One of the perks of being the only IFSA student in Canberra is that I have $500 to spend on activities. I used $300
IFSA also paid for my ticket to the Sydney Aquarium, which I went to the next day. It might just be because I haven’t been to one in forever; but aquariums are pretty damn cool. The best attractions were the dugong and shark exhibits. There, you went in the underwater tunnels and they swim right next to and above you. The penguin exhibit was also cool because the penguins are very friendly and come right up to people. I was even able to see a penguin feed right in front of me. It took me about an hour and a half to see the aquarium, but I also had tickets to do a glass bottom boat ride in their Great Barrier Reef exhibit. It was nothing special, but still cool. After that I left the aquarium.
At Darling Harbour, where the aquarium is, there is also the National Maritime Museum. The museum was actually a little disappointing. It was small and I was expecting to see various replica ships, but I saw none of that. I wasn’t that upset though because it was free. I then made a 45-minute walk to the Rocks to go walk on the Harbour Bridge. For $10 you can walk up the pylon for some average views of Sydney. By then, I was exhausted and began to make my way home. I didn’t do much that night, considering I don’t really like clubs and didn’t know anyone. I went and walked around for a bit, stopped at a bar for a beer, and called it a night.
The last day in Sydney, I went to Bondi Beach. Every Australian I have met has told me how it’s overrated, but I liked it. Yeah, it was touristy and packed but it had a cool vibe to it. I arrived sometime early afternoon and immediately had a beautiful view of the entire beach. If anything, Bondi is beautiful. The first thing I did was grab lunch and then I hit the beach afterwards. I stayed on the beach for an hour and a half mostly sun-bathing. I did get in once though, and the water felt so nice. Afterwards and for the rest of the day I looked around the shops on the beach. I bought these awesome shorts and t-shirt, but being the idiot that I am, I left them in Bondi when my Uber came to pick me up. Also, contrary to what some may believe, Bondi is far from Downtown Sydney and requires a 20-25 minute car ride to get there. I left Bondi in the late afternoon to catch my bus back to Canberra. The trip to Sydney was nice and I didn’t have to pay for much, but it would have been better if I went with someone else or a group of people.
