Ah, the land down under. Land of koalas and kangaroos, of crocodiles and sharks ... and a shitload of other things that can kill you. A former coworker once declared never to visit for his safety. Now, I write this blog entry with a very swollen left hand from an unknown bite. Clearly, it wasn't poisonous as it's been over 24 hours and I'm still breathing.
Australia, unknown to many, is the world's largest island, the only island to also be a continent, and the sixth largest country. Now these seem amazing but I was shocked to find out that it's only 50th in terms of population ... roughly ~23 million people. After meeting at least one Aussie in every city I have visited in the last five years, one would think that Australia would have more people.
I landed in Sydney in a little over 10 hours from when I left Hawaii. Not bad considering the girl next to me on the flight out to Hawaii was genuinely concerned that it must take "at least 30 hours or something like that all the way from Hawaii to AUSTRALIA!!!" I assured her that Galileo had already proven that the world was, in fact, not flat and that it's possible to fly over the Pacific and end up on the other "side"...
I spent four days in Sydney and I had the chance to explore the city, go to the beaches, go up to the Blue Mountains and even went to a wildlife reserve. I couch surfed in Petersham, about a 10 minute train ride into the CBD. This was was my first couch surfing experience and it was a great experience. My host was so welcoming and was a good resource for all things Sydney.
My first day started off per his suggestion, a walking tour of the CBD. It was a pretty extensive 3-hour tour giving a good overview of Australian history, culture and architecture partnered up with little quirks of why there's a statue of a talking dog next to Queen Victoria and how the snout and penis of the bronze boar outside the hospital are rubbed for good luck.
After the tour, I decided to take advantage of the warm, sunny weather and hopped on a ferry to one of Sydney's famous beaches, Manly. The ferry ride out also doubled up as a harbor tour, passing by both the Harbor bridge and famed Sydney Opera House. It was a pretty quick ride to Manly but it was enough time for me to strike up a conversation with the girl next to me. When we got off the ferry, she walked with me to the beach and invited me to a food fest and live music for later on that night. I went on a little walk on the beach before meeting up with her a bit later.
Manly beach is awesome and is perhaps my favorite of the Sydney beaches. Pine tree lined, the beach is quite long and even has a cliff walk to Shelly beach where I hiked up the headlands and got treated to sweeping views of the north beaches. I also got treated to a whole boatload of critters. All along my walk, these water dragons kept creeping up and were waving at me, literally. A trip to the aquarium the next day clued me in that this was their way of communicating with each other - bowing and waving their arms. Spiders were everywhere, and I mean huge ones, massive black and yellow hairy spiders. They were probably poisonous and my face nearly found out just how venomous they were ... a few times. As if that weren't enough, there was a massive echidna (porcupine) blocking the trail on my walk down. But he was harmless.
The second day was less exciting. The weather was terrible and I decided to do more indoor activities, i.e. drink. It was also St. Paddy's day. I hung out with my couch surfing host and his friends. We later moved on to Newtown where I finally got to meet up with my friend, Marian, who had just moved from Cape Town to Sydney. In all, we were at the bar for about 9 hours but it was a lot of fun.
Third day was back to the beach. This time to perhaps the most famous of the Sydney beaches, Bondi! There were a lot of surfers out in the water and it was a good example of just how beach crazed Aussies are - it was cold, about 65F and windy - and people were still on the beach. After enduring the sandblasting on the beach, I went on a 4km cliffwalk from Bondi to Coogee, passing several beaches and bays along the way. This was a really cool walk and I highly suggest it to anyone visiting Bondi. Buses are available from Coogee back to the city so no need to do a return climb. I rewarded myself with some fish and chips before heading back to Petersham and cooking dinner for me and my host.
By day 4, I felt as if I've had enough of the city and decided to head out of Sydney. I went to Featherdale Wildlife Reserve in Blacktown, about a 40 minute train ride from the city, where I got to see the world's deadliest bird that looks more like a dinosaur (a cassowary), chase some emus, feed kangaroos and pet a koala! The kangaroos were awesomely friendly while the koalas were unsurprisingly asleep and indifferent.
After a fun morning at the wildlife park, I hopped on the train again heading one more hour out west to the Blue Mountains National Park. The best description I could give of this amazing park is a lush version of the Grand Canyon. And it's most iconic site, the Three Sisters was breathtaking. There's a whole lore associated with the Three Sisters structure and it's definitely worth the quick 5 minute read. But I'll let you google that for yourselves! I decided to head down from the viewing platform and hike down to one of the three sisters. The walk down was easy but the climb up killed me. I wanted to go further and do one of the popular bushwalks along the Prince Harry cliff walk but landslides the day prior had the trails shut. On top of that, it started raining and fog rolled in. I thought it be best I survive Leg 5 of the trip without needing to be rescued from a cliff ... good call I reckon.
I ended day four with a quick trip back to the harbor and having a little photo love affair with the opera house. After scratching my itch for some photos, I headed to the Opera Bar and listened to a live performance as I took in the Sydney harbor one last time. I will return, Sydney. I will return!
I landed in Sydney in a little over 10 hours from when I left Hawaii. Not bad considering the girl next to me on the flight out to Hawaii was genuinely concerned that it must take "at least 30 hours or something like that all the way from Hawaii to AUSTRALIA!!!" I assured her that Galileo had already proven that the world was, in fact, not flat and that it's possible to fly over the Pacific and end up on the other "side"...
I spent four days in Sydney and I had the chance to explore the city, go to the beaches, go up to the Blue Mountains and even went to a wildlife reserve. I couch surfed in Petersham, about a 10 minute train ride into the CBD. This was was my first couch surfing experience and it was a great experience. My host was so welcoming and was a good resource for all things Sydney.
My first day started off per his suggestion, a walking tour of the CBD. It was a pretty extensive 3-hour tour giving a good overview of Australian history, culture and architecture partnered up with little quirks of why there's a statue of a talking dog next to Queen Victoria and how the snout and penis of the bronze boar outside the hospital are rubbed for good luck.After the tour, I decided to take advantage of the warm, sunny weather and hopped on a ferry to one of Sydney's famous beaches, Manly. The ferry ride out also doubled up as a harbor tour, passing by both the Harbor bridge and famed Sydney Opera House. It was a pretty quick ride to Manly but it was enough time for me to strike up a conversation with the girl next to me. When we got off the ferry, she walked with me to the beach and invited me to a food fest and live music for later on that night. I went on a little walk on the beach before meeting up with her a bit later.
Manly beach is awesome and is perhaps my favorite of the Sydney beaches. Pine tree lined, the beach is quite long and even has a cliff walk to Shelly beach where I hiked up the headlands and got treated to sweeping views of the north beaches. I also got treated to a whole boatload of critters. All along my walk, these water dragons kept creeping up and were waving at me, literally. A trip to the aquarium the next day clued me in that this was their way of communicating with each other - bowing and waving their arms. Spiders were everywhere, and I mean huge ones, massive black and yellow hairy spiders. They were probably poisonous and my face nearly found out just how venomous they were ... a few times. As if that weren't enough, there was a massive echidna (porcupine) blocking the trail on my walk down. But he was harmless.
 |
| stuffed toy looked so real |
Third day was back to the beach. This time to perhaps the most famous of the Sydney beaches, Bondi! There were a lot of surfers out in the water and it was a good example of just how beach crazed Aussies are - it was cold, about 65F and windy - and people were still on the beach. After enduring the sandblasting on the beach, I went on a 4km cliffwalk from Bondi to Coogee, passing several beaches and bays along the way. This was a really cool walk and I highly suggest it to anyone visiting Bondi. Buses are available from Coogee back to the city so no need to do a return climb. I rewarded myself with some fish and chips before heading back to Petersham and cooking dinner for me and my host.
By day 4, I felt as if I've had enough of the city and decided to head out of Sydney. I went to Featherdale Wildlife Reserve in Blacktown, about a 40 minute train ride from the city, where I got to see the world's deadliest bird that looks more like a dinosaur (a cassowary), chase some emus, feed kangaroos and pet a koala! The kangaroos were awesomely friendly while the koalas were unsurprisingly asleep and indifferent.
After a fun morning at the wildlife park, I hopped on the train again heading one more hour out west to the Blue Mountains National Park. The best description I could give of this amazing park is a lush version of the Grand Canyon. And it's most iconic site, the Three Sisters was breathtaking. There's a whole lore associated with the Three Sisters structure and it's definitely worth the quick 5 minute read. But I'll let you google that for yourselves! I decided to head down from the viewing platform and hike down to one of the three sisters. The walk down was easy but the climb up killed me. I wanted to go further and do one of the popular bushwalks along the Prince Harry cliff walk but landslides the day prior had the trails shut. On top of that, it started raining and fog rolled in. I thought it be best I survive Leg 5 of the trip without needing to be rescued from a cliff ... good call I reckon.I ended day four with a quick trip back to the harbor and having a little photo love affair with the opera house. After scratching my itch for some photos, I headed to the Opera Bar and listened to a live performance as I took in the Sydney harbor one last time. I will return, Sydney. I will return!
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