SYDNEY ... is NOT the capital city of Australia

So I am a liiiiitle bit behind in my updates…but I went to Sydney about a week ago, for about week… it was indeed FABULOUS as you would imagine SYDNEY to be… When you think of Sydney you think of this awesome city CITY that you see on TV…you think of the Opera house and the Bridge and everything BIG. But it is in fact a little more than that… I was housed in Elizabeth Bay for a few days, at my sister’s courters, a charming little wooden hideout overlooking a bay and the beautiful yacht s and peaceful little park alongside it.

 

But don’t be fooled by this peaceful little area…climb up the steep hills to the top and you might find yourself caught between two very different worlds…towards one side on you map you will find yourself entering the upper-class area of Sydney, where the who’s who have set up their nests…lean a slight bit to the other side and you will be entering the Kings Cross area… possibly an area where the who’s who maybe go play…strip clubs and bars, where woman who are scantily clad…to say the least, have a smoke on the sidewalk…no its NOT 11am in the morning…

With big billboards, lights and life in another area we jump on a bus and are miraculously transported to ANOTHER part of the city…more to the central city where I am introduced to a different student life I am used to where if you are not using a Mac computer…you aint getting nowhere…I explore from the computer labs down to the food court (some things never change…no matter what university you go to and for what reasons…) I meet back up with my sister and shuffle through the millions of people who just graduated in stilettos and tight skirts. And we head down to Darling Harbour, one of my favourite places in Sydney, or so I thought years ago when I still had an impressionable mind…where the rich the famous the modern sleek and the BUZZ still entertained me.

Over priced beautiful chic and stylish restaurants fill the sidewalk jetty of the bay while business men and women, school bunkers and students all gather around on the steps for quick catch ups in their fast-paced lives. I stroll down towards the end of the harbour and back again, oogling at the pretty boats and the lifestyles these people have and the mere DIVERSITY of people in this area.

I meet back up with my sister and we get on another bus taking us back to our little cove of serenity.

The next trip had me take the ferry [**note***ferries make me happy I enjoy travelling on ferries] from circular quay…THIS is where the bridge is and where the Opera house is…there are 10s of thousands of people as they await the arrival of 16year old Jessica Watson, a young Australian girl who sailed AROUND THE WORLD by herself… forgetting about this amazing little box of dynamite the swells on the ocean are slightly bigger than I imagined and as the ferry sways left and right and up and down I might have my heartbeat increase a little as I hold on to the seat… WOOSY….’DUDE...that chick is 16…and she is coming in now through that harbour with the biggest smile on her face…almost ready for lap 2… yea right, I’ll focus on getting across the bay for now mmmmmkay?! ‘Well I make it across the bay without breaking a sweat due to increased pulse and heart palpitations onto Manly wharf. Here we spend the weekend, hiking along long reef gold course and manly beach, where everyone struts their stuff...not to get fit…if I look at their ‘stuff’ they are fit….they there to strut it… it’s the fashion parade for gym wear, for all ages, it’s the one day of the week where all the dogs get to catch up. Old people, couples sit there with their picnic baskets on the sidewalk, at least 50 surfers waiting for the waves which are MIA and the sporty people playing a little volley ball while beach side cafes are full as you would always expect them to be.

 

On our return from Manly back over the ocean…the ferry experience is once again what I expect it to be – FUN… we head back to the city and as the tourist I am I snap shots of the bridge from every angle and the opera house from every other angle.. we buy bus tickets back home but decide we are not willing to wait for it and take a leisurely stroll (with 20 kg on my bag) through the Hyde park of Sydney to the next bus stop…where we once again decide we are too impatient to wait and opt have a little breakfast while we wait..we miss the next bus too and make it for the NEXT one… (These buses really are something) – People around here call this public transport system unreliable….HEY I say…heck, I LOVE it!!!! At least u got a functional one!!! Busses…trains ferries…COME on people!

My expedition in Sydney draws to an end as we go watch a movie in some other part of town again…and we fall in love with New York... (‘I love you new York’ is the movie-go see it). The next morning we run/walk/speed-walk to a breakfast nook which is very much a French café.

Oh before I forget, as the universe would want it, I added another story to ‘The Chronicles of Flying SOLO with ilse…’ yea so airlines phoned me in the morning asking if I mind bumming off my scheduled flight and flying an hour later…no problem, BOOM I got credited, now I can fly anywhere in Aus with that money…:-) hmmmm thank you Aviation.

I might have cut it really short in time for flight…uhum…but I made it. Back to Brisbane where I jumped on the train and jumped off and jumped on another one and jumped off…and then walked across the road…back to my other home, my other sister, my laptop and small fun-sized ferries.

Another week filled with a bunch of other things…people stories, jokes adventures, disappointments and overall fun – this is life, as my legs start itching and making plans to grab a backpack and board a train… I wouldn’t dare…would I?

Australia: Brisbane...Scene 1: ACT I

Ello mate, welcome to Australia!! …contrary to popular belief I have not heard a single person say this to me yet…(I might have said it to myself but I guess that doesn’t count). As my new adventure starts, or the next leg of my adventure... called LIFE, I realised I really AM a citizen of the world, as I try to bank my US dollars$$ while they look at my South African passport in Australia…BOOM…


On my continued search for AwESoMEnEss…I now find myself in Queensland, Brisbane, the city on the river, intriguing and beautiful I must say. I have now done all the official things that a person in the real world has to do…phone number- check, filed for a tax number-check, opened bank accounts-check, slept-check, took a joy ride on the ferry- check, taken a day off from all the hard work…check! Found a job…uuuu..uhum…

On my little trip, the get-out-a-little and breathe-the-air trip, I definitely am loving the vitamin D my body is accumulating after months of withdrawal (I’m still too scared to show too much skin-WHITE,bright LIGHT) its winter but I am sweating during the day. I could get used to it.


As I jumped upon the city cat ferry, a few kilometres from outside our door, I am bewildered by the huge city right on the river- its beautiful, the city is on my left, and on the opposite side is southbank, a lot more chilled and sociable, pools and lifeguards, restaurants and botanical gardens, a very laid back but wonderful vibe, on this bank you will find the performing arts school and the the large Griffiths University.

In a stretch of about 10km on this river, I stand to be corrected, there are about 10 bridges….(actually i re-counted only 5 bridges and less than 10km) Of which half are probably for pedestrians and cyclists….very beautiful bridges though, my favourite would be the new one they are building…apparently it will be called the ‘go-between-bridge’…..uhum….uuummm…yes…now THIS bridge…well…GOES…BETWEEN….north and south banks…go figure…original. INGENIOUS!!

Here in Brisbane, it’s fun to walk everywhere, because you can, but WATCH OUT for cyclists…on the sidewalks there is a path for cyclists…this takes up almost most of the sidewalks and poor pedestrians need to keep as far left as possible, heaven forbid you come in the way of a cyclist…they WILL...literally ride you over… so story has it that you can get pulled over here even if you are drunk driving- while on a bicycle!!! Soon to fine drunk pedestrians too…apparently they themselves get into too many accidents… (this is not a joke).

I am loving it, while I sit on the patio and talk rubbish about the place I listen to the birds in the trees right outside here while having glimpses of the river and a very peaceful neighbourhood.

My continued search for awesomeness has continued as many CVs have been sent out, thinking big and thinking smaller scales, from large 5-star hotels many miles away, to small restaurants on the jetty around the corner. This search is nowhere near done but so far it is very awesome.

Got a few more things up my sleeve and the families sleeves for the weeks to come, next week I will enter Sydney, as I only experience MORE awesomeness there. But until then I still got a weekend full of fun, the search for awesomeness seems easier than you’d imagine-not much of a search when you live by it!!! (still waiting on the first awesome job:D )

Peace and Happiness!