Bridges, Boats and Bears by Georgina Robertson
I woke up in the bed next to my mum’s at the YMCA hotel in Sydney with the sunshine flooding in, even though it was winter. I was about to experience a day to remember complete with amazing trips to different parts of Sydney. I had never even been to Australia before, unless you count stopping there for a cup of coffee and a refuel of the aeroplane tank on the way to New Zealand. The day was going to be full of new sights, a new take on pancakes and an adrenaline rush that would certainly get my heart pumping faster than usual.
First stop was Sydney Wild Life Park. As we walked around we started with the insects. Spiders the size of a huge cheese. The biggest cockroaches in the world. This was my least favourite section. The insects came up to the glass and I felt almost uneasy and anxious that they were going to find a way to freedom out of their enclosures. Then came the bird sanctuary. Birds of all colours, shapes and sizes. Parrots with all the colours of the rainbow in their feathers flying around our heads or sifting in the canopy of the trees only a metre away from us. It was as if we were witnessing all the birds in the jungle from above the trees. After we had finished with the birds we went on up to the national animals of Australia — the koalas, the kangaroos and the wallabies. I was lucky enough to be allowed in to the koala’s area and I got my picture taken with them. They are like you would imagine, only smaller. They are like teddy bears, soft and cuddly but also slightly cheeky. Unfortunately, they have a rotation system on which koala you can touch and the one that’s turn it was the day I was there had perched itself at the highest point of the tallest eucalyptus tree. We jumped down the steps to see the kangaroos and wallabies that were in an open enclosure. They only had male kangaroos because as soon as a female was added to the enclosure they started fighting. This meant that there were no joeys in their pouches but they were still as cute as expected. We had finished our time at the wildlife park and moved on to our next adventure.
Whizzing around underneath the bridge. Speeding at 100 miles an hours. Screaming until your voice goes hoarse. Feeling as if you are going to be flung out of this yellow speed boat. This was the ‘ultimate jet boating experience’ — Thunder Jet. We flew through the shark infested waters of Australia. I thought I might die. I gripped the side of the boat as if my life depended on it — which I felt it did. We whizzed past the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge which would have been amazing if my eyes hadn’t been squeezed as tightly shut as possible. As we dismounted from the boat I swayed on the pontoon which rocked from side to side. Even though we had worn waterproof, our derrières were soaked. We had to walk to our next experience looking as if we had had a wee accident!
We were starving after this adrenaline rush; probably from all the energy it took screaming. We went to Pancakes on the Rocks for lunch. Imagine all the different sweet pancakes in the world. And all the savoury ones too. Plus all the crepes. You would be imagining the menu for Pancakes on the Rocks. Filled with wonderful pictures of the different pancakes. You could have a Mexican savoury pancake or a strawberry and ice cream sweet one. As the waiter brought our meal the amazing smell drifted over us and we could see the beautifully laid out food. This definitely filled our stomachs full — which was just as well as our next adventure was going to be very tiring.
The Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb — for the climb of your life’. The adverts sounded amazing. The pictures looked spectacular. But nothing could compare to what it was like after that half hour climb to the top. We also stopped for interesting facts and lots of pictures on the way. You could see a full 360 degrees round Sydney. As we walked up it got darker as it was dusk. By the time we were descending the bridge, all the cars lights beneath us were lit. It was breathtaking. At first the sky was clear blue, slowly turning to navy. We went back to the YMCA hotel, and fell straight asleep after such a full on, busy day. Thankfully, our dreams were not full of dangerous giant spiders, snakes and cockroaches!
