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Published: August 10th 2006
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Sunset on the bridge
This is the view from the Opera Bar where we met Duncan, not bad ehy? Still can’t quite believe that we are in Australia but after five (amazing) months in Nz we have hopped across to see her much bigger brother. We arrived here about 3 days ago after a good weekend in Christchurch - Highlights of which included being invited (gatecrashing?) a 21st birthday party in a really cool bar and going to a fantastic bead shop and making each other beaded bracelets because we are travelers now and that’s what us traveler types like to wear. And of course being in Christchurch which is a nice city with lots of old (well older) buildings and parks and stuff.
It wasn’t all fun and games though as in order to get to Sydney we had to get up at 4am in the pouring rain and darkness to get a shuttle to the airport. We perked up again on the flight though as for the first time Air New Zealand proved themselves to not be a below standard alirline unlike when they took us between the pacific islands when it felt like we had been transported to the 1970s - based on the standards of the food, uniforms, choice of entertainment and apparent age of
the aircraft - and of course who can not help but get enthusiastic about an inflight cooked breakfast?
We arrived in Sydney at 8am which was an hour after we left but really three if you catch our time zone drift? You can’t actually imagine how cool it is to spot the bridge AND the Opera house as we flew over the city. We knew for sure then that we weren’t in Kansas any more. After getting some (woofully inacurrate) tourist information from the woman at the airport information desk we got the train into the city centre and tried to leave our bags in the lockers at the station (which we had been promised by the lady), which of course did not exist so we had to lug them about 30 mins up the road to find some luggage storage - which was ok for liz but tom's bag feels like it is full of bricks so this was a bit of a struggle, the only think weighing liz down is the 1474 page epic A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth which is great company on our travels (unlike tom he he he).
The first thing that
you realize about Sydney is that, well, it is ABSOLUTLY GORGEOUS, of course people had told us this in the past but we couldn’t help thinking that it would be just another city, nice you know but really same old, same old. Not at all, Sydney is lovely, the sun shines, a lot, it has some amazing beaches and buildings and it is on the water and people get around by ferry and the food is good and the coffee is cheap 😊 ...The harbour seems to go on forever with masses of boats zooming around and cafe tables spilling out onto the streets to take in the views.
After dumping our bags we started to explore the city on foot which is really easy with lots of cool things to see. Started off at Circular Quay and The Rocks area and looked at all the old boats and buildings and the souvenir shops, also to Darling Harbour which was full of people eating outside and looking at the fantastic yachts which had arrived as part of the Sydney Boat Show. Almost everywhere that you go you can see the water and it is just beautiful, the botanical
gardens were nice as was the sushi that we had for lunch. We popped into the Maratime Museum because, well because it was free and this was really interesting, loads of stuff about people migrating to Australia by boat, good decision we reckon judging on the fact that most people in Sydney seem to love it.
After a long walkabout it was time to meet Tom’s friend (and Alasdair’s brother) Duncan who has been living in Sydney for 3 years after coming over for a short holiday! Duncan had very kindly said we could stay with him and suggested that we meet at the Opera bar which is - you guessed it - right by the Opera House, which means that it has amazing views of the bridge, the harbour, the city and botanical gardens, oh and the Opera house of course. A pretty amazing place for a sunset beer. After a while it was time to head back to Duncan's which is across the harbour from the city centre in a place called Balmain, which of course meant we had to get the ferry! Yay! The ferries are cheap and go really regularly and we were soon home
(or rather back in the pub).
On our second day we were woken by glorious sunshine (this is Australia after all) and after some much needed clothes cleansing we went into town on the ferry and caught a bus to Bondi Beach. The beach is lovely and not too busy, it wasn't quite lying on the beach weather soon not too busy which was nice, we walked for a long way around the rocks to the next bay and back again trying to avoid being trampled by the power walkers who are everywhere in this country! there are also loads of outdoor gym equipment which is the kind of healthy place that it is. After the beach we spent half an hour looking for a pub near his office where we had arranged to meet Duncan before realising we were in utterly the wrong part of the city, doh, so sprinted down to the ferry and went back to Balmain which is where the pub really was, no wonder why we couldn't find it - a bit suspious about the fact that the taxi driver claimed to know where it was in town even though it did not exist!
Day three of our Sydney adventure we realized we had loads of spare ferry tickets which we weren’t going to need before we left so we went on a little jolly to the bit of the harbour where the zoo is (Taronga) and by the time we got their decided it would be a good idea to have a look around and see what we are up against in terms of dangerous Ozzy wildlife, quite a bit aparently. After the zoo we got on another ferry over to Manly to meet David, Tom’s cousin who was putting us up for the night. Dave has been living in Manly for about 7 months and become a bit of a surfer, like most of the people in Manly which is a lovely beach suburb about half an hour from the city, and rammed full of Brits. It was really good to hang out with Dave and his friends and lots of Cookatoos who seem to be everywhere in this town! We went for an amazing bargin $10 steaks and then back to the flat for a couple of glasses of duty free jack daniels.
It’s the morning after now and
At the beach
Look! it really sunny! and its the middle of winter! we are sitting in an internet café in Manly about to head back into the city and catch an overnight coach to Melbourne, ahhhhhh!
BIG LOVE to everyone and thanks for the messages "theeeereee great" (tony the tiger styleee)
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Ebso
non-member comment
Melbourne
What an awesome trip you've had so far - and you're only just over half way, lucky effers! Not sure what you've got planned for Melbourne but highlights for us were the Botanic Gardens, the Healsville Sanctuary, a road trip down the Great Ocean Rd - 12 Apostles (great if you love rock formations!) and checking out the nice eateries and bars in Brunswick St and Fitztroy - the Veg Cafe is amazing and cheap, and you'll eat some of the best food / fresh produce in the world in Oz cos it's all grown local and plucked fresh each day. Enjoy! I'd move to Melbourne in a hearbeat! xxxx