Hello hello! Another amazing day Down Under! We had another very interesting guest speaker today in class to talk to us about professional blogging as well as travel writing in general. She was really nice, and had some good advice for serious blogging, as well as vlogging (so you may see some video blogs sometime in the near future)! While we unfortunately didn't end up going to a rugby game, we got to do something equally as fun: head across the harbour to North Sydney to go to Luna Park, a famous amusement park out here! We'd wanted to go last weekend, but had been astounded by the $50 entry fee (as it's really not that big). Tonight was our lucky night however, as they were running a half off deal for unlimited rides, so we were able to get in for a closer to decent amount. We took the train across the Bridge (which was exciting cause that's what I'll be climbing tomorrow morning!), and then it's just a two minute walk from the train station down to Luna Park, which sits right on the harbour below the bridge, so you have a gorgeous view of the Opera House and Bridge from there. That's what the entry looks like: really freaking creepy if you ask me, I mean, look at those dead eyes and those unnaturally shiny teeth with those terrifyingly red cheeks. This thing will be haunting me for weeks. Even worse, they had slippers in the shape of this horrendous face in the gift shop (right next to the "Keep Calm and Don't Vom" tshirts. Lovely).
The view from the Ferris Wheel was particularly stunning (even though it doesn't look like it in the picture, that's my bad, as I had to stick my hand out between the bars to take it, and was too worried about dropping it to avoid the blob of light there in the corner), but it gives you an idea. Even more surprising, the place was completely empty. There were maybe ten other people besides us running around the park, so there were no lines for any of the rides! This meant we could talk with some of the staff, ride however many times we wanted without getting off, and not have to stand around for hours to do it. It was also an absolutely gorgeous night, and the perfect temperature for an amusement park. We got to ride all the rides (poor Tori, who either sprained or broke her finger when she fell the other day, had to take off her splint or they wouldn't let her on the rides, which sucked) and just had a generally awesome time!
Our favorite place was definitely the fun house, which opened up into this huge arena with more fun carnival games to play. As you can see, they had some of those giant slides. The one all the way on the left had a crazy, practically vertical first drop that you can't quite see because of the way the roof is, but it made me feel like I was going to pitch forward, face plant, and slide my way down face front. Luckily, that didn't happen, and we just got some crazy sick speed which was amazing! Our favorite ride was definitely the "Wheel of Joy", a slanted, spinning giant top looking thing, where you sat in the center and tried to stay on as it spun faster and faster. As an added challenge, you had to do things like put your hands in the air, and touch your toes. I managed to win once (which is on video, but on a friend's phone, so I'll put it up once I get my hands on it) which was awesome, but Paula seemed to be the best out of all of us. The girl running it thought we were hysterical, because we must have asked her to run it at least fifteen times we were having so much fun. She was laughing nearly as hard as we were!
After we finished all the rides, we spent some time taking pictures with those cutouts with the heads missing, which was a blast, but also on a friend's phone, so those will be posted tomorrow as well. Once we'd finally worn ourselves out, we decided to get some ice cream before we left. The ice cream is very different here then in America, which was unexpected. It's much lighter and fluffier, it kind of feels like whipped cream rather than ice cream. It's still really good, and it actually makes it much easier to eat on an ice cream cone, but it felt kind of light and strange! Mariah and Tori also couldn't resist stopping for some "Fairy Floss" which is what they call cotton candy here (such a cute name, we should adopt that in the States)! Finally we were ready to head home, so we took the train back to Central Station, just a block away from our dorm. In other exciting news, I stopped to get my very first meat pie over here in Australia and it was really really good! It had beef, gravy, and bacon with barbecue on top, and it was very filling! While I still have lamingtons to try on my list, it's nice to have that Aussie meal out of the way, and I'd love to try some of their other types of pies!
On a completely unrelated note, I would like to briefly take a moment to say that the facial hair over here in Australia is really quite strange. While I'm all about that stubble, some Aussie boys seem to love having the most bizarre beard styles. While on the train, there were at least five different younger men with very, erm, interesting, styles. From half bushy, half close knit shaved beards, to mustaches shaved in stripes, to beards that are long under the chin but short on the face, it really is quite bizarre (and hilarious) to look at. Thankfully, this still seems to be an exception, rather than a rule, but you do see these weird styles way more here than in the States. Strange.
Now that I've got that off my chest, I'm going to have a bit of an earlier night so that I can get up early to go to the Rocks market before heading to my Bridge Climb. I'm super excited, keep your fingers crossed for me that the rain stays away! Hope you all have lovely days, and enjoy some of our amusement park pictures!
Now that I've got that off my chest, I'm going to have a bit of an earlier night so that I can get up early to go to the Rocks market before heading to my Bridge Climb. I'm super excited, keep your fingers crossed for me that the rain stays away! Hope you all have lovely days, and enjoy some of our amusement park pictures!