Sydney Aquarium & Taranga Zoo
Friday 9 November
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Glebe is pretty quiet and less hectic than the city centre. I walked back to hostel to get my stuff. Dennis had to move out too, so we said goodbye to the girl behind the counter. We walked to the bus stop and waited. We talked about the things we wanted to do. He's going to visit Melbourne. I've been there and I didn't like it. So I hope he'll like it more than I did.
The bus stopped close to the Sydney Central YHA, a short walk and I could check-in. Normally, check-in time is at 2.00pm, I got lucky! Dennis wanted to stay at the same hostel, but the hostel was fully booked. We said goodbye and I got my electronic keycard. Level 3, room 315 will be my home for the next coming week.
Staying at the Central YHA felt like a sort of homecoming. Everything is just at a walking distance away, the stores, internet cafes, entertainment and lots more. I started to unpack my stuff and put them away into my locker. Packed my small backpack, just the ordinary things like my camera, camcorder, a bottle of water and off I went.
Today it was kind of cloudy, a great day to visit the Sydney Aquarium. First checking my e-mails at the Global Gossip, an internet cafe near the hostel. From there I walked to Darling Harbour. Standing at the Pyrmont Bridge looking down at the Sydney Aquarium, a lot of people standing around the entrance.
Shoot! A lot of school children too! Oh well, I'm going in! Fortunately there aren't many people standing in line. Pulled out my YHA member card and asked if I could get a discount. No worries! YHA-members get discount! Saved me about $ 6 AUD entree fee. The YHA member card saves you a fortune!
Armed with a camera and camcorder I strolled down the aquarium. This place is so huge and there is so much to see about the marine life. When I saw that one part was stacked with people, I skipped it and went somewhere else and came back later. Avoiding the big mass, so you can easily see things without a hassle.
Seeing a platypus in real life is weird. It's seems that the only thing the platypus was doing, is looking for food. There are so many basins with diverse sea creatures. The main basin with sharks swimming around is awesome! The predators of the sea are really fascinating to see. Safe behind glass you can walk all the way around. Not only sharks are swimming around, but also big stingrays and other kinds of fish.
Fortunately I was on time for the fish feeding. Two divers were feeding the fish. Too bad that the sharks didn't want to corporate. I'd really love to see that, but only the other fish were joining the eating frenzy. After spending one and a half hour in the aquarium, it was time to leave. Walked from the aquarium into the city centre. Stopped at a photoshop to buy new film rolls. A six-pack of 36 exposures will do nicely for this coming week. At Circular Quay I looked at the time schedule for the Sydney ferries.
I wanted to visit Taranga Zoo, but I had to wait for at least 35 minutes. Plenty of time left to walk to the Sydney Opera House, before catching the ferry. From time to time, the sun came peeking behind the clouds. The Sydney Opera House is such a magnificent place to visit each time when I'm around here. Needed to go back to the wharf and bought a snack with prawns before boarding the ferry.
I walked through the gates and waited for the ferry to arrive. Crossing Port Jackson to Taranga Zoo, you have a fantastic opportunity to take pictures of the famous Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. I couldn't let this opportunity pass by and took more pictures. Once we arrived at the wharf, the entrance to the Taranga Zoo was just a short walking distance away. I met Oskar from Denmark and decided while we were here, why not walk together and visit the zoo. No worries! Contacts are so easily made when you're travelling alone.
First a visit to the information desk, but it was closed. Too bad, now we had to find our way through the zoo on our own. Oskar wanted to see the turtles and I just wanted to see the crocodiles. Everything else we could see in the zoo will be nice. Not very soon it started to rain, first just a little bit and then harder. Time to find some shelter. I didn't have a raincoat with me. Getting soaking wet isn't very pleasant, because I had to go back to hostel too. Not to mention the expensive equipment i'm carrying. Thank goodness it was a quick local shower.
A few minutes later, mist was lifting into the air and covered the Sydney skyline. Never seen it before, it was something mystical. It must be coming from the zoo. We walked further and saw lots of mammals, reptiles, birds and much more. In one part of the zoo they had cows, horses, chicken and pigs. These aren't animals that suppose to be in the zoo. Really strange.
We arrived at the crocs, not much actions or activities here. The croc was drifting in a pool. That's about it. What a life! Moving on we found the turtles, not much action here too. It was near closing time and we had to catch our last ferry to Circular Quay.
Once back at Circular Quay, we exchanged our e-mail and said goodbye to each other. Contacts are easily made. When you're travelling alone, it seems like everything's going smoother than usual. I walked to a travel agent at Circular Quay and asked about the Blue Mountains day trip. Got a brochure and walked into the shopping area.
Bought some groceries and went back to the hostel. My dinner, you can't hardly call it dinner, because it consists of Pringles, a candy bar, fruit, Cola and mango-orange juice. Meanwhile, reading the brochure about the many day trips. Wanted to book a Blue Mountains day trip. There are so many trips to choose, all seem very nice and promising a fantastic day. Hmmm...
I didn't want to spend my entire evening in my room. So i'm went off to hit the streets again. Walking down George Street is so nice, because there are so many eating places situated here and entertainment areas like the cinemas, clubs, arcade halls and much more. Walked along the arcade halls and watched people playing videogames. I like playing videogames. The games are getting better each time, I dropped into an arcade.
Watched a few people playing "The House of the Dead 2" It was an awesome game, very detailed, high quality graphics, and lots of blood. Yeah! I felt like a real bad @ss today and convinced to help my computer counterparts to meet their creator. Exchanged some money for coins. Checking the options of the game, before I dropped the first coin.
All zombies and other creatures are coming towards me. Anything that moves is a threat. Blood everywhere! Going berserk! Game Over! It was an awesome game, but they slayed me! Nice, but time to move on. Walked around George Street till 10:00 PM and went back to the hostel. It was still warm outside.
I have walked the whole day in a shirt and shorts. What a climate to live in. Back at the hostel,
freshened up and went off to bed. It's been a long day.
