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Published: December 17th 2012
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Tuesday - 13 November - Today I arrived in Sydney and excitedly boarded the train to central Sydney. It's crude but the first thing i wanted to do upon reaching my hotel in Surrey Hills, was go to the toilet and what a joy to enter the cubicle NOT to be greeted by a bin full of used toilet paper!!! John Warrington and Thomas Crapper would have been proud to see their flushing toilet systems in full operational order as i waved goodbye to the tissue down the s-bend, it was nice to have a few reminders of comfort from home. Thinking that nothing could possibly beat this satisfaction for the day, i wandered out into the city in the rain. I walked up through Hyde Park to the Quay and got my first glimpse of the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. Having wanted to come here since i was 18, i felt so elated to be there.
As i walked around the city, there was a strange sense of familiarity with everything there. The road names and places fitted together like a jig-saw of home and i felt weirdly settled, so settled that i forgot i was unemployed
and ate above Gucci and under Prada..... it was good though!! I made the tourist trip up the Sydney tower, The rain had surpassed a little by the time i reached the observation deck and i got some great views over the city. I eyed up all the attractions i wanted to see whilst i was there. Having walked all day i wearily showered and climbed into bed, no surprises i slept very well.
Wednesday - 14 November - clearly my body clock was wondering what was going on as i woke up at 5.30am, trying unsuccessfully to go back to sleep i eventually got up at 6am realising it was my stomach alarm going off and I was starving! I headed out to a bijous cafe in an area called the Rocks for breakfast. After my hunger was satisfied by a substantial plate of scrambled eggs and toast i was ready to start exploring again.
As all sensible tourists do (apparently!), I headed for the library where i picked up a free city tour. We walked all over the city and the tour leader gave us a full rendition of the short history of Terra Australis. The
tour took us to the Royal Botanical gardens, Cadman's Cottage (Sydney's oldest building), the Sydney Conservatorium of Music (the old stables and servants quarters designed to look like a castle and fort) and the oldest church c.1819 (Haha!) and it concluded outside the Opera House.
Having taken some notes i backtracked to take in some of the suggested sites. My favourite stop, having just bought an east coast travel book, was to the Moet & Chandon Orbit bar where i sat sipping a pink Caipirinha cocktail (which consisted of; cachaca, smashed strawberries, muddled lime ginger and mint agave sugar) it was very tasty so worth $20!! The bar is on the 47th floor of a building in Australia square, as you sip your beverage or nibble on your snack, the bar rotates so you get a 360 degree view of the city while sipping cocktails. As i rotated, I took time to read up on the east coast and roughly planned the next few days of my trip. The sky was clear and the view amazing so i stayed for a couple of hours, was a little tipsy by the time i got back down to earth at 7.15pm.
I decided to see of there were any last minute tickets for any shows at the opera house, I was in luck there was one $30 cheap seat left for the ballet starting in 15 mins. I grabbed it and made my way to the seat in time for the orchestra to be finishing their tune up. Spotting a spare seat at the front of the balcony with a clear view straight to the front of the stage, I headed for it as the lights started to dim thinking if someone came to claim it I could move and the usher was elsewhere!! Despite nearly plunging into the audience below, damn those flip seats, I got a great view of a beautiful performance. I'd always wanted to see the ballet but never had the opportunity or anyone to go with, what better place than the Sydney Opera House for my first taster!! pinch me!!! The ballet was made up of 3 pieces and did not disappoint my fresher status, the third piece was really a comedy, managing to fit in a game of rugby and clubhouse drinking games!! It was interesting, very different from what i would have expected
from swan lake or the like!! As I walked back into the city and back to the hostel, bars were near to chucking out time but the city was in full party swing.
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