Sydney - days 55 - 57

Day #55
Packed with advice from some helpful friends, I start the day with a purpose and leave the hotel early. Miss breakfast and head straight to Circular Quay and I’m off for the day!

Take a Hop On Hop Off Harbour Cruise. Get great views of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House and get off at Watsons Bay, the other end of Sydney Harbour. Have a wander around this quaint little place. Take some great photos of the Sydney skyline, find a couple of deserted hidden beaches and jump around on some rocks. Then have a cheeky James Squire One Fifty Lashes at the pub while I wait for the boat back.

Get back to Circular Quay and have a wander round The Rocks area (as recommended). Grab an ice cream and check out the groovy old buildings. It’s very quiet round here, and I feel like I’m in a Western. I take notes of some pubs I might come back to, especially one called The Fortunes Of War (apparently the oldest pub in Sydney).

Jump back on the ferry and head round to Darling Harbour. Go to the Aquarium – which for the first part I spend trying to get away from a load of noisy Japanese tourists. I guess it’s an aquarium – no different from any other aquarium – but I had fun looking at the sharks, manta rays and dugong, and I saw loads of fish I saw in Fiji. Things like tang, emperor angelfish, triggerfish, surgeonfish – was good to put names to them finally! They also had some monstrous crabs and lobsters - i'd never seen ones so big!

Next up was Griil’d, a burger place I’d read about. It’s another place to add to my list of gourmet burger places, and it didn’t disappoint. Although I did pull out all the pickles and salad from the burger, which seemed a bit pointless! Was a good size burger though, and after I’d eaten all the chips, I was stuffed.

Walked back to the hotel via the groovy fountain displays around the harbour. Unfortunately my camera ran out, so I have no photos! Darling Harbour is a pretty wicked place, and wished I’d had more time to spend here.

In the evening I headed back to The Rocks area to try out some pubs I’d looked up. Walked for miles as a lot of the places were hidden down random backstreets. Completely missed one place I was looking for but found the Harbour View Hotel - which was ok. Had a James Squires, watched a bit of The Mentalist on the telly (and was surprised to see Robin Tunney is in it), then moved onto the next place – another pub I was unable to find! The problem with The Rocks area is, the maps don’t really do it justice. The roads all criss-cross over and under each other, and half the time I couldn’t find the road I was looking for. Eventually I came across a random bar and decided to stop for another beer. This was the Glenmore Hotel, and it quickly became my fave pub in Sydney. It was small, had friendly bar staff and played decent music. They also did wicked food. Sat outside under the gas heaters and had a couple of pints, then wandered down to find the Fortunes Of War, the pub I’d seen earlier.

I dunno whether this place was the oldest bar in Sydney, but it definitely had the old style bar and lots of tiles all over the walls. It kinda looked like an old toilet or bathhouse. However, on walking in, the barman shouted “We’re closed!”. It was 9.30pm.Hmm… chinny reckon you were closed!

So I jumped into a cab and went back to The Yardhouse for a final cheeky James Squires. Then went to bed knackered and slightly pissed.

Day #56
Got up dead early and headed over to the Casino to catch my tour to the Blue Mountains. Boarded a totally full coach and ended up sat at the back next to a translator dude, who repeated everything the guide said in Spanish to the guys next to him. ARGH!!!

Got to the Blue Mountains in a couple of hours and spent the morning taking loads of pictures of pointy mountainous rock structures, fountains and trees. Yeah, the area is pretty immense size-wise, but nothing compared to the Grand Canyon, that still wins “Gobsmacking Hole In The Ground” award of the holiday so far. Quickly worked out that if you did the various cable cars and train rides in the valley in reverse order, you missed all the queues. Which was handy considering 200 Japanese tourists followed us around for the entire day!
Nearing departure time, I jumped on the steepest railway ever to ride back up to the bus stop – and shat myself. The thing was soooo steep and really rickety. I spent the entire journey with my eyes closed, and it really didn’t help that they were playing the jaunty Indiana Jones theme while I was on it!

Back on the bus to the next stop, Featherdale Wildlife Park. Now this was more like it. Featherdale wasn’t very big, so you could around it in an hour. But it was jam packed with awesome animals and was brilliant. First things you get to are the Koalas. Theres about 15 of them, and for a change they weren’t all asleep! I don’t think I’ve ever seen one move before. Next you move into a gated area full of baby Kangaroos and Kookaburras. You could feed the Kangaroos by hand, so spent most of my time feeding a little Kangaroo that was following me around. He seemed pretty friendly so I named him Phil. Once he got his hands on the pot of nibbles I was carrying, he grabbed the off me and ran away. The little bugger. The rest of the park was just as awesome. Finally managed to see Wombats moving around and in the open, more noisy Kookaburras (what brilliant little birds they are!), Echidnas, Dingos, and some absolutely massive Sea Eagles. I really didn’t want to go, I could have stayed there all day!

Final stop was the Olympic Park – which was relatively underwhelming, then the coach dude decided he was gonna be lazy, so he dropped us at a ferry port for us to get the ferry back into Sydney. Got on the boat and had a beer, then sat in the sun and took in the views from the other side of Sydney until we got back to Darling Harbour.

Once there, headed back to The Rocks and the Glenmore Hotel. Had some more Lashes (or might have been Coopers) and a nice big steak in their $10 Steak Night. Nice way to end my Sydney time.

So it took three days, but I finally started to get to grips with Sydney, and kinda wished I was staying for another couple of days. Especially after I found a listings magazine and saw that the Dropkick Murphys and The Drones were playing in town over the next two nights. Gutted! As luck would have it, I’d see the Dropkicks in Perth, but I ended up missing The Drones over there by a week. Its definitely a great city and I liked the place. But – I didn’t think it was anything majorly different compared to places like New York, or Chicago, or San Francisco. I’d definitely like to come back at some point and make more of the place though. And the weather was pretty good – even if it was a little nippy sometimes!

Day #57
Up dead early again and caught a cab to Sydney Airport. I was heading to Perth for my final major stop of the holiday (over 6 weeks of staying in one place!). Flew with Quantas – who hadn’t gone on strike yet – and they were awesome. Spent the whole flight watching 2 series of Modern Family – and laughing outloud and upsetting the commuters!

5 hours later, I’m in Perth and I’m met at the airport by Ray, one of my parents oldest friends. I haven’t seen him for at least 10 years and it’s great to catch up. I’m staying with Ray and his wife Shirley for two weeks or so, south of Perth in a little coastal town called Rockingham. Already the weather is hotter and sunnier than the East Coast. I hope it stays like this, it’s awesome.

We get to the seaside in about 40 minutes and go for lunch at an open fronted restaurant on the seafront. Have a mega fish an chips and a few Pure Blondes, looking out over the bay, and have a great chat with my Dads old mate. By the time I’m back at the house and have dumped my stuff, I’m absolutely knackered. Have a few more beers, chill out in the sun, wander around like a zombie then decide to call it a night. I’m in bed by 8.30pm. But I’m dead glad that finally I’m in Perth, somewhere I’ve been dying to come back to for a long time!

Bryon Bay to Sydney - days 51 - 54

Day #51
Got up early, packed the rucksack, and was on a Greyhound to Byron bay (via Brisbane). Again, it was relatively empty and was an easy journey. Stopped in Brisbane for a two hour stop over (after a 4 hour drive), so popped into the nearest pub for lunch, had a couple of beers and a wicked steak, and stole some wi-fi from somewhere. Then it was back on the bus for the 5 hour trip to Byron. By the time I got there, it was dark and in the middle of a torrential downpour. Realising there was not much I could do, I quickly grabbed a cab to the B&B - the Byron Springs Guest House - I was staying at.

The place was really nice – I had a huge bedroom, and access to a couple of really nice clean and modern shared bathrooms. But as it was raining heavily and I had no idea where I was, all I could do was watch a film on the laptop then go to bed – and hope it stopped raining tomorrow.

Day #52
Luckily it had stopped raining! Got up early, had breakfast, met the B&B owner (who was really helpful and friendly), then wandered into Byron Bay town. Had a mooch round the shops and kinda noticed there was lots of hippy types and tattooed people here. Walked past a barbers shop and ran in for a well needed head shave. I didn’t bother trying to attempt it myself this time. After that, I had a massive walk along the beach and up to the lighthouse. The beach, was incredible, massive and sparsely populated as usual, apart from a few surfers. Wandered through a bush/rainforest walk up to the lighthouse, which was thoroughly knackering, especially as it was an incredibly hot day. The walk to the lighthouse took me past some amazing cliff views, looking out at more surfers and empty beaches. Got to the lighthouse, took some photos, found out I was covered in bites (and hadn’t realised earlier), then took the long walk back to town.

Popped into the main pub in Byron, the Great Northern Hotel. Part of the pub is used as a venue, and looking at the list of bands that have played and are due to play there, it seems it’s a major place. Had a massive fish’n’chips, and a few Coopers Pale Ales, served by a thoroughly miserable barmaid! The Coopers was awesome though – the best beer I’d had since arriving in Aus.

Feeling sweaty from the walk, and dirty from all the bites, I decided to head back to the B&B and have a well needed shower. Grabbed some food and beers on the way and spent the evening chilling at the B&B, drinking Coopers and updating the blog. I thought I’d meet some other people that were staying at the place, but it was pretty quiet. Everyone that appeared seemed put off by my music and ran away pretty quickly. Although I was playing it quietly, obviously there aren’t many Refused fans in Aus. Later in the eve, one of the other residents joined me for a beer and a chat. She was an underwater photographer and was pretty interesting – but after an hour or so, I started feeling a bit tiddly, tired and unsociable. So I excused myself and went to bed (after covering myself in insect repellent)!

Day #53
Aaaaaaaand – it pissed down again with rain the previous night and morning! Luckily it cleared up by mid morning so popped out to the Arakwal National Park, which was behind the B&B. Walked though another bush/rainforest trail out to a huge deserted beach and took some photos of the Tern that were hanging around there. Then watched a Sea-Eagle circle round the beach for 20 minutes – these things are MASSIVE, and its an awesome sight just watching him swooping around. Unfotunately he was too quick to take any pictures of! On the way back to the B&B, I got harassed by a couple of Masked Lapwings who had a couple of babies with them. The closer I got, the more these things squawked at me, but they eventually backed away and let me past. Mental.

In the afternoon, I popped to the cinema to watch the new Kevin Smith film “Red State”. I quite enjoyed it, but definitely think Kev isn’t cut out for horror films. I stopped to watch a bunch of hippies in the park shouting about stuff, who then gave way to a dreadlocked girl singer with an acoustic guitar. Watched her for a few songs, then headed to the Great Northern for a couple more Coopers and a rather wicked pizza, when it started to piss down with rain again. Great. I still had to go back to the B&B to get my rucksack and get back to town to catch the Greyhound. Eventually it calmed down enough for me to catch a cab and get my bag. By the time I got back to the Bus Pickup, it was obviously nearing crazy time for all the local drunks, as the area was flooded with the biggest bunch of drunk wankers ever. One guy chased his mate around everyones backpacks, while he had his willy out, ready to pee over his mate (and everyone else). Luckily the Greyhound turned up in good time, and they all buggered off. Said hello to the Greyhound man (who was the same guy that had dropped me at Hervey Bay), and settled down at the front of the bus for my 13 hour night trip to Sydney!

I quite liked Byron Bay, but the insect bites and town drunks had reduced my appreciation of this little hippy town. I’m glad I stopped here a couple of days and briefly saw the place. But I was glad to be on my way to Sydney and my final stop before Perth.

Day #54
The thirteen hour drive was pretty uneventful, and luckily found I slept for most of the journey. And apart from a grumpy bus driver that took over halfway through, it was a relatively straight forward experience. Woke up as we passed Port MacQuarie and stayed awake to witness our arrival in Sydney. Was pretty cool realising we were driving over the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and seeing the Opera House come into view. Arrived at the main station at 9.30am, said goodbye to Grumpy Bus Man, and jumped in a cab to my hotel (The Pensione) – which was in bloody Chinatown AGAIN!

Couldn’t check in so early, so left my gear and was directed up George Street towards Circular Quay and Darling Harbour. Realised once again that I was in an area surrounded by Chinese restaurants and supermarkets (and weirdly enough, sex shops), but I eventually found a bar that was open and that was doing breakfast, so stopped for some food and a tomato juice.

Got back on my walk and 20 mins later reached Circular Quay. Saw the bridge, the opera house and took loads of photos. It was cool seeing such well known places in real life, and although I was pleased to be back in a bustling big city again, I kinda had a big sense of déjà vu. City with a harbour/bay/waterfront – check (see NY and San Francisco), city with an iconic bridge – check, again NY and SF, and finally, city with something iconic in the harbour – see Alcatraz and the Statue Of Liberty! I figured I’d need to see much more of Sydney to get a better feel of the place, so headed back to the hotel to see if I could check in, via a couple of pubs (and some Coopers) on the way.

Checked into my room and was delighted to find it was almost as small as my Brisbane cell, except with a bathroom. The hotel itself was ace – modern, clean, all mod cons etc. However, my room was small and coffin-like. And I’m not exaggerating. I couldn’t spin round in the room with my backpack on, and the main room was literally the width of the bed. When I was lying on the bed, it was like sleeping in a grave! The joke was, the bathroom was very spacious – couldn’t work out why the room wwasn’t reversed. Anyway, it was clean and groovy, and I was relatively happy (apart from the fact I had nowhere to put my gear).

Head out later afternoon/early eve and try and find somewhere to eat – which was pretty difficult considering A) I had done no research at all on Sydney and had no idea where I was and B) was in an area of town populated by Chinese restaurants and/or massive hostels! Eventually I stumped for an evening meal at the local food hall – a thoroughly enjoyable chicken curry and a VB. After that, I popped into the nearest pub, The Yardhouse, discovered an awesome new beer (James Squires One Fifty Lashes PA) and watched the rugby (Australia Vs NZ I think). The James Squire beer was incredible, and spent the rest of three days in Sydney drinking it wherever i could find it! Pub was empty apart from a drunk dude that attached himself to my table later on in the evening. Once I finished my third beer (and watched Australia lose), I managed to escape the drunk guy to a Karaoke bar across the road. Had another One Fifty and watched drunk people sing very badly. Then gave in and went back to the hotel.

I needed some help. I’d gone through my guide book and a local guide I’d picked up but not really come up with anything, and I still wasn’t really sure where I was in the city and what was local to my location. I certainly didn’t fancy heading to Kings Cross to hang out with drunk backpackers. So I figured I’d post a “So I think Sydney is overrated – what am I missing, people?” status on Facebook, hoping people could send me some ideas. Thanks to the people that gave me great ideas for the following two days. No thanks to the people that just left (continued) sarcastic snotty comments about how great Sydney was, but offered no ideas whatsoever – cheers!

As it happens – things got better and I was a bit gutted I’d only booked three days here. But more of that later!