On Wednesday 3rd, our original plan was to go on a Captain Cook Coffee Cruise (courtesy of my Mum), but for one reason or another, it was cancelled in the afternoon (we woke up late thanks to our previous night). So, instead of doing the cruise, Caitlin and I went to Manly, something I'd been meaning to do since I arrived.
It was miserable weather again, although by this point Caitlin's sickness had passed, and Manly looked not as glorious as I remember it. It was still amazing being back there, remembering the paved plazas and beautiful beach. We had Barramundi and chips by the sand for $8.90, and again Australian food is yet to be surpassed; normally I hate eating battered fish (no thanks to school), but this was delicious.
When we returned to Circular Quay it was dark, and we got a sighting of something that had been advertised everywhere for the last week: the "Vivid" festival of music, light and ideas. As the ferry came to dock, we saw the Opera House illuminated with amazing green patterns. It was beautiful, and every couple of minutes the pattern changed to something different. Caitlin walked home, but I stayed put and must have taken about 150 different photos of the Opera House. It was just mindblowing; absolutely stunning, and the perfect opportunity to try out my new camera.
Thursday we got up relatively early for the Coffee Cruise, which our commentator kept mentioning was one of the "top five things to do in Sydney". It was actually really interesting, and a great chance to see the furthest reaches of Port Jackson (the collective name for everything through the harbour heads). We went all the way up through Middle Harbour, almost as far as Middle Cove, where I'd stayed a few weeks before, and returned to Darling Harbour before berthing back at Circular Quay. There were free muffins, scones, tea and coffee on the cruise too (hence its name), which I took massive advantage of.
Once back from the cruise, we went around the Art Gallery of NSW, and then the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) with a guy named Tom, from the hostel, before heading back for the biggest plate of noodles I've ever had, and then, although totally resigned and ready for sleep, we went out again.
First stop was a pub where beer (delievered in "schooners", slightly less than a pint) was only $3. Three dollars! Very cheap compared to London. We then moved onto a bar where all of the girls got a token for free champagne, and Caitlin somehow managed to get her hands on four...before heading off to a bar on the corner of Oxford St, where again, there was much dancing.
Our original plan was to visit the Blue Mountains the next day, but given how late we woke up and our state of exhaustion, that was no longer an option. So we stayed in until the early afternoon when we went back to Circular Quay one last time where we met Florence and Maggie, and wow they were tanned. I took them on a walk similar to the first days when I showed Caitlin around. We went first to the Opera House, running around taking all sorts of tourtisy photos before moving on through the Royal Botanic Gardens and up to Mrs Macquarie's Chair. We then went back to the RBG and found some cockatoos (which unfortunately, Maggie was terrified of), and Caitlin had some raisins, so...we decided to entice the big Australian parrots into flying all over us. And that was easy. All you had to do was hold out a raisin in your hand and loads of huge, white, sulphur-crested birds would come flying at your from all directions. I had three on me at one point, but eventually the fun had to stop after one bit Caitlin's finger. Naughty cockatoo.
From the RBG we went across to George St, and down to Darling Harbour. Night was settling nicely, and the Harbour was gorgeous with a clear, calm sky, and the lights of the nearby CBD reflected in the water. From there I took everyone up to Observatory Hill Park, where the Vivid light show's advertised "light walk" started. There's a beautiful view of North Sydney and the water from the top of the hill, so more photos ensued, and afterwards we walked through the back streets of the Rocks to the Opera House again, where the light show was in full flow.
At one point Florence and I walked towards the Bridge to a seating area where we could take good photos of both the Bridge and Opera House, but as we were leaning against the rock there, I noticed hundreds of little black lines everywhere. At first I thought nothing of it, until one of the black things moved, so I shined my phone's light onto the rock, and there were little caterpillars EVERYWHERE! We jumped up and rubbed Flof's coat down before returning to Maggie and Caitlin.
Before long we had to bid our friends farewell, and Caitlin and I returned to the hostel for one final night there. I ended up watching TV, and Caitlin tried (unsuccessfully) to go out one last time.
In the morning we said our farewells to new friends, before checking out. It was sad leaving, and I wish I could leave the story there with a nice trip to the airport, but no. We were cutting it slightly fine already, and at King's Cross station had to wait ages for a train. After eventually making it to Central, we switched platforms, and waited 10 minutes on the train there before the driver told us that due to engineering problems we wouldn't be going to the airport. $15 wasted! We ran out to the street to hail a taxi, and after spending an extra $25 finally got to the International Terminal with a safe margin for checking in, but regardless, that sort of stress is unnecessary.
So we checked in, fine. And then our plane was 40 minutes late to arrive thanks to a late departure from New Zealand. So we boarded late, that was fine. And then the plane waited another 20 minutes for one passenger to arrive. And then we left Sydney.
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