Pre-Trip

The actual intention of my overseas trip was to visit my friend Lishia who is working temporarily in Sydney for a year.  Her work visa expires in a couple of months.  When I found out about the AsiaPass, I added Bali, Thailand and Osaka to my itinerary.  Thinking four countries was a bit too much for 4 weeks, I cut out Bali.  Lishia's doing office temp work so she had the option of taking the day off.  If she did go in, there was the chance there was no work available so she would have the day off anyway so I had a travel companion.

Prices here I've left in AUD.  Take 10% off to convert to CAD dollars.  Guess prices are pretty much the same considering taxes are included in AUS and there is no tipping.  No pennies either, prices get rounded to the nearest nickel.

Day 18

After an 9 hour overnight flight from Bangkok, I arrived at my final destination, Sydney.  Filling out the customs form, it was ironic that one of the questions on the form was "Have you been convicted of any criminal offence?".  Coming out of the terminal, it was a great relief coming to the warm yet cool weather after hot and humid Thailand.   While waiting for my pack at the luggage carousel, a customs officer randomly picked me for some questioning.  His first concern that I was here to look for work without a visa.  Actually, I considered working and getting even with all the Aussies coming to Vancouver.  After finding out I came from Thailand, his second concern was that I was carrying drugs.  So I got searched and sniffed for explosives and drugs (sniffed my wallet and toiletries) and I passed.   I took a train into the city ($10.60), and I met Lishia who was living in the north part of Sydney about 15 minutes from the city centre.  The area she lived in was actually the most expensive because it overlooked a beach and was close to the central business district (CBD).  In the afternoon, we headed off to Circular Quay, Opera House, Botanical Gardens, Queen Victoria Building (QVB) and St. Mary's Cathedral.

Day 19

We headed out to Manley beach which is the main volleyball beach.  We played ball for a bit before taking a ferry back to the city.  From there, we walked around Darling Harbour which had restaurants, museums, and malls and into Chinatown.  In the evening, we went for $5 steaks in a pub where she used to live.

Day 20

We took a ferry to Watson's Bay and walked to the headlands and the cliffs in the area.  We then bused to Bondi Beach for lunch.  Manley was much nicer than Bondi but it was also cloudy that day.  There is a nice hike along the headlands and rocks from Bondi to Coogee which is about 6km long.  We probably did a third of it before we wanted to head home.  We had done enough walking in the heat at Watson's Bay.

Day 21

Lishia had to work and it was cloudy and rainy so I headed off to the Powerhouse Museum which was showing a Star Wars exhibit borrowed from the Smithsonian.  It had models and costumes from all five movies.  Carrie Fisher and Natalie Portman are fairly petite girls judging from their costumes.  And they did have the stretch white number Natalie Portman wore in Episode 2.  The rest of the museum was science and technology so I killed most of the afternoon there.  Also went by Paddy's Market which is a big indoor flea market.  Good if I wanted to pick up some t-shirts or stuffed Koala bears.... the didn't have the AUS 02 shirt I was looking for to match my Hawaii 89 one.
 

Day 22

Another lazy day.  The weather was good so I headed up the CentrePoint Tower with great views of the city.  They had a theme park style ride that was included with the admission.  Met my friend Amy and we headed off to Newcastle (New South Wales second largest city) for the weekend to stay with her family.

Day 23

In the morning, we went to a nearby farm/petting zoo where the local animals swarmed us since we had feed.  Fed and petted some kangaroos.... I was actually feeling their meat to see where the most tender cuts were.  They also allowed you to pet some Koalas.  In the afternoon, we drove through the Port Stephens area with Nelson Bay and numerous beaches.  The area is known for big sand dunes behind the beaches (the dunes reminded me of the northern Denmark beaches).  In the evening, we had a BBQ in the park in Newcastle with some of Amy's friends.  There are free electric hot plates in the parks for you to cook on (not quite the traditional North American BBQ).

Day 24

We went for a dolphin cruise in the morning with Amy's mom.  There were about six boats out in the bay all looking for dolphins.  Headed back into Sydney in the afternoon.

Day 24

Got an early start to head to the Blue Mountains which were a 2 hour train ride to the west.  We walked from Katoomba to the cliffs at the edge of the park with spectacular views of the mountain valley.  There were hikes along the ridge and down to the valley floor and we hiked along a trail to the Scenic World attraction where we could take a steep rail car down and tram back up.  The Katoomba Falls in the area was pretty dry so not too spectacular but the area here was known for the famous 3 Sisters rocks (3 peaks jutting up at the edge of the ridge).  We saw the 3 sisters from 20 different angles - the base, from the valley, from the west side, east side.... but I didn't take a picture.  We had to head back earlier since I was meeting my friend Phoebe for dinner in Sydney so we didn't get the opportunity to explore Wentworth Falls or the Jenolan caves.  The temperature in Sydney was 40 degC on this day. In the evening, I had dinner with Phoebe and some of her friends.  Like in most European cities, you could bring your own wine to the restaurant.  Evening concluded three bottles later and after a quick visit to a nearby pub.

Day 25

My last day in Sydney and I was a bit hung over again so it was another lazy day.  We headed off to Balmoral beach down the hill from where Lishia was living and relaxed in the cloudy weather.  We had booked the BridgeClimb for twilight.... an expensive $175... but they took you with safety lines, coveralls and headlamps to the top of the Sydney bridge.  A very cool experience walking underneath and up to the top.  We had to go through a breathalyzer before going up so I suspected I may have had some residual alcohol in my system from the night before.  I was clean.  Our best picture was actually this group photo since in our personal photos, we looked like deer caught under headlights.  Saved us $15 per picture though.   Went to a bar were we had some kangaroo pizza and a pint of VB.  The kangaroo tasted more like beef but was only a teeny bit gamey.  In the morning, I was on my way back home to be ready for work the next day.

Final Notes

Sydney was beautiful and a welcoming change from the heat of Thailand.  Beautiful beaches, warm weather, friendly people and easy to get around.

Neil's Cost of Living Index

Bus ride $2.60
McDonalds meal $6
Beer $6
Bottle of Coke $2.00
Meal in restaurant $10

To Do List

Accomplished
- Flush toilet and watch water swirl the other way
- Eat Vegemite
- Finish off a box of Tim Tams
- Eat meat pies, kebobs, and fish & chips
- Eat Kangaroo
- Visit Chinatown

Not Accomplished
- Introduce foreign frog species into-eco system
- Visit Kings Cross
- Visit Blue Mountain Caves
- Visit Surfer's Paradise
- Visit Melbourne
- Visit Temple (St Mary's Cathedral was close though)