Whirlwind Whizz in Sydney

I am sitting on the plane on the way to Bali, watching a bad movie (My Life In Ruins) and waiting for one of my films to finish converting. So I thought I might as well make the most of the time and write our blog about Sydney.

We only had 5 days but what a fab 5 days and we actually got to do quite a lot.

The night we arrived (after waiting at the airport for about an hour longer than we needed to as we thought we were being had by the shuttle bus driver – who of course turned out to be legit after we turned him away – Lols) we arrived at our hostel in Kings Cross. (Sydney has a lot of English place names) and just like our Kings Cross it was a little seedy with off their faces prozzies and cockcroaches (in the literal sense – not just the pimps!))

It was a warm night so finally we were in for some good weather. I was feeling crap with my hayfever/cold and was really tired so just curled up on the bed and watched TV while Tymon went out for a wander after which we had pizza and beer.

The first day in Sydney was absolutely gorgeous so we headed into town to explore. It is so beautiful and so cosmopolitan and the buildings and architecture are just stunning. Their hospital is like a stately home with a gourmet restaurant outside the emergency entrance! There are parks and art sculptures and water fountains and car dealerships on William street for the rich and famous offering Bentley, Ferraris and Maserati which seems oddly out of place. The botanical garden is to die for and then just beyond as you come to the end of the street, you spy the peek of the most iconic building in Sydney. Rounding the corner filled me with such a sense of awe. After looking at pictures all my life it was such an odd feeling to be standing just metres away form the Sydney Opera House. It is fabulous and every bit as impressive and you imagine it to be. Especially when you shift your focus to the left and take in the enormous Harbour Bridge. The whole area is buzzing with life (and tourists) and the suits on their lunch break sipping champagne with clients and lunching. Apart from the weather and the sights around it was very much like London and as I looked around I’ve never wanted my hair straightners, my Gucci bag and high heels and much as I did in that moment. A glass of champagne wouldn’t have gone amiss either!! ;0) But of course it was way too expensive! Sydney is just like home money wise and on our budget was VERY expensive. So after I looked on longingly at the ice buckets we wandered on over to the bridge. We really wanted to climb over it (but of course way to too expensive) so we opted for the second best option which was to climb to the top of the pylon. The views are incredible overlooking the whole harbour. A little on the windy side up there though so I had to tuck my skirt in my knickers to stop Marilyn Monroeing everyone! (Only no where near as sexy!) After that we walked back through Sydney’s Oxford Street (not their actual Oxford Street, I mean their version of our Oxford Street), did some grocery shopping, and headed back to the hostel.

The following day we went about town again but in a different direction around to the art museums and to Darling Harbour. Around this area you’ve got Paddy’s Market which is not an Irish market at all – more like an Asian market. Not one stall holder is European looking but all Chinese/Korean/Japanese (I’m sorry I can‘t tell the difference). There are sooooooo many Chinese/Korean/Japanese in Australia – especially Sydney. Not tourists either but living there for generations etc. It was the same in New Zealand so of course we checked out China Town and had some lunch which was very yum! Paddy’s market area is really cool and urban and funky and feels a little bit like the market in Rotterdam at Blaak – or a more fast paced and busy Covent Garden. After that we decided to head back into town so got on the light rail (we had brought a travel card of sorts or so we thought) but after 2 stops the guy said it wasn’t valid on this as it was private transport! So we got off, waited for the next one and did the same again – hahaha!! Saved us walking for 30 mins!

That night we made a call to a friend of Tymon’s who lives in Sydney to see if we could meet up with him over the weekend. They met when Tymon was travelling South America. We made plans to see him the following day for drinks in the evening. We also called a friend of Julia’s who lived in the city as there was the possibility of staying with her for a couple days which would be great as we were spending sooooo much money!! We called Emma and she sounded really lovely and thankfully said that we could stay with her. We would pick the keys up the next day! Just as I was putting the phone down Tymon grabbed me by the arm quite tightly and pulled me away from the phone booth and said don’t look down! I immediately looked down, panicked, to see a big cockroach!! I was quite good though and kept it together! Lols. I was quite surprised really to see one in Sydney! But I guess it’s training for what’s to come in Asia!

So the following day we spent the morning going to another art museum where they had an exhibit on by this Japanese guy. Basically you know the big statue monuments you get at say Trafalgar Sq. etc well he had used 2 of these and built a room around them. So one had the horse and rider with sword in the air standing on a bed and the other had the head of the statue on a coffee table and the horses head was in a cupboard!! They were brilliant. As you can see from the pics. Such a fab idea!! We then headed to the equivalent of Liverpool Street/Bank to Citibank where Emma works and I thought I had travelled through some wormhole and was in London. There was even a Wagamamas!! It was so like being at home and for one second (only a small one) as we sat in the reception of the big corporate building, I wished I was working in London!! Hahaha but then the moment was gone of course!! Emma was really great and so trusting. She gave us the keys to her apartment and said to make ourselves at home. Not sure I could do that with someone I had never really met! But we were lucky so off we went with all our bags (which seems to be getting heavier by the day even though we’ve not really brought anything) and made our way by train then bus to Emma’s flat. It felt like we were way out from the centre but once we had arrived and went for a walk to get our bearings we realized that we were juts down the road from Paddy’s Market. She lived in a great location!

That night Mitesh (Tymon’s mate) picked us up and took us to a housewarming BBQ of a friend of his in New Town in the suburbs. There were about 8 people and they were a really nice bunch so we had some great food and drinks and chatted the night away. It was nice to be socializing again.

The following day as it was going to be a whopping 39 degrees we decided that we would have a much deserved and anticipated beach day! Hurrah – finally. We had a lazy start to the day and as usual for us didn’t get out of the house till about 12.30 and even though it was a hot day and the sun was out, by the time we got to the ferry and over to Manly (North Shore of Sydney) and onto the beach, the clouds came with a good sea breeze and turned it into a not so sunbathy day afterall!! I was gutted. But I knew it was just a couple of days till Bali, so couldn’t really complain that much. Mitesh then took us to s a couple of lookout points over the bays which were really nice and Tymon spent an hour or so taking pics. He has really taken to photography and he is really good. Don’t forget to look at his website for some of his shots:

www.melikepainting.com

He also invited us out for drinks but I had a feeling that we would be pretty knackered by the time we got back to the flat, eat and get ready etc but said we would call him later. Sure enough, it was really late by the time we were ready to get ready (when I say late I mean 23.00pm which is quite late for us oldies so it seems these days – lols) so Tymon called to say we were going to chill at the house. At this point I was dozing to sleep and ready to call it a night but then we started watching TV and then we started playing the Wii! OMG – brilliant – we loved it! You have to check out the videos of us looking like complete idiots! So that is how we spent our Saturday night in Sydney. Like 2 losers playing Wii sword fighting, bowling and Frisbee golf (my personal fav!) We stayed up till 3.30am!!

Sunday for our last day in Sydney Emma invited us to a BBQ in the park she had organized with her friends. Again a really great group of peeps and the park was right on the beach. It was packed as it was another scorcher (and stayed nice this time) with little BBQ huts for groups chilling and there was such a great vibe! People playing Frisbee and cricket, bongos and guitars! It was soooo cool. As the sun thought about setting we decided to head back to the flat where Tymon was going to cook and delicious meal for Mitesh and I. I really am so lucky that he is such a good chef – he made grilled haloumi cheese to start with salad and then bangers and an onion/cheese mash with gravy – superb. A lovely evening to finish off the week. And there we are.

We packed up our stuff in the morning had a leisurely breakfast and headed to the airport where we would begin the next adventure and the one we’ve been really waiting for!! Indonesia!!! We keep saying ‘now the travelling begins’ which isn’t really fair but SA and NZ aren’t that far apart from back home culture wise (well NZ more so than SA) but Asia is a whole different kettle of fish!! So we are very excited.

Bali here we come…