Australia Landing

It really does exist

Well I have decided to give this whole blog thing a shot to keep you all updated on my travels. Although I doubt it will be remotely blog like as that would involve these entries having some sort of purpose or structure. It is much more likely that this page will be filled with my thought vomit, which lets be honest, is what you're really here for. (Also, since I managed to lose my Asia travel diary on my very last day in Asia this seems to be a much safer option).

Well I've been Down Under a few days now and have yet to fall off the world (as a tiny bit of me suspected I might - crazy, upside down southern hemisphere). It was a bit of a shock getting off the plane as all my travelling instincts were prepared for the unfamiliar and so clear signs I could read and the crazy westernisation of it all made them wary...they were expecting a struggle. But despite their unease they dutifully got me from the airport to the hostel despite the train line I needed being closed for construction. After SE Asia's largely laughable transport system navigating Sydney's trains was a breeze. I was even confident enough to help out a distressed Swiss girl who was heading in the same direction as me.


My experienced traveller bravado came to an abrupt end upon opening my backpack to find that an entire bottle of shampoo had decided to empty itself. There is no way to continue feeling like The Dog's Bollocks after this sort of incident. If I wasn't quite so pissed off I may have been impressed with it. Not only had it opened, the entire lid had came off it and there was not a drop left in the bottle. Despite being in a plastic bag it had managed to leak out and smear the entire compartment and its contents in its thick, blue gunge (Herbal Essences - looks pretty but the effect was visually more devastating than a regular shampoo would have been). It had also managed to get into my shower gel - the shower gel bottle was not even opened! Even after a few uses there is still some shampoo coming out with the shower gel. But all of this was OK since cleaning this sort of mess is exactly what every one wants to do after 30 hours or so of travelling. My dorm mates had great sympathy for me, who after a grunt of a greeting inquired if I was planning to turn the light out any time soon so they could sleep. You think they would have been pleased - the smell of my shampoo was really helping to mask the faint stench of a boys locker room that the seven boys who were staying there had managed to create.


Dragging my jet lagged ass out of bed the next morning was not as bad as I had been expecting, largely because I was gasping to head to Sydney Cove for a postcard perfect view that would prove to myself I really was in Sydney. I decided I was going to walk everywhere which not only made financial sense but would also help counteract the winter- induced hibernation style eating I had been doing at home. Having spent months covered up in chunky duffel coats, my bikini body was nowhere in sight and frankly, I applauded its decision to hide out until it could better itself. Also I find that walking  allows me to find my way about the city quicker - it is much easier to remember which street leads where if you have taken the time to stroll down it rather than whizz pass on a bus. It also gives you the freedom to be distracted by something shiny and wander off in a direction you had not planned (don't worry, this is end of my Ode to Walking). Which is how I ended up getting the best first view of Sydney Cove I could have hoped for - a walk through Botanical Gardens which as it turned out, had a nice little pathway leading straight to the Opera House.

Before airbrushing

I had one of those strange moments that generally accompanies the first sight of a famous landmark - to quote Hugh Grant, "surreal but nice." Like The Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty, Ha Long Bay, etc before them, (note - blatant flaunting of being well travelled) I could not stop staring at Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. It is the gradual realisation that this scene does in fact exist, it's not just an image featured in movies, on postcards and throughout Australia Tourism advertisements to make Sydney instantly recognisable. The first thing that struck me about the Opera House was that it was tiled; it had always looked so smooth and polished (is Australia the sort of country that airbrushes its landmarks to make them look younger and other landmarks feel haggard and inferior?). Even though it was a cloudy day its peaks somehow still managed to catch the sunlight and as I strolled around it, I found it difficult not to be fascinated by its unusual shape. After about ten minutes, the sun properly broke through and the whole harbour lit up (yes, I'm aware that sunlight does in fact light things, but you know what I mean). The boats bobbing along at the docks, the beautiful houses built into the slope, the CBD skyline, the amusement park across the bay and the Harbour Bridge arching across them all - it was a perfect travelling moment.