Sydney
Our first stop was Sydney. We spent 4 days and nights here, and stayed at the Original Backpackers Hostel, which was a great way to start our trip. I’m not one for hostel culture, but in order to fight off jetlag we spent our first night drinking and hanging out with our hostel mates, and it was an interesting experience. Apart from a couple of Canadians (including a member of our armed forces, on leave from another tour in Afghanistan), we also met a pretty French girl, a nearly unintelligible Irish man, and a group of Danes obsessed with dance music, one of whom both loudly blew, then drank from, a Viking horn that he carries around with him always. It’s a lifestyle you can easily lose yourself in, but we had stuff to do (and crippling jetlag), so all-night partying became an impossibility by the second night.
This was our plane to Sydney. Some of the Qantas fleet have custom paint jobs, like this one, which features aboriginal art.
Our incredible room at The Original Backpackers hostel in Sydney. Spare, modern, with a little bit of artwork and an incredibly efficient bathroom, not to mention a mini fridge, these were boutique accomodations at a budget price. Highly recommended.
Detail of the artwork in the room.
Our room is the closest black door to the right. This wing of the hostel was added recently, which explains the clean modern lines. It looks down on the central courtyard, which is a popular hangout.
Mr Liquor! Things we learned here:
- good hooch in Australia is pricy.
- premixed drinks (i.e. Jack & Coke in a can) exists?!
- Coca Cola… with cane sugar, not corn syrup, is the best thing ever.
- Australia sure likes its cider.
Requisite shot in front of the Sydney Opera House. Fun fact: it’s actually quite off-white in person, yet freakishly always seems to photograph bright white. The thousands of people behind us (most not pictured) were waiting for Jessica Watson to come in. She’s the sixteen year old who sailed around the world, solo. We hung around until she came in… it seemed like the thing to do.
Harry’s Cafe de Wheels. THE place to get your meat pies. More about this later.
We spent a lot of time in the Royal Botanic Gardens. The route we took to get there and back took us on this strange walking path on the extensive green roof of an apartment complex.
The gardens are home to wild ibises…
