Friday, April 6th - I woke up with laundry and ironing awaiting me before my holiday officially began. After that, I packed a bag and headed to Mary’s. Her host family is going away for the Easter holiday, so she invited me to stay for a girls relaxing weekend. Their multi level abode resembles a five-star tree house tucked away in an emerald jungle. The large glass windows provide optimum visibility of the entire green forest from any point inside the house. The transparent doors lead out to terraces overlooking the forest. On one level of the balcony sits patio furniture and a barbeque. We’ll have to utilize that later.
When I arrived at Mary’s, we dressed in our swimmers and met up with Laura in Manly. The walk to Manly was very scenic along the beaches and through the parks. We grabbed some sushi from our favorite place and ate it on the beach. We enjoyed our first day off soaking up the sun, being girls. Then we bought some groceries for dinner.
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| Walking to the beach |
We cooked together and ate outside on the terrace by candlelight. The moon was already up against the light blue sky. It was so peaceful outside this modern chalet. Then all of a sudden we heard cackling. In the gum trees surrounding us, a flock of kookaburras serenaded us. It sounded like the ultimate “Australian” natural soundtrack. (There's a famous Australian song about kookaburras… ) but it was actually quiet obtrusive and loud. Mary said that every morning at 5:42am they wake her up. They are the Australian rooster, the farmer’s alarm clock. Hmm, I’ll have to get used to that. Then we snuggled up for a late night movie.
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| Hoopla Festival |
Saturday, April 7th - The Kookaburas did in fact jolt me up with their shockingly loud cackles at 5:42, but they soon retired for the morning and I dozed off for a few more hourse. Then, we researched several different fun things to do for Easter in Sydney and discovered the Hoopla festival in Darling Harbour. There are several free street shows and attractions along the harbour. We watched a few acrobatic shows and were amazing by the precision in which each incredible athletic endeavor was carried out.
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| The Argyle |
After that, we did some shopping in the QVB. I found some cute dresses and only spent $18 dollars total. Mary found some adorable grey heels. Mary and I made our selves pretty and then walked down the steep hill to the bus in our heels- not a wise decision- and then made our way downtown to The Rocks at a place called the Argyle for drinks. After a few crusty guys hit on us, we decided to call it a night and went home for some wine and a movie. We also made Banana bread. I made up a fun song for our cooking masterpiece to the tune of the Muppet song “Mahna Mahna, do doo be-do-do” … My version went something like, "Banana bread, do doo be-do-do"… It gave us a serious case of the giggles. J
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| Hill Song Easter Sunday |
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N_tupPBtWQ
Sunday, April 8th- I didn’t even notice the Kookaburras this morning! I slept in and then we made pancakes- yummm. Next up- play dress up! I curled Mary’s hair and taught her how I put on my eye shadow and then we met Laura at the bus stop to go to church for Easter Sunday. It took awhile to get there and it was extremely crowded. The auditorium was full, requiring crowds to gather outside and watch the service on a large screen. The music was decent, but again, it was a full-blown concert- smoke, spotlights, videos and all. The preacher was the world famous evangelist, Reinhard Bonnke who is widely known for his great Gospel Crusades throughout Africa with millions coming to know Christ. He was very passionate and taught the ABCs of the gospel. He was very animated, for better or worse. I met some nice people sitting around me but this is not a church I want to call home. I’m still on the search for just the right church- not too hot and not too cold, but just right. It started raining as lightning lit up the sky. Yay for chilled walks through the rain in the city at night! The three of us threw our jackets over our hair and trudged through the puddles and crowded streets. To ease the pain of the unbearable walk, Mary and I started singing any song with the word Rain in it. We ended up dancing around, singing down the streets of Sydney. We also sang our Banana bread song- we could almost smell the bread from miles away and we couldn't wait to get home and have a slice. We made it back and made dinner: grilled chicken, salad, banana bread and chocolate cake... What's girls night without a little chocolate? We watched a Rom Com, 17 Again, with Zach Efron. I’m not a huge fan, but he did a decent job in this feel-good film.
Friday, April 6th - I woke up with laundry and ironing awaiting me before my holiday officially began. After that, I packed a bag and headed to Mary’s. Her host family is going away for the Easter holiday, so she invited me to stay for a girls relaxing weekend. Their multi level abode resembles a five-star tree house tucked away in an emerald jungle. The large glass windows provide optimum visibility of the entire green forest from any point inside the house. The transparent doors lead out to terraces overlooking the forest. On one level of the balcony sits patio furniture and a barbeque. We’ll have to utilize that later. 
When I arrived at Mary’s, we dressed in our swimmers and met up with Laura in Manly. The walk to Manly was very scenic along the beaches and through the parks. We grabbed some sushi from our favorite place and ate it on the beach. We enjoyed our first day off soaking up the sun, being girls. Then we bought some groceries for dinner. 
We cooked together and ate outside on the terrace by candlelight. The moon was already up against the light blue sky. It was so peaceful outside this modern chalet. Then all of a sudden we heard cackling. In the gum trees surrounding us, a flock of kookaburras serenaded us. It sounded like the ultimate “Australian” natural soundtrack. (There's a famous Australian song about kookaburras… ) but it was actually quiet obtrusive and loud. Mary said that every morning at 5:42am they wake her up. They are the Australian rooster, the farmer’s alarm clock. Hmm, I’ll have to get used to that. Then we snuggled up for a late night movie.
Saturday, April 7th - The Kookaburas did in fact jolt me up with their shockingly loud cackles at 5:42, but they soon retired for the morning and I dozed off for a few more hourse. Then, we researched several different fun things to do for Easter in Sydney and discovered the Hoopla festival in Darling Harbour. There are several free street shows and attractions along the harbour. We watched a few acrobatic shows and were amazing by the precision in which each incredible athletic endeavor was carried out. 
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