Sydney

Hi Everyone

It’s been a month of travelling and finally we have a chance to rest up and write a short synopsis of our journey through Australia. After the crazy months of packing and preparing we finally set out for Sydney. Despite both of us throwing out each others excess baggage, we still have too much, but then how do you pack one small backpack for 365 days, more than 14 countries and all four seasons. We couldn’t even fit the Lonely Planet guides in - had to make copies of relevant sections.

On arrival Tereza fell in love with Sydney. The beauty of its winding waterways and luscious hills were beyond expectation. We stayed at Bondi Sands backpackers which overlooked Bondi Beach. Bondi reminded us of Muizenberg with Sea Point’s promenade. While it isn’t quite as spectacular as Camps Bay or Clifton, its warm water proved to be the trump card which together with the constant rolling waves made it a body-surfing paradise.

While a cliché, Sydney’s highlight is the Opera House and harbour. From the elevated railway, the Opera House at first appears as majestic mollusc with its thousands of tiles gleaming brightly, then from Circular Quay looking across the bay, it is reminiscent of a grand sailing ship with pregnant sails in full blossom, and finally from close up, dwarfed by its size, its aquatic curves rise up like giant whales reaching for the sky, their bronze baleen plates agape. The construction of the Opera House was fraught with conflict, culminating in the architect’s resignation after the outer structure was completed. Notwithstanding this, its contention for a place as one of the Wonders of the Modern World is well justified. Its curves, perspectives and ratios are brilliant. Space age stuff of its time - using high tensile cables to hold together pre-built sections and specially made Chinese tiles to cover the outer shell.

Next was a trip to Blacktown and Featherdale Wildlife Park. We discovered that Blacktown is where the “other half” of Sydney resides in rather derelict buildings, some Asian sections with signboards only in Chinese and other rather despondent aboriginal communities bearing witness to past atrocities and future challenges. Featherdale had numerous colourful birds, the standard koalas and kangaroos and then a range of foreign creatures that appear to be evolutionary experiments including: skinks (snakes with legs), the Tasmanian Devil (cross between a pig and a rat), Echidna (the result of a Hedgehog having successfully wooed either a duck or a platypus) and many more.

We were also impressed with Watson’s Bay where we met up with a friend from Cape Town, Rico for sundowners (“Great to see ya mate!”). The bay is beautiful with grand houses clinging to the steep luscious hillsides. A sailing dream with yachts everywhere - on a good day the bay looks like pond scattered with bright petals. After a beer at Dolleys, it was off to “the Gap” (heads) walkway which was very scenic. On the one side, in the far distance, the opera house and bridge being swallowed by the setting sun and a gulf of gleaming water and, on the other side, huge cliffs with ruffs of white waves and long arms of shadow reaching out over the dark blue sea. It’s somewhat reminiscent of Cape Point. Stunning, Tereza decided this is where she wants to live when she wins the Lotto.

Sydney’s sea and beaches are very accessible. It has the most amazing walkways which meander around the coastline. We followed one for three hours from Bondi beach to Coegee beach. The sun was baking (in the middle of summer Sydney must turn into a cauldron with its high humidity), but every ridge gave way to another beach with either a tidal and/or swimming pool to cool down in - loads of fun. Gordon’s Bay (yes they have one there as well) even has an underwater trail for scuba-diving or snorkelling! The best signpost we saw on the walkway “Don’t be a tosser – throw your rubbish away!” While Australia is known to be the “nanny nation” with warning and instruction signs at every step, it must be said, everything works – the trains, the busses, ferries, trams, etc.

On our last night in Sydney Debbie Hotz, who emigrated from Cape Town to Sydney, took us out to a Thai Restaurant in Surrey Hills for a delicious dinner. (Thanks Debbie for spoiling us and latter putting us up for one night on our way to Santiago).