August 11
This morning we got up around 8:00am and got ready for the day. We started off the day by going to the mall up the street from the hostel. Here we purchased peanut butter, jelly, and zip-lock bags so we could pack our lunch. We also grabbed breakfast here, then went back to the hostel. At the hostel we made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the kitchen area, then set off t
o start out day as tourists, by going to Paddys market.
Paddy's market was pretty much just a huge building with tons of vendors, with goods ranging from all sorts of groceries to leather coats, wigs, jewelry, and of course Australian things that tourists will buy lots of. The great thing was that everything was really cheap by comparison to retail. We spent almost two hours wandering around the markets and seeing what there was to offer. We found that it was a great place to buy souvenirs, so each of us purchased a fair amount of such items. :) I got a new leather wallet for $5, a calendar for $5, a couple postcards for $0.80 each, and a few other odds and ends which will not be mentioned on here as they may end up being gift items for certain people back home, and telling them about them would make it much less fun as a surprise.
After we were done with Paddy's market we went back to the hostel to drop our stuff off in the room. We decided to skip going to the rumored three stories of mall-like shops in the floors above Paddys market. Back at the hostel we sat for a bit and ate our lunches (guess we didn't have to pack them today after all!). Shortly afterward we set off for our next activity: visiting the Powerhouse Museum.
The Powerhouse Museum consisted of four floors of displays of various kinds. Some included different types of arts and graphics design, some included interactive displays and activities involving science. There were also displays of glass art of many form
s with an interactive glass-making display, a bunch of things about the history of steam engines and the railroad, some displays from Australian life in the early 1900s, and a display about the history of space science including models of several early satellites, the space shuttle, a rocket engine, and lunar rovers. All in all it was a pretty cool museum, using up several hours of our time.
In the late afternoon we walked over to the Darling Harbour region of Sydney. We found the Sydney Aquarium and explored the various tanks of creatures within. The aquarium specialized in having a wide variety of Australian species of fish, aquatic animals, and reptiles. We got to see platypuses up close through a glass tank as they swam underwater looking for whatever it is that platapuses look for when they swim underwater with their eyes closed. Apparently they use electrical and touch receptors to locate their food. There were several species of snakes in one part of the building, including the most venemous snake in the world. I can't remember it's name, but it is a black snake that is only a couple of feet long. I'm not quite sure why a snake that size needs so much venom. There were also numerous tanks of fish including all of the characters from Finding Nemo (I couldn't find Nemo though.. only a species that looked kinda similar).
There were three "oceanariums" in the aquarium and they were really cool. The first one we went to w
as a seal display with several seals. You could look at them from above, but then we also went downstairs and walked underneath, where you could look up at the animals. The one seal was having a lot of fun playing with a cattail-type piece of plant root. The second Oceanarium was even cooler than the first, housing many many fish including a half dozen species of shark! There were several large grey nurse sharks in the tank that were about 15 feet long! Of the several species of sting-rays flying through the water, there was one that I swear could have eaten a shark for breakfast if it wanted. It was probably about two feet thick (pretty thick for a flat animal!), and had a "wingspan" that was around 6 feet or so. There was also a huge sea turtle in there that was 3-4 feet long. It was cool seeing all these animals from the side, and underneath. A third oceanarium was a great barrier reef display, with many reef species. This is where most of Nemo's crew was.
After we finished enjoying all the species at the aquarium we went back out to the shops along the edge of darling harbour. We did a little checking around and found a nice cafe (Blackbird Cafe) to eat supper at. The food was really good and the service was excellent; I was amazed at how fa
st the food got to us after we ordered. I had some mixed veggies in curry sauce with rice, and garlic bread on the side. It was about $A15 for the meal which is pretty inexpensive, especially compared to some of the other meals at other restaurants along the harbour.
After supper we went back to the hostel and relaxed for a bit before trying to figure out what to do with the rest of the evening. We ended up deciding to go to a bar that looked pretty nice and hang out. We spent some time just chatting, listening to the music, and enjoying the "entertainment": rugby was on one tv, music videos on another, people were playing pool, etc. After a while we left and came back for the night.
o start out day as tourists, by going to Paddys market.Paddy's market was pretty much just a huge building with tons of vendors, with goods ranging from all sorts of groceries to leather coats, wigs, jewelry, and of course Australian things that tourists will buy lots of. The great thing was that everything was really cheap by comparison to retail. We spent almost two hours wandering around the markets and seeing what there was to offer. We found that it was a great place to buy souvenirs, so each of us purchased a fair amount of such items. :) I got a new leather wallet for $5, a calendar for $5, a couple postcards for $0.80 each, and a few other odds and ends which will not be mentioned on here as they may end up being gift items for certain people back home, and telling them about them would make it much less fun as a surprise.
After we were done with Paddy's market we went back to the hostel to drop our stuff off in the room. We decided to skip going to the rumored three stories of mall-like shops in the floors above Paddys market. Back at the hostel we sat for a bit and ate our lunches (guess we didn't have to pack them today after all!). Shortly afterward we set off for our next activity: visiting the Powerhouse Museum.
The Powerhouse Museum consisted of four floors of displays of various kinds. Some included different types of arts and graphics design, some included interactive displays and activities involving science. There were also displays of glass art of many form
s with an interactive glass-making display, a bunch of things about the history of steam engines and the railroad, some displays from Australian life in the early 1900s, and a display about the history of space science including models of several early satellites, the space shuttle, a rocket engine, and lunar rovers. All in all it was a pretty cool museum, using up several hours of our time.In the late afternoon we walked over to the Darling Harbour region of Sydney. We found the Sydney Aquarium and explored the various tanks of creatures within. The aquarium specialized in having a wide variety of Australian species of fish, aquatic animals, and reptiles. We got to see platypuses up close through a glass tank as they swam underwater looking for whatever it is that platapuses look for when they swim underwater with their eyes closed. Apparently they use electrical and touch receptors to locate their food. There were several species of snakes in one part of the building, including the most venemous snake in the world. I can't remember it's name, but it is a black snake that is only a couple of feet long. I'm not quite sure why a snake that size needs so much venom. There were also numerous tanks of fish including all of the characters from Finding Nemo (I couldn't find Nemo though.. only a species that looked kinda similar).
There were three "oceanariums" in the aquarium and they were really cool. The first one we went to w
as a seal display with several seals. You could look at them from above, but then we also went downstairs and walked underneath, where you could look up at the animals. The one seal was having a lot of fun playing with a cattail-type piece of plant root. The second Oceanarium was even cooler than the first, housing many many fish including a half dozen species of shark! There were several large grey nurse sharks in the tank that were about 15 feet long! Of the several species of sting-rays flying through the water, there was one that I swear could have eaten a shark for breakfast if it wanted. It was probably about two feet thick (pretty thick for a flat animal!), and had a "wingspan" that was around 6 feet or so. There was also a huge sea turtle in there that was 3-4 feet long. It was cool seeing all these animals from the side, and underneath. A third oceanarium was a great barrier reef display, with many reef species. This is where most of Nemo's crew was.After we finished enjoying all the species at the aquarium we went back out to the shops along the edge of darling harbour. We did a little checking around and found a nice cafe (Blackbird Cafe) to eat supper at. The food was really good and the service was excellent; I was amazed at how fa
st the food got to us after we ordered. I had some mixed veggies in curry sauce with rice, and garlic bread on the side. It was about $A15 for the meal which is pretty inexpensive, especially compared to some of the other meals at other restaurants along the harbour.After supper we went back to the hostel and relaxed for a bit before trying to figure out what to do with the rest of the evening. We ended up deciding to go to a bar that looked pretty nice and hang out. We spent some time just chatting, listening to the music, and enjoying the "entertainment": rugby was on one tv, music videos on another, people were playing pool, etc. After a while we left and came back for the night.
posted by itsbenrael at 6:31 PM
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