We are staying in Kings Cross in a little neighborhood called Woolloomooloo. I see no irony in the fact that we're staying in a neighborhood whose name is identical to the club owned by the most popular fraternity in Utrecht.
our neighborhood in Kings Cross
Our hostel is called Eva's Backpackers and it's a great place. There are no twentysomethings who start drinking at 11 AM, but people who work in the city, couples and even a few families with small children. The kitchen is small, cosy and always clean. We share our dorm room with 2 other girls, which is a relief in itself, because the teenage boys who usually share our dorm rooms always stare at me, sleep in till 2 PM and smell a little bit weird. We even have our very own en-suite bathroom, which is always body hair free.
our hostel in Woolloomooloo
The best part about our hostel, though, is the awesome rooftop terrace, which has some amazing views of the city center.
the view of Central Sydney from the rooftop terrace of our hostel
It doesn't end here, though. Sydney is arguably also the most expensive city in Australia, but there are a lot of things on offer for backpackers. For free! On Wednesday morning, for example, we were picked up by Sarah from Peek Tours who took us and a bunch of other tourists on a free 3-hour guided tour. She did a really good job and told us lots of cute little details. Sydney is stuffed with cute little details. A few examples:
The Domain, which is part of the Royal Botanic Gardens, where you are encouraged to smell the roses, hug the trees and talk to the birds.
Royal Botanic Gardens
The Matthew Flinders statue on Macquarie Street, where Matthew has been portrayed with his pet cat in the background. According to Sarah, poor Matthew was never able to find "his lady love" and therefore always travelled with his cat to combat loneliness.
Macquarie Street
This particular boar statue on Macquarie Street whose nose you're supposed to rub if you want luck. Jochem was looking to get lucky and thus rubbed a different body part of the poor boar.
Macquarie Street
This beautiful piece of art called 'Forgotten Songs' that not only displays bird cages but also plays bird songs. It is there to remind us of the bird species that used to live in Sydney before the Europeans settled and who have since been forced to move to the city limits.
'Forgotten Songs'
And, of course, we also saw these little fellas.
Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House
Although Sydney is a great city to shop, eat and drink, we had no money for any of that and so on Thursday we took the Manly ferry to Manly. Manly is named Manly because one of the early European settlers was impressed by how manly the Aboriginals who lived there looked. We had come to Manly to walk the 10-kilometer Manly Scenic Walkway, which is an absolutely beautiful trail. We passed seaside mansions and harbor viewpoints, hiked through the Sydney Harbor National Park, saw kookaburras and goannas and longingly looked at the little coves and beaches on the way. We had a picnic and a little nap at Clontarf Beach before hiking to the Spit Bridge and taking the bus back to the city. I love cities that have such outdoor opportunities right around the corner. It's why I love Edinburgh and why I can't wait to get back there in June.
Sydney Harbour National Park
the view of Manly from the Manly Scenic Walkway (including the tiny Manly ferry in the distance)
the view from Dobroyd Head on the Manly Scenic Walkway
the view of Castle Rock Beach from the Manly Scenic Walkway
Clontarf Beach
Clontarf Beach
On Friday we woke up at 5 AM for our tour to the Blue Mountains. They are called the Blue Mountains because of the blue mist of oil that comes up from the many eucalyptus trees. It was already going to be a cool day, but in the Blue Mountains it's even cooler than usual. In our case, it was rainy and foggy. Our tour guide said that it was like winter! His name was Jimmy and he grew up in the Blue Mountains. He called us 'possums' and said things like: "It's easy to get lost on this bushwalk, so we need to stay close together, like we're friends and stuff." He was hilarious.
We started our day at Katoomba with a bushwalk down the Furber Steps to the Katoomba Falls. At the bottom of the Jamison Valley we took the Scenic World funicular train back. However, this was no ordinary train. Back in the days it was used to haul the coles back up from the valley floor and it's quite steep at 52 degrees. It was fun, but also scary.
Scenic World
The sad thing was that, due to the intense fog, we weren't able to see the Three Sisters! So right before lunch and the Aboriginal dance performance, we hiked down the Giant Stairway at Echo Point where we at last caught a glimpse of the first sister. Definitely worth the extra trouble!
Echo Point
After lunch we went on another bushwalk to the Wentworth Falls where I was once again reminded of my dislike of stairs, but the views made up for the sore legs.
Wentworth Falls
the view of Jamison Valley from Wentworth Falls
Our last stop of the day was at Flat Rock where the fog once more made an appearance. It was quite dangerous, to be honest. Jochem barely made it out alive.
Flat Rock
Flat Rock
After all that walking and hiking we decided to take it slow on Saturday. We made our way to Bondi Beach, arguably the most popular beach in Sydney, and it being a sunny Saturday in January, it was very busy. We thought that it was quite windy and cold, so we didn't go into the water but just hung out with the seagulls.
Bondi Beach
Bondi Beach
At night we had dinner in Kings Cross at an Italian restaurant called Fratelli Paradiso. This was a real treat - it's the kind of place where the locals eat, the menu is in Italian and all the waiters speak with an Italian accent. Here we feasted on prosecco and white wine, eggplant with cheese, spaghettini and risotto, and cannolli. Why I can't find cannolli anywhere in the Netherlands is beyond me, so I had 3 pieces. Just to prove a point. Thank you, Joke, for making this lovely meal possible! It was a great way to end our time in Sydney and in Australia.
I can't believe we've been in Australia for 5 weeks already! Time flies when you're having fun, but time also flies when you're racing through a big country in just a few weeks. But I feel very proud of us - 5 weeks, 5 states (Queensland, Northern Territory, South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales), 6 major cities (Cairn, Mt Isa, Alice Springs, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney), 7 major tourist attractions (Great Barrier Reef, Uluru, Kata Tjuta, King's Canyon, Barossa Valley, Great Ocean Road and Blue Mountains), 8115 kilometers, 5 overnight bus rides, 6 youth hostels and 1 homestay. We survived it all! Of course we hope to come back some day and we've already got it all figured out - we want to fly into Sydney for a couple of days, then fly to Melbourne to visit Eyal, Marieke and Eddie again, then fly to Perth, rent a 4WD and drive to Darwin, visit Arhemland from there, and then fly to the east coast for a sail trip to the Whitsunday Islands. But first we're off to New Zealand tomorrow!
If you'd like to see more pictures of our world trip, check out our picture gallery here!
No comments:
Post a Comment