Blogs from Sydney Harbour, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, Oceania - page 7

Well, after our first full in Sydney, we have made two observations. Number 1: It is very very expensive, most things are two to three times more expensive than the UK. Some examples would be a pack of biscuits costing £4.00, a bowl of cereal costing £3.50, a bottle of listerine costing £8.00 and best of all, I bet you all thought Aldi was the cheapest shop around, well 4 bananas turned out to cost £8.00. Number 2: All the convenience stores seem to be run by the same people who run the corner shops in England, say no more. This morning we got the bus to Bondi beach. The weather was lovely, very sunny and warm. We saw lots of surfers and had a paddle in the sea. We accidently found another mcdonalds this morning ... read more

The second day in Sydney started with more adjustments of the Aussie culture including traffic rules, nuances in English language differences and coffee ordering experimentation. Because the long black seems too strong, and I'm not a big fan of milk, getting the right amount of espresso to milk ratio challenges the baristas here and takes some back-and-forth when ordering. Coffee culture is Sydney is literally black or white. From my masters program at the University of Colorado at Denver (UCD), I have learned a lot about myself, my family history. Hanging with my Aunt Stacey in Sydney provided further lessons and insight about these important topics as well as some important shopping discussions and tourism. As several of my readers know, my devoted boyfriend, Dain, and I have been together for almost five adventurous years. We ... read more

Anyone who has ever seen photos of Sydney, let alone visited this beautiful place, will know that it is a city with a close relationship to water. The never ending inlets and bays of Sydney Harbour are the playground of Sydneysiders, this is where they relax at a waterfront bar, exercise at beach bootcamps, catch supper, and even commute to work. And if the calm waters of the harbour are too sedate then Sydney residents and visitors transpose all these activities to the pounding waves of the Pacific Ocean. With this in mind - and as an honorary resident of Sydney for seven months - I took up the challenge to see as much of the harbour and Sydney coast as possible. With limited days off and abysmal fitness levels I admit I could have done ... read more

Another day at work is complete. The rocking of the train as it rumbles through the tunnel under the city makes my eyelids droop but they are pierced open again by the low slung sunshine streaming through the windows as the train emerges into Circular Quay station. As I step off the train a vista of epic proportions fills the windows of the station. The Opera House and the Harbour Bridge compete for glory while the Manly Ferry chugs across centre stage at what must be the most famous viewpoint from a public transport interchange anywhere in the world. Ticket swallowed, barriers withdrawn and i'm spewed into the early evening crowd of commuters chasing soon to depart buses and ferries. Tripping lightly in the opposite direction I saunter past mingling tourists tossing coins to street artists ... read more

So we last left you as we had just arrived in Wellington, our last stop on the North island, after a some what stressful journey. Little did we know our troubles with Dora were not over she still had a suprise or two in store for us, but I'll fill you in later on that one. Wellington was fab and as we have come to love about New Zealand (even though they are from Scotland) the hospitality that we recieved at Nigel and Ailsa's was fab, was so lovely being part of a wee family for a few days, chats over dinner, insider info about places to go and see, a wee break from Dora plus Tom was given a gorgous home made birthday cake and present as well which was so lovely and started off ... read more