Another weekend in Sydney is in the books, and sadly, it’s my last. I leave on Friday, but not before a long (and by long, I mean short) week of work, and a bunch of fun activities planned for the evenings. But I’ll update you on those after they happen. This weekend I got one of the worst sunburns I can remember having. I know the hole in the O Zone down here makes the sun so much more intense, but I didn’t think I was out that long! I’m still in pain on my shoulders, which is conveniently the same spot I carry all my bags. I really hope it’s better by tomorrow.

Friday night after work, I met up with Aarron to do a bit of shopping. I got a few souvenirs for friends and myself, then we walked through Chinatown and had dinner at The Old Town Hong Kong which was quite good! I even tried duck for the first time! It was tasty, though the skin could have been crisper. We also had salt and pepper shrimp, fried noodles, seafood spring rolls and roast pork belly. A veritable feast! After dinner, we went to a sort of speakeasy for drinks and to watch the North Sydney kids train wreck themselves nearly out of the bar. It was really entertaining, but Aarron had to be up early to go to work in the morning, so we didn’t stay long.

Saturday morning dawned cold and sunny. The perfect day for site seeing. My coworker Tara and I walked down to Circular Quay to catch the ferry to Manly Beach.

We were starving when we got there, and since we didn’t really know where we were going or where all the shops were, we got stuck eating McDonalds for breakfast. But we did get to see some cockatoos (which are so much bigger than I realized) eating on the beach, and once we found our way, the day got so much better.

We walked along the street leading to the beach, got some coffee and juice, checked out the little market, and finally ended up walking on the beach. It was SO NICE!

It wasn’t too hot, the breeze was blowing, and the water was refreshing. We sat on the beach for about an hour, then Tara decided she wanted to do more site seeing in the city and headed back. I stayed another 45 minutes or so to finish my book, then meandered back to the ferry myself, stopping to buy a few souvenirs on the way.

On the ferry, I got a spot up front outside with amazing views of the harbor, bridge and Opera House.

Finally I got the pictures I’ve been wanting to take! But they came at a price. By the time I made it back to my hotel, my shoulders were so hot and painful, I knew it was a bad burn. Instead of walking around more, I decided to relax, do some more reading, and rest up for the next day. It’s not like I’m likely to run out of reading material.

Before bed, Aarron had to take me to Mary’s Burgers for dinner, Sydney’s equivalent to Dick’s in Seattle. It was so tasty. Well, except for her weird smoke flavored milk shake that tasted like cigarettes to me. Thank goodness I stuck with that old favorite: chocolate. We ate back in my hotel room and due to an early start in the morning, she crashed with me. Stay tuned!