On our last full day in Sydney, we decided to head down to a new part of our neighborhood to explore and find a bakery to try more Aussie foods. While most that we found specialized in cakes, we found one that had more options for us to try. We tried so much that morning! We tried the caramel slice (a shortbread cookie with caramel and milk chocolate on top), finger bread, sweet Danish, ANZAC biscuit, and a baguette. The ANZAC biscuits (or cookies as we call them) started way back in World War 1 and were sent to the soldiers abroad by their wives and women’s groups because the ingredients don’t spoil quickly and would keep well during transportation to their men. It was my favorite of the batch, even though it has coconut. I think it was because the coconut was powdered, not shavings, and the other ingredients overpowered the taste. The finger bread was also quite unique in that it had pink icing on top and when you bit into it, it had a thin layer of butter on the middle.

After filling up our sweets, we headed down to the harbor to do some souvenir shopping for the family. After fulfilling the needs of everyone, we quickly dropped off our bags before heading to our tour of the Sydney Opera House. The tour allows you to look inside both sails and get a chance to sit inside the theaters. We got to take a glimpse of one of the small playhouse theaters along with the main concert hall and ballet/opera stage.

Our guide, Suann, was great, and you could tell she was very passionate about her job and truly cared about what she was telling the tourists. It was a very insightful tour and gave us a better appreciation for the main attraction of Sydney. The opera house’s design was a contest that the New South Wales Premier, Joseph Cahill, started. He wanted to build something to help “mold a better and more enlightened community.” Jørn Utzon from Denmark won and spearheaded the project until a new premier forced him out. It took two years for someone else to take the project on to complete it before it was opened in 1973. It was sad to learn that Jørn Utzon never saw his finished project before passing away. Suann did say that his son is a key component in helping to maintain his father’s vision for the place so that future generations can continue to enjoy shows at the opera house. We were lucky enough to catch a small glimpse of the leads rehearsing for the Don Quixote ballet! The purple carpet was also specifically picked for Queen Elizabeth as she was there on the opening night of the Opera House. We had also not realized the opera house actually has 5 different performance venues built-in so multiple plays and events can be shown simultaneously. The playhouse portions are also unique in that there is no left/right backstage due to the shape of the structure so all the sets must go up or down during a set change.

After our tour, we headed to the train for our hour-long ride to the rugby stadium. We had never seen a rugby match previously, so we had no idea what to expect. Grant and I figured it would be easy to pick up like the cricket match was. We’re not sure if it was where we were standing that we didn’t have the best view or if it wasn’t the best game to figure out the rules. But no matter what, we did enjoy the 80 minutes of play and the brief downpour that Brittany and I tried to escape from in the bathroom. And Grant even enjoyed a moment joining a rowdy group of fans in singing “Are You Gonna Be My Girl.” We also laughed at the alcohol purchasing rules here as compared to the US. They had a limit of “4 beers per person” until the last bit of the game so most of the rowdy fans held cardboard holders full of their own 6-pack of beer. As part of her last night in Sydney, Brittany supported the winning team and purchased a shirt to wear back home.

As our last activity of the night, we tried the Aussie favorite, Vegemite. We also initially tried it as Americans do with a thick spread on toast. Needless to say, we all spit it out instantly. We even tried it as you’re supposed to (after consulting the Internet) with toast, butter, and a thin smear of Vegemite. Even by doing it the “right way”, we could not make it through a full bite. It was too salty for us and reminded us a little bit of putting soy sauce on a piece of bread.

It was crazy how fast the week flew by, but I am thankful I got to share my sister’s first international trip with her!