About a month after arriving in Sydney, my parents and my brother came out to visit me. It was easier to leave home back in February and not feel homesick because I knew I would see my family shortly. I was excited for my family to come because I was waiting to do all the touristy things with them. The first day they arrived, I met them at Coogee Beach where they were going to be staying. We walked around the beach exploring a bit, then I took them to the grocery store to get some Opal cards for the public transportation. The next three days I had class, so my family had to explore on their own and I met up with them for dinner after class.
On the following Thursday, we went to the Taronga Zoo. I was so excited to go to the zoo because although being in Australia for a month, I still hadn’t seen a koala or a kangaroo. We paid extra to do the ‘Australian Experience’ which provided us with a private tour, a behind the scenes look, and an up-close view of the koala bears. It was everything I could’ve imagined and more.
The next day we took the ferry across the harbour to Manly Beach and spent the day there catching a beautiful sunset on the ferry ride back.
On Saturday, we headed to Darling Harbour to see the firework show that occur every Saturday night.
On Sunday, it was raining all day, so we headed to the SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium.
On Monday, my mom and I had a girls’ day and we went on a tour of inside the Sydney Opera House then went to go see a movie.
On Tuesday, it was my moms birthday and we climbed to the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Very cool experience that I would recommend.
On Wednesday, we did the Sydney Tower Eye ‘Skywalk.’
Thursday was their last day in Sydney and we decided to check out a new beach called Maroubra.
I was so grateful that my family got to come out and visit me. I had such a fun two weeks going to do fun stuff and spending time with them. It truly made my study abroad experience so much better!