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After 9 hours on an overnight flight I arrived in Sydney International Airport. Feeling tired and slightly wired I quickly found the 2 trains I needed to get to my destination (Woolloomooloo, yes that's right). 30 minutes later I was in the right area and just had to find my hostel. Now, after spending 18 days in Thailand in comfort (most of the time), my own room, air conditioning, Wi-Fi and general luxury I was prepared for something quite different. The hostel was called G'day backpackers and I was in a 6 bed room and only 2 guys were occupying it from Holland who were sleeping when I entered the room. I wasn't sure what to do with myself really as it was morning, but I was so tired. After 2 hours of unsettled sleep I was keen not to waste the day. I assembled my bag with my usual items; water, waterproof, camera, phone, money, map. Just happy going for a walk and taking in my new surroundings I headed toward the harbour with the opera house across from it, after 20 mins of walking I got a coffee and had a minute. It was very busy, high rise buildings and couldn't of been more diverse than my previous destination. I didn't make it to the harbour that day, fatigue was definitely setting in with Sydney being such a large city to walk around. I went out for some tea that night, which was the first indication of how expensive the city really is. You can't really eat anything substantial in a restaurant (however small) for less than about £13. A beer can cost you anywhere from $4.50 to $10 depending on what you get. Needless to say I didn't have many, although I did find an Irish bar with live music called O'Malley's. I sat in there for a while and got talking to an American guy who was a financial controller for Microsoft, we had a good chat about the I.T. industry and other things before I went to the loo. Why am I mentioning a toilet break you ask? Well something horrific was about to happen that I was not prepared for, on my down the stairs I heard someone follow me down, a second later I heard a noise and felt a rather strange sensation. I soon realised that the guy behind me had been sick all over the back of my T-shirt! I couldn't believe it, and needless to say there was no part of me that was pleased with this event. Using some choice words, I shouted quite a lot at this guy, I think I was in shock. I was very close to using physical force against this projectile vommiter I had encountered, however he was in a state, and the last thing I wanted was any trouble. So, rather than dislocate his jaw and break both his arms, I settled for $20 he offered for a round of drinks. The shirt wasn't that bad really, I just took it off and washed it under the sink. I returned to my American friend and we moved on to another bar. He was adamant that I wasn't going to get an early night on my first night, so he got the drinks (imagine that, Microsoft actually paying out). It got to about 12 and I left, determined to be up bright and early for my first full day in Sydney. So the morning came (about 10am) and I walked to the Opera house and saw the harbour bridge. It was nice being there and I spent an hour just taking it in. There was a market on nearby so I got a corn on the cob for my breakfast which was a treat for taste buds. I then went to Darlington harbour and back through a place called Slurry Hills. I spent about 4/5 hours just walking that day, and it was actually quite tiring by the end of it all. Still, I think I loved Sydney from that point on. Whilst I was looking over to the opera house, there was a film crew there, I asked what they were doing, and apparently that night there was a special event on at the opera house and they were projecting the show actually onto the opera house itself, it was a 2 hour documentary also being uploaded on YouTube. I went down for that later and talked to the camera crew for a bit as they were doing it. I forgot my camera that night which I was gutted about but I can still watch it on YouTube and im happy in the knowledge that I know I was there. It was quite something to see, and whilst Opera is not really my thing it still gave you goose bumps watching it. The following day I took a ferry over to Manly Beach, about 30 minutes from Circular key - which is in between the Opera house and the harbour bridge. It is also the place the first fleet landed in Australia about 10 years after Captain Cook discovered it in 1768. I haven't mentioned the weather yet, maybe I have been putting it off, but it was very cloudy and wet the whole time I had been there, I wasn't going to let that stop me doing anything though (and if you have read previous posts you already know I would be carrying my trusty waterproof!). So I saw my first Australian beach in Manly which was nice, plenty of surf and people taking advantage of it, the rain had given me a break for an hour or 2 but still the looming cloud persisted. The sunshine can make a whole lot of difference to the day and I was praying for it to come out at least once in my 4 days in Sydney. It wasn't meant to be that day, but I got some fish and chips anyway and watched the waves. Lots of birds fighting for food close by, which I thought was quite normal, however, what wasn't very normal was one bird flying in from behind me, landing on my head then trying its best get something out of my tray, another bird also tried its luck at a fly by trying to steal food from my tray. As nice as the food was, I was actually quite glad to finish it. I did think maybe Alfred Hitchcock's, "The Birds" was coming to fruition. I got back into the City late afternoon and it was pouring. I had about a 30 minute walk back my hostel, so I thought I would take a short cut through the Botanical Garden's, it was on my map and looked quite straight forward. I had not been there before and thought it would be a nice route. There was lots of lush plants and bushes, and monuments dotted around with some history of explaining why they were there. I had under estimated the size of these gardens and the different paths leading to various parts of it. Still pouring down and the light fading my map was soaking and falling to bits, it was pretty much useless and thought did occur whether I might be spending the night. Haha. Once I escaped the gardens of doom, I asked a passer-by for some directions and quickly got my bearings. Having walked around the City quite a lot, I had made lots of focal points which helped me navigate my way around, even though I was only there 4 days, by the end of it I was pretty knowledgeable of the street names and how to get places. I was off to the Blue mountains the day after, and I was praying for one nice last day in Sydney. It was cloudy in the morning, but the journey inland to our first destination had the sunshine coming out, which I was very pleased about. I met a German girl and 2 English University friends in Sydney staying with another friend, The girl English was called Julie and the guy Lewis. Julie was from Crosby in Liverpool and we instantly hit it off. The mountain ranges/plateau we saw were amazing, the pictures I'll post will probably be the best form of media to explain them but even then I doubt it will do them any justice. It's just something you have to see. The tour guide was very knowledgeable about the trees, the wildlife and the history, however, he would go into extreme detail about eucalyptus trees, and the layers within the leaves to the enth degree which we really didn't need to know, it became a bit of a (actually quite a lot of a) joke between myself and the German girl, and every time we got out the minibus he would start talking again about eucalyptus trees, I would look at her rubbing my chin as if I couldn't get enough of his information and she wouldn't be able to stop laughing, then at another stop, on he would go, and she would get out a pen and paper pretending to write everything down, then I couldn't stop laughing. Not sure the comedy we had that day transfers well into text but we had such a good laugh that day, together with the English people I had met, I don't think I have laughed that much since I started my trip. We loved the mountains, and the history (maybe not all the detail) but it was a great day, the best day in Sydney and the weather made it complete. My 2 new English acquaintances invited me for some tea with them and I gladly accepted, we were going for a steak somewhere and meeting 2 of their friends straight from the trip we had been on that day. I think we would of preferred to get a shower as we were all a bit sweaty from all the walking and heat of the day. Never the less we made our way to this place for some food. What Julie didn't know was it was a very posh restaurant called Mad Cow. I mean posh, there was fountains in there, a pool upstairs, everyone dressed up, shirt and pants, the whole place seemed to project the the word "Expensive". We felt very out of place, but carrying on from our humour of the day it was quite funny. We all just said to each other that everyone else was over dressed to make ourselves feel better. I was dreading to think how much the food would cost in a place like this, and thought to myself I must be the only backpacker in here. We had a few a drinks before we got seated, and I met Julies 2 friends. Julie, Lewis and Elle, were doctors and had all been to Med school together. When I first met Julie told me she was called Chantal and she was an air hostess, because, she said, of all the questions she gets when she tells people she is a doctor. I found this rather amusing, so when she initially asked what I did, I told my name was Bill and I had been working the checkout at Morrison's for 14 years. Stumped for a reply to this, I came clean and it was a good story for round the table. We sat down to eat and as I had anticipated the menu was lavish. Steaks ranging from $48 - $96 dollars (£32 - £80) I wasn't the only one in a shock at this as it was her other friends (Simon) idea. Still, it was my last night, It had been a great day, and I was in good company so I just went with it and had the most amazing steak ever. After much conversation and laughter we all left about 10:45, it was definitely my favourite day in Sydney. Whilst I had loved Sydney it is a very business orientated city with everyone rushing around getting to work or some other place. I think this makes the people there a little less friendly on the surface, but that could have been due to me just being on my own and still in a bit of a culture shock after being in Thailand. So, after my favourite day in Sydney I hurried back to my hostel, as I hadn't packed for my early (6.45am) departure in the morning, usually I pack before the evening so I'm all ready to go. Anyway, I packed, got a shower and went straight to bed for a nice 6 hour sleep before preparing for my next destination, Byron Bay.
I had booked an internal flight toward Byron Bay from Sydney Domestic Airport into a local airport called Balina. It was cheaper than getting a bus from a tour operator and under 2 hours flight time. The sun was out as I landed and I was happy to arrive in my next destination. I caught the bus from there into Byron, and as I got on the bus I instantly noticed the friendly factor of the this new place. The bus driver was the happiest guy I have met. "G'day mate, how's it going, nice day eh, where you off", sporting a huge smile on his face. Don't think I have ever felt more welcome on a bus, so the 1 hour 30 minute journey was very pleasant and I arrived in Byron, sun blazing. I sorted out a hostel, got a local map and set off to find it. It's probably worth mentioning that every time I get somewhere, the first thing I do is find an information office or similar and get a local map of my surroundings. I like to explore, get some focal points so I always have an idea of where I am. I found my hostel easily, about 10 minute walk west of Byron's main road. The hostel was very nice, I was in a 4 bed room with only one in guy in there. He was from Jersey working out there, big bushy blonde hair which I thought was a wig, and looked like the definition of the word "Surfer" in my eyes - it turned out he was a surf instructor. I dumped my backpack and walked out the front of the hostel, about 20 meters through a few trees over an un-used railway track up a slight hill and that was all you needed to get to the beach, an awesome beach, about 2k long maybe. Sun shining, arriving in a great location with waves crashing, I thought to myself, this place is for me. People come to Byron, either travelling on a visa or just passing through and just never leave. I think this is due to the chilled out atmosphere, amazing beach and good surf. Despite the little time I had there I totally understood why people just don't leave. The first full day I had there I wanted to hit the beach. There isn't an awful lot to do in Bryon, it's just so chilled out as I mentioned, with great beach time. I wanted to surf. I have only had one 3 hour lesson in Newquay about 4 years ago which was a little vague in my head to say the least. Surf lessons where everywhere for around $50 dollars. I didn't really want to spend that kind of money so I looked on a few YouTube videos about popping up on a surf board and I started to remember some of the techniques I had learnt. However remembering techniques does not in any way mean you can carry them out. I rented a board and just went out in the smaller waves and white water (broken waves) and gave it my best shot. It was around then I realised that surfing was hard. Not only getting on your feet on the board, but which wave to catch and when to paddle for it. Popping up on your surfboard is not a natural thing the first time you try it, when the wave comes it all happens very quickly and it's very easy just to get thrown off. I think after about 3 hours of surfing, I probably stood up about 3 times, for probably 2 seconds maximum, haha. Still, I felt like I had achieved something and I knew the next day would bring more surfing. I had got quite friendly with 2 more people who joined my room and young girl from Bristol, and a guy also from Bristol (by coincidence). That night after my tea - oh yes, I went shopping for my tea and cooked a nice chicken pasta in the communal kitchens, the first real meal I had cooked on my travels. It did not disappoint. So after tea the three of us got chatting, drinking Goon (cheap wine that all travellers drink). We had a really good laugh that night listening to music and just chatting. The following day we all said we would go surfing. The guy changed his mind so just the girl and I hit the beach sharing a board. She had not done it before, and was asking me how to do it. I didn't feel very qualified giving her instruction but I told her what I knew, and helped her try and catch small waves by pushing her board at the right time. I managed to stand up quite a few times, so I felt improvement had been made. Bear in mind this is only catching some white water and heading straight toward the shore, no riding the wave, performing complex turns like you imagine surfers doing. Still I was happy. I only had 3 nights in Byron, and again it was a place I didn't really want to leave. I had arranged to get picked up the following day by my friend Aron who had moved to Australia 4 months ago. So as much as I didn't want to leave Byron Bay I was looking forward to that and seeing where he was living, as well as catching up with a familiar face.
- comments
Kelly Great vivid picture you paint Kev, excellent, felt like I was there by your side, think your missing a talent.....maybe turn your hand to being a novelist ;-) So pleased your having a fab time xxx
TC Totally jealous Kev. (though not jealous about the vomitting!)
Paul Berry Quality!