Thirsty Thursday

We woke up early on our first day in Sydney. Our room had been below freezing temperatures all night (I'm sure of it) and I woke up with no voice. Who cares, we were thirsty for culture, exploring and enjoying big city Sydney!Sydney Tower
Breakfast was alright, so after heading back in to get more clothes, we went out. We initially planned on just walking around and see whatever, and we did, for a while, until we found the Monorail. (We are lazy.. Or, I mean, we would like to see more and spend less time walking ;p )We bought day passes and happily discovered vouchers for stuff to do in Sydney :) We decided to take the monorail one stop at a time and check everything out. First out was an opal lesson with Australian Opal Cutters. Walked in to this building, took the small elevator up a couple of floors and walked out in a maximum security jail. Or at least that's what it looked like. Our opal lesson was sweet (there's something about women and precious stones I think) and the guy showing us samples (Byron) was humorous and entertaining. We decided to go for a pearl lesson as well, this time with Australian Pearl Divers. Another dude were showing us pearls and trying them on and stuff... Quite a feminine type. And would you believe, his name was Byron as well! (Although he didn't resemble the other guy at all...)After saying goodbye to precious stones and pearls, and leaving with a set of pearl earrings each (courtesy of Byron), we headed for our next stop: Sydney Tower. We went for the Discov3ry package, which is Sydney Tower (+ OzTrek), Sydney Wildlife World and the Sydney Aquarium. (I told you we were thirsty for culture (or tourism..))

OzTrek came first. WE had no clue what it was, but stood nicely in line and waited. We got ushered into an enclosed area with chairs and a small screen at the front and watched safety procedures (dumb American style) for our show and simulator. Before entering the real simulator, we walked into another room and saw four films, each explaining some part of Australian culture. I don't have any pictures from the simulator (no lose objects on person, sit still, don't move..) but I had a good time, and Julie a boring time :P

Took another elevator right to the top of the tower, and had an amazing view of the Sydney. We got out first sneak peak at the Opera House, and saw planes flying below us.. Sweet :PView from Sydney Tower
Julie in front of view from Sydney Tower
Hmm.. Could it be Sydney Tower?

Julie and I decided to eat at the restaurant at the top, prices weren't too bad.. and the food looked gorgeous, n'est pas?