“Rise and Shine!” We had a 3:30 AM wake-up call to be packed and ready for our 4:30 AM bus ride to Auckland Airport. Upon arriving at the Airport we had a “boxed breakfast”, we grabbed an apple, juice, yogurt, muffin, or granola bar and headed into the airport to catch our 6:15 AM international flight to Sydney.

We land at Sydney International Airport at 8:30 AM after a three hour flight, there is a two hour time change between Auckland and Sydney. It took us nearly two hours to get through customs and board our coach to Travelodge Sydney. We arrived at the hotel around 11:15 AM, but our rooms were not guaranteed to be ready until 2:00 PM. We put our bags in a storage room downstairs and headed out for our short walking tour of the city.

We finished our short tour at the top of Sydney tower. The view of the city from the tower was breath-taking. Our tour guide walked us around the 360-degree view of the tower and pointed out different sites around the city. At 12:30 PM the group parted ways for the rest of the day and we got to enjoy free time in Sydney.

That evening a small group of us decided to go to Luna Park. Luna Park is a like a small state fair under the corner of the Sydney Harbour bridge. As we walked through the park we rode a couple of rides. When we reached the back of the park, we seen a ride called the “Ranger”. The Ranger is a ship that spins you in a circle and goes upside-down. I’m not a fan of heights or going upside-down. I mustered up the courage and got on the ride. It was something I won’t forget for a long time. I pressed myself against the seat the whole time and could feel my stomach turning upside-down with the ride. After three hours at the park we were all tired from a long day and headed back to our hotel rooms for some much needed sleep.