Sydney and Melbourne

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I finished my time in Australia with five days in Sydney and two days Melbourne, and I had a great time!

I really liked Sydney... I was expecting to be more of a Melbourne girl, which is renown for being the more cultural of the two cities, and maybe I am, but unfortunately I did not have enough time in Melbourne to find out...by either way, I thought Sydney was a fun, lively and beautiful city.

My time there seemed to revolve around the Opera House; I did a tour of the OH (Which actually consists of 5 different theatres, the stunning concert hall is the largest, then the OH, and then there are 3 much smaller theatres for other productions.)

I really wanted to see either an opera in the Opera Theatre or a concert in the Concert Hall. There are shows on every night at the OH but not always in each theatre. I nearly missed out on seeing The Barber of Seville since by the time I came to book the day before the only 'affordable' tickets, i.e. $99 (prices went up to $255) were in bad locations and not worth the money; and I didn't see the point of buying a $54 restricted viewing seat and only seeing half the stage...the next day, however, I found out I could buy one of ten $35 standing tickets.
The view was fantastic, and more satisfying was the fact that I managed to get a free seat for the second half that must have been worth at least $150. I love a good bargain.

Incidentally - right after buying the standing ticket I went walking in the city botanical gardens and managed to twist my ankle (at the furthest point of the gardens!) Luckily, after a brief period of sod's law 'bugger' I was able to walk home and stand that evening!


Far more spectacular than the opera, in my mind and taste, was the aboriginal dance show that I went to see the next night in one of the smaller theatres. It was called 'True Stories' and in two separate stories/performances. The latter told a heart rendering account of how the in the early 1950s the Australian government allowed the British government to carry out nuclear tests in the outback, where nuclear fall out would, in official words 'harm no one'. In reality it devastated an aboriginal community living in this area. The choreography was breathtaking, the dancers were phenominal, the story and performance was poignant and very moving. Spectacular.


The rest of my time in Sydney involved a boat trip to the northern beach suburb of Manly, where I found myself on a coastal walk with little evidence that I was in a major city, visiting 'The Rocks', Darling Harbour, the Powerhouse museum, discovering the best hot chocolate shop ever (well outside Italy I guess...) and lots and lots of photos of the opera house and harbour bridge!

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During my time in Sydney I stayed with a friend from Cambridge, Ros, who is working at a publishing firm in Sydney at the moment. She share a 2 bedroom flat with 5 others, complete with a bathroom, living room and kitchen. I slept on their couch (and then relocated to one of the girls bed at 6am when she got up for work, shortly followed by the others!) It was so nice to be in a 'home' again, complete with living room and TV! (Even though it was significantly more messy and dirty than most hostels I've seen!). Ros' flatmates were really friendly, and although I was exploring Sydney by myself during the day, I returned 'home' (a fickle concept for me nowadays) to friendly and fun faces.

Unfortunately, despite the flat being in Bondi Junction, I ran out of time to visit Bondi Beach, since I spent my last day there frantically sorting things out for Asia, due to last minute plans for Melbourne...which I'll write about some other time! (and wow I have just noticed that Desperate Housewives has started on a TV right next to me at the hostel - I haven't seen that for months!) xx

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Comments

[Dad]

Well done Lolly!
I enjoyed reading this one Lol, Which we somehow missed earlier. Well done, your writing just gets better and better. Dad xxx