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Published: April 29th 2007
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Sun set at the harbor
the Sydney Habor bridge at sutset from our ferry While you're down there....
So since we were already in this part of the world and since Sydney was only a three hour flight from Singapore, we decided to go visit the the underbelly of the Western Society.
A continent used for housing the worst of the criminals from the British folk- this country/continent/ island Alcatraz is essentially the ancestors of the exiled. And they know how to have a good time.
We enjoyed our time in Aus and hope to go back one day... We stayed at a little B&B right by the Harbor and close to the ferries. Right after we checked in, though, there was a fire alarm and we had to go downstairs to make sure we wouldn't be barbied. The good news is that once we were downstairs, not only did we see the handsome firemen dashing upstairs, but we also discovered that we got a free drink in our hotel lounge every night! Woo hoo!
From our hotel (for anyone who wants to go) you can take the number 6 subway all the way to the harbor. Our stop was Town Hall.) See. I'm not so bad with directions. Although
Our New Friend
Meet the wizard with the little martini umbrellas I had an expert navigator to read the maps. But I followed instructions like a champ. By the way, a little travel tip for anyone going.
Do not put you subway/ferry ticket into the monorail ticket taker. However, the monorail folks are happy to extract any wayward tickets in just 20 minutes. There is a coffee shop near by if you need a place to wait.
We also discovered the use of Bottle Shops. This is a bar where you can buy beer/wine/liquor to 'takeaway' not 'to go'. Except every time my dad and I would go into a convenience store to buy beer, and were directed to a 'bottle shop' neither of us could understand what in the hell the clerk was saying with the thick Aussie accents.
One other accent blunder: we were at a pretty upscale restaurant on the harbor for dinner. When the server asked what we'd like to start with my dad asked for Becks (a beer). The server replied, sorry sir, no bats but we do have a lovely prawn..... It took a bit to figure out we hadn't ordered a bat for an appetizer, but in fact wanted a beer.
One more little pornounciation blip: white vs. black coffee. First of all, what the hell is white coffee? I asked myself the same thing. Turns out that its just regular coffee with milk. But, couple my coffee ordering ignorance with the accent issue and you just end up staring at the coffee tech is utter dismay.
Eventually we got sorted out and liquored up and headed back home to plan our attack on Sydney. We walked the bridge- beautiful sights from there. We did not due the bridge climb which entails a 4 hour stair-master up and over the bridge in a space suit and harnessed to the sides. No thanks, I'll stroll along the edges, save a few hundred dollars and have a coffee.
The harbor was lively and reminded me of San Francisco. There were men painted silver hustling for photos, a wizard who gave out cocktail umbrellas, and a group of local Mouries who played diggeridos and painted themselves in the traditional manner- much like the way the native Americans look.
We visited the National Maritime Museum and also the Sydney zoo. We saw kangaroos and koala bears, and I was most impressed
with the orangutan. If you're ever seen Harry and the Hendersons you would have thought it was Harry. He was the biggest orangutan I've ever seen- not that I've seen thousands, but I have been around a block.
My other favorite event was the monkey who kept pooing in his hand and eating it.
We also took an adventure to the fish markets. I had a yummy spinach and cheese roll while dad had the fish plate for one, which included a few oysters, calamari, multiple baby octupi, and some fried fish. Mmmm.
One night we went to the Lowenbraugh for dinner and steins. We heard an opp-paah band. I thought I was in Germany with all the beer wenches walking around.
One more little travel tip- the RockPool steakhouse in the Rocks is no longer open. Even though in the Sydney top 10 books it's rated number 2.....
Hooray for the land of Oz! And since we are still down there... why not double dip for a bit of New Zealand fun. I hear they have sheep.
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