After arriving and dumping our stuff at the hostel it seemed only right that we should head straight out and take a stroll to the Sydney Opera House. Arriving there at night not only gave us a good opportunity to get a feel for both the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, having not seen it before, but also meant that we could go back the next day and get to see it all in daylight for the first time - 2 treats in less than 24 hours can´t be too bad really!
The big thing that struck us about Sydney on our first morning was how blue and clear the sky was (and also how incredibly friendly everyone is - now I´m no expert but I´m thinking there´s a correlation here...). Having seen a number of international skylines on our trip (oooo! look at him I hear you say to yourself...), it has been surprising that so many of them have been ruined by smog and a hazy sky. Sydney was far from dissapointing and although the attached pictures may not do it justice, the views were spectacular and also helped to reassure us that despite early fears the new camera we purchased in Cambodia was in fact not malfunctioning.
Our first morning was spent at Taronga Zoo, a 15 minute ferry trip from the centre of Sydney. The zoo is set on a hillside with the entrance being at the top. It was amazing! Not only were there Kangaroos and other wild animals neither George nor I had seen before, but the zoo was organised in a way that enabled you to walk throught their enclosures, literally feet from them. All a bit hard to explain on a blog but if anyone reading this is going to Sydney for the first time, I would highly recommend going and especially seeing the bird and seal shows (can´t believe I´m 32 and raving about a zoo - "oh, you must watch the bird show, it was just fantastic....") which were very impressive.
We met our friend Dave who is living (not sure about his legal status so if you are reading this and also happen to work for Australian Immigration........) just north of Brisbane at the moment so popped down to see us for a few days. We had a great time mooching about and seeing the real Sydney with him and his Aussie mate ´Cakey´.
We had a great time and I was surprised to see that they really do have arm wrestling and spitting competitions in pubs which women all seem to win.
So all in all a short 5 day break Sydney was a great opportunity to re-charge the batteries in a stunning location and enjoy some extremely good weather - it was also made easier by the fact that everybody spoke and understood English. Well, except for one barmaid I was fortunate enough to have a conversation with:
Barmaid: "So how´s your day going so far?"
Alex: "Really good thanks, it´s my first day ever in Sydney"
Barmaid: "Wow, really?"
Alex : "Yes, in fact it´s also my first day ever in Australia"
Barmaid "Wow, really? So, have you been to Australia before?"
.....Conversation ends......
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