SYDNEY

Due to the blessing of friendship, I spent the first whole week of January in Sydney Australia with my dear friend Becky Dawborn J We initially met during my Discipleship Training School in 2009 where we were roommates, and it was a joy to spend more time with her as she personally toured me around the city. It was a full-on busy week, but here are some of the highlights!

Day 1: Family Party

After my redeye direct flight from Vancouver to Sydney, I met Becky and arrived at her house to be greeted by her entire family and participate in their grandparent’s 50^th wedding anniversary surprise party with lots of relatives! With lots of food, games and unpacking, the day was filled with much laughter and the joys of reunited bliss!

Day 2: Beach Day

Bondi Beach

Upon waking to clouds and chances of rain, Bec and I took our chances and braved through multiple modes of transport: trains, buses, and boats to enjoy the sights of some Sydney beaches. We went to the famous Bondi beach with golden sands, and then Manly beach, a local favorite. The day turned out to be gorgeous, relaxing and then consequential! Although we applied sunscreen multiple times, apparently we missed some spots and still got really bad burns… see for yourself!

Day 3: City Day

Starting early in the morning, we spent a very long day in the city seeing what Sydney had to offer. Here is an overview picture tour of SOME of the places we went:

Harbor Bridge

Opera House

Darling Harbor

War Memorial

Hyde Park

St Mary's Cathedral

Botanical Gardens

Art Gallery of NSW

Absolutely wonderful day that ended with meeting the family for a picnic in the Botanical Gardens!

Day 4: Sydney Festival

Each year Sydney puts on a 3 week festival to celebrate the arts and it just so happened that I was there for opening night! Essentially, they have stages set up all over the city with lots of acts and bands performing. Lots of streets were closed, disco balls hung from trees, music was in the air, and they even had SNOW MACHINES blowing down the main path. It was a fun night to walk around and there were thousands of people.

Day 5: Hillsong

So on Sunday, I had the privilege of going to 2 church services. First I went with Becky and her family to their home church which is very intimate and friendly, and later we went to Hillsong! Now for the past 10 years it has been a dream to go there (as I’m sure it is for many) and I was so overjoyed to see the place that first inspired my heart with Christian music. To my surprise, it was exactly what you would think it would be like… and then some! It was like a concert with lights, music, dancing/jumping… even in the balconies! Heaps of people go, and it was encouraging to physically see thousands of other believers in the same place with the same purpose – to worship God.

Day 6: Katoomba

 Among Australia’s many landmarks, there is one 2hours inland from Sydney called “the Three Sisters.” Bec and I made the journey stopping at a few quaint towns along the way to have a wonder and wait for a break in the rain. One had a massive lollie (candy) shop in it with treats from all over the world.

When the rain finally stopped and the fog cleared, this is the wonder we saw:

Pretty cool! We ended the venture with a stop at a neat café that makes you feel like you escaped back to medieval times, or the woodland fairies land – pipe music and everything. It was a great end to a fun filled week J

End conclusion: I love Sydney. I would love to go back, and I recommend it to everyone… lots to see and it is all beautiful!