Luke's Birthday Weekend

Ok, so I'm a week behind with this, but last weekend (the 21st) was Luke's birthday weekend, and boy did we make a weekend of it! Friday night we enjoyed a few drinks at our usual Friday happy hour spot, King Street Brewhouse. After warming up there we decided to take it elsewhere so that I could stretch out my legs and dance. We headed over to 3 Wise Monkeys. It's sort of a 'backpacker' spot as its called here in Sydney. Most everyone there is young and foreign, which suits us since we are both. After consuming far too many ciders we enjoyed what tasted like the WORLD'S GREATEST kebab on a bench in Darling Harbour. 

Unfortunately, I had to work on Luke's actual birthday, so he headed out to do birthday things with friends until I got back. Now pay attention, because this is the BEST part of the birthday weekend. I had planned a surprise party for Luke inviting all 3 people that we know in Sydney. Just kidding there are a few more than that! But I made sure to get in contact with two of our friends from our time in Switzerland that we haven't seen since we've been here. So basically we haven't seen them for over 3 years! I was super excited to see them myself and I knew that it would be a great surprise for Luke. When I got out of work I went home and told Luke we had a dinner reservation and we headed off to the Australian Youth Hotel to meet everyone. I think he sort of knew I was up to something, but he was really surprised so hurray for a successful birthday party!!

 

The best part of a birthday is obviously the cake!!

After a drink or two we headed over for a night of dog racing! I have never been to see dog races before and neither have most of the people who came with us, but it did not disappoint. I even won $1.50! But mostly it was great to catch up with old friends and laugh at new ones!



On Sunday Luke and I were both off from work - a rare occurrence, so we wanted to take full advantage and finally start doing some sightseeing! I had read about this island in the Sydney Harbor called Cockatoo Island. It is an old shipyard where they used to build them, but it was also a convict labor camp for a long time. As you may be aware, Sydney's first inhabitants were England's cast offs and their minders - the soldiers. Luke also really likes prisons (I mean not THAT much) and so I knew he would love a place like this. It also had some incredible views back over, you guessed it, the bridge!

I couldn't help thinking while we road across the harbor in the ferry what a beautiful place I'm living in. I love being a tourist in this city and Sunday was no exception.

Its all too easy to settle into a routine when you're working. Sometimes Luke and I forget where we are and last weekend was a really great reminder that we should be out enjoying the sights while we're here instead of saying things like" we're in Sydney for ages" or "we'll do it next weekend". We've got a long list of places to see before we leave this enchanting city so stay tuned because we are definitely back in tourist-mode!