Australia
Unitarian Church

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    • Day 9

      Sydney Sightseeing

      October 26, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

      Mit dem Hop on Hop off Bus ging es (nach einer etwas längeren Suche der Haltestelle) auf Stadterkundung. Es gab zwei Tourschleifen. Zuerst fuhren wir die Schleife zum Bondi Beach, mit einer Hammer schönen Ausblick auf die Skyline und sehr viele Villen in der Vorstand. Danach wechselten wir auf die Rundfahrten im Stadtzentrum, bei der alle Sehenswürdigkeiten angefahren wurden. Die Harbour Bridge, die Opera, der Botanische Garden... Es war eine sehr lange und extrem heiße Fahrt, da die Sonne die ganze Zeit auf einen scheinte und der Stadtverkehr dafür sorgte das man des Öfteren zum Stehen kommt, anstatt den Fahrtwind genießen zu können. Doch es war Lustig die betrunkenen Jugendlichen zu beobachten wie sie in Lederhosen und "Dirndl" auf dem Weg zum Oktoberfest waren, das jedes Jahr auch in Australien statt findet. Es hatte wirklich sehr viel Ähnlichkeit mit dem originalen nur die Größe und auch die Outfits (extrem knappe Röcke, sodass man beide Pobacken sehen konnte) wichen etwas von der deutschen Version ab. Letztendlich verschlug es uns wieder an den Darling Harbour, mit den vielen Bars und Restaurants und den Happy Hour'n🍻🍻
      Nach dem wir es uns etwas gut gingen lassen, schauten wir noch das Halbfinale des Rugby World Cups. Neuseeland verlor gegen England (7:19), was sehr schade war, da wir wussten wie traurig unsere Gastfamilie sein wird... Aber trotzdem war es ein sehr spannendes Spiel und zur Feier des Abends gab es sogar noch ein Feuerwerk. 🎇🎆🎇🎆
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    • Day 38

      Sydney....a rocky start

      February 14, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

      On arrival in Sydney the flight attendants had to use insecticidal spray in all of the overhead bins, a requirement of the Australian Department of Agriculture. The immigration process was very streamlined as it was all self-serve and everyone was processed quickly. I bought an Opal card at one of the shops as I had read that these could be used for all forms of transportation in Sydney....bus, light rail and ferry. I found my way to the light rail service and figured out which train I had to take and got off at the right station. Then my troubles began. The AirBnB host had given me instructions to find a lock box he had attached to a street pole. I found the pole but couldn’t see anything but a bicycle chained to said pole. I also realized I didn’t copy down the code to open the box that contained the condo key. So I walked down the block and found a young security guard sitting at a desk in the lobby of a very nice building. I explained my problem and asked if there was anyplace where I could access wifi to review the host’s instructions. After some thought he offered to share his data from his iPhone. While I was waiting for him to do this, I realized I was in the Church of Scientology! I was able to confirm the instructions and get the lockbox code. On my second attempt I did find the grey steel lockbox at the base of the pole behind the bicycle but it was difficult to find it as it was now dark out. This was a very unusual procedure for getting the keys. I was pretty exhausted but relieved to be in the comfort of the condo. The rental was $135 CAD/night which is nearly half the cost of most hotels here.

      My home for the next few days is a studio on the 27th floor of what was once the tallest building in Sydney with 45 floors. I hope the fire alarm doesn’t go off, real or otherwise! Although it’s older, it is immaculate and furnished with modern IKEA-type items. It’s very small at about 500 sq ft but I think this is typical for downtown Sydney. The view is amazing.
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    • Day 45

      So long Sydney

      February 21, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

      Sydney is an amazing international city where I could hear multiple foreign languages spoken as I explored. It was very clean and I always felt safe. They have a homeless problem as most cities do these days but I did see outreach workers talking with individuals lying on the sidewalk. In many areas there were buskers and the instrument of choice seemed to be the keyboard, not the usual guitar. When walking down the street I noticed that people walked on the left side of the street as they do when driving. The streets were busy with people from morning until evening. It’s sad that our downtown doesn’t have the same vibrancy.

      My apartment was in a great location where I could walk everywhere and the design of the city made it easy to navigate. In 1968 it was the tallest residential building in the Southern Hemisphere according to a plaque in the front lobby. I felt a little anxious being on the 27th floor, especially when the building manager came to test the new fire alarm system and it wasn’t working in my place. The AirBnB host had left instructions to open the window when cooking because if there was a false alarm I would be charged the $1800 fee that is billed by the fire department. There are no screens so two insects flew in one evening and promptly got squished but then I saw a bird fly by and I immediately wondered what I would do if it flew in the window! Although I found most people friendly and helpful, it was apparent that it is not appropriate to talk in the elevator. I made that mistake the first day and got strange looks. One thing I didn’t like about the apartment was the rude awakening every morning around 8. That was when the jackhammers would start up. There is a big construction project down the street but with the single pane windows it sounded like the workers were right in the apartment with me.

      My bags were packed and I was out the door by 11. It was moving day!
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    • Day 12

      VIVID CRUISE

      June 7, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

      Tonight we walked down to Darling Harbour to King's Wharf No 9 and waited and waited in the cold for our Constellation Cruise around Sydney Harbour to see the Sydney icons lit up for Vivid. It was pretty good and very cold. The Bridge, Opera House and the very tall buildings looked brilliant.Read more

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