Mardi Gras 2011

Saturday 5 March
     After going to the aquarium and Wild Life World, my friends and I made our way over to the Mardi Gras parade. One of our teachers at school was holding a place for students and we got there just after 4pm. You have to get there early because they shut down the street at about 4:30 and you can't cross after that. Our teacher had been at the spot since 6AM!!!!!!!!!!!! Now that is dedication. Once we got there we waited around and just talked since the parade didn't start until 7:45! Yes, we waited almost 4 hours for it to start, and it didn't end until after 10 pm. It was very long and very crowded but it was also a ton of fun!

Here is my favorite float from the night. 

     When you think of Mardi Gras what do you see? I think purple, green, and gold, everyone in masks and wearing beads. Well, just about the only thing Mardi Gras about this parade was people wearing beads because this wasn't just normal Mardi Gras it was Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Here everyone is very accepting and open about it. It was really refreshing, I didn't even see one protester during the 6+ hours I was there. And there was someone from every group in the parade including, the firefighters and police, all different religions and races, and a bunch of clubs from around the area! There was plenty to see, as I'm sure you can imagine. I won't go into detail except to say it was definitely a unique experience and I'm very glad I went!

My friend Jess and I showing our support for gay pride! 

HAPPY BELATED MARDI GRAS EVERYONE!!! 

Sydney Aquarium & Wild Life World

Saturday 5 March

This is mural made completely from legos! 331,776 legos total.

     We started off the day by having brunch at school and then heading over to Sydney to see the aquarium and Wild Life World. We have to take the ferry to get Sydney and today the water was really rough, so I had my first experience with sea sickness here! Now I don't actually throw-up but I got very nauseous and had to move inside, which really didn't help. I decided to visualize myself on a hammock in Fiji, this didn't help much either. Then we almost got hit by a sailboat, and so that distracted me until we got docked at Circular Quay (pronounced key).

Little penguins that are native to Australia and can even be found by Manly Wharf!

     After we got off we decided to walk to Darling Harbour because the ferry there wasn't coming for a while. It didn't take very long and soon we were at the aquarium! It was huge! We got to see everything from jellyfish to sea horses. There were also all kinds of big Lego figures and murals everywhere! And I even heard someone talking about Lego Land at MOA! They even mentioned MN!!!

DORY!

NEMO! Only one in the whole aquarium!

Jellyfish! They change colors when they are mad. There are red ones in the back that are angry! 

WILD LIFE WORLD

     After the aquarium we went next door to Wild Life World. We saw kangaroos, wombats, snakes, and a ton of bugs. YUCK! They even had more of those Lego figures!

Wombat

Legos!

12 of the 30 most venomous snakes live in Australia! YIKES!