Final Day in Sydney!

Today was our last day in Sydney-- I would definitely say we are all very sad to be leaving so soon (especially when we have to leave so early in the morning to catch the train). Despite our disappointment, the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra is something we are all looking forward to! 

Today we spent our morning at the University of Sydney- touring the campus and recreation centers and learning about the athletics and fitness facilities at the "Uni." I personally thought it was very interesting to be at such a large university and also to see the contrast between some of the campus's old and modern architecture. We also got to the real student experience as we ate in the cafeteria for lunch. We finished off our trip with a lecture from an intern at the university who helped to teach us some of the rules to Australian "Footie" (which helped us clear up the different between rugby union, rugby league, and Footie aka Australian rules football a little bit better). This afternoon, many of us went off to finish our final sightseeing or shopping before we leave Sydney. 

(Group photo above was taken at the University of Sydney Today)

I think that we have all really loved our week in Sydney and wish there was more time we had to spend here. Not only is this a tourist Mecca, but we have been in a hostel with an amazing view and it is so much more lively than Lennox Head. We have all been feeling the effects of waking up early and staying up late so we could really take advantage of all this city has to offer (including all 300+ steps we walk up every time we travel from the hostel to the harbor) so tomorrows train ride will be a nice time for all of us to catch up on some sleep if we're not too busy looking for kangaroos in the wild (which you can bet I will be doing).

View of the opera house this afternoon from the Sydney Harbor Bridge that five of us had the excitement of seeing while we walked over the bridge! 

Finally, here are two photos from today's lesson on kicking in Footie 

-Amelia (that's me above)- 

Tonight we will all be enjoying a nice group pasta meal together courtesy of the culinary-inclined students of our group. Tomorrow we will be traveling to Canberra so there will be no regular blog posts-- but we will be back on Wednesday to tell you all about the Institute of Sport!