Taking the bus to Bondi

Tuesday 30th January 2007

Jane wins the prize. Water here does go down the plug hole clockwise and Ian has requested a clip of video to prove it, so yet again Steph’s video camera comes in handy.

Last night we had the longest sleep in almost four weeks – a good ten hours and we needed it. Remember, we’ve done three overnight flights and three overnight train journeys, so next time I say it’s a small world, remind me of that.

So, refreshed and raring to go with a HUGE hotel breakfast inside us, we did the open top bus tour. We’ve done this in a few cities over the years and it is a really good way to see the sights and get a commentary as you go. And we’d walked ourselves out yesterday. Sydney city centre itself is quite small and so very comfortable to walk around. And it’s a beautiful city, clean, modern, but with some interesting old(ish) buildings too. The bus tour was good because it took us through the suburbs as well as the city centre, so we saw Kings Cross (the area that’s a bit seedy and backpacker land) Paddington (latte land, they call it here – bit like an upmarket Islington in London) and Woollloomooloo Bay as well as the old area around The Rocks, Circular Quay, the Opera House etc that we walked around yesterday. Then we changed to another open top bus to do the Bondi loop. Some beautiful areas around Bondi, particularly Rose Bay and Double Bay, although we liked Bondi itself despite having been told it would disappoint. It didn’t. It is a really lovely wide sandy beach, with no commercialism on the beach itself. Very clean and not too packed today, so great.

What’s strange here is that it’s not strange. Wherever you go you see the same shops as you would at home, the same large corporations PWC, Ernst & Young, (Knight Frank estate agent signs on offices etc); and they sort of speak the same language. Sid’s mastered it already. After the past three weeks everything is so easy. No pointing at pictures to try to get the right meal, no bargaining to get 20 dong knocked off prices in the market etc etc., no cultural challenges (although of course some of Vietnam was easier when we were with Chi, but we had a lot of time without his as a ‘stabliser’.

I can understand the attraction for young people who come here and don’t leave for a few years. I’m sure the constant sunshine helps. So all in all, we’re really enjoying this very different experience.