Hello from a very lively Sydney! I arrived at the YHA 'On The Rocks' last night - a perfectly positioned hostel, with an terrace overlooking the harbour. Having dumped my bags, I walked straight on down to Circular Quay, where a huge cruise ship was just leaving. It was a pretty cool view, with the impressive Harbour Bridge on one side and the iconic Sydney Opera House on the other. Bit of a change from the wilderness of South Island to say the least!
It was Friday night and everyone seemed to be hitting the town, the whole place was buzzing and the traffic chaotic. I had absolutely no idea how to plan my only full day in Sydney, it's a huge city! I text Tim this morning to find out any 'must-dos' and consulted the good old Lonely Planet - although this just made me stress that there's too much to do in too little time really! It's so overwhelming compared to little New Zealand.
In the end, I decided to hop on a ferry to Manly, one of the much loved journeys from Circular Quay. The opera house and harbour bridge look even better in daylight, next to sparkling blue waters, where numerous boats are weaving in and out. It's peak season and it's Saturday, so there's an incredible number of people about.
When I hopped off at Manly, I did some of the coastal walkway towards Spit Bridge. There are plenty of nice beaches and posh apartments round there. Everyone is either on the beach or power walking with a bottle of water in one hand and an iPod in the other! The path does finish up in the national park, but I wasn't really geared up for a long walk, so it was a short and sweet visit to Manly as I was keen to get some more sightseeing done.
I headed back to central Sydney and found a cool farmer's market on The Rocks for lunch before catching a bus out to the famous Bondi Beach. It took ages to get there because of the traffic, but I made eventually... And I'd say it looks like it would be really nice except for all of the people in the way! They're everywhere! Surfers were out in force and there was barely a spare patch of sand. I'm sure lots of sociable people would love it, but it wasn't really my scene...
Anyway, I didn't go to hang about - I went to do the coastal walkway from Bondi Beach to Coogee. This time, I was better prepared with my running kit on! It's a great, scenic walkway taking you round a number of bays and along the eastern beaches, of which several also have their own swimming pools. It was nice and hilly too which I was pleased about! Every beach was crammed and I reckon I must have run an extra couple of miles just dodging all the people on the path. Especially when running back to Bondi, I met loads of other runners. I think that path is pretty dangerous with all these speedy runners with iPods stuck in their ears, zipping past crowds of walkers & beach goers, crazy! My first impression of Aussies is that they certainly seem to be very fit and active!
The bus journey back took even longer thanks to rush hour traffic heading into the CBD, but when I did get back, I had a lovely evening doing something that made me feel a little less like a backpacker for the evening: I went to the opera house for a concert by the Symphony Orchestra! They were playing Faure, Sibelius and Debussy. It is such a fantastic venue with great acoustics. In the middle of the Faure, there was a short song that I only wish had lasted longer - it was sung by a great soprano, whose voice soared effortlessly over the orchestra.
It is just so strange to be back in a big city, but a nice change too in some ways. Tomorrow I'll be meeting the people on my small group tour of the east coast for the next two weeks. Fingers crossed they're nice...