Day 73 – Sydney to Alice Springs

The first of many early starts this week, Valerie dropped me off at the airport just gone 6am which was super helpful of her as getting a bus or train at that time of the morning would have been near impossible. I was the only person at the check in counter making it quick and easy, my luggage has gone up to 16.6kg… I’m not quite sure where it’s come from as I’ve only added a dress since my last flight but oh well; at least it’s not over.

The flight left on time and arrived on time, I could get used to this! The package I booked includes my airport transfer so I went and got my ticket from the desk and jumped straight on the bus. These have been so easy in Australia; I hope it’s as easy in Asia! I was dropped right outside my hostel but unfortunately I had to wait just over an hour to check in, good news was they had free wifi so that occupied my time and I even managed to write a little bit more of this blog.

It was cooler in Alice Springs than I first expected, don’t get me wrong it was bloody hot but not as humid as I was expecting. I walked into the little town which was only about a 5minute walk from my hostel on the hunt for a fly net, a supermarket and a large lunch so I didn’t have to go out or buy anything for dinner.

Success! Fly net was about $6 and I spent about $12 in Coles on water and other things. I then found a little pub to have some lunch in which was alright too. I made my way back to the hostel, sorted out my bags as I was leaving my big bag here but it had to be in the locker before 7pm meaning I needed to be organised! I took two little rucksacks with me on tour so one for all my clothes and stuff whilst the other one would be the stuff I wanted to take on walks with me. The evening was spent chilling, reading and sleeping.

Day 69 – Sydney chowder

I went for a short walk just around Woolloomooloo before settling down on a sun lounger by the pool on the ground floor of the building Val lives in. I had the pool all to myself so I swam some lengths, chilled out and then just spent some time in the sun reading my book and relaxing. In hindsight I probably should have gone to one of the many beaches around but oh well it was a lovely afternoon!

I went upstairs just gone 3 because I knew Valerie was leaving for Jervis Bay around 4 so thought I’d head up and say goodbye, as she wasn’t going to be back until Sunday night. After she left I went to woolworths to grab some food for dinner. Last night we had roast chicken with sweet potato and ended up with some left over so at home what my dad normally does with a leftover roast is make a chowder so I asked him to send me the recipe because I knew what went in it, just wasn’t so sure on a few measurements. So taking a leaf out of his book this is what I made, it tasted delicious and felt like home! The only problem is it makes a million servings so I had quite a bit left over, looks like I’m on a soup diet for a few days!

Day 68 – Sydney shopping & Yoga!

Valerie’s apartment is on the 12^th (top) floor giving her a really good view of Pott’s Point/Kings Cross. At night you can see the Coca-Cola sign flashing so I decided that was the first place I should go and visit. I don’t think Chrissy and I ever made it up this far last time as our hostel was right in the city centre. This sign was put up in 1974 and is the largest billboard in the southern hemisphere, apparently! It’s basically Times Square…

From here I walked along Darlinghurst Road (pretty rough), took a right and eventually ended up back on Crown Street. This street is lined with little boutiques, restaurants and bars, which brings a really good atmosphere to the area. I carried on my walk down Goulburn street until I reached the World Square shopping centre, this places fills up an entire block and by the time I got here it was lunch time! The first place I saw was Pie Face and how could I resist? Pies were good in New Zealand but you can’t beat an Aussie pie, if you haven’t had one, you seriously don’t know what you’re missing out on! I went for the chicken & vegetable curry pie, SO GOOD! I love curries and I love pies, what a magic combination. I walked around here for a while, trying on things and not actually buying anything, which is probably a good thing.

Next stop Market City! They describe themselves as the ‘ultimate shopping experience’ and they’re not far wrong. Paddy’s market is in the basement and they sell pretty much everything, although because of how popular it is now it’s not actually that cheap or good quality for how much you pay, I just went for a quick walk around before making my way upstairs. Now this is more like it, the other levels contain normal shops and most of them are outlets! WOO, this means bargain central. Market City is also based in the middle of Chinatown so there were a lot of little Asian shops, which I can’t help myself but to walk into, everything is so cute!

I took a similar route back to Crown Street because I was about to try some Bikram Yoga. For anyone who doesn’t know what this is, is doing yoga in a hot room pretty much. It makes you sweat loads and is just good for you really. It’s quite a big thing over here and I’ve heard people talk about it so thought I may as well try it. I really enjoyed it and could really feel the benefits from doing it, I used to really enjoy going to yoga when I was younger and I must get back into it when I’m home!

Day 67 – Sydney explorer!

Woke up and had breakfast, I’ve really got into sultanas and bran with milk. I never used to like any of those things and that is now my idea of a good breakfast. It’s funny that when I was in Auckland I couldn’t really seem to wake up until about 11 but I couldn’t sleep until late so for some reason my body was already on Sydney time, which has worked out perfectly as it means I wake up about 9am, so plenty of time to explore the city.

I walked from Crown Street through Hyde Park towards the Sky Tower, which is in Westfield shopping centre. I wandered around there for a bit and this place went into QVB, which stands for Queen Victoria Building, another shopping bit. The best thing about coming to Australia/New Zealand now is they’re leaving summer and going into autumn so all their summer clothes are in the sale, which is great for me, if only I could find something that I wanted!

Onwards and upwards! Well to Circular Quay which is the hub of Sydney harbour and where you get perfect views of the bridge and the Opera House. That view doesn’t get old, I remember the last time I went travelling and it’s still true now that when you stand there you have that ‘OH MY GOD I’M IN AUSTRALIA AND IT FEELS LIKE I’M IN A POSTCARD!’ moment. I walked the whole way around the outside of the Opera house and a little fact for you, did you know the concert hall’s grand organ is the largest mechanical version of this instrument in the world, with 10,154 pipes. Also, the building opened in 1973 so that makes it 41 years old this October, which is actually younger than I thought it was going to be.

I slowly made my way down George Street which is the longest street in Sydney if I remember rightly and there are more high rise buildings here than any other street in Australia. Back at Val’s we got some Thai for dinner from apparently the ‘Best Thai’ in Sydney… actually that’s just the name of the place but it was pretty good, not so sure it’s the best though!

Day 66 – Leaving Auckland/Arriving in Sydney

My flight to Sydney wasn’t until late afternoon at 4pm, so I had the morning to organise and repack my bag, chuck things I had gained for cooking etc away as I won’t need these anymore and just chill out until my flight. Had some breakfast, watched some TV and Stuart came and picked me up about 1pm. The airport isn’t that far away and on arrival I was the only person checking in, so I did that without a fuss and was on the other side in no time. My flight took off about 5 minutes early, we landed 30minutes early because of good wind, my bag was about the 5^th one out and I walked through customs without a hitch. WHAT HAS HAPPENED?! I’m not complaining but that is far from normal, I hope this is the beginning of good luck with my flights.

I got the train from the airport straight into the city and it was only a 10minute walk to where Valerie lives. So it took just under an hour from when my flight landed to walk through the door, which was amazing!

She had netball that evening so I just chilled out, watched home and away (as you do) went to woolworths and grabbed some dinner and just caught up with her when she came home. You can see a small amount of the opera house from her balcony and you can see the coca cola sign, which is cool!