Aloha friends and family!
We have been enjoying beautiful Honolulu, our final stop of the trip. But let’s first get you caught up on our last few days in Australia. It feels like Sydney came and went so quickly but that’s only because our packed schedule allowed for so many amazing experiences.
We climbed the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge. Everyone made it to the top for an incredible overview of the city. The group learned interesting facts about the bridge and a funny story about its grand opening back in 1932 when a bystander on a horse rode through the opening ceremony to cut the ribbon before the designated official could.
We took a ferry to Manly Beach, a popular surfing destination for locals. We enjoyed a lovely sunset over the water before splitting up into groups for dinner. We also explored Bondi Beach – surfing there was a blast! So many of us walked all along the beach and made it to the lookout points to admire the view, including the very popular Iceberg pool overlooking the ocean.
We toured the famous ANZ stadium which was the site of Sydney’s 2000 Summer Olympic Games. In the warm-up area, one of our trip members led the whole group in a stretch, just as if we were going into a game. We had the opportunity to see some behind-the-scenes spaces such as the TV and radio media rooms, as well as the Coca Cola, box seating area. To end off the tour, our guide allowed us to run out onto the field from the change rooms! What an awesome experience. Later at the Aussie Rules Football game, we cheered on the home team, the Sydney Giants, while decked out in some fan attire.
We also cheered each other on one night for karaoke – and one morning during the ropes course at Taronga Zoo. From the top, we could see beautiful views of the city skyline and right under us were some of the smaller zoo animals!
Some of our music fanatics loved the Sydney Opera House and all its beauty. The architecture is incredible, and it was even cooler to see the short video clips that show how they came up with the design. After the tour, we went jet boating in Sydney Harbour! Lots of spins and fast stops, it was such a blast – we couldn’t stop laughing the whole time!
We also spent time at Sydney’s Darling Harbour and nearby Barangaroo, a new neighborhood with so many amazing restaurants. We watched a pretty sweet firework show over the water one night. And it’s where we visited the Sea Life Aquarium and played some good old laser tag.
It’s tiring just writing about all the fun we had – you can be sure that we slept pretty well on our travel day to Hawaii. It was cool to re-live Monday twice! Our first stop after landing was surfing on Waikiki Beach. The group was amazing and some even rode some of the bigger waves! Everyone had so much fun.
The private catamaran was also quite the hit. It was a gorgeous day on the water, snorkeling with turtles and friends. We hit some impressive waves on the way out into the water and some of us sitting on the front of the boat got soaked!
As we have just a day or two left of our trip, we’re starting to reflect on the friends we’ve made and the memories we’ve shared together. It’s crazy to think that July is almost over!
The Westcoast Blogger
Do you want to explore the land down under? Check out our 22-day Australia teen tour. To see our full list of summer programs, click here.