Immediatly upon waking up Monday morning at 4am at Cindi's house I started cursing myself for accidently booking the 7am Air New Zealand flight out of Sydney for Auckland. I thought I clicked the 9am flight however after reviewing my booking after I noticed my flight left at 7 AM! Luckly at 4am there is no traffic so I had an easy drive to the airport in my rental car. I spent my time in the airport looking for a new battery and charger for my Casio camera, due to the fact that left the charger with battery in it at the hostel. No luck though and arrived in Auckland with no working camera, not a surprise given my history with cameras and electronic devices.
I arrived in Aucland at 12:30 with a quick breeze through customs and a new 1 year work permit freshly inked in my passport. A quite pregnant faye met me, my backpack, adidas duffle bag, and snowboard bag at arrivals. We quickly loaded up the car and headed to Faye & Naills, and had a coffee and a long chat to catch up. The afternoon brought a trip to the beach with Fayes dog Jade and a dip in the ocean. On Wednesday I started my car hunting. I drove all over auckland checking out cars but couldnt get past this cute little Nissan March I discovered for the discount price of $5990 in the morning. I came across several interesting used car dealers some who wernt even interested in trying to sell me a car, definitely a far cry from the typical US car dealer. One dealer brought me into the office and tried to show me on the computer their ENTIRE stock listings. However the owner of The Clean Green Car Company was extremely nice, very helpful, and the car came with registration, warant of fitness, and a 1 year AA warranty should anything go wrong with the car. At the end of the day I transfered enough money to cover the car into my checking and drove back intending to pay for my car. I filled out the paperwork, had the registration transfered into my name and when trying to pay I found that my debit card wouldnt work in his "EFTPOS" machine. Therefore the only way to pay would be to get a bank check which means I needed to have a bank account.
Having no job, no signed lease, no proof of anything I feared getting a bank account would be a problem. However it ended up being extreemely easy! I went into Westpac with faye the next day and was able to open up an account with no problem, however the only way to really transfer money quickly was to get out my daily limit on cash from my bank of america account from the atm and then deposit it into my Westpac account. Luckly Westpac and Bank of america are sister banks and there is no withdraw fee, or currency exchange fee when withdrawing money from a Westpac machine. (I suggess anyone traveling abroad check into this as Bank of America has many sister banks around the world and the fees can add up when withdrawing at foreign atms, im sure other american banks might have similar set ups with foreign banks). After 4 days of withdrawing the limit and depositing into my account I had saved up enough and was able to get a bank check for my car.
Thursday I met up with Ameilia, another 20 St pauls London flatmate, and stayed with her for a few days. That evening we met up with Anna, also a friend from london and went to Malt, this extremely cool local pub with thursday evening DJ's. It seemed like I was back in DC and hanging out at Saint-ex with a very hipster crowd. We caught up but headed to sleep early as Ameilia and I were headed to Big Day Out on friday which is a MASSIVE music festival.
After a Friday morning champagne brunch we headed to Big Day Out with about 10 people. Ameilia drove and we parked at her dads factory which was right next to the concert venue. He owns a company that makes "Hookie pokey" candy. Its this carmel like candy that is in Hookie pokey ice cream...maybe the most popular flavor in New Zealand. We took a quick walk through the factory then walked towards the Big Day Out gates. Once through we immediately went into the +18 line to get wristbands, however they would not accept my drivers license as proof of ID, even though its valid to drive on, buy a car with, and register said car with. Ameilias friend immediatly chimed up saying I was visiting, was obviously not going to bring a passport to a festival, and was obvioulsy over the 18 drinking age. The woman quickly replied looking at my Washington DC drivers license saying "I dont know what this is and you dont look over 25". Therefore this 28 year old was about to not be able to buy beer even though 10 years over the drinking age, luckly though one of Ameilias friends went throught the line a second time and got a second wristband for me and we dodged the system. The rest of the concert was awesome, The Ting Tings awesome, Pendulum awesome, Lupe Fiasco Awesome, Arctic Monkeys average as usual, and Hot Chip AMAZING as usual.
By sunday I had finally transfered enough money to get a bank check to pay for the rest of my car. Luckly there was a Westpac branch that was open on sundays, we stopped, got the check, picked up my 2001 Nissan March in Lavender! After dropping it off back at ameilias we picked up Anna and Amy and went for a tour around auckland. First stop was Mount Eden which is actually a volcano with an amazing view of auckland, then to Mission Bay for brunch. After a good amount of chit chat I hung out with Ameilia for one last evening, then headed to Fayes on Monday for one last day at the beach with her before my drive down to my new home Wellington.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Weddings, Bouquets, and Tiona
After waking up later than expected Friday morning due to a Thursday night out with what seemed to be the ENTIRE Blue Parrot Backpackers hostel, I finally picked up my rental car at the airport and started my journey to Forster for Alicias wedding around 2pm. I did however manage thursday evening to teach a brit, and a swiss how to play quarters, which my fellow Hickok Colers will apreciate! The 4 hour drive ended up taking me 6.5 as I continually was heading the wrong direction out of "roundabouts". I have a major problem with Austrailian signage, on all of their road signs for major throughfares there are NO directions assigned, ie north, south, east, or west. This makes it a bit hard when you are heading to a roundabout intersection, driving the opposite direction you would a "rottary" in the states, and know that you need to head north on route x but signs only give a route number and some name of a town that I couldnt pronounce nevermind try and spell in this blog. Therefore for 2.5 hours of the intended 4 hour drive I was driving in the wrong direction.
I finally arrived in Tiona where we were staying for the wedding at 8:30 pm. The location was part camp site, part cabins. After parking the car I walked over to reception to check in and find out where the group was. It was closed! Immediately I tried to text my friends but there was no cell phone coverage so I had a look around to see if I recongnized anyone or any cars but no luck. Another stop at reception brought upon the finding of a phone number to call incase of arriving late, as well as directions to a pay phone across the street. When I called the man on the other end of the phone, in a thick austrailian accent that I could barely understand, said he was simply the security company located WAY out of town and couldnt help me. I went back to the rental car, put down the back seats and prepaired myself for a night camping in the car while waiting for reception to open in the AM. Suddenly a group of people walked by and I noticed alicias voice! I jumped out of the car and luckly caught up with them as they walked to the cabin i was sharing with Cindi, Mark, Chrissy and Becs. Upon arrival we found that Chrissy had been locked IN the cabin as she shut the screen door and it locked her in for a few hours as the others were at a BBQ and given no cell phone service she had been as helpless as I was. The boys shimmied open the wrong side of the sliding door and she made her escape. We then headed back to the BBQ for needed drinks with a bunch of old kiwi friends!
Morning of the wedding was quiet! I simply sat on the porch in the sun and hung out. Becs and I also went to grab some grub at the cutest little cafe down the street. We then put on our dresses and headed to the wedding. The walk over was a bit wierd as we were all dressed up and walking through a campsite as campers looked on. It was an amazing ceremony in the rainforest that over looks a lake. Alicia looked gorgeous and the first sight of her through the trees gave me goosebumps. After the ceremony we headed to the reception where they had bought 70 bottles of champagne for 60 people. This was definitely an indication of how the evening was to end up. Dinner was great, speaches were funny, and I was having a great time until the ceremonial "throwing of the bouquet". As per usual all of the single women hoping to get married next were crowded at the center, I stood at the back. Niall told me to get up there and tried pushing me to the front but all he got out of me was a move to the side to avoid what was sure to be a female 10 woman pile for the flowers. As I expected it was everywoman for herself and the bouquet jumped over the crowd from hand to hand, then unexpectedly jumped one last 10 feet to right at my toes. Shocked I looked over as the crowd of insane women ran towards me so i grabbed it in self-defense. I was a bit freeked out that I now possesed the bouquet even though I had no desire for it....and if Im "next" people will be waiting a VERY long time for another wedding given my attitude and cynisism towards relationships. Oh well....
The next day brought an insane post wedding hangover for all involved. Luckly Alicias parents had a BBQ at their place which was 45 min from the campsite. They have a salt water pool which was my savior for the day. After jumping in I felt 1000% better! Then as if the catching of the bouquet the night before wasnt enough to freek me out margot, Marks 10 year old niece, looks at me in the pool and says "arnt kids fun, dont you want some, you should have some!", followed a few min later by an older man in the pool asking "which of these little rascals is yours?". I quickly responded "um none". Now I would love kids someday...and already have picked out some cool names, but for all who know me I am pretty much all about me right now and am enjoying my single freedom while traveling the world. I know people my age are having kids left and right but I couldnt immagine the white pickett fence and 2.5 kids right now when there is a whole world out there to explore, I cant stay in one place for more than a few years nevermind a relationship. Not to mention I dont tend to do anything steriotypical so I would probably never have that life style anyways....
Cindi and I started the treck back to Sydney around 3pm. It was a bit of a hike but it was good having my favorite South African to keep me entertained! We listend to tunes, chatted, and headed back to her place where I spent my last night in Sydney before departing in the early AM for Auckland!
I finally arrived in Tiona where we were staying for the wedding at 8:30 pm. The location was part camp site, part cabins. After parking the car I walked over to reception to check in and find out where the group was. It was closed! Immediately I tried to text my friends but there was no cell phone coverage so I had a look around to see if I recongnized anyone or any cars but no luck. Another stop at reception brought upon the finding of a phone number to call incase of arriving late, as well as directions to a pay phone across the street. When I called the man on the other end of the phone, in a thick austrailian accent that I could barely understand, said he was simply the security company located WAY out of town and couldnt help me. I went back to the rental car, put down the back seats and prepaired myself for a night camping in the car while waiting for reception to open in the AM. Suddenly a group of people walked by and I noticed alicias voice! I jumped out of the car and luckly caught up with them as they walked to the cabin i was sharing with Cindi, Mark, Chrissy and Becs. Upon arrival we found that Chrissy had been locked IN the cabin as she shut the screen door and it locked her in for a few hours as the others were at a BBQ and given no cell phone service she had been as helpless as I was. The boys shimmied open the wrong side of the sliding door and she made her escape. We then headed back to the BBQ for needed drinks with a bunch of old kiwi friends!
Morning of the wedding was quiet! I simply sat on the porch in the sun and hung out. Becs and I also went to grab some grub at the cutest little cafe down the street. We then put on our dresses and headed to the wedding. The walk over was a bit wierd as we were all dressed up and walking through a campsite as campers looked on. It was an amazing ceremony in the rainforest that over looks a lake. Alicia looked gorgeous and the first sight of her through the trees gave me goosebumps. After the ceremony we headed to the reception where they had bought 70 bottles of champagne for 60 people. This was definitely an indication of how the evening was to end up. Dinner was great, speaches were funny, and I was having a great time until the ceremonial "throwing of the bouquet". As per usual all of the single women hoping to get married next were crowded at the center, I stood at the back. Niall told me to get up there and tried pushing me to the front but all he got out of me was a move to the side to avoid what was sure to be a female 10 woman pile for the flowers. As I expected it was everywoman for herself and the bouquet jumped over the crowd from hand to hand, then unexpectedly jumped one last 10 feet to right at my toes. Shocked I looked over as the crowd of insane women ran towards me so i grabbed it in self-defense. I was a bit freeked out that I now possesed the bouquet even though I had no desire for it....and if Im "next" people will be waiting a VERY long time for another wedding given my attitude and cynisism towards relationships. Oh well....
The next day brought an insane post wedding hangover for all involved. Luckly Alicias parents had a BBQ at their place which was 45 min from the campsite. They have a salt water pool which was my savior for the day. After jumping in I felt 1000% better! Then as if the catching of the bouquet the night before wasnt enough to freek me out margot, Marks 10 year old niece, looks at me in the pool and says "arnt kids fun, dont you want some, you should have some!", followed a few min later by an older man in the pool asking "which of these little rascals is yours?". I quickly responded "um none". Now I would love kids someday...and already have picked out some cool names, but for all who know me I am pretty much all about me right now and am enjoying my single freedom while traveling the world. I know people my age are having kids left and right but I couldnt immagine the white pickett fence and 2.5 kids right now when there is a whole world out there to explore, I cant stay in one place for more than a few years nevermind a relationship. Not to mention I dont tend to do anything steriotypical so I would probably never have that life style anyways....
Cindi and I started the treck back to Sydney around 3pm. It was a bit of a hike but it was good having my favorite South African to keep me entertained! We listend to tunes, chatted, and headed back to her place where I spent my last night in Sydney before departing in the early AM for Auckland!
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
A few travel thoughts!
Today I had the thought, and we all know anything is bound to happen when Kristen is contemplative, which is better:
A) The feeling I have when I get to a new city and everything is unfamiliar and mine to take on. Learning/exploring the streets, the museums, the public transportation system, to some these are the most annoying parts of traveling...they would rather not have to deal with these new unfamiliar situations but rather simply get to the "attractions". To me however figuring out im on the wrong bus or went down the wrong path and have ended up in some random section of town is as interesting as seeing the "sites".
B) The feeling after a trip when you see a place you have been before on the television, or in a photo and suddenly a rush of memories come back from the day you were there. Sudenly the city has context, its no longer just simply some random photo but something you can understand. You not only see the park, you know whats on the otherside, and if you head down a certain street you can get to the best restaurant in town.
Well what brought this thought to me was when looking at the Sydney Opera House today all I could do was cringe as I was brought back to my 3 hour grueling walk to the Opera House in 90 degree weather and beating sun yesterday. Today I was on a ferry. It was 70, cloudy, rainy and cold but I couldnt get past the trek from my hostel in Potts Point, down a masive set of stairs, along Wolloomooloo Bay, up a massive set of stairs, break in the Art Gallery of New South Wales to get out of the heat, through the Domain, through the Royal Botanical Gardens, through the rose garden, a "short cut" up to the Government House and around the gardens only to find no exit on the other side and have to return to the entrance, a hike up Maquarie Street and FINALLY the Opera House. I stood there yesterday looking up the stairs of the Opera House thinking "NOT MORE STAIRS"! But of course I hiked up them, paid the $35 for a 45 minute Opera House Tour, and had to walk up MORE stairs on the tour. Luckly there were little kids and older tourists so I didnt look so debilitated slowly hobling up the stairs grabbing on to the railing to pull myself along. Hopefully as time wears on and I see the Opera House I will have pleasant thoughts of the walk and tour, which was quite amazing despite the heat.
So I think you get the jist of yesterday!
Well a brief description of the other things I have done the past few days! Tuesday I spent the day driving up the Northern Beaches. Drove all the way up to Palm Beach, which is apparently where alot of famous people live and the beach in "Home and Away". If I knew anything about Home and Away or watched it I would probably have cared...however to me it was just another nice beach. Then down a bit to these cliffs that overlook the ocean which were amazing. To get to them you had to hike through the "bush" a bit and then there was a long lawn patch overlook, which was conjoined to a few neighboorhood backyards. I felt a bit intrusive however I was on public land so I had every right to be there. I sat on a bench and overlooked the cliffs very peacefully until i looked down and a spider was making its way towards me. Now I dont like spiders to begin with and the fact that Austrailia has the most poisonous spiders in the world caused me to freek out more than I probably needed to. I high tailed it out of there and ran back to the car. Yes probably over reacted a bit, but I wasnt taking any chances. On the way back to Cindis I stopped to get a drink and some cheese balls at a convienience store. Upon consuming one of my snacks I cringed, looked at the bag, and realized I had actually purchased cheetos "cheese and bacon" balls. My two favorite foods are cheese and bacon, however this was maybe the wierdest, and not in a good way, taste ever!
Today I took the ferry to the zoo, obviously via the Sydney Opera House. It was actually pretty fun, saw some koalas, kangaroos, wombats, and other odd austrailian animals...like a dingo! I will have alot of respect for anyone in america if they can tell me what a Dingo is (without looking on Wikipedia). Before today im not so sure I would have known.
I think that is all for today. Will head back to the hostel, have some dinner, a drink, and head to sleep early as tomorrow I have to find my way to the airport to pick up a rental car to drive up to Forster (pronounced foster) where the wedding will be. Oh and one interesting thing about hostels. I have noticed it takes a bit to get back into the hostel groove. Last night was my first night and I was unusually quiet. However this morning I felt a bit more comforatble and had a chat with a few people in the common room. This hostel might be one of the most awesome I have been in, and I have been in a few. There is a 52 inch flat screen tv with complete cable and free internet in the common room!!! Actually had to pull myself of the couch and force myself to go wander because I was in such awe of the massive TV.
On to Forster!!!
Monday, January 5, 2009
First Week in Sydney
Well it took alittle bit of time for me to get a chance to take a break and start writing about my travels but here is the overview of my first week traveling. Its been quite an interesting week!
My 35 hour trip to Sydney was of course intersting. After spending the previous 2 months figuring out how to shrink my worldly posessions into 2 bags to bring on the plane and a few boxes to ship, I was of course still trying to pack up until the time we left for the airport. My family drove in 3 cars to drive me to Dulles Airport where I almost had to take my 5 year old cousin Elizabeth through security with me as she wouldnt let go of my leg. The flight from IAD to LAX was an easy 5 hours, followed by a 5 hour layover at lax. As I checked my bags in to Air Pacific at LAX the woman at the counter asked if i had already applied for my Austrailian entry visa. I had been told this was something you could do when you land in sydney as its just a $20 entry fee. Well she told me I couldnt get on the plane with out one and that it took 24 hrs to clear. I started to freek but figured...alright...worse comes to worse I stay in LA the night and get on the plane tomorrow. After already starting to panic the woman said I could apply right then and there through the airline, be automatically accepted, and then just get on the plane. I was now wondering why she didnt just tell me that from the beginning to save me from 5 min of contemplating other plans?!?!?! (one of the things I have learned about travel is be flexible and instead of breaking down when plans change just figure out how to make it work for you).
Another easy 10 hour flight from LAX to Fiji's Nadi airport and another 5 hour layover. When I looked at my ticket I was in seat 29J I figured based on the letter that I had the window seat and I was uber excited. Well turns out I was wrong and there was no seat "I" giving me the middle seat. All I could think about was last years trip to New Zealand where for the whole 10 hour flight I was stuck inbetween a large fijian woman and an intoxicated Sweedish oil boat captain who wanted to talk the whole flight and smelled of captain morgans (i guess a fitting drink for an oil boat captain). Somehow the airline gods made up for the last trip and the window seat ended up empty, so I quickly moved over and shared the middle seat with the Yoga instructor from Colorado who was headed to NZ for a meditation retreat. I slept like a baby for the whole 10 hours.
For some reason everytime I arrive in Fiji is when the first waves of excitement of my trip arrive. I guess its because Im only one flight away from my destination and the landscape of Fiji is such an amazing one. I had a "flat white" coffee and a sausage roll at the airport, two of my favorite british, NZ, Austrailian delicacies. Then boarded my final flight to Sydney where for the first time I was on the top floor of a 747. After another easy 5 hour flight, and a quick run through customs, I met up with Alicia at the international arrivials door. Alicia was my roommate in the group house I lived in in London. We got on immediatly and spent the first 48 hours in our room simply chatting about everything from traveling to vegemite! So from London, to Dublin, to New York, to Washington DC, to another visit in NYC, to Fayes wedding in New Zealand, and now to her home country Austrailia, I have almost covered half the world with her. Well she is getting married and that is the reason for my visit to austrailia.
I arrived on New Years Eve and she was having a "fancy dress" party/BBQ at her and Mark's that evening (Mark is her fiance whom she met while we were roommates in London and through our neighbors across the hall Faye and Niall whos wedding I went to in NZ last year). I luckly found out that "fancy dress" means costume party, however had no room to fit a costume so I simply wore my snowboard pants and hat and called myself a snowboarder, an idea that had only transpired durring my 35 hours of travel. New Years in Austrailia is much more like 4th of July in America with barbeques and fireworks. I met her friends who were amazing and friendly, ate some sausages, drank austrailian beer, and watched the fireworks from their balcony. A successful new years in my new hemisphere!
Spent New Years day a bit hungover on Alicias couch with the others who had crashed at her flat, watching pretty crappy austrailian TV and sweating in the Sydney heat. I ended up taking 3 showers that day to cool off and have taken a minimum of 2 every day since! Alicia and Mark drove me to my hotel that I was going to stay at for the next 2 days which was quite posh. I figured I had been saving for 6+ months so I should splurge on a 4 star accomodation for 2 nights. I got to my room, ordered room service for the 2nd time in my life, and ordered a movie on the TV...then crashed in my king sized comfy bed!
Friday Alicia picked me up in the AM for the "official alicia" sydney tour. We drove all around the city, through the older part of Sydney called the rocks, across the Sydney Harbour bridge for an amazing view of the Opera House, then through Potts point and Kings Cross, then Paddington and the Southern Beaches. We had lunch at Bondi Beach at a Beach club with an awesome view of Bondi, cheep beer and cheep food! YUM! Then back to Sydney and my hotel where I decided to take a walk through the rocks which might be my favorite spot in Sydney with its older, colonial architecture. It reminded me a bit of boston. Back to the hotel for dinner where I ate at the mahogany lined restaurant with a view of the adjacent park. I had an amazing chicken dish that was stuffed with brie and tomatos and a nice glass of white wine. Then one last night in my GIANT king sized bed!
Saturday I checked out of the hotel, stored my bags for the day, and headed back to the rocks. I went to the MCA, Museum of Contemporary Arts, which was extremely intersting to see the austrailian side of art. When I walked up the the 3rd floor I was confronted with a piece of art that I had seen before at the Tate Gallery that was up for the Turner Prize. The piece was a sculpture depicting a Fragonard painting, who is a rococo artist who I absolutly LOVE and used him as a precident for many works in High School. The artist is Yinka Shonibare whos art is amazing as he recreates scenes from high baroque paintings in sculpture, flim and photography using traditional dress from the baroque time period made with african fabric. It turned out the 3rd floor was a full exhibition of his art. I then walked along the harbour, sat at the tip of the penninsula between the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House and listened to my Ipod while reading a bit of Kerouac.
Saturday night was Alicias hens night and I picked up my bags at the Mendies hotel where I had been staying and took a cab to their hotel where we were going to spend the night. A night of fun, champagne, and debauchery took place as usually does on a Hens/Bachelorette party. Back to the hotel where we crashed.
Sunday morning was a bit hungover as it should have been. We were all sitting around the hotel watching tv and recapping/laughing about the previous night. Then Alicia recieved a phone call, the day went sour as we found out that the best man had passed away after the bucks night (or bachelor party) and what was once an upbeat atmosphere changed quickly into one of confusion. We all did what we could to clean up the hotel and check out as Alicia went to the hotel the guys stayed in after the bucks. I was supposed to check into a hostel at potts point but an old friend from london, Cindi, offered to let me stay at her place up on the northern beaches of Sydney. I took her up on the offer as I would probably just be sitting around in a daze all day and since her boyfriend was out of town she would probably be the same. We tried to turn the day around by having a beer, heading to the beach, cooking a good dinner, but the events of the morning were still a bit shocking.
I decided to spend a few days at the northern beaches at Cindis, she offered to let me borrow her car after dropping her off at work so I could explore, and head to the beach! Actually had turned out to be an amazing turn in my trip staying at Cindis as I get to head to beaches i would have never explored and get a chance to experience a bit of Sydney suburban life. Monday (yesterday) I headed to Narrabeen Beach and lounged for the day, again listening to my ipod, reading my book, jumping in the ocean occasionally to cool off, and simply playing beach bum. Another barbeque dinner last night with an amazing sunset.
Now am figuring out my beach plan for the day. Might hit up Northern Narrabeen as there is a surffing competition, then head to the other northern beaches to get a lay of the land. Wednesday I head back to the city and stay at a hostel for 2 nights before picking up a rental car on friday and driving up to Forsters for the wedding which is in the amazing rainforest on a lake. Quite excited to explore more of Austrailia!
Alright time to hit the beach!
My 35 hour trip to Sydney was of course intersting. After spending the previous 2 months figuring out how to shrink my worldly posessions into 2 bags to bring on the plane and a few boxes to ship, I was of course still trying to pack up until the time we left for the airport. My family drove in 3 cars to drive me to Dulles Airport where I almost had to take my 5 year old cousin Elizabeth through security with me as she wouldnt let go of my leg. The flight from IAD to LAX was an easy 5 hours, followed by a 5 hour layover at lax. As I checked my bags in to Air Pacific at LAX the woman at the counter asked if i had already applied for my Austrailian entry visa. I had been told this was something you could do when you land in sydney as its just a $20 entry fee. Well she told me I couldnt get on the plane with out one and that it took 24 hrs to clear. I started to freek but figured...alright...worse comes to worse I stay in LA the night and get on the plane tomorrow. After already starting to panic the woman said I could apply right then and there through the airline, be automatically accepted, and then just get on the plane. I was now wondering why she didnt just tell me that from the beginning to save me from 5 min of contemplating other plans?!?!?! (one of the things I have learned about travel is be flexible and instead of breaking down when plans change just figure out how to make it work for you).
Another easy 10 hour flight from LAX to Fiji's Nadi airport and another 5 hour layover. When I looked at my ticket I was in seat 29J I figured based on the letter that I had the window seat and I was uber excited. Well turns out I was wrong and there was no seat "I" giving me the middle seat. All I could think about was last years trip to New Zealand where for the whole 10 hour flight I was stuck inbetween a large fijian woman and an intoxicated Sweedish oil boat captain who wanted to talk the whole flight and smelled of captain morgans (i guess a fitting drink for an oil boat captain). Somehow the airline gods made up for the last trip and the window seat ended up empty, so I quickly moved over and shared the middle seat with the Yoga instructor from Colorado who was headed to NZ for a meditation retreat. I slept like a baby for the whole 10 hours.
For some reason everytime I arrive in Fiji is when the first waves of excitement of my trip arrive. I guess its because Im only one flight away from my destination and the landscape of Fiji is such an amazing one. I had a "flat white" coffee and a sausage roll at the airport, two of my favorite british, NZ, Austrailian delicacies. Then boarded my final flight to Sydney where for the first time I was on the top floor of a 747. After another easy 5 hour flight, and a quick run through customs, I met up with Alicia at the international arrivials door. Alicia was my roommate in the group house I lived in in London. We got on immediatly and spent the first 48 hours in our room simply chatting about everything from traveling to vegemite! So from London, to Dublin, to New York, to Washington DC, to another visit in NYC, to Fayes wedding in New Zealand, and now to her home country Austrailia, I have almost covered half the world with her. Well she is getting married and that is the reason for my visit to austrailia.
I arrived on New Years Eve and she was having a "fancy dress" party/BBQ at her and Mark's that evening (Mark is her fiance whom she met while we were roommates in London and through our neighbors across the hall Faye and Niall whos wedding I went to in NZ last year). I luckly found out that "fancy dress" means costume party, however had no room to fit a costume so I simply wore my snowboard pants and hat and called myself a snowboarder, an idea that had only transpired durring my 35 hours of travel. New Years in Austrailia is much more like 4th of July in America with barbeques and fireworks. I met her friends who were amazing and friendly, ate some sausages, drank austrailian beer, and watched the fireworks from their balcony. A successful new years in my new hemisphere!
Spent New Years day a bit hungover on Alicias couch with the others who had crashed at her flat, watching pretty crappy austrailian TV and sweating in the Sydney heat. I ended up taking 3 showers that day to cool off and have taken a minimum of 2 every day since! Alicia and Mark drove me to my hotel that I was going to stay at for the next 2 days which was quite posh. I figured I had been saving for 6+ months so I should splurge on a 4 star accomodation for 2 nights. I got to my room, ordered room service for the 2nd time in my life, and ordered a movie on the TV...then crashed in my king sized comfy bed!
Friday Alicia picked me up in the AM for the "official alicia" sydney tour. We drove all around the city, through the older part of Sydney called the rocks, across the Sydney Harbour bridge for an amazing view of the Opera House, then through Potts point and Kings Cross, then Paddington and the Southern Beaches. We had lunch at Bondi Beach at a Beach club with an awesome view of Bondi, cheep beer and cheep food! YUM! Then back to Sydney and my hotel where I decided to take a walk through the rocks which might be my favorite spot in Sydney with its older, colonial architecture. It reminded me a bit of boston. Back to the hotel for dinner where I ate at the mahogany lined restaurant with a view of the adjacent park. I had an amazing chicken dish that was stuffed with brie and tomatos and a nice glass of white wine. Then one last night in my GIANT king sized bed!
Saturday I checked out of the hotel, stored my bags for the day, and headed back to the rocks. I went to the MCA, Museum of Contemporary Arts, which was extremely intersting to see the austrailian side of art. When I walked up the the 3rd floor I was confronted with a piece of art that I had seen before at the Tate Gallery that was up for the Turner Prize. The piece was a sculpture depicting a Fragonard painting, who is a rococo artist who I absolutly LOVE and used him as a precident for many works in High School. The artist is Yinka Shonibare whos art is amazing as he recreates scenes from high baroque paintings in sculpture, flim and photography using traditional dress from the baroque time period made with african fabric. It turned out the 3rd floor was a full exhibition of his art. I then walked along the harbour, sat at the tip of the penninsula between the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House and listened to my Ipod while reading a bit of Kerouac.
Saturday night was Alicias hens night and I picked up my bags at the Mendies hotel where I had been staying and took a cab to their hotel where we were going to spend the night. A night of fun, champagne, and debauchery took place as usually does on a Hens/Bachelorette party. Back to the hotel where we crashed.
Sunday morning was a bit hungover as it should have been. We were all sitting around the hotel watching tv and recapping/laughing about the previous night. Then Alicia recieved a phone call, the day went sour as we found out that the best man had passed away after the bucks night (or bachelor party) and what was once an upbeat atmosphere changed quickly into one of confusion. We all did what we could to clean up the hotel and check out as Alicia went to the hotel the guys stayed in after the bucks. I was supposed to check into a hostel at potts point but an old friend from london, Cindi, offered to let me stay at her place up on the northern beaches of Sydney. I took her up on the offer as I would probably just be sitting around in a daze all day and since her boyfriend was out of town she would probably be the same. We tried to turn the day around by having a beer, heading to the beach, cooking a good dinner, but the events of the morning were still a bit shocking.
I decided to spend a few days at the northern beaches at Cindis, she offered to let me borrow her car after dropping her off at work so I could explore, and head to the beach! Actually had turned out to be an amazing turn in my trip staying at Cindis as I get to head to beaches i would have never explored and get a chance to experience a bit of Sydney suburban life. Monday (yesterday) I headed to Narrabeen Beach and lounged for the day, again listening to my ipod, reading my book, jumping in the ocean occasionally to cool off, and simply playing beach bum. Another barbeque dinner last night with an amazing sunset.
Now am figuring out my beach plan for the day. Might hit up Northern Narrabeen as there is a surffing competition, then head to the other northern beaches to get a lay of the land. Wednesday I head back to the city and stay at a hostel for 2 nights before picking up a rental car on friday and driving up to Forsters for the wedding which is in the amazing rainforest on a lake. Quite excited to explore more of Austrailia!
Alright time to hit the beach!
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