In
small town New Zealand I stared at the calendar on my office desk.
Time was slipping away; days into weeks and weeks into months. I was
stagnating in my job and wanted to travel. But I didn’t know where
to start. It’s a small world but if you really examine a world
map, the options are bewildering: Asia, Europe, Africa, America, the
Pacific Islands or Australia?
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| Australia - it's a huge country! |
Australia
is our nearest neighbour and I didn’t even know exactly what it was
- an island, country or even a continent? In the end, it didn’t
matter because it was the perfect place to start my travels. It’s
the essence of diversity. In between the exciting multicultural
cities there were arid deserts, colourful coral reefs, green forests,
snowy mountains and sandy beaches to explore. It all made sense: I
didn’t need a visa, could work along the way and be in no rush. I
thought it might take a year and in the end it stretched to 18
months. In fact, it’s never really ended because I now live there!
It
was September; winter was over and the weather was warming. My uncle
wanted a house sitter in Melbourne and in the meantime my friend in
Sydney had invited me to spend a week there. It all fell into place
and I began my journey around Australia in the. The attractive and
vibrant city of Sydney is the state capital of New South Wales. It
is built around one of the most beautiful natural harbours in the
world and boasts two of the country’s major icons in the Harbour
Bridge and Opera House. With a fascinating history and modern
diversity I couldn’t wait to start exploring!
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| Sydney Harbour Bridge |
The
friend I stayed with had an apartment in the affluent suburb of
Bondi. He lived near Bronte beach which is a couple of kilometres
south of the famous Bondi beach. It’s a lovely walk between the
two of them, especially early on a spring morning. After that, it
was on a bus to the central city where I started my exploration at
the huge Coca Cola sign on Darlinghurst Road. This city icon marks
the beginning of the somewhat bizarre arrangement of tacky tourist
shops, strip clubs, backpacker hostels, cafes and bars that make up
Kings Cross.
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| The Opera House on Bennelong Point |
This
area is better at night so I made my way down to the huge Hyde Park
that houses the Royal Botanic Gardens and NSW Art Gallery. Out on
Bennelong Point is the majestic white, sweeping curves of the Opera
House where I joined the usual throng of tourists admiring its unique
shape. A short walk around Sydney Cove is Circular Quay which is a
major transportation hub for buses and ferries across the harbour. I
took some time to enjoy the buskers and indigenous entertainers who
use this area.
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| Aboriginal cultural entertainment |
There
are grand views of the Harbour Bridge from all around Sydney Cove and
it’s a popular place for buskers, tourists and locals alike,
especially on a warm spring day! I took a walk around The Rocks
which is a historic enclave which is the site of Sydney’s first
European settlers. Although it has significant cultural and
architectural heritage, I couldn’t help feeling that it’s also
become a tourist trap of trendy cafes and overpriced souvenir shops.
So
I carried on my way up the huge set of steps that lead up the
Bradfield Highway which leads north over Port Jackson on the Sydney
Harbour Bridge. There is an adventure climb enables views from the
top of the structure and while I’m sure they are spectacular, I was
very happy admiring Circular Quay and the city skyline from the road
level. Across in the other direction, I could see Sydney Harbour
National Park and Taronga Zoo.
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| Circular Quay and the Sydney skyline |
