Sydney- Our Red Light District Adventure

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The morning that we left for Sydney was chaotic to say the least; this was largely due to the fact that we had to go and pick up our East Coast package booked a few days before. In hindsight, we were leaving it a bit tight because they didn't open until 10.00 and our flight was at 11.40. However we rushed over there, only to find out that the guy who had booked our trip hadn't booked or printed any of our tickets. He said we could get them from the office in Sydney so we rushed off to the airport to get there and be told that our terminal was a five minute walk away and we only had fifteen minutes to check in. Of course we kept cool heads proceeding to run off like the teenage mutant ninja turtles that we are with our backpacks. It was the MOST stressful thing; eventually Luce just shouted, "El I'll take you bag- just run". So I went sprinting off, arriving at the check in desk in a sweaty slump managing to catch the flight by the skin of our teeth- PHEW

It was really amazing flying into the airport in Sydney because we could see the Opera House and Harbour Bridge from the air which was just incredible. Our flight arrived about midday (but we obviously didn't get to our hostel till about 4.00pm because we were ALWAYS last to get dropped off). Thanks to PeterPans tour company; we were, of course, staying in the red light district area of Sydney.

We didn't do a huge amount that afternoon because we had to finish sorting out our east coast tour; however we had arranged to go out that night with Emily and Medi, who we had run into in Apollo Bay. We decided that we would go out by our hostel in the red light district part. It actually wasn't as bad as expected- the streets were crawling with brothels and prostitutes but inside the bars it was a good laugh. We made the slight mistake of thinking that the Wales V England six nations game was playing that night so made our way on the train to a Welsh bar that the other girls had seen. Despite the game not being on, this trip was completely worth it because there was a drunken man on the train who started singing Johnny Cash, using his empty water bottle as a microphone. This was simply a classic; there were a crowd of us in the compartment so everyone was clapping him and stamping their feet and he was doing smashing rendition after smashing rendition. He did like to get us involved by holding the 'microphone' up to our mouths, as well as stroking my hair. I would also like to say that during the entire performance his butt crack was on show.

The next day we met the girls again and got the ferry to Manly Beach, because we had seen that the Australian Open Surfing Competition was on that day. We trekked for absolute miles before finding the right quay to take us there but it was worth it because as we were coming round a corner we suddenly caught sight of the Opera House. It was amazing seeing it right there in front of us, I don't think I realised how breathtaking it would actually be to see such a famous landmark. We took plenty of pictures and also got to see a different view of the Opera House and the bridge as we were pulling away in the ferry. Unfortunately, by the time we arrived at Manly the surfing had finished but the beach was still packed out so it was a good atmosphere. Medi and I decided to go into the water and I can honestly say I have never experienced waves like those. Luckily Medi had been in similar ones before and knew that you had to duck under them to avoid getting dragged around like a rag doll. However, I still decided to try and go over one- it was SCARY, I literally got tossed forward and spun round. I didn't do that again.

That evening we went for a nice meal close to the Harbour but the heavens had well and truly opened so we had to leg it through pouring rain to get there- this was unfortunate because we missed our usual hooker spotting as we ran by. We did however get treated to a drunken hooligan at the train station. He told us we could go back to his if we would like. He also said the best he could offer us was "beer and bongs" and tried to hug Gwenda because "he liked her best".


The next day we went to Bondi beach, I was very excited about this as we had heard there were lots of sharks about at the moment and I would have loved the drama of a water evacuation and seeing a fin roaming towards the beach. I was also looking forward to seeing the famous Bondi Rescue team. Unfortunately I only got to experience the latter. The beach was really nice though, except for the fact that a 10 year old girl latched herself to us and kept trying to get Lucy and me to go in the sea with her. However, after splashing water in my face one time too many, our friendship was over.


Medi and Emily joined us a bit later and luckily Medi is as much of a restless sunbather as me and the girls buried us both so we could be floating heads. We went to quickly wash the sand off ourselves and were just floating about in the sea when we suddenly realised we had actually floated quite far out. This was fine and we just started to swim back, except that we couldn't. We just kept getting dragged back out; we were actually getting nowhere, I could hear Medi saying "I can't get back" and I was thinking "shit, neither can I"! It was actually really scary but eventually with our guns of steal we managed to get out. Unfortunately, this was not before the Bondi Rescue Team had driven to us and said over the speakerphone "next time you want a swim girls go between the red and yellow flags". Luckily they didn't come down to do any filming for Bondi Rescue until later as I would have been mortified if we had been on it- complete tourists.

We went out for our last night in Sydney, but in a much nicer area which was by the girl's hostel. We were in our element because we were in a massive queue and the five of us got bumped to the front by the bouncer- hooray. We had a really good final night and we got slightly more drunk than planned considering we had to check out of the hostel at 9.00am.

For our last full day in Sydney, we decided to do the free walking tour, which we probably should have done on the first day. It was still really good as our guide took us to see all the main sites, obviously the Opera House and the Bridge but also to see Hyde Park, St Mary's Cathedral, St. Andrews Cathedral and the Rocks (where most of the convicts first lived), as well as giving us lots of interesting info. We mostly spent the tour laughing at a lady who had brought a fold up chair with her that she would set up every time we stopped for the guide to give us information. I’m still not sure it was really necessary.


After this, feeling very glum to leave the girls, we had to catch our bus to Byron bay which was a thirteen hour overnight journey (ouch). After all our long journeys I am now an absolute pro at sleeping in vehicles. I slept the entire journey more or less, only waking up for an hour or so to watch our ‘in coach movie’, Avatar. Despite this, we were all still shattered when we arrived and couldn't check into our room for another couple of hours leaving us to explore Byron Bay….



Tips:

· Although, I have criticised PeterPans quite a lot here, (for not having our tickets ready & putting us in the Red Light District), I would still recommend them to any backpacker. We shopped around a LOT in Melbourne looking for the best deal for an East Coast package and Peterpans offered us the best by far. We paid $1550 (Australian) for four weeks of accommodation, a flexible greyhound travel pass, Fraser Island and Whitsundays trips, a package deal for Magnetic island (including ferry over there, food and drink), a surf lesson, Scuba diving in Cairns, Ultimate Party in Cairns, and the infamous Uncle Brains tour. When looking at the individual process this was a very good deal but DO barter with them. They wouldn’t give it to us for 1500 so ended up placating us with free t-shirts, baileys and wine.

· Scubar is an absolute MUST for a good backpacker night out- it is on George Street.

· Bondi Beach and Manly Beach are also essentials- there is a decent priced ferry to Manly from the Circle Quay harbour.

· I would definitely recommend the Free Walking Tour of Sydney. The guide was enthusiastic and friendly. You can give a donation of what you think the tour was worth at the end; http://www.imfree.com.au/

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Photos

On our way to Manly
I fear that this is why we were late for the surfing competition...