“G’day” Australia

We have been in Sydney, Australia for the past 3 days now and it’s been a whirlwind of activities.

We arrived early morning March 17th, but were not able to check in to our hostel until 2pm, so had some time to kill. The hostel is located right at the Kings Cross train station, which is very handy, but also a little dodgy, since that area of town is just now starting to climb out of the gutter which apparently it’s famous for. The description we were given did not mention that the neighbourhood earned some renown as the “red light district” of Sydney, so when we saw that our neighbours were a couple of dark-windowed establishments called Dreamgirls, and The Pleasure Den, we were a little surprised. Given the higher price of pretty much everything in Australia we had decided to somewhat shed the tourist mentality with which we had hitherto been clad, and had booked a 4-share dorm. At our point of arrival we had no idea what the room would look like, and our surrounding neighbourhood was not of a confidence instilling type.

The hours prior to check-in were occupied with exploring the city, and we probably did about 10 miles of walking; from our hostel to the harbour where the military ships are docked, on to The Domain (a broad park with gardens and fields and a nice water-front walkway), and beyond to the commercial harbour with the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. In the course of our time here so far we’ve taken probably a hundred pictures of this area, as you would with such a picturesque spot. It’s really quite remarkable.

We returned to The Domain by a circuitous route, and took a break there. We had gotten up just before three o’clock in Auckland for our flight, so were pretty tired. Both of us had a nice little nap in the park, despite the outrageous racket being put up by some white parrots. Not the talking kind – these ones sounded like they were shrieking and shouting at each other with the worst and most obnoxious voices they could come up with.

We resumed our walk, with the intention of returning to the train station to find our way back to Kings Cross when a voice was heard calling my name. I was fairly certain that nobody in Sydney knows me, but it sounded like a pretty direct address, so we turned around. Our friend Dane from Calgary mentioned that he would be travelling around the same time as us, visiting Bev, an Australian friend met during previous travels, but neither of us could have guessed that we would both be walking in the park in Sydney at the same time. Such coincidences bear exploring, so we made plans to join them in the evening for dinner.

We picked up a multipass for the transit system, which provides full usage of the bus, train, and ferry. Given our evening plans, as well as other expected destinations in the area it seemed like a worthwhile investment. We checked in to our room at the hostel. The room is simple and small, with two bunk beds, and a small sink. Nothing fancy, but nothing grim either. We took advantage of the free internet to check up on our email, and discovered a message from HelpX.Net, a work-exchange website with which I had registered, offering a 10 day position on a small farm located a short way inland from Byron Bay, so we have made plans to stay with them starting April 2nd. In addition to having a neat experience (and much more authentic than can be found at hostels and tourist traps) it will provide a welcome financial relief, since the “exchange” component of the HelpX idea is that in exchange for around five hours of help a day, our room and board are provided. The work we have been told to expect is working with the various animals at this farm (cows and sheep at least, I can’t remember if there were others), bee keeping, gardening, and whatever household tasks might come up during our stay. There are many programs of this type, and many host locations as part of this program, so we are very curious to know how this first experience will go.

We headed out to meet Dane, Bev, “and friends” for dinner. Travel to dinner involved about 45 minutes on the train to the distant suburb of Revesby, pick-up from the station by Dane and Bev, then a short drive to Bankstown, where the Lebenese restaurant was located. There we met a few of Bev’s friends, and ate all sorts of Lebenese food. From there we went to a sports bar slash casino for a quick drink before it was time to head home. At 11:50PM the last train departs from the station, and Peter, one of the folks from dinner, was good enough to drive us there. We left pretty casually, but he gradually increased his pace during the trip, and by the time we rolled up to the station he was telling us to run for it. We made a mad dash and arrived at the platform at 11:47. Plenty of time to spare. The ride home was sedate. We were both fighting sleep, and arrived with only half an eye open, but successfully disembarked at the right spot. I don’t even remember climbing the stairs to our room. Christina might have carried me the last couple of flights.

In the morning we met our roommates, a nice couple from the UK, who were sufficiently harmless for us to feel comfortable with sharing the space. We had planned to spend the day at the zoo, and threats of rain did not deter us from this agenda. To get to the Taronga Zoo we needed to take the ferry, which was a pretty neat ride, since it starts from the Circular Quay station, and passes right by the Opera House on its way out of the harbour and to the other side of the bay. More pictures. At the end of the ferry ride is the Sky Safari, which is a gondola that takes you from the ferry dock, above the whole zoo, to the entrance which lies at the top of a hill.

Again, overlooking the harbour with the city in the distance. More pictures. We looked around the zoo and quickly decided that it would be worthwhile to invest in the Koala Experience. This is an add-on expense to the admission, but gives you “one on one” time with koalas. Apparently it’s illegal to actually touch a koala (everywhere except the Queensland province, for some reason), so this is as close to a koala as you can get. And it’s pretty close. I snapped away with the camera, as Christina posed nose-to-nose, mere inches from the koalas – as close as she dared.

The proximity issue was somewhat moot when the keepers made claims about koalas not liking being touched, and promises that they might “rip your face off”, which I find a little suspect, but Christina didn’t want to risk it for the sake of a photo. We saw many baby animals there, which was nice. They had young elephants, snow leapord cubs, and a newborn monkey of some kind.

We also enjoyed a light lunch at the zoo’s cafe and took in some of the local birds, which included small parrots with the most vivid colors I’ve seen.

One thing we both noticed here, is that their wild birds are all quite exotic. One thing of particular interest at the zoo was the free-flight bird show. Free-flight meaning that the birds were not tethered or caged or restrained in any way beyond training. They had a few types of colorful parrots, as well as crows, a couple of kind of owl, and a HUGE eagle. The show started with the birds acting out a sort of play illustrating native mythology around how birds got their different colors (all except the grumpy old crow). Then they did a few hunting demonstrations, with birds catching things thrown by the trainer, or locating items. A bird took a coin from a woman’s hand, deposited it in the trainer’s pocket, then a moment later returned it to the woman from whom it had been taken. Lots of thrills as birds buzzed the crowd flying just above our heads.

Especially the eagle, who, with a four foot wingspan was particularly intimidating. This entire show was in a small amphitheatre with the Sydney Harbour as the backdrop.

We took the ferry back into town and met Dane and Bev again, as well as another friend of hers named Adrian, who took us out for another night on the town. We went first to an after-work bar. To our amusement, the majority of the patrons were dressed up either from being at work downtown, or dressed up for a night on the town. Then there were Christina and I, in our dirty backpacker clothes and laden bags. We didn’t stay long before heading out for a bite to eat. We went to Central Station and walked to Chinatown for some chinese food, which I’m told wasn’t of a very unusual sort, but I still picked at it fairly choosily. Our next stop wasn’t far away.

We went to an unmarked door, took an unmarked elevator, and at the top I (being the first out) was immediately accosted by a security guard with a metal detector wand, then had my bag searched. We were at a karaoke club, and I’m not sure what type of people usually go to these places, but it seemed a little high-strung to me. Once we settled in to our private room (another first for me) and had a few drinks set up, it was music time. We all had quite a bit of fun – even Christina, who “doesn’t sing”, sang.

We packed up shortly after midnight, and were home by half-past.

I had another great sleep, but in the morning Christina reported that her night was not nearly so peaceful. Apparently one of the folks in a neighbouring room had come in some time after we did, and was puking drunk. His roommates weren’t very happy with him and kicked him out, where he continued getting sick and carrying on. I slept through the whole thing, but it was not a restful night for those on alert.

Today was our last full day in Sydney before we move on to the Blue Mountains, and we wanted to see something of the beaches here. It was raining quite a bit, but we thought that we’d give it a shot anyway. We took the ferry to Manly Beach, which is about a twenty minute ride. At the end of it was Corso, which is a walk from the ferry dock on one side, through a boulevard full of shops and cafes, to Manly Beach at the other side, which is a very nice surf beach, with all of the usual commercial decorations. We had a nice and leisurely lunch at a mexican restaurant with a view out to the beach, and plenty of people watching. It would have been somewhat more enjoyable if it hadn’t been drizzling the whole time, but still worth seeing. If we get a better day it would be a fun spot to return to. In fact, if we come back to Sydney for a couple of days, Manly might get our bid for community to accomodate ourselves in. We walked around until we had enough of it, then caught the ferry ride back. For some reason, due to the oceanic currents, the trip back was MUCH more turbulent, and many of the people sitting on the exterior deck got soaked (including well-dressed guys & girls all done up to party on a saturday night), as the ferry plunged through huge swells. It seems to be a known phenomenon, since some folks had brought rain coats just for the trip. Once back on our side of the water we looked around for a cafe that we could sit down and relax at, but with the crazy hours here even Starbucks closes at six o’clock, so we kind of struck out. We did, however walk around St. George’s Street and the west side of Sydney Harbour, which took us through high-end boutiques and restaurants.

We’re planning to check out tomorrow and head up to the Blue Mountains, where we’ll have a couple of days in the country to unwind after all this big city living. We may end up extending our time there, as the list of activities local to that region is fairly long, and they all sound cool. Stay tuned!