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Published: December 17th 2012
Arriving in Sydney after two months in Asia was wonderful. The little things, like being able to understand the bus driver and drink water from the tap were not to be taken for granted. A bit bleary eyed from my overnight flight through Malaysia after the over night bus ride from Mui Ne to Ho Chi Minh, I cleared immigration and customs seamlessly. The bus driver helped me sort out the Australian coins from my variety of currencies, and I was on my way to Ben, Megan and Andy's place--Carbondale friends who moved to Sydney from Australia in July.
My short visit with Meg and Ben was wonderful--from drinking good wine for the first time in months, to being comfortable in a home with old friends, rather than staying in one more guest house. We celebrated that evening with a wonderful home cooked meal and some wine before heading to bed. The next morning Meg, Andy, and I headed out for the big city of Sydney. A train ride later we were in the big city, enjoying 'Flat Whites' and 'Long Blacks' (latte's and Americanos). There didn't seem to be such thing as drip coffee in Austrlia, and the espresso's,
Americanos, and lattes I drank were delicious. We stopped so Andy could play at the most amazing playground I've ever seen. There were streams running through the playground, and kids were able to get wet, and maneuver various bridges, water wheels, and gates to control the flow of the water. Pretty Great.
Two ferry rides later with views of the opera house and Sydney bridge, we found ourselves on Manly beach--a picturesque beach just a stones throw from the city. The place where the city worker can commute by ferry and be home in time to catch some surf. After a quick swim, we were warned by the microphoned life guard's that a slew of blue bottle (small jelly fish) sting's had been reported. I followed the rest of the tourists and surfers in before getting stung myself.
After a walk on the beach and a drink at the pub ($10 being a killer deal for a pint of beer), we headed back by ferry, train, and cab to Ben and Megan's place.
The following day was unseasonably hot, and we headed to check out the markets of Newtown. Although the market was small, the town was
great. A trendy, metro, neighborhood with great shops and restuarants.
Meg, Ben, and Andy offered me a wonderful welcome to the land down under. They've been doing a great job of getting out and exploring Australia since arriving in July, and offered great perspectives on the people and culture. From Newtown I grabbed a cab back to the airport for a flight to Brisbane to check out the Sunshine Coast!
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