SYDNEY FOR THE DAY


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Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Sydney
January 27th 2011
Published: February 21st 2011
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We arrived at the campsite a little nervous. We had been advised to ring ahead and book, but the number we had didn’t work so we just had to chance it and get there early to hopefully bag a space. We were more than pleased when they said that they could squeeze us in. We were only about 10km north of the city and a short walk to the train station. Catching a train to the City cost just $5 each. From the train window we got our first glimpse of the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge and chose to get off the train early so that we could walk across it. The west side is for cyclists and the east is for walking. The views are fantastic. The towering skyscrapers of the city, the harbour and of course the iconic Sydney Opera house.

Walking down the steps at the other side you could almost imagine that you’re in East End London with red brick buildings and high ceiling boozers. We stopped for refreshments at The Glenmore Hotel taking a table outside so that we could still see the bridge. It’s a good old fashioned pub with a friendly atmosphere. If we didn’t have so little time and so much we wanted to see we could quite happily have spent all day there. We managed to pull ourselves away and went for a wander. It wasn’t long before we arrived at the seconded planned stop of the day. The Lord Nelson Hotel is an impressive looking stone built building which looks like it would be more at home in one of the villages in Rutland. Built in 1841 it claims to be the oldest pub in Sydney. Andy had especially been looking forward to this as they brew their own beer but unfortunately the one he picked was not to his liking and he spent the time trying to pinch my crushed apple cider. After I wrestled my drink back and finished it we carried on walking through the city.

Our intention was to walk to Kings Cross and stop for another drink, but when we arrived we could only find seedy strip joints, naff overpriced bars and tacky souvenir shops. It’s the place that backpackers gravitate to, but it was not our cup of tea.

It had been raining on and off all day but now it was really starting to come down. We walked in the direction of the city in the hope that we might find somewhere to go for a drink and get out of the weather. I think we must have taken a wrong turning along the way because we ended up walking through an estate that was in ,shall we say, an undesirable part of town. There were very run down small one story houses. People were hanging about on the street corners and doorsteps and those that were not so lucky to have one of these homes slept in the shop doorways around the corner. I wonder how many people realise that this part of town even exists. Redevelopment had reached the edge of the area and on the corner of one street, no more than 50 metres from the most run down area, was a new upmarket bistro pub serving overpriced food and drink to Sydney’s young elite.

We were soaking by the time we reached the city. We had been walking for hours and had covered miles so when we hadn’t found anywhere to go for a drink by the time we reached the train station we jumped on the train back to the campsite. We had some Thai Curry left over from the night before waiting for us when we got in - its always better on day two.

The plan was to spend some more time in Sydney before driving to the famous Bondi Beach but when we woke up it was still raining and for the first time in months it was cold. It was probably about 20 but to us it was freezing and we dug out our jumpers. We couldn’t complain though. Even when we were stuck so close to the floods we still enjoyed bright sunny days. We decided to pack up Hilda and start driving and hope that the weather improved. As we were packing up I had my first tinge of home sickness. One of our neighbours was cooking bacon sandwiches. It reminded me of about 11am in my grandparents house when there was always a bacon sandwich on the go.

The weather stayed the same all day so we covered quite a few miles. We only made one stop which was in Kiama to look at the blow hole in the rocks by the lighthouse. It was so powerful that we got wet from the spray.

It was a lay-by that provided our home for the night. For the first time since leaving Victoria we didn’t want to sit outside as it was too cold. When we went to bed we had to use the duvet!



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