Manly Ferry

I took the Manly Ferry from Circular Quay to Manly on Sunday to meet my friend to do standing up paddle boarding at Shelly Beach.  Circular Quay is next to the Opera House and is where many of Sydney's famous yellow and green ferries depart from and arrive to. You can see some of the most amazing views of Sydney along this half hour ferry route between Manly and Circular Quay, which makes it a big tourist activity.  Sunday morning was a little cloudy, but I thought I'd share some of the views of the Harbour.

The famous Luna Park

Can you see the people doing the bridge climb? I have done that before. So amazing!

City skyline

My favorite beach in Sydney, Balmoral Beach.  The long building in the middle in the Bather's Pavillion.

Mardi Gras

Me and my friends having a grand time during the parade

Mardi Gras is HUGE in Sydney and is especially big in my neighborhood, Darlinghurst, which is Sydney's main gay neighborhood. Decorations were put out weeks before the day.  Oxford Street was a sea of rainbow with more flags, colorful signs and elaborate displays. Tens of thousands of people come to see the two and a half hour long parade and attend the after party.  People starting lining up along Oxford Street near my apartment at 2pm in order to reserve prime parade-watching real estate.  Oxford and Flinder Street (the streets that the floats go along) closed by 6 pm in preparation for the parade at 8pm. My flatmate and I just barely made it across Oxford Street before it closed to go to our friend's house.  We all dressed up and glittered up and got into the Mardi Gras spirit at my friend Hodgo's house and then went to a house party on Flinder's Street.  It was an amazing location for viewing the parade because it was a little less crowded and we could watch from the porch. The parade was unlike any I have ever witnessed.  It was jam-packed with everything from men in tight pants, drag queens to elaborate and risque costumes and each float had dancers with choreographed routines.  Definitely worth coming to see if any of you are ever in Sydney around Mardi Gras. It was just a great night.

A view of part of the parade (This was one of the tamer floats)

I got a picture with a drag queen angel who had better makeup and hair than I did.

One of the Mardi Gras displays on Oxford Street

'Autumn' Saturday

Autumn technically started in Australia last week.  It sounds so weird when Aussies describe this time of the year as autumn when it is still summer weather, however today felt like a crisp early spring morning.  I went to Bills in Woollahra with my girlfriends for brunch.  A few of the girls ordered their famous corn fritters and I got the ricotta hotcakes with banana and unbelievable honeycomb butter.  It was the first time I have had pancakes in the six months I've been here as pancakes are not quite as popular and boy were they satisfying.  After brunch we walked along Oxford Street in Paddington and went in many of the cute boutiques and shops.  I bought a hot little red dress on sale from Kookai that I plan to wear tonight for my Mardi Gras attire.  We also stopped in a really cool store that I had never heard of before, Dinosaur Designs.  The creators of the store got their start by selling jewelry and handprinted fabrics at the Paddington Markets which are on every weekend and now create wonderfully bold bangles, rings, necklaces and homeware made of resin.  I loved these necklaces with feather and finger-like shapes...I may have to go back and get one.

Lollies

 

When I first moved to Sydney many Australians told me how one of the things that the States lacks is good lollies.  At first I did not really get why they are so in love with these large gummy candies and why they think they are superior to American lollies like sour worms, Sour Patch Kids and a few others...but now I've come to that same conclusion that American gummies pale in comparison to Aussie lollies. One brand in particular stands above the rest, Allens. It makes lollies in all different shapes. My absolute favorites are the strawberries and cream, the red frogs and the killer pythons. Other popular lollies are sour coke bottles, milk bottles (which taste like the cream part of the strawberries and cream lollies), pineapples and race cars. This one kilo bag is currently sitting in my fridge... so amazing!