More on Sydney

Sydney is definitely a different scene than Melbourne - now I understand what everyone was saying before I left.  Melbourne has an artsy vibe; it is the type of city where you can endlessly walk down alleys and find amazing shops, bars, and restaurants.  The people (and the city) have a very laid back attitude and everyone I have met so far has been very friendly.

Sydney is much more fast-paced and stressful although beautiful.  The picture on the home page of my blog is of the famous Sydney Opera House, with which I have become a little obsessed...  I went on the official tour today and actually got to see the Sydney Symphony rehearsing.  Then, I took the ferry to Manly Beach and enjoyed watching surfers while laying out on the beach.  After spending my last few days at Bondi/Tamarama/Bronte beaches, it was nice to see something different, and Manly really is worth the 45 min. ferry ride to get there.

I could not spend too much time relaxing on the beach though, because I had my first job interview in Sydney CBD (what they call the downtown city area) today.  After getting ready in the bathroom at the Manly library (not even kidding, people probably thought I was homeless), I took the ferry back to Sydney.  I am embarrassed to admit what I wore to my interview - I did not bring any dress clothes with me on this trip to Sydney - so I ended up wearing my bathing suit under a sundress with a cardigan and open-toed heels, ugh...  However, for those of you who are interested, it went really well and I have a second interview tomorrow, wish me luck!

After my interview, I walked around the Botanical Gardens which are amazing because not only do they overlook the water and opera house (told you I was obsessed), but you can also see the city landscape in the background.  It amazes me how much wildlife lives in the gardens, within the city!  I am not even exaggerating when I say there must have been thousands of flying foxes which are basically the biggest bats  I have ever seen with the faces of foxes.  Look for pictures soon!

Other than that, I went to an open-air movie last night (think Movie in the Park at Delores Park) at Centennial Park - which the tickets are $17 but I got in for free.  :)  I also started doing the Coastal walk from Bondi Beach to Coogie Beach which is amazingly beautiful but very tiring, so I turned back before I made it the whole way.  Along the way, I stopped to meet a friend (Lena) at Tamarama Beach and really wanted to go swimming because it was so hot!  However, there were signs that the beach was closed because there were blue bottle jellyfish.  Even though I had heard that being stung can be very painful (and even deadly), I thought if the surfers could do it, so could I.  However as soon as I walked to the water and saw all of the blue bottle jellyfish washed up on the sand, I literally ran back to my towel.  Instead I settled for going swimming in a natural ocean water pool on Bronte Beach.

On Saturday, I was supposed to meet a girl I knew from work in SF for a bbq on Bronte Beach, however it was raining so we ended up having a house party instead.  It is actually at this party that I got my interview today - thanks Lizzy!  All of the people at the party ended up being from SF and work in Advertising, so I felt right at home.  It is good to know that I am not the only crazy person leaving their life behind to live and work in Australia for a year (or a few as some of them have been here for longer).

I am excited because I am hopefully going to learn how to surf tomorrow at Bondi (if the weather is good) and then I head back to Melbourne on Wednesday.  However, there will be many more adventures along the way I am sure...