Australia: Sydney

My flight from Perth landed almost 12 hours after Jacob’s, but he was there waiting for me when I walked off the plane. It was great to see him again. Two weeks felt more like 2 months. The weather in Sydney appeared to be chilly but clear, which was good. We took the (double-decker!) subway into the city and to our hostel in King’s Cross. Arriving at night, our first glimpses of the neighborhood were of the seedier side, but King’s Cross has a fun vibe to it as well. Prostitutes and strip clubs were scattered amongst cafés, restaurants, pubs, and party-goers. For the most part we stayed there because D-Lux Hostel was the cheapest one we could find in a central location. The place was pretty old, with an elevator that only went to the floors it wanted to, despite what buttons you pushed. We checked into our private double room, which turned out to have 3 extra beds and a view of the Opera House if I craned my neck out the window, and spent the rest of the night catching up. Jacob went to sleep around 7pm!

The next day it was overcast, cold, and drizzly on-and-off, which was becoming typical of my luck. We went out anyway and hoped the clouds would break. We bought a week-long subway/bus/ferry pass and headed to Circular Quay to see the Harbour Bridge and Opera House. We were rewarded with a scattered few minutes of sunshine and the views were spectacular. I had seen the Sydney Opera House in photos a million times, but it really is most impressive in person. The same goes for the Harbour Bridge. I was giddy for a while. Unfortunately, the rain came back so we sat at a coffee shop to decide what to do.

Since our passes included the ferry to Manly and we were already at the ferry terminal, we decided to go there. We paused on the esplanade to watch some Aboriginal buskers play their didgeridoos and make fun of things, which was hilarious. The ferry ride to Manly was a great way to see Sydney Harbour and many of the waterside suburbs. Again, the sunshine was spotty and it was too cold to sit outside, but the views were great and I got some good shots of the Opera House with the bridge in the background.



Manly is a cute little town with a pedestrian main street that leads straight to the water. We had a beer and a snack at the Four Pines Brewery and strolled to the beach, but it was too cold to do anything except take a few photos. There were a few masochists surfing, however. There was also a photo shoot happening in the square whose subject was local surf shop owners and a VW bus, which was cool.

The next day the weather was much better. Mike, Kim’s boyfriend, a friend, and Sydney local, picked us up and showed us around. First we went to the Royal Botanical Gardens for a stroll and some more good views of the Opera House. We saw the famous fruit bats and the Prime Minister’s house and got rained on for a few minutes. Next Mike took us to several places that our transport passes wouldn’t. Bondi Beach, where we had lunch, Coogee Beach, which is where “all the Americans live”, and Maroubra, which I wanted to see because of the movie The Bra Boys but it was nothing like it. Unfortunately, most of the fun stuff to do in Sydney is better during warmer months, so we mostly just took photos and watched crazy people surf. Since the sun went down before six we headed back to King’s Cross for dinner and beers. Mike was a great tour guide and it was a fun day.

The rest of our time in Sydney was spent wandering around the streets seeing the city. We made a much-anticipated (by Jacob) stop at Wicked Weasel, strolled through Hyde Park, went to the Museum of Contemporary Art, visited a Hunter Valley street expo and sampled some wine and cheese, and saw a movie at Bondi Junction (The Hangover is hilarious!). Sydney is a beautiful city that we will save time to see again on our way out of the country.

When we finally laid our next plans, we went with “Jucy Campavans” this time instead of Wicked. It was only slightly more expensive and the vans seemed to be a much higher quality. We picked up the van on a Saturday and it is great: new, big, and automatic. It has 2 sunroofs, a real refrigerator, and a DVD player in the back. From that point we had 23 days to drive the 2400 kilometers to Cairns, so we pulled out of Sydney heading north that afternoon.



Click HERE for More Photos of Sydney

Becca