Sydney and the New Vegemite Spokesman

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October 2, 2008
After 14 long hours, five movies, and little sleep in a winged sardine can, we arrived in Sydney at 6 A.M. Customs went quickly, we got some colorful money in the ATM, then hopped on a shuttle bus and found our hotel, Mariner’s Court in the area of Wooloomooloo, our first funny sounding Australian name and the only word I know that has 8 o’s. We are near the wharf where the naval ships sleep and are a short walk through the stunning Royal Botanic Gardens to Circular Quay with the ferries, the sidewalk entertainers, the fancy shops and restaurants, and the Opera House. We had a pleasant time walking this area and visited the Opera House. We sat in Mrs. Macquaire’s chair (famous carved rock area) on a point overlooking the harbor, checked out some art galleries, shopped “The Rocks,” the lovely and interesting historical center of town. I was exhausted by early evening, but Joe was able to grab a sandwich at the San Francisco Pub near our hotel.

October 3, 2008
Our day began at 5. We wanted to see the sunrise over the harbor so we wandered through the gardens again. This time we were greeted by at least 100 noisy cockatoos on their way to work. We had a magical hour watching the sun hit the Opera House and the boats in the harbor. We met a businessman jogging on the path that was also staying at Mariner’s Court. He told us that our hotel is the best for your money in Sydney, so we are gloating with our choice. We had breakfast with him at the hotel and he invited us to his home near Melbourne. We are finding all that we’ve heard about Australians being friendly to be true. We’ve yet to run into an unpleasant person and everyone goes out of their way to be helpful. That was the second Melbourne invitation we’ve received, the other was from a gentleman in the L.A. airport.

Hiking through another beautiful path through the gardens we ended up back at Circular Quay where suddenly we were surrounded by four men and a woman. One guy had a microphone, one a TV camera, the third was holding some sound equipment, and I couldn’t figure out the fourth guy’s purpose. The lone girl was holding a tray of bread slices smeared with Vegemite. Australians love Vegemite. Joe and I had tried it at breakfast this morning because it’s such an Aussie thing. Joe thought it was ok, but I gagged and actually had to spit it out. It was honestly the worst thing I’ve ever had in my mouth. These people were so excited that we were from the USA and wanted to know our opinions of this crap. They spent most of the time talking with Joe because he was complimentary, animated, witty, and actually ate some of it for them. When the microphone was in my face I resisted the urge to say it tasted like how I imagined salty dog poop would taste, and just said that it must be an acquired taste. If they were making an advertisement, Joe’s “in” and I’m cut for sure. They said they were from the Australian equivalent of the Today show. I have no idea what they were doing.

After our thrilling interview we caught a ferry for a 30 minute ride to Manly Beach. Manly Beach is lined with Norfolk Island Pine trees, very pretty and very different from any other beaches we’ve been to. This was the first time either of us had dipped our toes in the South Pacific and we celebrated with sushi and fruit juice. As we were leaving the ferry back to CQ, a pleasant voice announced, “Please take your rubbish with you and dispose of it thoughtfully.” We want to be as civilised (note the “s”) as the Australians, so we didn’t just throw our empty water bottles haphazardly into just any old trashcan. We “thoughtfully” chose one that looked hungry.

A few hours later, back at Circular Quay we made our way to the Harbor Bridge to walk its span, about a mile. At the end of the bridge we found ourselves in Luna Park, a very old Coney Island type place that is a cheesy landmark. There we got on another ferry that had four stops around the harbor (including Darling Harbor) before it went back to CQ, and hour’s ride. We did this so that we could get a cheap “harbor cruise.” We think Sydney has the most beautiful harbor we’ve ever seen.

Not only do these people drive on the wrong side of the road, they also walk on the wrong side of the sidewalk. There are words painted on the street for pedestrians saying, “Look Left,” or “Look Right” which helped us know which way the traffic is coming from. We are hoping that walking in Sydney is our first driving lesson. There are few Exit signs, but signs that say, “Way Out.” This country tells it like it is. Love it.

Yet another path through the Botanical Gardens on our way back led us to hundreds of flying foxes (very large fruit bats) that were hanging upside down from the trees and more gorgeous ponds, flowers, fountains, and statues. There is a giant glass pyramid with tropical plants. These dozens of acres of gardens are in our opinion underrated in the guidebooks. As we crossed the wharf area, the cockatoos were obviously home from work and were in the midst of raucous conversations.

We have a working cell phone here (Joe bought sim card). Our number is 431-16-6271. You’d need a country code before it, we think it’s 61.

We’ve seen lots of Aborigines painted up playing their didgeridoos, all had a white pimp selling CD’s. An accordion player provided us with our first rendition of “Waltzing Matilda.”

We are amazed that the nightly news here has so much about the USA. Australians know a lot about us. I’m ashamed to say that I still don’t the name of the Prime Minister of Australia, but I do know a lot about their flying foxes.

Remember, you can click on the photos to see them enlarged.

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Photos

Sunrise in Sydney
Yep, yep, we're in Sydney all right.

Manly Beach
The Pine Trees were beautiful.

Comments

[Connie]

Hi Joe and Judy- Your trip looks wonderful so far; I'm always amazed at the places you go to. Did you ever figure out where the cockatoos go? Oh- I've eaten Vegemite (neighbors from Australia), and you're right: it tastes like a heavy dose of salt mixed in dirt. Blah. Looking forward to your next entry- Connie