Sad to leave Sydney

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This morning I checked out of Wake Up! Sydney hostel but didn’t have to leave right away since I won’t have to catch my bus until tonight. This gave me the better part of the day to see a few more sights. And joining me today was Kelly, a friend of mine from New York who is now back in Sydney.

We agreed to meet up at Milsons Point, just across the Harbour Bridge from Circular Quay. I caught the train down early to make sure I could find our meeting place, which wasn’t a problem at all. With lots of extra time I walked around Milsons Point, mainly down towards the harbour.

On my way down, I saw some more trees with a horde of parrots in it, having just flown there from another tree. These again were the multi-colored Scarlet Breasted Parrots.

After making my way down to the harbour, I found a bench and took in the amazing views of the city.

I made my way back up and met Kelly right on time at the bridge’s steps, which we would use to start our walk across. Throughout the day we would do quite a bit of walking - the first of it being across the bridge, through The Rocks and Circular Quay towards the Opera House and back to catch a ferry from Circular Quay.

Since I had already been all over The Rocks and Circular Quay, we decided to take the ferry out to Manly Beach, another one of the more popular Sydney Beaches. The ferry ride gave us spectacular views of the Harbour Bridge, Opera House, Circular Quay and the numerous homes and small beaches along the way.

We arrived at Manly about a half hour later. From there we walked to the beach and along the top walkway, where Kelly ran into a friend she knew from New York. We continued our walk out to Shelly Beach, which felt like its own little private cove. There we dined at a café for lunch, splitting some calamari and chips.

Of course we couldn’t resist the temptation of going in the water, at least a little, so after lunch we walked on the pebbly beach to the water’s edge and put our feet in. In just a couple days it feels like the water temperature has rose a few degrees, as there was little adjustment necessary here.

Eventually, we headed back towards the larger portion of Manly Beach, this time walking along the water’s edge.

Having worked up an appetite in the heat, we both were craving some ice cream. On our way back to the ferry we found an ice cream shop, each of us going with a scoop of the Swiss Chocolate and her with a raspberry and me with a rum raisin topper scoop.

We caught the ferry back and walked to the Cockle Bay part of Darling Harbour where Kelly caught a train home.

Throughout the day we had little lapse in conversation, not surprising for two people that have covered a good portion of the world over the last several months. Kelly left her finance job at Macquarie Capital last fall and spent a couple months in India before returning to her family in Sydney for the holidays. She is heading out again in a couple weeks; this time to Japan then Central and South America.

Naturally, I also recapped my travels and told her about my plans. I also mentioned I was at the opera last night; something she hadn’t been to even though she grew up here. It’s amazing how common it is for all of us to have something so wonderful in our backyards yet to never experience it.

We also reminisced about our days playing touch football together in New York in 2008, which is how we met. We had to chuckle at how our team was a total bunch of misfits on the field but pulled it all together nicely at the bar after the games. Case in point - she didn’t even realize she signed up for American football; she thought it was rugby. But we all came together to earn the notorious distinction as the red team at The Bullpen on the Upper East Side. It was amazing how every week Sunday night became THE big night out (and Monday morning the effect of this).

I got back to the hostel just in time to grab some dinner and head out to catch my overnight bus to Brisbane at the nearby Central Station.

I really enjoyed my time in Sydney. There’s a bit of a rivalry here between Sydney and Melboure, similar to a New York vs Boston rivalry, though I can’t say it extends to sports like that one does. People generally hold a lot of loyalty to one or the other and have strong feelings in one direction.

Melbourne is a very social town with a youthful dynamic, probably a result of its premier university. But Sydney has so much more to see and do. And that’s why I choose Sydney any day of the week.

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Photos

Parrot
Another one of the scarlet breasted parrots. They are smaller than I thought they'd be.

Circular Quay
Looking at the Quay from Milsons Point.

Ferry ride
Passing the Opera House on the way to Manly Beach.

Shelly Beach
A small cove, where we had lunch, near Manly Beach.

Kelly and I
Kelly and I on the ferry from Manly Beach.