Sydney

I decided last Tuesday that I probably better be on my way north again, swinging through Sydney for a couple days before getting as much time in at the strawberry farms as I could. After saying goodbye to the Timmins family again, I took the train from Melbourne to Sydney, which took about twelve hours. My sister Courtney and her husband Aaron had met Phil McCarroll and his son Simon in 2005 on their trip to the Tour de France. Court had gotten me in contact with them before I left in February, and both the McCarrolls offered to show me around Syd whenever I got here. Simon is in Italy at the moment, but Phil and his partner Sheridan have been extremely gracious to me by letting me stay at their absolutely amazing place for the few days I'm in town, and for pointing me in the right directions on my tours of this iconic city.

Phil met me at Central Station in Syd when I arrived. He immediately took me towards the Rocks area, where I saw the Opera House and Sydney Harbo(u)r Bridge for the first time. I've been in Oz or more than three months, but hadn't felt it as much as I did when I first saw the Opera house. It was especially spectacular at night.

I got a message from Larry the next day saying he hadn't left port north of Sydney yet, so we met up again and toured. I took a ferry from Manly to Circular Quay (just google Sydney to see a map) and met Larry there. We walked around the Opera House, Royal Botanic Gardens, Government House, and Paddy's Markets. Larry sailed the next day, and I'll continue on that below. I hit the National Maritime Museum and the Powerhouse Museum Thursday. On Friday, I saw the famous Bondi Beach, took a ferry back to the city from Watson's Bay, and spent a confused hour in the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Sydney is certainly a must-see for anyone travelling to Australia. The Opera House and the Bridge are two sights that make this city recognizable to almost anyone in the world. There is a lot of history here, not just from the city but from the entire country. The city itself is impressive to see. I didn't enjoy the atmosphere as much as Melbourne's though; my best description is that it feels very business-like and touristy at the same time. I asked around about music, and the session scene is sadly quiet at the moment.

Larry's sailing trip is turning into another adventure. The boat owner is allegedly a bit of a dirtbag hippie; it's only the two of them onboard; facilities are rather rough; equipment may be a little lacking. However, if anybody could come out of yet another questionable situation just laughing and shaking his head, it'd be Larry.

I'm a bit unsure what I will be doing these last couple weeks in Aussieland. I found out yesterday that there is nothing for me to do at the strawberry farms if I got back up there, so there's not much point in going. I'm looking around for anything that would let me work for room and board at this point, and have a couple options, but nothing is very solid at the moment. Seemingly concrete developments appear and fade away again just as quickly. For the moment though, I am quite happy to have had Court's connection to some truly great people.