Aussie McBlog

Sydney (on the cheap!)

Warning: Long.

As previously mentioned, today was Sydney day. I had to go to DIMIA (the Department of Indigenous and Multicultural Something Something) to get a label stuck in my passport. I thought I would be all smart and prepared, so I woke up before the crack of dawn and was at the Fairy Meadow train station before 8. (Did you know that I live in the suburb of Fairy Meadow? Isn’t that cute? That is sooooo cute!) I arrived at DIMIA by 9:50, having made an excellent connection at Thirroul, and then took a number. 5 minutes later I was upstairs with another number. It was really very easy. Despite the warnings from my Canadian friend Angele, it wasn’t a 3-hour ordeal. More like 15 minutes.

I was loose on the streets of Sydney by 10:30, and I realized that it had cost me 14 million dollars to get there (read: $10.80), and why should I go back? I didn’t have class today. I had no commitments.

So I set off in search of the heart of Sydney. The things that make it tick (or go BOOM). I wanted to know what the HYPE was about.


Yeah that was lame. I just wanted to use the picture. I’m hanging my head in shame at that one, don’t you worry.


They say the best way to find your way around a city is to get lost in it.

No problem! I closed my eyes, spun around in a circle, and then started walking. No, first I opened my eyes again and THEN started walking.


There are lots of interesting and random things to see in Sydney if you just pick a street and wander down it.

(Mom, if you’re reading this, don’t worry… I had all my vitals in my front zipper pocket and a map in my backpack just in case.) In less than a block, my eyes had feasted on all sorts of random things.


Large, pointy objects that ascend into the sky…


Chalkboards with random Sara-esque ramblings. Yes, I had eggs this morning actually.


BIG BEN… wait, wrong country…


Pretty buildings…


Incredibly good-looking women in the glass…


The Pleasure Chest! Oooooh, I want to go there.


An Irish Pub…


Umm… I don’t know what this is, but we’ll call it the Crap Bag…


STARBUCKS! Eeeeeeeeeee!


Armed with a White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino Light, I took to the streets once again.

(Note: Do you have any idea how hard it is to take a picture of oneself, while standing on a busy street, in a foreign town, in a new country, drinking Starbucks, trying to look “pensive?” No, you probably don’t. Because normal people don’t DO that.)


Well, if I ever feel the need for (FAMOUS) fried chicken, salted chicken, or beef noodle soup after church, I’ll know where to go for a hookup.

What to do, what to do? I had my options.


I could join a union.


Apparently Sydney is big on unions.


Pop into the Bank of Austral…asia… pub? Wait, what?


Then I saw this sign. Did I know what the Anzac Bridge was? Nooo. But there were signs pointing in a direction that I was prepared to take.


My travels ended in disappointment, as I couldn’t access the alleged “bridge” on foot from where I was.


Off in the distance, however, I spotted this building and took off after it.


A different view of the city…

I went on Darling Walk, which is a big tourist trap that takes you through a world of bungey-trampolining and pedal boats and 600 dollar burgers and cheap t-shirts and water-taxis and a view so stimulating that it took me a few minutes to recover from all of the goings on.


I walked around the park and must interject at this point with the gleeful realization that struck me around 11 am. The best thing about going on Monday is that it’s dead and you can see whatever you want to see! The sucky thing is that other people have class and can’t come with you.


And then to the marina where all the boats stay!


When I was two-thirds to the top, I saw a sign informing me that I was climbing the stairs! Thank you SO much, city of Sydney. For a moment there, I’d been worried that I was climbing some sort of broken escalator…


Dead I tell you!


Hee-hee! Hee hee hee hee hee hee hee!!!!!


Done. Sign me up. Take me there. Now.


What is it with those Aussies and their constant quest for naval supremacy? Battleships just LYING around everywhere. Oh John Howard, you and your “axis of evil.” I don’t think you’re going to find Osama with that water-tank of yours.

Actually, what the battleship and submarine were advertising was a free (read: FREE) maritime museum. Having spent a pretty penny on the train ride, I was delighted and spent a good twenty minutes in there before I realized that I really, umm… didn’t care? Actually, there were some interesting mast-heads and stuff, but I can see why it was free. And to be fair, I did have the overwhelming urge to become a pirate after leaving. So there ya go.

If you wanted to tour the battleship and sub, you had to pay, like, money or something. So I by-passed that and returned to the Northern Territory Museum for another event that screamed FREE.


Ok, I see what the plan is. They get you in there for a free concert and then the music is soooo good that you feel like you have to make a donation to support this guy’s livelihood. Those SNEAKS. Whoa, does this guy ever play a mean didjeridoo. I was SO impressed.

And now I’m back! Yay!

Time to do some freaking homework.

posted by Sara @ 7:37 PM