Category: Sydney

It’s important to bring things full circle, so Louvelle and I marked my last day in Australia the way we began it – by heading to the Fair Trade Cafe for breakfast I had cinammon toast with apple slices, which was good, despite the raisin bread. There was even vegemite on the side, which could only have been more perfectly Australian if it were served by someone named Bruce. Personally I didn’t think it really went with cinammon toast, but after giving it a go, it wasnt such a bad combo.

We stopped at the Glebe market on the way back, and Louvelle bought a nice skirt and an awesome belt. I settled on another book, even though I still have one on the go. Louvelle had a dance class (again, full circle) – her first time being able to dance since she hurt her foot, so I went home and tried to find a place to stay in New Zealand. Called a few hostels, but didn’t have much luck. Checked out one of my favourite websites, sleepinginairports.com and decided I’d probably just sleep in the airport, since reviews on the site were good, and I didn’t get in to Christchurch until after midnight anyhow.

Ella kindly jotted down some things to see and do in New Zealand for me, which was really quite handy. Lee joined in with some suggestions too, so I have a few ideas to choose from. Of the three pages of information Ella wrote down for me, the page marked “Must Dos” appears to only be a list of various candies, cakes, milkshakes and other sweets. We all have our priorities, it seems.

Louvelle got back from dance, and was kind enough to accompany me to the airport. Or, probably more likely, wanted to ensure that I actually left. Got the third degree when I was checking in, but finally got my boarding pass. We used the last of my Australian money on some sushi rolls, and then it was time for me to head to customs. We said our goodbyes and made some tentative plans for our next rendezvous (she’ll be in Canada in June), and then I was off.

The flight was fairly uneventful – I managed to sleep a little bit, which was nice – even if it was only 8 or 9pm Sydney time. The woman beside me left at the beginning of the flight and didn’t come back until we were preparing to land, so it was nice and roomy.

A new time zone in Christchurch, so I wasn’t really as tired as I ought to have been (the nap couldn’t have helped). I walked around the airport to find the perfect spot to setup shop for the night, but the majority of good spots were taken. I ended up grabbing a free spot along the wall near the water fountain and the telephones and laid myself to what I hoped would be sleep.

Gathered all my stuff to head to Manly beach.  On the way to the bathroom I noticed someone walking by outside with an umbrella and thought I’d best check the weather.  Turns out rain was called for, and the sky looked mighty gray, so I set those plans aside, and decided to head to the Royal Botanical Gardens, and search for Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair.

 Found the chair, with little effort.  Nice view along the water, and I’m only slightly ashamed to say I took a couple more pictures of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. 

From there I grabbed some food, and read – then headed to the Nautical Museum in Darling Harbour (ya, I’ve pretty much seen what there is to see in Sydney).  Museum actually wasn’t too bad – for some reason there was an iceman exhibit that was pretty interesting.  Not nautical related at all, but (… therefore?) interesting.

I checked out the casino after that, and it was a little less spectacular than the Melbourne casino.  Didn’t gamble at all, but had a quick walkthrough.  Ended up leaving through a bad exit, so I had to circumnavigate Sydney to get home.  Managed to do so just before Louvelle got home.

Louvelle and I grabbed some cheap Indian for dinner, then headed back home and napped.  At about midnight, we headed to the King’s Cross section of Sydney, which is essentially the red light district, and pretty wild, but after spending too long trying to find a couple of different bars, we ended up being tame and getting some olives and tea, while playing hangman on the paper tablecloths.

 Tomorrow, is my last day in Sydney AND Australia (insert sad face here), and my flight is a little earlier than expected, so I’ll probably chill out in Glebe, pack, and bid the city and country adieu.

No usb access on this computer, so no new photos for a bit.  Sorry.  Nothing too special, I assure you.

Lots of people carrying flowers around the city today.

Another not so exciting day in Sydney.  Got up, putzed around on the computer, then headed to Paddy’s Market to buy a small backpack.  Wanted something for about $15 to throw things like my shoes in, and stuff I shouldn’t be carrying at all, like my hoodie – which I forgot to leave in Canada.  Ended up getting a probably-too-big bag, but at least there’s room for growth.  I have definitely been the lightest packer I’ve seen on the trip thus far – which is probably a good thing.

Headed back to the bookstore to read some books on southeast asia, as I had planned to have one purchased for me in Canada, since books are so pricey here.  Talked to Lee’s girlfriend, Ella, when I got back to the house and she said I can get a book in southeast asia for $3, so there’s no point getting one now.  Works for me.

Planned to see a movie in the evening, but in the end I couldn’t be bothered to leave the house.  Stayed in, did some reading, and that sort of thing, and went to bed fairly early once again.  Think I am back on schedule, sleep wise – although on Saturday I leave for New Zealand, where I’ll be introduced to yet another time zone.

Well, after a whirlwind of a weekend, I was back in Sydney and set on relaxing for a bit.

Headed downtown to drop off the car- thankfully traffic wasn’t too bad. Figured since I was downtown I’d wander around – so I did that. Checked out the Queen Victoria Mall again, but the shops didn’t interest me much.

Decided to check out The Rocks, since I hadn’t seen much of it. Turns out I’d seen more than I thought, so I just grabbed some lunch and read my book. Lunch was wedges with chili and sour cream, which I thought sounded good, but ended up being wedges with chili SAUCE and sour cream. Chili sauce seems more popular than ketchup (or tomato sauce as they call it) here. The sour cream here is also pretty hard – more like cream cheese consistency. The wedges were pretty tasty.

I headed to Circular Quay next, and read some more of my book, then headed to the Borders bookshop in the Pitt Street Mall (which is an outdoor mall/plaza kind of thing) and browsed there for a bit.

Caught the bus home, and watched an episode of Lost, then relaxed for a bit. When Louvelle got home, we headed to a Nepalese place on her street for dinner. Not the best food, sort of a poor man’s Indian food, but I’d try it again somewhere else before I judge the nation’s food as a whole.

Planned on staying up late, but passed out just after 11pm. Probably still recovering from the weekend.

Since it was probably my favourite part of Sydney, (despite what you might think when you see the dozens of pictures of the Opera House I’ve taken) we decided to wake up early and do the Coogee to Bondi walk once again.

Not quite as hot as before, with a nice breeze, we caught a bus to Coogee and set out on the trail. Obviously having been feeding well, the spiders Louvelle and I had passed a couple of weeks ago were now about twice the size. Other than that, it was mostly the same walk – although with a lot more topless sunbathers.

Summer is over, so the kids are back in school, and Bondi was definitely quieter than the last time we’d gone. We found a nice place by the beach and spent a long time in the water. I borrowed Louvelle’s bodyboard, and really enjoyed myself on it. Gregor wasn’t so keen. By the end of the time in the water we were both a little (more) sunburnt, and I was bruised and scraped from some body boarding injuries. Nothing too painful though.

We intended to go to King’s Cross in the evening, to meet up with Enrico’s cousin. Getting in touch with the cousin proved difficult, and it started to pour rIN, so we decided we’d just eat near Louvelle’s. She took us to a tasty Malay/Thai place about two blocks away. It has an excellent view of the Sydney CBD, and I’d be inclined to check it out again before I leave Australia for good. Louvelle’s roommate, Lee, has a nice view of the CBD too – so either way I should manage to get a good photo of it at night.

It was still raining when we got back, and Louvelle had an injured foot, so Gregor and I walked down to her dance studio to pick up some crutches someone had left for her. Relaxed at Louvelle’s after that for a while, then tried to get to bed early, as Gregor has a bus to catch in the morning.

Gregor and I got on the bus and headed to Circular Quay to catch the ferry to Olympic Park.  It was a long ferry ride, filled with a bunch of seniors that got off on one island.  We figure it’s some sort of euthanasia program.

Olympic Park was hot, with not a heck of a lot going on.  We wandered around for about an hour, checking out the cauldron, and some stadiums – plus a list of all the volunteers and athletes in the Olympics.

Back on the ferry we headed to Manly Beach and swam in  some very wavy water for a good little while.  Lay on the beach for a while and read after that.  We were going to go back in the ocean, but some jellyfish were being washed ashore, and the lifeguards suggested that there were more in the water.  We took the ferry back to Circular Quay and headed back to Louvelle’s house.

At night, the three of us headed to a new Mexican place here in Glebe, and had a delicious meal.

Checked out. Picked up another Dennis Lehane book at the book exchange in Byron Bay, then headed back to the hostel to wait or my shuttle to the airport.

Flight to Sydney went swimmingly. I’ve had really good luck with my flights and seats. No one beside me on this flight, but otherwise nothing terribly special.

Gregor and I had set a place to meet in Central Station – but since neither of us had been to the meeting point before, I was a tad apprehensive that we might never find each other. I sat reading my book when I saw him coming. He was wearing sunglasses, a hat, and sporting a full beard, so I almost wasn’t sure it was him.

Gregor had spent the first part of the day at Circular Quay, and sleeping in a park, so we headed back to Louvelle’s, found the secret key, and chilled out.

Headed to the Lansdowne Hotel for dinner. $5 for a steak sandwich – nothing too tasty, but more than adequate for the price.

Headed back to Hotel Louvelle after that and hung around waiting for her to show up. Once she did, we set about killing cockroaches (or plotting their death) then listened to music on Gregor’s laptop for the rest of the night. Pretty lazy day all in all.

Short entry today, as I’m going to shower and head downtown to see Louvelle perform in front of about 100,000 people.  Should be good.

Got up early, did laundry, and went for breakfast with Louvelle, then  headed to the Glebe market where I picked up a sarong, which I plan on using as a beach towel for the rest of my trip.  The actual towel I did bring is just too bulky for my bag, and the sarong should dry pretty quickly.  Also booked my flight to Alice Springs, where I’ll head out and see Uluru.  I may have something to post tomorrow, but after that I’ll probably be incommunicado for a few days, as we’re camping out in the bush.  The temperature there is 40 degrees, so it’ll be toasty.  I’ll try  not to complain too much about the heat, especially for the Canadians reading this.

After breakfast I headed to the Broadway Mall with the hopes of picking up an hat to wear while in the desert.  No such luck, so I’ll have to get one in Alice Springs.  Also picked up some blank dvds so I can start mailing some photos home.  I’ve taken far too many, as I’m sure you can tell – and I don’t even put them all online.

Got back to the house and dropped everything off then packed up my beach gear and took a long two hour bus ride to palm beach.  Passed through a bunch of beach towns along the way.  I didn’t bring my camera, so sadly there’s no photos – I was worried about it getting pinched while I went in the water.  Turns out it was quite cool at the beach, and I didn’t spend much time in the water anyhow – but all in all it was a worthwhile trip.  Got some reading done, so I’m onto book four or so of the trip.  I should keep a list going.

As I said earlier, I might have something to say tomorrow, otherwise you probably won’t hear from me until Wednesday or so, unless I happen across a dingo with an iPhone or something.

Also, it’s Mindy’s birthday, so happy birthday to her!

I figured I’d taken enough photos of the outside, it was about time I got a look at the inside. Woke up and headed to the Opera House to sign up for a tour. It was a little pricey, but I was keen to see how it looked. The majority of the people on the tour were seniors, so they asked questions I wouldn’t think to ask like: “How often do they wash the windows?” (twice a year), “How many steps do we have to climb?” (150 or so), and one woman who asked several times what wood was used to make whichever wooden finish she spotted (Brushbox for everything, it seems). Also, the notion that listening to a headset could mean you’ll talk louder was lost on them. All in all it was good fun, but I’m not sure I’d recommend the tour. The halls are nice enough, but the outside is where the building really excels.

I planned on grabbing a ferry to Watson’s Bay following the tour, but the next one wasn’t for nearly an hour, so I checked out the Contemporary Art Gallery, available for viewing at the low low cost of zero dollars and no cents (Speaking of cents, I should mention that Australia has done away with the penny. Everything is rounded!). The gallery was small, so it didn’t take much time to walk through, so I had plenty of time to sit quietly and wait for the ferry at the wharf.

Watson’s Bay wasn’t much more than restaurants and a big park. However, on the other side of the park lay Inner South Head and Gap’s Bluff. The area was originally inhabited by the Australian Artillery, to help defend Sydney, as it’s located where the southern harbour meets the ocean. The view on the ocean side of Watson’s Bay was quite nice. There were also some great views of the Sydney CBD and the surrounding area.  Apparently Gap’s Bluff is a popular place to off yourself (certainly one of the prettier places to do it) – which explains the makeshift memorial I saw.  I walked around there for a bit before grabbing some fish and chips. I ate in the shadow of a giant tree near the water, and was immediately hounded by birds hungry for a taste of my lunch.

Grabbed the last ferry out of town and returned to Circular Quay, then grabbed a train and a bus to Louvelle’s.  She got home a little later and we hemmed and hawed over going to see “American Gangster” at the theatre.  It was opening night (they’re a little behind on acquiring films down here, it seems), so the 8:20 show was too full, but we got seats for the 9:10. Had dinner (ordered the danish salami sandwich, got the Double Decker Club sandwich – I don’t think people understand my accent here), and checked out the movie.   Not too shabby, maybe a touch too long.   Doc managed to get me a discount on a ticket to the Blue Mountains for tomorrow morning, so I’m off to bed.