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Published: April 20th 2014
First sight in Sydney
Cockatoos attacking the garbageOn our way to Sydney we took a small detour from the main highway by following the old highway passing several lakes which were directly located next to the ocean. The landscape was very beautiful and many Australians seemed to make holidays here though we wanted to make our way to Sydney the same day and therefore continued after making only 3 short stops in a small town, at Cape Hawke lookout and a long beach where huge waves were crashing in. Especially the lookout was amazing because one had to climb a small tower in order to look over the surrounding tree tops and therefore had a great 360° view including the ocean, towns and lakes. Despite we wanted to arrive in Sydney the same day, we did swing in by Newcaslte, however this was not too spectacular and we fast drove on.
In the early evening we finally arrived at the outskirts of Sydney and on the advice of one of Becky’s friends we decided to stay in Manly which is located at the coast just north of the inner city. Here we had better chances of sleeping in town by hiding our car in a small
Manly Beach
Showering at the beach side street not far from the beach. Although Manly is a part of Sydney it was very cozy due to its relaxed atmosphere and the nice town beach which can’t be found in the inner city. The next morning we used the opportunity of public showers at the beach and once more drew quite some attention by standing in the middle of the promenade and showering with soap and brushing teeth ;-). Afterwards we headed closer to the city in order to find a suburb where we could park our car for free while still having the convenience of public transport and ended up in Lindfield. From here we took the train into town after having purchased a week pass for at least all public transports in the closer city area including trains, buses and ferries which was really nice. Our first destination was Central Station from where we made our way to the visitor centre in Darling Harbor. On the walk we also passed China Town and an adjacent market which had everything to offer starting from fruits and vegetables over meat and fish to all sorts of clothes.
We also passed the Chinese garden, which to our
Cooking at the curbluck had free admittance on exactly this day of the year so we seized the opportunity and walked in. At the entrance we even got severed small Asian treats such as coconut and mango sweets. It was a really beautiful garden with a small lake, pagodas, plants and even animals. A small path led through it and one could completely forget the busy city which surrounded the small garden. It was really nice to finally see so many Asian impressions and culture after our common time in Hong Kong about 3 years ago and in the next days we should also learn that actually a huge percentage of Sydney’s residents were of Asian origin. When we finally made it to the visitor centre we collected some information about what there is to do and see in Sydney especially since Australia Day (probably the most important holiday here) was only 2 days away.
Before having left Elands we also got told by Becky’s parents to contact her brother Josh who was momentarily living in the Sydney area and is as well as Christian a passionate sailor. Since he might be able to take Christian out on a boat on the
day after we had been to the visitor centre it was important to get into contact with him to clear out the details but unfortunately Christian forgot his number in the car so from the visitor centre we made our way back to Lindfield from where he could call Josh. Since we also learned that day that there was a rather big Chinese New Year’s event starting on the same day we basically headed straight back to the city. At the Chinese New Year’s event they offered some rather interesting stage performances and heaps of different Asian food varieties. It was actually really funny to see Chinese hip hop dance performances and also games such as guessing Asian Pop band pictures or songs ;-). We enjoyed a nice evening in the park there, strolled around and snacked on some delicious Asian treats.
The next morning /noon we used the time before Christian were going to meet up with Josh at the sailing club by cooking some chili con carne for lunch at a nearby park-like area in the middle of a living area. At some point a woman approached us from her house across the street and we already
starting to worry about her complaining at us, though it turned out that she simply wanted to offer us her bathroom in case we wanted a shower since we obviously were travelling and living in our car. We were really surprised by her friendliness, however ended up not going since Christian had to pick up Josh. While Christian went to meet Josh Louise caught the train into the city and spent a very nice day browsing around the city and a rather interesting market in “The Rocks”, the oldest part of Sydney. She also went on the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge to enjoy the spectacular view of the harbour, the city and of cause the opera house.
In the meantime Christian had picked up Josh and they drove to one of the many sailing clubs in a side arm of the Sydney Harbour area. There they had to prepare the boat – an Australian Cherup – which is similar to a 29er in Europe, before going out. That day there was quite a lot of wind in the peaks and Christian simply loved it. Especially being back in the trapeze was really great! The boat was so light that
they were practically flying over the water and it was very important to shift the weight to the back of the boat so one would not end up making a “nose dive” and getting fired out of the boat like by a catapult ;-).
After they were done with sailing Christian had agreed to help picking up Josh’s other boat, an 18 foot skiff, from reparation in another part of Sydney. Since Josh forgot to bring an adapter for the trailer’s electricity and because the boat was actually located over an hour outside the city it took the two boys rather long to get back into the city where they had agreed to meet up with Louise over two hours earlier … oops! Once they parked the car outside the center and finally arrived, Louise was already sitting in a bar in China town enjoying a jug of beer on her own. She was wearing a very beautiful dress which she had bought during the day and apparently had to keep sending people away who tried to approach the lonely sitting girl ;-). Since the beers were actually rather cheap and they also had good food offers we decided
to stay and have a cozy evening. It was very pleasant to sit with Josh and listen to the experiences he made on his Europe-sailing-trip he had done a couple of years before. After we had dinner and a couple of cheap jugs of beer we all decided to head to bed. Since Josh had helped Christian to find a free parking spot very close to the city centre we did not have to go a long way and could even sleep at the very same place due to its location in a quiet side street. Fortunately it was weekend, which was followed by a public holiday on Monday, so we could leave our car there for the next days as well.
The next day was AUSTRALIA DAY and we were really happy to have timed our arrival in Sydney according to this special day in Australia. But since most events as well as the fireworks were not planned before the evening we chose to do some sightseeing before. As Christian had not seen neither the view from Sydney Harbour Bridge nor the market in “The Rocks” we decided to repeat that part of Louise’s tour from the day
before. We started out by taking the train to the other side of the bridge and walking back to the city centre over the bridge. The view over the skyline and opera house was truly amazing. The Harbour area which could be seen from the bridge was full of boats all “dressed up” with Australian flags in preparation of the evening’s party. After we finished with the market we headed for our meeting with Christian’s friend Daniel from back home, who by coincidence was studying a semester abroad in Sydney, exactly in this period. We met him right next to the opera house and spontainiously decided that it would be nice to head for a beer on a really nice roof top terrace with an amazing view over the Harbour area. Despite it was insanely crowded due to Australia Day we managed to get some standing places and used the opportunity to catch up on each other. After we finished our drinks we headed for a walk around the opera house and headed into Victoria Park which is a nice garden in the middle of the city. Since it was slowly turning afternoon we also realized that we should soon
head to “Darling Harbour” the place where the big fireworks were planned for the evening. Once we arrived there the whole area was packed with thousands of people and we were lucky enough to find a spot to sit down from where we could watch the show. While waiting we had a couple of more drinks which we bought earlier the day in the bottle shop and Daniel quickly organized some more beers from a nearby fast food place. Since darkness comes rather early and quick in Sydney at this time of year we didn’t have to wait for too long until the fireworks finally started. The city had built up a big platform in the middle of the water filled part of the little harbor area from where the rockets were started. It is really difficult to describe the fireworks but both of us definitely thought it to be the best we have ever seen! It was simply phenomenal how many different and magnificent rockets were shot in the air for nearly half an hour, underlined by beautiful, classic music. Once the show was over Daniel contacted some of his study colleagues who were also around in order to
Chinese Garden
Pomegranate tree meet up and go for a few drinks in a fancy bar at the Sydney Casino. But once we arrived there we got told that the bar was about to close so we headed back to where we came from to grab a simple beer at a harbor bar. Due to the early time of Daniel’s last train we left not too late but nevertheless returned exhausted to our car.
The next day we left straight for the harbor next to the opera house where Christian recorded a video message for his brother’s 30
st birthday. This, without telling any specific numbers, took quite a while due to disturbing tourists and Christian’s perfectionism ;-). Once we finally got a satisfactory video made we took a ferry which brought us to “Watsons Bay” which is the very entrance of the natural Sydney Harbour area. There we went for a nice walk along the astonishing cliffs and enjoyed our picnic we brought along. Louise also got her video message done here (which took way less time) and so we had plenty of time to enjoy the wonderful view over the ocean. After we had relaxed a little we headed back to the
city centre where we again entered Victoria Park in order to visit the parts where we didn’t manage to go with Daniel the day before. Right in its centre was a beautiful botanical garden which impressed us very much. In addition, we passed and visited a couple of churches on our way. Once we reached the end of the park we turned and made our way towards “Darling Harbour” where we wanted to catch a ferry which brought us back to the opera house, while also passing the Sydney Harbour Bridge in order to see those buildings lightened up by night. On the way there we picked up and enjoyed some “Empress Balls” – little vanilla filled dough balls – which Louise already tried the day she was on her own. The drive through the harbor by night was really great due to all the high buildings and lights around us and especially the view over the opera house with the Habour Bridge in front of it was truly amazing. From the ferry terminal next to the opera house we took a train directly to our car and went to bed.
The day after, we decided to leave Sydney.
Chinese Garden
Louise and her wishes for Chinese New Year But since Daniel had offered that we could pass by his student apartment in order to do our laundry and also get some internet stuff done, we first headed there. While waiting for our laundry to be done we could finally take a proper shower in a nice bathroom again. We made pancakes for lunch and also prepared a pizza for bringing along for dinner. Christian had some more time chatting with Daniel and Louise was charging our cameras and also saving all the pictures on the laptop. Once we were finally done it was already after midday and we hurried to get moving since we wanted to reach our next destination - the famous “Blue Mountains” outside Sydney - before darkness.
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