A Tourist In The City

      Last night some new friends (Ryan & Jeremy- Canada and Julien- France) and I tried to go down to the Coogee Bay Hotel, a local hotspot with a really pretty "beer garden" that overlooks the beach.  Turns out the Aussies actually care about and enforce one thing: dress code.  Since "neat casual attire" forbids guys from wearing thongs inside the building, we weren't permitted inside... (What is your facial expression like right now? Are you wondering why I went out with guys in thongs last night? Maybe it would change the story a little if I told you that here in Australia, thongs are flip-flops...) Anyways, so after we were denied entrance, we decided that Plan B would be to hang out at the water's edge and talk and listen to the waves. I can't help but be grateful for a life where my second-best plan for the night is hanging out by the ocean...

"Aussie Sunrise" from restaurant Pancakes On The Rocks
Buttermilk pancakes, Australian bacon, fried egg and grilled banana and pineapple

     This morning, that same group and I wandered into Sydney pretty early in the morning and decided to do as much of the touristy things as we could. We started by having breakfast by the harbour, which was amazing.  We went to a place called Pancakes On The Rocks which features pancakes or crepes in every entree from breakfast through dinner and offers a huge menu of specialty pancakes that taste more like dessert than breakfast. Ryan got a Devil's Delight which was chocolate pancakes with creme, vanilla ice cream, fresh strawberries and chocolate sauce, Jeremy got The Strawberry Patch which was buttermilk pancakes, vanilla ice cream and strawberries, and I, feeling really hungry and knowing I would be back (soon!) to try some of the others, got a breakfast sampler.  This is easily my favorite restaurant here so far...nothing beats really fluffy pancakes :)
       Afterwards we toured the historic area of "The Rocks," the part of Sydney where the first settlement was founded. It was kind of boring, so we didn't stay there long.

The Opera House and the Sydney skyline

Loving the fresh salmon sushi

       Next, we took a ferry from Circular Quay (pronounced Key) to Darling Harbour, passing under the Harbour Bridge and getting some great views of the Opera House. In Darling Harbour is the Sydney fish market, which had a ridiculous selection of fish, octopus, clams, mussels, lobsters, crabs, everything...and it was all so fresh...it amazed me that there were all these different yummy creatures being caught every morning and sold here. Within the fish market is also a bakery and a cheese maker. Basically it's a one-stop shop for what could be many delicious meals. At the sushi bar I tried (and loved!) my first piece of sushi ever, using chopsticks and everything, made from fresh salmon.

Fresh fish at the Sydney fish market

     On our way out of the fish market we saw a sign for a free "Planet Shark" exhibit at the National Maritime Museum.  Here we saw an exhibit about forced child migration into Australia, some Aboriginal art and traditions, and of course, the sharks.  We read about the shark tagging that has been happening in order to help maintain the Great White Shark's presence in the ocean. At this point I noticed the huge explanation about the most successful of these tags; a shark named Bruce tagged in April, 2004. (The movie Finding Nemo came out in 2003 and features a vegetarian Great White named Bruce. Apparently the movie inspired more than just my blog title...)  The exhibit made a big deal about how you're more likely to get struck by lightning than attacked by a shark and made comparisons between the number of deaths by chair or kite to deaths by sharks. That was only a little hard to take seriously since a professional diver just gotten eaten on the North coast a few days ago..

The Chinese Friendship Garden

We also went into the Chinese Friendship Garden, which is Central Park-esque in the manner that it is smack dab in the middle of a bunch of corporation high rises.  The Asian nations and Australia have close ties and this garden was meant to be a project that symbolized this bond.  Rocks that resembled animals were specifically chosen for the garden and there were lots of waterfalls and a really relaxing walking path.

Overall, it was an exhausting but fun day and I am so excited that I can go back whenever I want to see things I might have missed!