Sydney

There was more up my street in Sydney than in Brisbane. As I mentioned, the only thing up Alice St in Brisbane was the Botanical Gardens, but in Sydney Alice St crossed over Kings St in the area of Newtown, a long road full of vintage shops, little bookstores and cafes. Nick (my brother) and I spent the day wandering the length of King St, popping into every interesting little shop and having coffee and beers on the way. I found Newtown from talking to a Chugger (Charity Mugger) because it is a little out of the CBD (Central Business District). It was like Brunswick St (Fitzroy) in Melbourne or Chapel St (in Melbourne) where my first hostel had been.

The other highlights of Sydney for me included The Old Fitzroy pub, which was very close to were I was staying and had a theatre inside it, served delicious Laksas and played a lot of Jonnie Cash and Bob Dylan. The other was a moonlight cinema in Centennial Park, which played films just after sunset on a hill, where you could take your own picnic and beers and sit on massive bean bags in the grass. We went to watch “The Ghost Writer”, while hundreds of flying fox bats flew over our heads and the sun set and the stars popped out.

The Sydney Botanical Gardens were huge and gorgeous, home to 22,000 of the former named bats; the largest bats in the world with a wing span of 1 to 1.5 meters. Sadly, they are slowly killing off all the trees and need to be moved on somehow (although it doesn’t seem to be working). There are also fantastic views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge from the gardens. I walked over the bridge (it cost $195 to climb so I opted to walk) and the views of the harbour from there are stunning. I was a little disappointed with the Opera House. After seeing so many pictures of this iconic building it didn’t really have the effect I thought it would have. It is a beautiful bit are architecture with it’s segment cream pieces (inspiration taken from the sexual mating of turtles…apparently) and shinny glass face, but it seemed dwarfed next to the magnificent bridge. It was littered with fluorescent jackets and steel structures as workers turned the attractive Opera House into “The Oprah House”. As Oprah was visiting on the 14^th December (newly christened “Oprah Day”) I couldn’t get anywhere near the windows to see inside. I saw a giant O smoked into the sky, an O constructed on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and “Oprah Watch” all over the television. She isn’t even Australian and yet they hailed her like a Queen. The only option to see inside was a tour of the Opera House, which (like a lot of things in Sydney) was stupidly over priced. Its not like you have to pay to take a look inside the Royal Albert Hall, but every entrance to the Opera House was firmly guarded and that was disappointing.

We caught a ferry to Manly and the northern beaches, which were very beautiful. White sand and lots of swimmers but freezing cold water, even colder than the English Channel, so there was no way I was swimming in it (I can’t understand why so many people were). “The Rocks”, which used to be the centre of Sydney, is now a little network of small streets, old fashioned shops and a market selling food and juices. The CBD is like any other big city and has some good shopping centres, and a monorail (Sky train), as well as buses, a train network and trams. The London names throw me a bit. I walked down Oxford Street, across Hyde Park, through Paddington and could catch a train from Kings Cross, not far from where I was staying. I was staying in Wooloomooloo…definitely not a London name with its eight o’s.

I liked Sydney and could have stayed longer. I don’t rate it as highly as Melbourne but I agree with Oprah when she commented on how friendly and happy everyone is, and how she’s not surprised they are happy because they live in Sydney. Now I have met my family, (my Mum, Dad and brother) and we have flown back to Brisbane and driven to Agnes Water to go diving. Agnes Water is the where the Great Barrier Reef is closest to the coast line, and to dive on the Great Barrier Reef is one of my main reasons for coming to Australia. (I did this yesterday and after teaching it's definately the next highlight to my whole trip - I'll write about it on the next post!) Then we will go and stay with my Mum’s cousins in the real Australian outback on their cattle ranch for Christmas, which should be um, interesting…so I will keep you updated with how that goes…