(East Coast:) Driving, ballet, Manly...

Monday 17.12.

The last two days of our trip were mostly just driving. We got up quite early and drove to Byron Bay. It was cloudy and rainy, so instead of going to the beach we decided to do this 4km-long walking loop in Cape Byron. It was worth walking, since we saw some cool beaches filled with surfers, high rocks, the most eastern point of Australia, a lighthouse and some forest. We also got some proper exercise because the walk contained lots of stairs! After the walk we drove to the little town centre, and after walking around for a while found this nice café where we wanted to have lunch. We shared this huge piece of spinach pie with salad and Turkish bread, and with cappuccino it was a delicious meal indeed.

The beach at Byron Bay

We had some 400km left to drive to Port Macquire so we just drove, stopping just to go to the toilet or change drivers. It was nice driving while listening to the radio :) We arrived in Port Macquire in the evening, and our last backpackers was a nice, quiet and comfy place. We walked to the nearby Coles to buy sauce for our pasta dinner, and cooked it in the kitchen. After watching TV for a while we went to bed.

Tuesday 18.12.

We had a 400km-long drive to Sydney, so we woke up at 7am to get an early start. We drove straight, stopping only to change drivers and tank the car. Because of good highways with several lines and high speed limits (110km/h) we arrived in Sydney at around 2pm. We decided to drive straight to Hertz to return the car. I had been a bit worried about finding the right exit and driving in downtown, but did really well :) Juulia drove and I read the map and gave directions. The only confusing time was when we were driving on the Harbour Bridge and had to choose from 6 different lines going either to east or west and with different road payments. With good luck we chose the right one and ended up on George Street, from where I knew the way. Returning the car in good condition felt relieving! And we had saved $200 each by not taking the insurance :)

We took the bus to Central and walked to Gumal, where my (or actually Moy´s) new room is located. I called Tim and he came to give me Moy´s student card, which is also the key. We got into the apartment, and headed straight to Coles to buy light lunch. Then it took us a while to get ready for a ballet. I had booked us tickets to go see The Nutcracker at the Opera House. We decided to go out to eat in Circular Quay before the ballet, and chose the same restaurant I had been to with Silja in February. It was kinda a nice decision, to begin and end my exchange year at the same restaurant. I chose a pumpkin frittata with salad and Juulia had some kind of chicken wraps.

We were at the Opera House just in time to find our seats, that provided truly restricted view. I wonder if you can find any crappier seats :/ But the ballet was excellent! It started Clara, the main character, celebrating Christmas with her family and their many guests. It was just so many skilled dancers, beautiful costumes and colourful preps! The dancer playing Clara´s part was this symphatic and happy looking tiny Chinese girl, who was an excellent dancer. All the other dancers were great, too, and I enjoyed both the solos/pair numbers and group performances. It´s amazing how the male dancers can jump so high with such ease! The first half was more about the story, while the second half contained more skilful dancing with the performances of different nationalities. I really wish I could´ve seen the ballet from a decent seat… After the ballet we went to the Opera Bar by the sea to have cocktails. We both chose cocktails with red berries :P Then we just took the bus back home, and went to sleep after a long day.

Wednesday 19.12.

(Even though being back in Sydney already I consider this as a part of the holiday since Juulia was still with me.) We would´ve wanted to go to the beach, but because it was a rather cloudy day we decided to do this walk in Manly instead. So after going to Coles we took the ferry over to Manly, where we picked up maps from the info centre. The walk was 10km long, and went mostly along the shoreline. I was glad I got to do it, since it provided some good views over Manly and Sydney. Some of the highlights of the walk were also these big, posh houses with great views and instant access to the beach. The walk consisted of some look outs, ideal for taking pictures, and a part of bush walking. We sat down every now and then, but reached the end point of the walk after a couple of hours anyways. It was a beach by a park, and we had our picknic lunch there. We had bought blueberry muffins, accompanied with grapes and chocolate. Then we laid down on the beach and would´ve fallen asleep if the wind hadn´t gotten too strong to make us feel cold. We decided to head home, and took a bus to Wynyard and then to Central.

Nice houses in Manly

A view over Sydney

We spent a quiet night at home. We cooked chicken curry for dinner, watched ER and just hung out. Juulia´s flight departed early the next morning, so she had to do some packing. I was too lazy to wake up to take her to the airport, so we just said quick good byes before she left. And anyways we´ll be seeing each other in Lappeenranta really soon :) (Auch, I´ll be home in less than 3 weeks…)