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Day 18: 26/6/13
I took it easy today and decided to wander around the city a bit more. I had to go to the bank first to get some cash for Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. I was told you can't get Cambodian money outside of Cambodia so I got some US dollars aswell which they accept in all the countries. I didn't get much of any currency but just enough to last me a little while in each. I'm not expecting to spend too much as its's supposed to be awfully cheap so I didn't want to take out a lot incase it was too much.
I walked around the city then. I wanted to walk around the opera house as yesterday I' only seen it from across the harbour. On the way I came to St. Mary's cathedral again which the guide said yesterday was influenced by Irish Catholicism so I went in to have a look. Sure enough the stained glass windows looked exactly like they do at home. Also, there were statues of bishops and priests and stuff that all had Irish names- one was Kelly anyway. There was a crypt which apparently had a Celtic cross on the ground but I didn't go down to look!
I went past the main shopping area then and went into the Strand arcade for a look. This was another old shopping building like the Queen Victoria building with nice designs and expensive shops. There were two like this in Melbourne aswell- I wonder if we have arcades in Ireland?
I got to circular quay then where the ferries go from. On one side of it is the harbour bridge and on the other side is the opera house. It's a bit of a nuisance walking around there as you can't take pictures of both at the same time! You don't know where to look!
I walked around the Opera house then. It's a busy area with lots of tourists and for some reason, lots of joggers. You are mostly beside the wall of the opera house which is brown and not very appealing. You can see the roof quite clearly though and it's made up of much smaller tiles than you would think- there must be thousands of them! It's impossible to get a good photo of it close up as you can just see bits of roof really. It looks nicer from a distance but you can appreciate how big it is when you're looking right up at it. It started lashing rain while I was there but luckily it didn't last long. While I was walking around there too I noticed People climbing the bridge- it's a long way up! I don't know I I could do it!
I wasn't sure where I'd go next and I looked at the map for some inspiration. It looked like the botanic garden would give me a view of the opera house and the harbour bridge together which I wanted so I walked there. I feel like I've been walking miles for the last few days! Near were I entered the garden was a government house. It was a pretty impressive building but I don't know when it was used or if it is used now.
I walked along the water then and when I got around the bay to the other pensinsula bit I could see the opera house and the bridge together. The bridge isn't a particularly nice bridge but it looks cool for some reason. The two attractions looked well together aswell. The only problem was that the weather was bad and for most of the time I was there, there was a big black cloud over them and it almost looks like it's night time in the photos! I asked people to take a photo of me aswell but I just came out really dark in them. The sun wasn't playing ball with me at all!
Out in the harbour there's a tiny island called Fort dennison or Tennyson or something. The aboriginals used to use it as a fishing spot. The Brittish settlers used it for punishment and used to leave people out there. Later they hung people there and left the bodies hanging there a a reminder to all the convicts.
I walked through the botanic gardens then to try and find my way back to the main streets. The gardens were really pretty but at this stage I was getting a bit tired as I'd been walking for ages and walking a lot the last few days! I came to an art gallery at the edge of the gardens so I went in for a rest! I looked around at some of the paintings which were impressive enough but I didn't take in much information and once I had the ground floor done I sat in the cafe for a while to wake myself up a bit!
On the way back to the hostel I passed Pj O briens Irish pub and decided to go in for a drink and dinner. The menu was very Irish and I had chicken curry- half rice, half chips- the way you get it at home! Over here, curry is only in Asian places where they wouldn't have the likes of chips! It tasted good but I had to spend a few minutes searching for a knife and fork so it went a bit soggy! I had two drinks while I was there too and watched some Wimbledon on the big screen- I was happy out! There were loads of lads there in suits after finishing work- some Irish, some not. I saw a few eating tayto taytos no less!! There's a big rugby game on later in the evening so they were all there for that. I would have stayed for it but it was going to be too late to walk back to the hostel afterwards.
I watched the game in the hostel- lots of people there were watching it aswell. New South Wales were playing Queensland in the State of Origin. It's a rugby league competition- players play for the state that they first played rugby league in. They all play for different clubs- I think this may be the only time that they play as a state. Queensland have won for the last 7 years. There are three games in the series. The last game was won by New South Wales. This was the second one and there were great hopes that New South Wales might win this year. Unfortunately, they were terrible and Queensland hammered them 26-6. I don't think the third game will be a problem for them!
The hostel is small enough and you can see that a lot of people there know each other. There seems to be a lot of people stayin long term. They are very much a family and cook and eat together as well as drink together during the game and stuff. It's a pity the hostel I stayed in was much bigger where you hardly saw the same people, apart from those in your room. I'll know for again if I'm ever staying in a hostel for a while to pick a small one!
Today at one stage when I was going to the bathroom, I went to pull down my trousers and whatever move I made, I caught my nail in a button at the back of my trousers. It ripped about a third of my nail right off, clean off the skin! It was soooo sore! As I'm writing this a few days late I can tell you that it's still a bit sore and was properly painful for about 3 days! It hurt to touch anything at all- I couldn't even type on the computer! Who knew the top of your finger could be so tender!
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