Last But Not Least, Sydney.

Eric and I arrived back in Australia on February 5th. We were both ready to get back to one more large city before heading back to the USA. Sydney welcomed us with rain, not surprising.

The hostel we booked, Wake Up Hostel, proved to be a key factor in enjoying Sydney. Our roomates were very welcoming and we bonded over goon immediately.

Room 306.

The five days we spent in Sydney went by really quickly. The entire weekend was full of rain but that didn't stop us from enjoying our last weekend abroad. We spent lots of time around our hostel watching movies and catching up on some much needed sleep. We visited Bondi beach, which is the main surfers beach of Sydney. Luckily the rain didn't stop us from watching people catch the large waves. We also made it out to the very popular World Bar in Kings Cross. All in all it was a very wet yet productive and fun weekend.

Beaches are just not as cool in the rain.

Enjoying a night out with our roomates.

World Bar served drinks in tea pots. Eric of course found a new use for the cups.

Monday morning we woke up early to catch the Superbowl (which by the way is not nearly as cool on a Monday without the American commercials). After teaching our English friends the rules of American football we all decided it was about time we actually saw some of what Sydney had to offer. The sun finally decided to make an appearance so we took the rest of the day to walk around Sydney. Darling Harbor, Sydney Harbor Bridge, and the Opera House were just as spectacular as everyone had said.

Enjoying views from the Sydney Tower.

Fountains in the city.

Finding the entrance to the bridge is trickier than one may think. It took us about 30 minutes of wondering around to figure out how to get up there.

Hello Opera House.

Our last day abroad could not have gotten much better. The sun was finally out with no clouds in the sky. We took advantage of the day and hopped on a ferry to head over to Manly Beach, a beach located about 7 miles northeast of Sydney city. We shopped and spent the majority of our day laying on the beach and watching surfers attempt to ride the waves. We steered clear of the water after hearing so many horror stories of shark attacks in southern Australian. After finishing our picnic dinner we made the journey back across the harbor just in time to see the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Bridge silhouetted in the Australian sunset. Manly beach was definitely my favorite spot in Sydney.

Leaving the harbor.

Cruising to Manly Beach (yes I know the pole needs to be photoshopped off of my head).

As our travels quickly came to an end on February 10th, Eric and I both felt that we had completed a huge accomplishment. We had successfully traveled around the globe with no enormous mishaps or illnesses. Everything that we had planned (mostly that Eric had planned) proved to be fantastic and full of great memories. The 15 (or more) countries that we got to experience left us with so much insight into other cultures, religions, and cuisines of the world. There are many places on the list that will for sure be revisited. We will definitely be talking about memories from the trip until we are both too old and gray to remember them.

For now, it's home to America to get back to our family, friends and careers. Hopefully this trip will cure the travel bug for at least a year, no promises though.