After a few days on campus and our orientation sessions, my Dutch friends and I found out about a pre-planned weekend-tour to Sydney for the famous Mardi Gras Gay Parade, and since the trip seemed quite "affordable", we just booked it and left in the evening on the 5th of March by BUS (a decision I truly regret now, since 12 hours in a cold bus isn't as 'cool' as you might think).

After 12 long, exhausting and sleepless hours in a bus (no kidding!) we arrived in sunny Sydney, where we directly went on a tour of the major sights, such as the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. In the evening, we went on a Harbour 'Booze Cruise' which included an amazing Sydney skyline, a full moon, a lot of cheap (included) booze and way too many hyped up girls :D however, it was really nice and just an amazing view including an unexpected fireworks near the Opera House. Later on, we spend some hours after-partying in a club at the Harbour and at one point, we called it a night :)

The other morning was an early one again, destination Blue Mountains and the famous Three Sisters. However, it was more for taking pictures and actually exploring the surroundings. Unfortunately, at this point, I already felt like getting a cold, but my body resisted (not for long though). The evening was then devoted to the famous LBTQ Mardi Gras Parade, which was truly an experience and a really entertaining event.

The last day was then all about the beach :) We took a ferry from the Sydney Harbour to see the famous Manly Beach and after some intense tanning and swimming, we went from Coogee Beach to the famous Bondi Beach (yes, the one and only Bondi Rescue one!). The walk to Bondi was pretty amazing due to the stunning cliffs and the stereotypical surfers. Bondi itself was cool, but not really amazing, but that perception was maybe also due to my evolving cold, which got really bad on the 12 hour bus ride back to Melbourne then :/ Eventually, I ended up with an ear infection which kept me in bed for an entire week :(

All in all, it was a super busy, super sunny, sleepless and crazy cool trip to Sydney :)