Australian Adventures, Part II - Sydney
My first day in Sydney was pretty fun. Off the airport in to the hot, humid weather, it felt like I was in Disneyworld. I took a shuttle up to my room at the Vibe Hotel, a swank place as hip as its name, right in the downtown center. I grabbed some Indian food as my first meal. Tandoori chicken just like home, it was a great way to break my long deployment fast. I also had my first beer, and I was surprised how fast it hit me. I'd have to be careful until I got my tolerance back.
I went for a walk downtown to pick up some much needed items, like cash, clothes, a plug adapter. The downtown was pretty busy, even for a work day. The crowds were pretty mixed too. A variety of locals and tourists, young and old, of a variety of nationalities. I suppose unsurprisingly, most were either of european ancestry, or from around the Indian Ocean. A lot of folks from China and Japan, southeast Asia, India, the Middle East, and East Africa. I was surprised to find alot of signs, even outside of Chinatown, in Chinese or Japanese characters. The public transit was pretty nice too, with buses running everywhere, and a large train system, especially for the suburbs.
Sydney is a very cool city. I say this in full recognition of not really living there or being able to experience the full breadth of what it has to offer. However, it does have a lot of key details that I find incredible. The city is set on a deep harbor (contrary to popular belief, NOT Byron Bay). There's a ton of little bays and inlets all along the way, until you get to the massive Harbor Bridge, which spans the two sides of the downtown: business on the North shore, residences and night spots on the South side. Further in it becomes more suburbs all the way out. The outer sections of the bay are a host to beautiful sandy beaches surrounded by rocky headlands and the blue, blue Pacific Ocean. The city itself is inundated with beautiful green gardens, natural wildlife, well-maintained parks, and more rustic rural wilderness. You can actually just end up walking so far out you forget you're in the city. And the beaches cover so much of the coastline, you can walk for miles and always be on the water. Every view is stunning out there.
The city fades inward fairly easily as you head to some of the outer districts. There's also a decent amount of hills that give it character and topography, but some decent walking. One fun thing about Sydney is being able to experience a different and unique area depending on where you go in the city. The downtown is fairly cosmopolitan, or you can see the older architecture of The Rocks. For a more earthy, college town appeal, check out Newtown, which is full of restaurants of every character, and is an activist's paradise. The far eastern beach of Bondi is a regular surfer's haunt, with alot of easy living appeal. Paddington and Oxford Street are the party side for the more posh club go-ers and shopping fiends. And Manly beach is a great vacation spot for a more family-friendly air combined with its own relaxed Italian villas and tropical sights.
All in all, the Aussie character was friendly, engaging, and open-minded. I was surprised at how much the culture of Sydney had absorbed and taken to the Pacific world around it. There's more connection with the other Islands and Pacific Rim countries than I'd expected, and nothing of the American isolationism I was so prone to run against in conversations back home. Undoubtedly, that is a part of the city itself, but more and more of Australia as my trip goes on is making me think this isn't all and only the case.
More to come in Part III
I went for a walk downtown to pick up some much needed items, like cash, clothes, a plug adapter. The downtown was pretty busy, even for a work day. The crowds were pretty mixed too. A variety of locals and tourists, young and old, of a variety of nationalities. I suppose unsurprisingly, most were either of european ancestry, or from around the Indian Ocean. A lot of folks from China and Japan, southeast Asia, India, the Middle East, and East Africa. I was surprised to find alot of signs, even outside of Chinatown, in Chinese or Japanese characters. The public transit was pretty nice too, with buses running everywhere, and a large train system, especially for the suburbs.
Sydney is a very cool city. I say this in full recognition of not really living there or being able to experience the full breadth of what it has to offer. However, it does have a lot of key details that I find incredible. The city is set on a deep harbor (contrary to popular belief, NOT Byron Bay). There's a ton of little bays and inlets all along the way, until you get to the massive Harbor Bridge, which spans the two sides of the downtown: business on the North shore, residences and night spots on the South side. Further in it becomes more suburbs all the way out. The outer sections of the bay are a host to beautiful sandy beaches surrounded by rocky headlands and the blue, blue Pacific Ocean. The city itself is inundated with beautiful green gardens, natural wildlife, well-maintained parks, and more rustic rural wilderness. You can actually just end up walking so far out you forget you're in the city. And the beaches cover so much of the coastline, you can walk for miles and always be on the water. Every view is stunning out there.
The city fades inward fairly easily as you head to some of the outer districts. There's also a decent amount of hills that give it character and topography, but some decent walking. One fun thing about Sydney is being able to experience a different and unique area depending on where you go in the city. The downtown is fairly cosmopolitan, or you can see the older architecture of The Rocks. For a more earthy, college town appeal, check out Newtown, which is full of restaurants of every character, and is an activist's paradise. The far eastern beach of Bondi is a regular surfer's haunt, with alot of easy living appeal. Paddington and Oxford Street are the party side for the more posh club go-ers and shopping fiends. And Manly beach is a great vacation spot for a more family-friendly air combined with its own relaxed Italian villas and tropical sights.
All in all, the Aussie character was friendly, engaging, and open-minded. I was surprised at how much the culture of Sydney had absorbed and taken to the Pacific world around it. There's more connection with the other Islands and Pacific Rim countries than I'd expected, and nothing of the American isolationism I was so prone to run against in conversations back home. Undoubtedly, that is a part of the city itself, but more and more of Australia as my trip goes on is making me think this isn't all and only the case.
More to come in Part III