Sydney - MyAustraliainfo - Information about Australia

Sydney

May 23, 2001

Spent the morning settling in at the hostel and getting familiar with my new surroundings..  Decided to go for a quick visit to the famous area of Kings Cross and Wooloomoolo. To my surprise the owner of the hostel is an Italian who has been living in Sydney for 10 years, at least he will be a help during my stay given my poor english!

May 24, 2001

The jet lag, or whatever it's called, continues to  affect me, it's 6am and already I'm up and wide awake. I leave the hostel and head towards Kings Cross and then I head along  William Street until I get to the famous Queen Victoria Building, a mecca for Sydney shopping.. I am overwhelmed by the multitude of people of every race and color that run, run, obviously all late for work: excuse me! and overtake you on the escalator. One thing that surprised me is that there are people who clean windows early in the morning and they are cleaning the glass panes of the bus stop shelters. Imagine that happening in Italy considering state in which they are ... Late morning and early afternoon visit to the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House, stunning view of the bay. For now Sydney has given me the impression of being a quiet, livable and low crime rate city, at least that's my impression for now! I have not noticed anything that strange apart from a drunk aborigine that speaks to himself.. I forgot to mention that the hostel where I am staying, in the Kings Cross area is famous because it was once the red light district of the city... Although I think that in a small way it may still be present.  Early in the morning in the main streets there are bouncers that when they see a tourist they pester you to see their shows. This morning there were a lot of sailors and for them this is fantastic...  Then there are some strange people around certainly up to no good and they look at you.. However, if you go your own way and do not look or say anything to them then there is no danger.  This area is very nice and lively, especially the night life!!

May 25, 2001

Early morning I take the train and head downtown to Circular Quay. Today I do the tourist thing and go behind a group of Japanese or Chinese, all smiling, for a day trip by boat. The money was really well spent for this tour as I saw some really beautiful views of the bay and I found that everything I had read about Sydney Harbour is true and it is absolutely gorgeous! The sun beats down on me even though we are at the beginning of winter it seems as though summer is approaching, you can really feel the affects of the ozone hole.! I had to go buy  sun protection cream 20+.  I headed towards the Sydney Aquarium, there is a lot of very beautiful flora and fauna of the Australian seas here. I was really amazed by the banana fish, it's very much like a Ciquita in Italy. I tried to take pictures but the lighting was poor and as a result the photos are not the best. There were many kinds of sea life here from sharks, stingrays and very strange fish! There were also the famous deadly jellyfish, some beautiful shells that you'd want to take home, but then they pull out a claw and Bang it scares you!!. To finish the day off I went for a ride on the monorail a very touristy thing to do.

May 27, 2001

Day trip to Bondi beach today. I take the train to Bondi Junction and then bus, after figuring out how everything worked, I finally arrive.  Bondi Beach is exactly as described in the travel journals  and I am captivated to see such a beautiful beach, in fact I think it is the most famous in Sydney. It 'Sunday and despite being winter there are people who are swimming or surfing. It's really strange as you see people dressed in winter clothes with coats and people who are in their bathing and surfing suits. For lunch I stop by Gabbys cafe along the promenade at Bondi for their specialties: scrambled eggs, bacon, tomato and grilled potatoes and toast. I have a long black coffee, a bit bitter but ok to drink. I look around to browse what others are eating and it seems they are eating anything from toast and meat with a strange white sauce, salads, sausages, eggs and bacon, orange juice, cappuccino and pizza etc...If I continue to eat like this each day my cholesterol will go through the roof!!. One thing I noticed, for now, is that during the day they all drink water, tea, coffee, orange juice, coca cola, but no alcohol or beer. But in the evening I think that they drink and in the morning I saw the affects of this with broken bottles of beer and people sleeping on the sidewalk who have forgotten their way home.. But it is lovely all the same!!.  Now I have to free up the table as the waiter constantly looks at me reminding me of the line of people waiting to eat, and we are in low season, can you imagine what it would be like in high season?? It could be because today is Sunday. I spend the afternoon at the beach, the waves are big and there are many surfers and many ameteurs as well. I take a seat on the promenade for some time and watch people go by. Many Asians, many runners, these aussies jog almost every hour, they are really into their sports, which is a good thing I guess!! I had a nice relaxing day in a beautiful place and for now I think to myself that I really like Australia!!!

May 28, 2001

Today is a cold and gray day and it seems like it's going to rain. I take the train to Circular Quay, then the ferry takes me across the bay to another very famous beach maybe the second after Bondi, Manly.. Beautiful and big but today there are few people and it really seems like winter, however, there is always someone in the water that is surfing..  After Manly I go back to the centre to visit Sydney Centrepoint Tower, a huge shopping centre,  where it's easy to get lost inside in between the multi levels and shops. It was time for lunch and there was many people scurrying about , mainly office workers flocking to food shops to eat and always eggs, bacon, coffeeand other food with strange creams etc...