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  • Day 42

    Walking Tour and Backster's Inn

    May 9, 2016 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 20 °C

    Another rainy ish day in Sydney. I woke up around 930 and got ready for the day before calling mom for mothers day. We had a really good chat but because of it I missed the walking tour that was run by the hostel (little did I know this would work in my favour).

    So after my chat with mom, I made myself some lunch and finished planning my trip. Aside from two bus rides the rest of my trip is essentially booked at this point and I must say it's an amazing feeling to not have to plan much anymore!

    I decided to take the 2:30 walking tour in the city despite the rain. By the time I got to the tour the rain stopped and I found myself actually quite warm which was nice. Before the tour even started I met Marin Poirier-Coutansais (that's a great guess, and indeed you're right, he was French!) He was from Les sables d'olonne, but studied in Nantes. He explained how his home town. Is where the Vandee Globe sailing competition starts every four years which was really cool.

    The tour was alright. The guide was very knowledgeable, but I found that he was almost always underwhelmed when speaking about historical things. In fact he always just discredited almost everything he would say. He would say something like: "and that commemoration is where the British first planted their flags here, but how can we really prove that so it probably isn't really the spot. If I didn't have Marin with me, I might have just left the tour, but I'm glad I didn't. We ended up visiting Hyde park, and Sydney Tower otherwise known as the golden bucket. I learned how sydney was initially where the British would ship off ex convicts so it wasn't exactly a law abiding town way back when.

    But at the end of the tour we witnessed the most beautiful sunset. Even for Mr land of the living skies from Saskatchewan it was still quite a treat. And the tour finished in a spot that showcased the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House. The view and the sunset together definitely made my day, especially given that it all started in the rain.

    When the tour finished Marin proposed a drink and I happily agreed. The tour guide made a few recommendations so we chose one of them. The place was called Backsters Inn. Everything about the bar was cool. First off, it was off the main streets. You had to walk down an alley and then there was a little terrace and it was tucked in the corner. Just a small door not even marked. Then you open the door and go down a flight of stairs before opening another door and then BOOM! You're there. It feels like you're in a different universe. It was so classy (even though we weren't dressed fancy at all).

    We had a few drinks and chatted for a few hours. I ordered a wheat ale first which was really nice. I saw the bartenders making all kinds of cool cocktails and eventually I saw this bartender use a juicer for one of the drinks so I asked what it was. It was a whisky sour, one ounce whisky and the rest was composed of two granny smith apples juiced right before my eyes. It was super cool and very tasty. Not to mention I felt like in some weird way it felt like I was being healthy (this would be a very dangerous path I think...). I also met a bartender named TK from the Bag of Islands in NZ which was really cool cause I was just there and he seemed impressed that I knew where that was!

    After a few drinks we came back to my hostel and ordered some food from the bar. We had really nice thin crust pizzas and a few more good chats before Marin and I said our goodbyes. It was truly a pleasure to meet him and he made me realize how much reading this new book has helped me with conversation. Reading as a whole opens such conversational doors that I never truly saw before. So yeah, I'm going to start reading more, permanently.

    Before heading to bed I planned my day for tomorrow. It's going to be a busy one! Tune in tomorrow! Goodnight everyone!

    -Terrence out!
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