Sydney Pt 1
Trip Start
Jul 27, 2004
1
10
42
Trip End
Dec 21, 2004
Sydney,
Australia
Monday, August 23, 2004
Sydney is an amazing city & a strange one at that - usual city stuff & then tagged on are two iconic pieces of architecture, several wharfs & harbours & loads of beaches (you can live by the beach & travel half an hour to work in the city, how cool is that?). The city is huge with loads of distinct areas lots of them with English inspired names, Liverpool, Penrith, Kings Cross. Kings Cross is exactly like the one in London apart from there being no major train station. It says of Kings Cross in the guide book that the area '... is a mixing pot of petty criminals, prostitutes, travellers and Sydney-siders after an exotic night out. Add to this a dash of strip clubs, sleaze and drugs & you have Kings Cross - a place that attracts the weird & the desperate.' Being attracted to Kings Cross we've ended up staying on Victoria Street which is one of the main roads, but not too close to Darlinghurst Road which is the main drag - the one full of prostitutes, strip clubs, sex shops (Jim, you'd love it mate), homeless people, wide eyed crazies, pick-pockets, drunks & some v
a bridge and a theatre
. swanky restaurants & clubs (for fear of being constantly hustled for fags I no longer smoke on or near Darlinghurst Road). Don't worry mums it's bad but still safe & we're leaving tomorrow.Staying in a delightful hostel called the Travellers Rest, it's damp, dark, cold & noisy (bloody Oz Experience) but it's got a good telly (remote control!) & it's cheap (which both Kerry & I agree is the most important factor in choosing a room. Yeah right!)
Although a little dodgy Paul loves Kings Cross - lots of travellers, bars, cafes & 24hr places also it is v. central & an easy walk to the city. Did the obvious first & went for a look at the Opera House (looks just like on the telly) & a look at & walk on the bridge (not climb it, walk on it, climbing high things is for damn fools). Spent a while at Mrs Macquaries Point looking at the harbour (and watching the Australian office workers exercise during their lunch hour - 1000's of the buggers in the park running, kick boxing etc.) & also went down to Central Quay to watch the ferries come & go (no Jackie we didn't go near the edge).
Another fantastic aspect of Sydney is its proximity to the Blue Mountains, which are not blue & not mountains (long story) but even so are very scenic
look what they made, just for us
. Went on an eco-walk (I know, Kerry walking!) through some rain forest & got to see some wild kangaroos, that's right wild. Not in a zoo, not in an enclosure but in a national park grazing & hopping about. Also saw some parrots, but they're 10 a penny around here, seen them in the city along with a load of cokatoos (is that how you spell it?. The blue mountains look like a green furry Grand Canyon.As part of the trip went to a place called Scenic World for more rain forrest & grand views (you can actually see the city - 96km away). The rain forrest floor is protected so you walk on gang-ways & get down there on an old mining cart track, though not on a mining cart obviously, that would be carzy. You go down on a train (more like roller coaster cars) & the angle of the track is nearly vertical (no joshing) it was fantastic!
On the trip got talking to loads of people (which was good because after 4 weeks of just us two cnoversation can run thin - the longest we spend apart is when we go to the loo). Met an Italian couple who were also on their honeymoon (they didn't get married in a castle though! They got married in a little chapel attached to St Peter's in the Vatican!)
Are you getting bored yet? I am so I'm off for a fag before writing up Pt 2.
