DAY 3
DAY 3
(I'm starting with day 3, because I count day 1 as Sunday when I left and day 2 as when I was flying and crossing the dateline.)
So I got in at 6:15am and texted Maya and she and Lacey had just arrived from China too (via Hong Kong!). We were gathering our bags at the same time - what luck! After a little bit of scrutiny of my “lollies” in customs and a minor bloody nose while waiting in line, we were good to go. I had read my mom's guidebook that said there were cheap shuttles that take you door to door, so we got one of those for $10 Australian. Still dont know the conversion rate, I'm telling myself its like 1.5Aus is 1US??
The sky was so beautiful and the weather just amazing (like mid-60s) - it seemed particularly vivid after 22 hours cooped up in airplanes. We got to the enormous hostel where we are staying, right near the central train station. They let us store our bags and take showers but we couldnt check in until noon. This was good as it forced us to go out and walk around and not sleep.
We bought weekly train/bus/ferry passes and hopped on the train to Circular Quay, walked along the waterfront - through the Rocks neighborhood and over the Sydney Harbor Bridge. It was really windy but sunny. The bridge was long - think more GW bridge than Bklyn bridge - and since it was early we passed only like 4 other people. Nice, nice. Saw the opera house from afar, I read in my guidebook that the acoustics in there are actually not that great after these renovations they did or something. Anyway, once in North Sydney we walked west and down through this neighborhood I forget the name. We discovered that Australia has random US chains like Blockbuster, Krispy Kreme, and Fed Ex/Kinkos.
We waited a while for a ferry to come - taking full advantage of our multi-modal transport tickets. I did “Da Heizman” dance for Maya in front of the bridge and she taped it - You Tube here I come. We rode the ferry to Darling Harbour (this was Lacey's first time on a boat!) where I got all excited about the MONORAIL. But we found this was not included in our pass, which is annoying. We wanted to set a new record for taking airplane, minibus, subway, ferry, walking, and monorail all in under 6 hours. But alas it was not to be....so we walked through a mall to a train station where Maya bought a little jumper and I got some candy to bring back for people (if I dont eat it in the next 20 days - agh, restraint). My use of a very bad fake Australian accent has already commenced....I cant help it, just like my “Catalan” accent when we are in Barcelona. I get very nervous that the locals will overhear me. Its just fun to talk stupid.....
So, we covered a lot of ground and came back and explored the hostel a bit: checked email, searched for places to go out online (found a drum n bass and dubstep night tomorrow night!), checked out the rooftop pool, and settled in for a serious nap. I was aiming for 2 hours but we overslept the alarm and slept for 3.5.
Got up, Lacey was already out, so Maya and i took the bus to the Glebe neighborhood and got Mexican food. Then we walked partway back and took the train to Kings Cross and also walked through Darlinghurst, not because we were dying to go out, but because it was early and I wanted to scout out areas for later. Didnt find anything too exciting, got dessert and a beer and headed home. I have decided that the guidebook talks up areas a little too much. Sydney is BEAUTIFUL dont get me wrong, but my new question of the day is:
WHERE DO THE LOCALS HANG OUT?? Everything seems so laid out for toursists, backpackers, visitors in general....I want to find some local spots because Aussies are so friendly!
(I'm starting with day 3, because I count day 1 as Sunday when I left and day 2 as when I was flying and crossing the dateline.)
So I got in at 6:15am and texted Maya and she and Lacey had just arrived from China too (via Hong Kong!). We were gathering our bags at the same time - what luck! After a little bit of scrutiny of my “lollies” in customs and a minor bloody nose while waiting in line, we were good to go. I had read my mom's guidebook that said there were cheap shuttles that take you door to door, so we got one of those for $10 Australian. Still dont know the conversion rate, I'm telling myself its like 1.5Aus is 1US??
The sky was so beautiful and the weather just amazing (like mid-60s) - it seemed particularly vivid after 22 hours cooped up in airplanes. We got to the enormous hostel where we are staying, right near the central train station. They let us store our bags and take showers but we couldnt check in until noon. This was good as it forced us to go out and walk around and not sleep.
We bought weekly train/bus/ferry passes and hopped on the train to Circular Quay, walked along the waterfront - through the Rocks neighborhood and over the Sydney Harbor Bridge. It was really windy but sunny. The bridge was long - think more GW bridge than Bklyn bridge - and since it was early we passed only like 4 other people. Nice, nice. Saw the opera house from afar, I read in my guidebook that the acoustics in there are actually not that great after these renovations they did or something. Anyway, once in North Sydney we walked west and down through this neighborhood I forget the name. We discovered that Australia has random US chains like Blockbuster, Krispy Kreme, and Fed Ex/Kinkos.
We waited a while for a ferry to come - taking full advantage of our multi-modal transport tickets. I did “Da Heizman” dance for Maya in front of the bridge and she taped it - You Tube here I come. We rode the ferry to Darling Harbour (this was Lacey's first time on a boat!) where I got all excited about the MONORAIL. But we found this was not included in our pass, which is annoying. We wanted to set a new record for taking airplane, minibus, subway, ferry, walking, and monorail all in under 6 hours. But alas it was not to be....so we walked through a mall to a train station where Maya bought a little jumper and I got some candy to bring back for people (if I dont eat it in the next 20 days - agh, restraint). My use of a very bad fake Australian accent has already commenced....I cant help it, just like my “Catalan” accent when we are in Barcelona. I get very nervous that the locals will overhear me. Its just fun to talk stupid.....
So, we covered a lot of ground and came back and explored the hostel a bit: checked email, searched for places to go out online (found a drum n bass and dubstep night tomorrow night!), checked out the rooftop pool, and settled in for a serious nap. I was aiming for 2 hours but we overslept the alarm and slept for 3.5.
Got up, Lacey was already out, so Maya and i took the bus to the Glebe neighborhood and got Mexican food. Then we walked partway back and took the train to Kings Cross and also walked through Darlinghurst, not because we were dying to go out, but because it was early and I wanted to scout out areas for later. Didnt find anything too exciting, got dessert and a beer and headed home. I have decided that the guidebook talks up areas a little too much. Sydney is BEAUTIFUL dont get me wrong, but my new question of the day is:
WHERE DO THE LOCALS HANG OUT?? Everything seems so laid out for toursists, backpackers, visitors in general....I want to find some local spots because Aussies are so friendly!