G'day Mates! Sorry for the long wait. To make up for it, I made a long-ish chapter for you all! It seems like not that many people are updating their stories. Is it because of the summer holidays and everyone is relaxing? ;)
To Recap! Because even I kind of forgot what i wrote in the previous chapter. Herbert got this entire list of places to go from Serenalia. There was a whole chain of emails. Herbert decided in the end that he was going to go to Manly Beach first.
Enjoy!
Note: Special thanks to Taubmans and Dulux paint brands for helping me with the colour Names. I got the paint colours from this piece of card from Bunnings, in case my Aussie viewers are wondering.
"Are we there yet?" Hermoine whined for the hundredth time.
"Almost, just a few more stops until Circular Quay (pronounced Circular Key)." Dad explained.
"I heard Manly Beach was absolutely breathtaking." Mom commented as the train left Town Hall Station. "The beaches are supposed to be really clean and warm."
I"'m getting ice cream." I declared. It was really sunny outside, so I figured it would be pretty warm.
"Are you sure? It's winter over here, which means it will be a little cooler than what you would expect for Summer." Mom cautioned. I waved her away and nodded.
"Serenalia promised that the weather would be really nice. She was born here, so she should know what the weather is like." I added with confidence. (When did I promise that?!)
"Since when did you start trusting everything Serenalia said?" Hermoine challenged. I paused to think for a moment. Then I shrugged.
"We're here! Circular Quay!" Dad exclaimed whilst pointing to the station sign that said 'Circular Quay'.
"Wow, that took a while." Hermoine bounced out of her chair and headed towards the automatic doors. We followed close behind and we all stepped out. The station was elevated on this bridge-like structure. We took the escalator down and pushed the heavy doors out.
"This is Manly Beach?!" Hermoine exclaimed loudly in disbelief. Her sudden outburst resulted in other Australian bears chuckling at us.
I face-palmed. "No, we take a bus or train or boat across. I forgot what." I briefly explained.
"We take the ferry to Manly Wharf. The ferry ride will take about half an hour." Dad explained in detail. He repositioned his large sunglasses and lead us to Dock 5, where the ferry to Manly Wharf was waiting. I raced upstairs for a better view and took a row of four seats. Mom shook her head and dragged us outside, so we could see more. Hermoine had her camera ready to snap some nice pictures. Soon enough, the ferry took off and slowly chugged along the water. We passed by the Opera House, The Harbour Bridge, and this amusement park called Lunar Park, which sounded boring, but it looked so cool! The entrance was the face of a clown-like person and his mouth was open and you would walk into the mouth.
After what seemed like a few minutes, the ferry docked at the wharf. I stood up instantaneously, but the motion of the still-moving boat made me collapse back into my chair. We had to wait until the ferry was super still before we could get up and out without falling over.
I was really amazed by the structure and design of the place. The paving was arranged in a spiral pattern, which looked so cool. There was this shell-like feature made out of metal that you could walk on. There was this little bear that was walking around and around in circles. He looked really silly, but whatever. We walked down the aisle of shops and restaurants before arriving at the beach. And wow, I was surprised. The sand was light and golden while the ocean was this vibrant deep blue with small waves gently lapping the shore. I couldn't wait to take my shoes off and run on the shore. While Mom and Dad were looking for a nice place to sit, Hermoine and I raced on the sand. The sand was really soft and warm, and the water was cool and somewhat refreshing. I reached for a handful of sand, then charged towards some seagulls and flung the pile of sand to them. They flew further away, but were primarily unfazed. But I really enjoyed it.
After playing in the sand and splashing around in the water, we settled down at the nearby cafe for something called Fish and Chips. I thought it was going to be a really weird mix, but to my surprise, they actually gave me fillet fish and French fries. I stared at my meal. Hermoine seemed to notice, because she clarified,"Australians call fillet fish fish and French fries chips."
I thought for a moment. "So what do they call potato chips?" I asked.
"I dunno, crisps?" She questioned.
I tried the fish and chips with some sauce called tartar sauce. It was kind of sour but it was really tangy. It went really well with the fish. I wolfed down my meal within a few minutes. Hermoine was still eating her grilled prawns and calamari. Mom and Dad were eating this healthy healthy burger. It was like, beef and healthy veggies and stuff.
After the meal, it was another ferry trip back to the train station, followed by another train trip to the hotel. By then, I was really tired. I didn't bother to brush my teeth. I just changed into my pyjamas and crawled into the bed sheets.
The next morning, I woke up at 5:00AM. It wasn't too early, considering I just came back and was still adjusting to jet lag. I grabbed my iPaw from the table and checked my email. There was one from Serenalia:
Good morning! How was Manly? I think you said you went there. Was it awesome?
I was really puzzled. She isn't usually that cheerful to me. But I sent back a reply:
It was pretty awesome. Although I'm not sure where to go next. Hermoine really wants to go to a zoo or something, but you didn't mention any zoos. Are there any?
I looked out the window. The sun was beginning to rise and the clouds were neon orange this time. I heard Hermoine move around in her bed on the other side of the room. I looked around the hotel room and realised that the walls were painted a light lime colour. The carpet was a creamy white and the beds were made of birch wood and the bed sheets were white with bleached spruce coloured pillows. The bedside tables were oakwood or something. It's not like I could tell. I felt the iPaw vibrate. Another reply from Serenalia:
Um, yes. There is Taronga zoo, but it kind of costs a bit. But what I would recommend in Featherdale Wildlife Park. It's really awesome! I'm actually going tomorrow. Do you want to ask your family to come along? The tickets are much cheaper, and you see a lot more.
I considered her offer. I didn't really want to go with her, but I kind of wanted to see what Featherdale is like. So I sent back a reply:
Sure. Where do we meet?
It seems like she was waiting for my reply, because another reply came instantly.
Do you need the address? It's a bit far from here, but it's worth it. You can catch the train. The address is 217-229 Kildare Road. Catch the train to Doonside, and then take the bus. Then walk a few blocks. You will recognise it pretty easily. We'll meet you there at 11:00. Don't forget to pack some food.
That sounded like a lot of traveling. I suggested it to Hermoine, who just woke up. Her eyes lit up at the idea. She nodded quickly. She got up to tell Mom and Dad, while I lazed around in bed, whining about how early it is.
It was tomorrow already. I spent the previous day hanging out in my room, playing on my iPaw. Hermoine yelled at me for being so lazy. I ignored her. That is, until Mom and Dad screamed at me. But that was yesterday. Today, I am changing into my clothes; an orange T-Shirt in the shade 'Honey Maple'. It was a really vibrant colour. I was wearing a pair of 'River Blue'-coloured jeans. I slipped on some chalk-coloured sneakers, slopped on some sunscreen, and slapped on a vibrant green hat. (Anybody heard of the Australian advertisement whose catch phrase is 'slip on a t-shirt, slop on some sunscreen, and slap on a hat'? No? Okay, let's just continue then.)
I was about to leave my room when I realised I was missing something very important. I made my way back to my room and took out my awesome-looking sunglasses. Now I was ready. I dragged Hermoine out and we waited for Mom and Dad. They walked out soon enough, and we walked to the train station. Dad went to buy tickets for us, while we were waiting beside him.
"Two adult tickets and two child tickets please." Dad said.
"Today is Sunday, and we have a Funday Sunday special where all children and adult tickets are $2.50." The lady said in a really thick Australian accent. It sounded so funny.
So anyway, we paid and then we got on the train. It went straight to Doonside. It was about 45 minutes away, so I had a quick nap after eating some cookies.
I woke up to Hermoine tapping me on the shoulder. Then she nudged me, followed by a shake, then finally a full on shove.
"Hey!" I yelled as I fell against the walls of the train.
"We're here!" Hermoine told me. I scowled at her and followed Mom and Dad out the train.
"Here we are! Doonside!" Dad announced. We walked up the stairs and down another to the street level. There was a bus that was just arriving. It has 'Featherdale Wildlife Park' written as one of the locations, so we hopped on just as it was leaving. We were able to use our Funday Sunday tickets. It stopped in front of the wildlife park. We got off and I saw Serenalia with her parents.
"Hello!" Serenalia called, waving. I waved back.
"Glad you could make it! Featherdale is a really nice place." She said cheerfully. I let my parents mingle with her parents and I followed Serenalia in. The first exhibit was the bird exhibit. It was this entire walk of different birds in large aviaries. I saw eagles, lorikeets, parrots, macaws, and this really weird looking bird that can't fly.
"It's a lyrebird. It's really good at imitating things." Serenalia explained. I noticed a slight Australian accent in her voice. She continued on to the reptiles exhibit. There were snakes and lizards and stuff. There was this one lizard that looked like it had two heads.
"Woah, why does that lizard have two heads?!" I exclaimed to Serenalia, pointing at the weird lizard.
"It's called a two headed lizard. Its tail looks like a head, so it looks like it has two heads." Serenalia explained. We finished the reptiles area.
"Oh look, a peacock!" Serenalia cried out in surprise, pointing at the peacock that was sitting on the floor, out in the open. I stared at the peacock. It was all white. It looked really cool, but it didn't look like the usual blue and green ones.
"His name's Fifty-Nine." A bear behind us said.
"Why?" I blurted out. The bear shrugged and walked away.
"That's a really odd name for a peacock." Serenalia noted. I shrugged and continued on. We came into this area where you can go in and pet the kangaroos and emus. Serenalia led me into the enclosure. She started petting a kangaroo that was lying on the floor lazily.
"He sure reminds of someone." She commented, giving me an accusatory look. I looked away and started petting an emu. It was kind of tall, even for my size. I was a little intimidated. I watched as a little toddler charged towards another emu and punched it in the behind. The emu jumped and ran off. I burst out into fits of laughter. Serenalia looked at me weirdly.
After that, we washed our hands and settled down with our families for some lunch. I had a burger and a huge cup of frozen yoghurt (aka ice cream). Serenalia had a sandwich and a fruit salad. Too healthy for my taste. We both bought a Split (it's like a Popsicle, but the inside is vanilla ice cream and the outside is a sweet coating of something.) and we were eating it as we continued touring the exhibits.
At the gorilla exhibit, there was this one gorilla that was checking itself out in the mirror. Seriously, it was looking at itself in the mirror and was making all these poses. It was hilarious.
Later on, we were in an area where there were some kookaburras. Their laugh was really weird, but funny. But what was really mean was that one of them flew down from above me and took my Split before flying back into the tree.
"Hey! Give it back!" I yelled to it as I watched it enjoy the Popsicle. Then I pouted a bit.
"Oh well." Serenalia said, shrugging. Then she chuckled a bit. "But it is funny."
I decided to live with it and we went to the koala exhibit. You could actually hug a koala and take a picture. Serenalia got out her camera and said she would take some picture. I went to the koala and Serenalia took a picture as I stood next to the koala, who was eating eucalyptus leaves. Then I took some pictures of Serenalia when she hugged the koala. It was awesome, the koala was really soft and cuddly.
By the end of the day, I was really tired. Featherdale was truly awesome. I did so much stuff. Serenalia was a little nicer to me too, which was good for a change.
"Well, it was great to have you join us." Serenalia's mum said.
"Yeah, yeah, we fully enjoyed it." Mom agreed back, and they continued their chatty conversation.
"Well, I'll see you around. If you need any more help, just email me." Serenalia told me. I nodded back because I was too tired.
The train ride home was a quick one. We got home pretty quickly and I, once again, fell asleep the moment my head touched the pillow.
These few days had been great, and I am really excited to do more in the time I do have left.
Well, that was kind of long. But I hoped you enjoyed! :)
have an awesome holiday! Or if you're still in school, hope you're not too overcrowded with homework to read this chapter!
By the way, I'm listening to Approaching Nirvana's music. It's a band on YouTube that makes the best music! Go check 'em out sometime. My personal favourites are 'Death of a King' and all the Flight ones (First Flight, Second Flight, Final Flight). :)
That's all for now. I hope you all have an awesome day and that you are happy. :)
buh bye!