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Published: April 14th 2007
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G'dday mates from the land down under! (everytime i say that I just want to bust out into "Land Down Under" by Men At Work)...ha.. well its time boys and girls for me to fill you in on my travels in the picturesque city of Sydney located in the Australian state of New South Wales.
The first day we arrived we were pretty shattered after our 12 hour trip from Melbourne, so we checked into our luxurious YHA City Central Hostel (no joke this is the nicest hostel we have seen yet, rooftop pool and sauna, cafe, big rooms, etc). Later that evening (April 11th) we decided to trek over to Darling Harbour, which was just a hop skip and a jump away from our accomodation. From the Harbour we had a spectacular view of the skyline and met a few winged creatures of the night (aka massive flying bats)
On Thursday we ventured to the Paddy Markets just off George's Street, spending hours upon hours venturing through all the stalls and seeing what the vendors of Sydney had to offer. Trust me this was challenging as both myself and Brenda came on our adventure with full
rucksacks (so as you can imagine buying something means throwing something else out---and at this stage I have very little thats not a necessity left to throw out!)
Friday afternoon we hoped onboard the Aboriginal Culture Cruise which left from Circular Quay and gave us stunning views of the Harbour Bridge as well as the famous Sydney Opera House. Our cruise then took us to Sydney Harbour National Park where we got an informative talk on the aboriginal culture, its people and history. We were even treated to an aboriginal dance by one of the guides. He showed us how to dance like kangaroos and Emus (to be honest we more resembled four legged creatures called "asses"...ha). On the way back to port we were then shown how to play the didgeridoo, an instrument on which the aboriginals play songs for every occasion, hunting songs, funeral songs, gossip songs and songs of ancestors, animals and myths. We also learned that women are not allowed to play the didgeridoo in aboriginal culture, one reason being that it supposedly damages a womans lungs as they are "not as strong as a mans" and also that it can affect her fertility. On
the cruise we also met other backpackers named Kat (from England) and Karina (from Canada). Myself and Brenda managed to convince them to join us for the rest of the day and after a cleanup and a bit of a feed we dragged ourselves to Scubar (bar just next door to our accomodation) where we treated ourselves to some colourful cocktails, I believe mine was called a "FUBAR." Scruphy Murphy's ( Irish pub that is open 24-7!!!!!) was next on our agenda that nite. We had heard there was going to be a U2 tribute band playing and were all excited , but to our dismay there was a band...but they only played ONE U2 SONG!!!! How wrong was that???!! But we had great craic that nite, met loads of English and Irish (as seems to be the general theme on this trip) and managed to find New York Style pizza by the end of the nite! Saturday was a fairly relaxed day just wandering around the local streets and unwinding at the end of the nite with a movie and junk food with our new mate Kat.
Sunday brought out the athletic side to myself and Brenda as
Culture Tour
(L-R) Brenda, Susan and Kat we went to the Sydney Cricket Ground to watch the
Sydney Swans v. Brisbane Lions go head to head for an Aussie Rules AFL match. This form of "footy" has its roots in Rugby and Gaelic football, but essentially the ball is bounced in the centre of the ground to start the game. The players then try to move the ball towards their goals by either handpassing or by kicking it. If a player kicks the ball and another player catches it then that player can stop play without fear of being tackled by the opposition. When the team has the ball within reach of the goal then they try to kick a goal (yes, i know its complicated, esp for the likes of me...but any excuse to watch men run around in uniform!). To my shock I didn't jinx the hometeam and the Swans were victorious again the Brisbane Lions! Yay! Go me!
Did someone say Bondi?? Yup, Monday, I ventured to the famous Bondi Beach to see if its all its cracked up to be. Great beach, but as it was quite a windy day I wasn't able to lay out for more than an hour, but
Susan
"I've waited 23 yrs for this view and trust me the wait has been worth it" I did manage to eat some chips on the beach! When I got back I ventured up to the pool and the sauna then went to the YHA bbq where---oh skippy please forgive me----I ATE KANGAROO!!!! Its actually quite tasty, tastes a bit like steak.
As Tuesday was our last full day in Sydney myself, Kat and Brenda decided to hop on the ferry to Manly Island to go to the beach. We got a fabulous day for laying out and working on our pale skin and just laid there til the sun started setting. This was quickly followed by some yummy Italian food and our ferry trip back into the harbour. As we docked in The Rocks district,which is paved with cobblestone and courtyards, we decided to pay a visit to "Fortune of War" which is reputedly Sydneys' oldest pub for a nice glass of vino to cap off our nite.
Has to be said that I really really enjoyed Sydney, it offers the best of both worlds--beaches and the cosmopolitan lifestyle. However, it is onwards and upwards to warmer destinations as we head off on our 14 hour bus journey to Byron Bay.
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bridget
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lovely photo
hello susan i enjoyed your blog, thanks keep them comming.