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Published: August 2nd 2009
Monday 8th January 2007 We left Auckland, said "Thank you" and "Goodbye" to Andrea and family and got aboard our seperate flights to Sydney. Lisa's 'round the world' ticket was with a different airline and so she traveled an hour after me.
Note for other travellers - you have to pay $25NZD as an exit fee when leaving NZ.
Another tip - don't bring shoes/boots into a new country (well Oz at least) that have ANY dirt on the soles. I had to have my shoes and boots washed for me by customs and there was much 'tutting' and shaking of the head. I felt like a very bad boy who had walked mud in to the house! (They let Lisa right through with the same dirt on her boots!)
After customs I sat alone in the arrivals of Sydney for nearly two hours looking through hostel options. But I was excited - an Air album (one of my favorites!) was playing and it was hitting home - I was in OZ - exploring another new country and I was going to be sharing it all with Lisa - I was really looking forward to her arriving.
One more tip - pre-book your accommodation for the first night you fly into a new place!!!
When Lisa arrived we spent the next hour researching and calling hostels all around Sydney, mostly to find the ones we liked were fully booked. We finally got to settle on
G'Day/Forbes Hostel (avoid if you can) which was a shit-hole compared to hostels we had been in in NZ. To get to the hostel from the airport we had to experience 'mad Asian woman mini bus'. She scared the shit out of me - her driving was really random. We were relieved to arrive at the hostel - until we got inside! Dirty, small, hot, pokey, lady-boys working the street outside... But on the bright side - free pancake mix for breakfast... Oh yeah - which was shite!
So we weren't in the best area, but all part of the experience... We were hoping to get some food and so left the hostel and went for an evening walk. Unfortunately we turned right (if we had turned left we would have been spoilt for choices in Kings Cross area) and nearly walked all the way into the city centre before finding
anywhere that did food. We went into an Indian Restaurant and had a nice meal. It came to $50AUD for us both!! Crap! We needed to get with the backpacker budget again and quick!
Tuesday 9th January 2007 The next morning we left the hostel, turned left and found a huge supermarket to buy some cheap backpacker food. I was amazed at the fresh fruit and veg options - very different to NZ. But this was the biggest city in Oz I suppose. I bought a white cucumber as I had never seen one - don't bother, tough skin and no better taste (but does a cucumber taste of anything?).
We went back to the hostel, made ourselves breakfast and a packed lunch (more inline with the budget!!) and set off into the city. We walked through Hyde Park (very nice) and past Main Street, where Lisa had to go see Westpac. I stood and took in the city and it's contrasts- the lush green areas over shadowed by towering glass, steel and concrete. Another example was the huge number of people smoking and the equally huge number of people running, boxing, swimming, power walking and Thai Chi..
ing. It was lunch
time and there were only polar opposites - either go be fit for an hour or 'time for a fag'.
It was Sydney Festival 2007 - a month of art performances all over the city. We hoped to see a show at the tiny travelling theater (Famous Spiegel Tent) but it was fully booked. :-(
We strolled through the Botanical Gardens, which was great - especially the trees filled with huge fruit bats, making lots of noise, see the video
here.
We walked along the seafront, stopping to eat our lunch over-looking the harbour. We continued round and walked around the Opera House - very cool building! See a video
">here.
We then got a ferry to Manly beach and chilled out there. I was a bit
surprised to see shark nets on the beach and people playing in the water outside them...
Tam
non-member comment
Guess what
I stayed at the Forbes Terrace Hostel 6 years ago and it was rubbish then, I did try and warn you!