Short and Pale Travel: 2nd Sydney post, a few days late

bronte baths, prohibition bars and twighlight at taronga

Well we've been in sydney now for about 4 days and i wish i could say that our love has faded... but its just grown. we've found so many things and people that are just so lovely and our happiness level is at an ultimate high.

friday was spent waking up, running along the beach to the bronte baths where col took a dip and i, well just dipped my toes... It was a little cold for me - then we went to one of their darling coffee shops grabbed a "take away" cap and watched the water for a bit. we took our time walking back checking out all the amazing coves then found our way back to bondi. we then headed to brown sugar for one of our favorite meals yet, then headed back with full bellies for a nap. we woke up to a tropical thunder and lightening storm that lasted about 30 minutes then headed to the CBD (Central Business District, or city center) in Sydney to join Sarah and her friends for a drink. we found ourselves in an underground ally in a prohibition bar that puts bourbon and branch to shame, and sipped our bevs while being surrounded by famous cricket players and actresses (which we, of course, were oblivious to). we then headed over to padington which is a lovely and quaint area of town and munched on some delicious thai food over great conversation with sarahs friends Abby and Kathryn.

We woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and excited- we went for another run along bondi this time and looked like delightful sweaty Americans trying to get used to this heat. We then popped over to their local farmers market and picked up some fresh bread, meat, cheese and veggies. The market was tiny- no bigger than a street corner in the states but full of farmers who literally are bringing their homegrown produce straight to bondi for the morning. We grabbed some breakie (no I'm not trying to sound hip, that's really what they call it here:))- sat on the grass, listened to the live music, and enjoyed cooling down. We watched super cool parents hang with their kids, no worries at all, and both talked about how this place makes us excited to have some munchkins (hopefully tall and tan ones:)).Later that day we sat at a cafe for a while, grilled up our veggies and then headed out for a night to remember.

We walked to rosebay to grab the ferry to circular quay (harbor bridge/opera house etc:)) and admired the town and trees as we got to the dock. We hopped on the ferry and the first stop was watsons bay which we heard from May was amazing. Well, we weren't supposed to hop off the ferry but we just had to- we went over to Doyle's for some fish and chips and a few beers. We then watched 3 more ferries pass us by till we realized we were going to need to catch the last one. We gobbled down our last "chip", then the bar tenders poured our leftover beers in coffee cups (yes... Awesome), and we ran to the ferry... Missed that damn thing one more time- then caught the last one. We oooo'd and awww'd at the gorgeous views from the ferry and quickly arrived at circular quay. We then scurried around a bit and caught our connecting ferry to the taronga zoo for "twighlight at taronga" a tribute to ray charles concert at the zoo. Taking the ferry to the zoo during sunset may be one of the coolest things we do here in sydney. It was stunning. We then got to the zoo and were escorted down to the concert while passing all the animal pens--- we both couldn't stop smiling it was that awesome. We then settled down on the lawn to look at the stage which had the backdrop of the opera house and harbor bridge. And then they started singing the best of ray charles. It was so cool and I think we both got goosebumps when they started playing Georgia on my Mind. We snacked on sandwiches and sipped some wine while loving every minute of it. Then this guy singing who was really, impressively good turns out to be the runner up of the Australian voice- darren percival? Yea- we didn't know who the guy was but he sure was talented and put on a great show. We ended up staying so late we missed the last bus and luckily found out there was a special ferry to take people back (which was great since Colin went into travel mode and was about to hitch hike us a ride :). We got home just a bit later and called it a night.

A few fun things we've learned out here... There are way too many Dodgers and Yankee hats, people not only drive on the wrong side of the road but they also walk on the wrong side and Colin and have run into our fare share of people many of times at this point. Stupid Americans. There are a million chocolate labs here, they're adorable, and old people don't mind getting naked right there on the beach. It's hysterical and we love it.

Now we're just reading,blogging, and resting at bronte beach trying to figure out how to extend our time in sydney (and also how to stop sweating- I mean...it is HOT out here:)).