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Published: September 2nd 2009
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Tue 1st of September 2009 Sydney
I have always liked Sydney since the first time I visited with my parents in the late sixties. Over the years I have been back many times and yes the hustle and bustle has increased, but in some way the serenity bought by the bay has kept everything in check. And let us not forget it is one of the most beautiful harbor settings in the world.
I took the train in from the airport and found a hybrid of the London Underground and the New York Subway - double decker train cars not reminiscent of either, but tiling, pipe fixtures, station names, shapes of tunnels all in keeping with one or other. When you step out at the Circular Quay station, at least coming from the airport, you are pretty much confronted with the essence of Sydney all in the blink of an eye and however many times I come and see that view it takes my breath away. Having seen it so many times I had no particular desire to rush of and get close to parts of it, the bridge, the opera house, the city proper, but decided to just
amble into the botanical gardens that are just up the hill. Alas this reminds me of Tom Cruise at the end of Mission Impossible 2 since it was filmed here, but what can you do.
The gardens are simply beautiful both for their flora and fauna. I ambled over to the café for a last meat pie and chips and with beer in hand amused myself watching passers by, both human and bird. There were ibis’s scouring the tables, not native to Australia apparently, but like so many immigrants they are obviously enjoying it here. Off in the distance were the cockatoos with their while coloring and yellow head feathers, all right in the center of the city. After lunch I celebrated my good fortune with a little nap on the hilly slope with the opera house and bridge off in the distance peeking through the trees.
Later I met Lynn, who had come down from Brisbane, at Circular Quay and we headed off on the ferry to Manly for dinner. Circular Quay is one of the worlds great meeting places, like Grand Central Station and Trafalgar Square. Unlike the people in this story who are mostly old
friends from high school (Aussies are friends for life), Lynn is a California-met colleague and friend who came to Australia to work, went back to the States, but could not get Australia out of her head and is back, perhaps for a long time. We did not make it off the Manly pier for dinner as conversation was more important than fine cuisine. Coming back was one of those great moments. Sitting outside at the front of the slow moving ferry suddenly as you leave the cove at Manly the ferry turns to the right and the cool breeze and the gently lapping water accompany the sudden appearance of the spectacular view of Sydney at night. For the next 20 minutes you are treated to that ever-closer view as you pass close by the opera house and always comment that it is not as big as you expected and you heard the acoustics are bad. Some things never change. Lynn already had a room at the Y and I went and got one too for A$71, not bad.
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Steve
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Duplicity and Bottle Trees
Hi mate. Final comments: Glad you had obviously exactly the type of major bike expedition you craved. Excellent to catch up. Disappointed United not yet coming thru with your well-deserved upgrade. I do need to point out that Sydney is obviously its absolutely typical self: all spectacular waterfront show (undeniable). But it's not for nothing that other Aussies traditionally referred to it as "Tinsel Town" or (in lettered circles) "The Emerald City". (I have also heard "The Armpit of Australia" - humidity & congestion). I'm always impressed by people voting with their feet, and it is a fascinating fact (obviously unknown to new foreign immigrants, who flock to the glitz in droves) that net within-Australia migration is massively in favour of every other large city (A,B,D,M,P etc) versus S! Life in S drops off very rapidly away from the waterfront (like two streets back!). BOTTLE TREES! Yes, it is indeed a Bottle Tree (or Boab), jus like that wot yu wud 'av seen if yu 'ad gawn from Broome to Darwin like wot yu 'ad planned. Sprinkled all across the countryside. Wot a coincidence! Now you know what to expect next time! Or, alternatively, you can just multiply this image by hundreds, imagine the countryside, and pretend you did the other bit. What a stroke of luck!