This month was filled with fun Sydney experiences! I got to see A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Sydney Opera House, which was an absolutely surreal experience. The production was initially intended to commence in 2020, but had to be postponed due to COVID-19. In the performance, you could tell that the actors had been working on the show since then and felt a connection to it because of the postponement.

My friends and I also went to Luna Park, an amusement park on the opposite site of the Harbor Bridge to the Opera House. I went on a ride called “Sledgehammer,” which swings and spins you around back and forth to either 240 degrees, or all the way around to 360 degrees. One of my friends talked me into riding the full circle, which ended up being very cool! I could see the Sydney skyline and Harbour Bridge from upside down and over 30 meters in the air! I also recently took a short walk through Lane Cove National Park, which is filled with beautiful scenery and wildlife. In the hour spent there, I would bet I saw over 20 Eastern Water Dragons.

It’s hard to believe I’m almost halfway through the semester at Macquarie University, and there’s still so much of the city I have yet to see and experience. I want to see more gardens and parks, such as the Chinese Garden of Friendship, the Royal Botanical Gardens and Sydney Harbor National Park. There’s a multitude of small suburbs, coffee shops, and hidden gems I have left to find.  There’s still a whole slew of touristy things I haven’t done, like walk from Bondi to Coogee Beach (where there is apparently a street with the same name as me). This doesn’t even begin to cover things to do in Sydney, let alone the rest of Australia. It’s bittersweet to know there’s so many new opportunities before me, but I just don’t have the time to experience it all. All I can do is make the most of it, and take as many photos as humanly possible to remember every little second!

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Learn more about this blogger’s study abroad program: IES Abroad: Macquarie University