We arrived in the Sunburnt Country slightly later than planned on Saturday January 23rd. I'd texted Matt from Singapore and asked him to inform our accommodation of our delay. We caught the airport train into the city, and then hopped in a cab to our rooms. I tried to strike up a conversation with the cabbie, but he was clearly the least pleasant person in town, and I gave up after one question. Dropped at the front door, we registered and shed our bags. I had another luxurious shower. We were not altogether beaten by the flight and we had no food in the fridge, so we stepped out and followed Google Maps to King Street in Newtown. We were met with a choice of supermarkets and an eclectic deluge of eateries offering cuisine from, it seemed, every conceivable corner of the planet. We did not sit to eat; our task was simply to stock our kitchen. Soon we were back in the room and sound asleep.
Earlier in Taiwan, I spent rather a lengthy afternoon locating
this "hotel". I looked on
Booking.com, Agoda and AirB&B. Every
option hovered in the crippling range.
Anything affordable lay way out of the city. After about three hours, I stumbled upon a
website called University Stays. This
offered student accommodation to travelers at extraordinary prices. We were at the edge of the University of
Sydney, an itsy-bitsy single train stop south of Central Station, and we paid
less than half the typical nightly fee.
The room was not flashy, but it was clean, neat and equipped. There were two bedrooms and a living
room. In the kitchen were a fridge,
microwave, kettle and toaster, and there was crockery and cutlery for
four. Fans were provided for our
comfort. At the price, this was a
spectacular find, and I'd recommend it to anyone.
Awaking on Sunday
morning, James opted to split from us for the day and go to church. He was eager to immediately make connections
in his new hometown, and as a Mormon, he was not allowed to spend money on the
Sabbath, anyway. Lourens and I readied and stepped out to attack the city. The homes in this area
reminded us both so much of South Africa, and I might have been
walking down a road in Observatory, Cape Town.
We stopped nearby for breakfast at Bobby's. It was such a treat to
eat a sandwich made with unsweetened bread.
Bellies satisfied, we headed to Redfern Station to return to
Central. En route, we purchased Opal
cards, passport to the city's integrated transportation network. On the train, we saw that it continued
directly into catacombs beneath the CBD, and we traveled another few stops. We wandered around the city and marveled at
all the glittering skyscrapers, the blue sky and clean air. (Well the sky wasn't as
blue as it was grey - it was overcast most of the day, much to my relief. Lourens, too, preferred the cooler air. We had been told to expect 38°C. The high 20s that greeted us were entirely
more welcome.)
We reached the water at
Circular Quay, but being tourists, I did not realise where
we were. We continued past international
cruise disembarkation and made our way to where the iconic Harbour Bridge
rocketed beyond dry land. Naturally, I took abundant pictures of the renowned Opera House.
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I'd arranged to meet Matt and Sarah today, and to do that, we had to make
our way to Manly, which lies a ferry ride across the harbour. We now looked for Circular Quay to board the
boat. I asked at one place and was
directed back up the hill. As we
ascended the gentle slope, a somewhat bedraggled-looking woman came over to see
if she could help. We must have looked
lost. As she offered her assistance,
empty booze bottles jingled in her arms, and one fell to the ground with a crisp
crack, though it did not shatter. She
excused herself, blaming a heavy night. Lourens
said afterwards that she had been getting rid of Moët bottles - she must have
been a lady of some means. Moët &
Chandon!! And so much of it!
