Part 2, Week 12: April 8-14
- Katie and Webster
- Apr 13, 2019
- 4 min read
This week has flown by. We can’t believe it has been three months since we left home! This adventure is one of the best things we have ever done, and it is going by too quickly.
On Monday Webster and I both had busy school days. I had a few group meetings so I headed to school a bit earlier than normal. Webster had a little sleep in and then was off to campus too. In the evening, we had some chicken skewers on the Barbie (BBQ)! We felt very Australian.
On Tuesday we both had really long days. I made it to school by 8am and had class until 7pm. Webster left a little bit after me but wasn’t back until 9pm. These longs days are good for me because it means that I only have to commute to school two days a week!
On Wednesday I headed to volunteering and ended up staying most of the day at the school because of scheduling conflicts. This is my last volunteer session for two weeks as Australian students have their mid-year break. They get two weeks off now and come back for Term 2 in May. Webster spent the morning at school and then headed to ultimate frisbee for the afternoon. It was pretty cool and windy so we spent the evening studying.
On Thursday we had plans to go to Coogee Beach but it was 15 degrees in the morning. Instead, we planned our entire Asia trip this summer. We have now booked all flights and hotels. It was a huge job! We have changed our last stop from Taipei to Seoul, South Korea. We will spend a few days in the city and then head out to the North Korean border - it will be fascinating!
On Friday, we woke up very early to watch the Masters and Leafs game. The 14 hour time change may not seem like much, but it sure does suck sometimes. After lunch, when the game was over, we spent the day studying again. It seems like all we did this week was study! I am done my reading for 2/4 classes so my workload will be significantly less when our first guests arrive this week. Webster is finishing three projects, 2-4 weeks early so he doesn’t have to worry about those either. In the evening we went for a walk around our new neighbourhood to explore a little and pick up some groceries.
In the evening, we climbed up the Sydney Harbour Bridge to see the Opera House and city all lit up. There is a play happening every night for two weeks in the harbour. They light fireworks off behind the opera house so we wanted to watch them from above, on the bridge. It was a very windy night but still a great view! We enjoyed all ten seconds of the short firework show LOL.
On Saturday we woke up bright and early to head to Cockatoo Island. We had seen Cockatoo Island from our few ferry rides and wanted to check it out. It is a UNESCO heritage listed site, and was previously a dock yard, mens prison, and Aboriginal meeting point. We took a ferry from Circular Quay under the Harbour Bridge to Cockatoo Island. Only a few park rangers actually live on the island, but tourists can stay on the campground or in one of the heritage homes. When we arrived we immediately thought we were in a video game. It was so deserted, all run down, half broken buildings…this is where zombies would live if they existed. We spent the morning wandering around before going on a Convict Precinct Walking Tour. We heard from a historian about the crazy things that happened on the island. We got to tour the barracks, mess hall, guards quarters, and the solitary confinement cells. She shared some unique stories - one that was really cool was Ranger Thunderbolt who escaped, swam to shore, and ran away into the mountains. After the tour we walked through the old dock yards. We found some location scouts while we were touring around, they were taking photos for a new movie to be filmed on the island. At about 2pm, we headed back to the main land to explore the Rocks area.
Webster had read about the Rocks Discovery Museum on a travel blog so we had to check it out. We spent an hour or so wandering around the museum learning about the Aboriginals who lived at the Harbour before the European settlers began to drop convicts in Sydney. It was really interesting to learn about how much they know from thousands of years ago.
In the evening, we headed to Chur Burger. We had seen Chur Burger on Instagram and wanted to try their burgers to see if they were good enough to take our visitors to try. I had a spicy chicken burger and Webster had a brie beef burger. Although very delicious and cooked fresh to order, we didn’t think two burgers and two sides were worth $50, especially at a fast food restaurant.
On Sunday, we woke up bright and early again to watch the Master’s and Leafs hockey! We spent the afternoon working on school projects and readings. Then we meal prepped for the week, making lunches and BBQ’ing some meat for dinner. In the evening, we went out to Mr.Crackles. Mr.Crackles is another Instagram famous Sydney restaurant that we had to try. Their speciality is pork crackling on top of everything they serve. Webster had a pork crackling hot dog, and I had a pork crackling poutine - it was delicious!!
After dinner we worked on the blog, planned some activities for the week and watched the Master’s again at 11pm.
This week our first guests from home are arriving! We are so looking forward to the next four weeks filled with visitors. We have a jam-packed schedule so we will keep you posted with all our adventures!
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