cathedral of St Mary is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, seat of the Archbishop of Sydney Cardinal George Pell. The cathedral is dedicated to “Mary, Help of Christians”, Patron of Australia. St Mary’s holds the title and dignity of a minor basilica, bestowed upon it by Pope Pius XI in 1930."  Also according to Wikipedia, St. Mary's Cathedral is the biggest cathedral in Australia (although not the tallest).

Abby and I standing in front of the Cathedral.

"Mary Helen MacKillop (15 January 1842 – 8 August 1909), also known as Saint Mary of the Cross,^[1] was an Australian Roman Catholic nun who, together with Father Julian Tenison Woods, founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart and a number of schools and welfare institutions throughout Australasia with an emphasis on education for the poor, particularly in country areas. Since her death she has attracted much veneration in Australia and internationally.  On 17 July 2008, Pope Benedict XVI prayed at her tomb during his visit to Sydney for World Youth Day 2008. On 19 December 2009, Pope Benedict XVI approved the Roman Catholic Church's recognition of a second miracle attributed to her intercession.^[2] She was canonised on 17 October 2010 during a public ceremony in St Peter's Square at the Vatican."  Saint Mary is the only Australian to be recognized by the Roman Catholic Church as a saint.

Inside St. Mary's Cathedral... photo credit to some random photographer off Google images.



Upon leaving the cathedral, we took an hour ferry ride to Sydney Olympic Park (where the 2000 Summer Olympics took place).  Pat told me it took Australia seven years to build the Olympic Park, including all the sporting arenas and a small town, which served as a place for all the athletes to live.  We went to an NRL game (National Rugby League)-- the South Sydney Rabbitohs versus the Melbourne Storm.  It was great!  They played at the stadium used in the Olympics.  Below is some video footage I taped during the game.

Notice the three guys riding the bikes on the sideline... does this happen in American sporting events?  Little warm-up while waiting to get back in the game?

After watching the rugby game, we headed back to Central via a train... the ferry was nice, but the train was faster to get back.  Pat left and Abby and I to go visit his family, so Abby and I hopped on another ferry to go to a Manly, a beautiful suburb of Australia.  Sadly, we had just missed "The Taste of Manly" food festival, which from what I collected, was tons of booths from local restaurants handing out free samples.  Too bad we missed it!  By the time we arrived in Manly it was dark, so we walked along the sidewalk, looking at all the stores.  At the end of the main road was Manly Beach, a beautiful white, sand beach, stretching pretty far down the coast.  On one section of the beach, there were several volleyball nets set up--permanent nets for volleyball games/tournaments.  After eating dinner we got back on the ferry and headed back to Circular Quay.  As we headed in to the harbor, we were greeted by the Sydney Opera House, all lit up for "Vivid Sydney," a festival of "light, music, and ideas."  Huge light projections from across the harbor were beaming light patterns onto the side of the Opera House... swirling patterns, box patterns, dot patterns... all in different colors.  It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen.  All around the harbor, there were small light exhibitions.  One building just outside the train station was my favorite... lights lit up the entire side of the building, changing to make different patterns.  For a few seconds the building looked like it was filling up with water (as blue lights worked its way up the side of the building) and then right after it looked like some giant hand was throwing patches of paint all over the building.  Pretty cool, right?   There was an interactive light show... where kids could stand in front of a massive building... their shadows moved on the building wall, so that kids could pretend they were throwing pain on the wall.. and the building actually looked like it was being covered in paint (in the exact locations the kids were pretending to throw paint at).  There was also an awesome fire show.  You know that Christmas commercial a few years ago... where some Christmas light fanatics set up their house lights to blink on and off to the tune of a rock-style Christmas song (it was the Trans-Siberian Orchestra to be exact).  Well, this show was really similar... shots of fire went in the air to the tune of "Firework," by Katy Perry.  See below : )

Awesome light show!  Wish I had video taped more.