The Land of Oz

I have yet to see Lions, Tigers or Bears, but what I have seen here in The Land of Oz are Asians, Bats, "Suits" and Cockroaches (will explain further.) Although fairly prevalent in New Zealand, Sydney seems to have a very large Asian population and they make up a large percentage of the city's tourists. I got my foot stepped on two times by Asians trying to take pictures (once running in the park and another time on the ferry), and always seem to get caught up in some massive tour group. Between the 70 year old Chinese man who was jumping out of planes with us in New Zealand, and the consistent amount of Asians I have seen, I am amazed at the worldliness of those in their culture - they really are world travellers (who love to take pictures)!! In the heart of Sydney there are the most amazing Botanical Gardens which I've had the pleasure of jogging through twice since I've been here (Yes, I am still jogging because if I am going to do this travelling stuff for a full year, I can no longer consider it a "holiday".) Like a scene out of "The Birds", I looked up to see BOUS - bats of unusual size (Princess Bride reference for those who don't know it) swarming over my head. The Australian bats have it a lot better than the American bats though, they are about as big as seagulls, don't fly using radar (they can see), and of course, they get a view of the Opera House every morning. Granted I haven't gotten to the "outback" yet, but I imagined Sydney to be a little different, it is a real bustling city. Just like New York everything is moving fast and it seems everywhere I look there are people in suits. I was even at the beach today and saw a lady walking around in a suit!


The hostel I stayed at in Sydney is probably the grossest I have encountered so far on my journey. The other night as I hung up my bathing suit to dry, I saw something scurry on the wall next to me out of the corner of my eye. Fortunately there is a French girl in my room who basically lives here (because Sydney is so expensive, its cheaper to live in a hostel than rent a room), and I guess from past experiences has bought Cockroach spray which she left on the desk. At this point the battle ensued. I was spraying the critter with a crazed passion, like my life depended on it. It was running and jumping like an Olympic athlete. It ended up jumping into my bag, which I carried at an arms length away into the hallway and dumped out. I had sprayed him enough that I stood there and watched him die. After I had carried his corpse to the trash can I headed back into my room, and looked up at the wall. Apparently a death memo had gone out, and my dead friend's relative was there on my wall to avenge. At this point the stand-off started. I waited 20 minutes in the hallway (in my underwear) watching, waiting, and he did the same. Finally someone came along and climbed up on the bed, brushed him down, and threw him out the window. Turns out my hero was not only from Connecticut, but even went to my high school (although he is 10 years younger than me)!!!! I finally began to understand what they mean when they say "it's a small world!"


A couple more fun-filled days in Sydney included a 1 hour tour of the Sydney Opera House (which I was shocked to learn took 16 years to build), an evening trip to see a 3 hour Italian opera called Tosca where my friend Aliette and I sat behind the Governor of Australia (but couldn't stop giggling through the entire performance; I am pretty sure the Opera is not for me), a nighttime Harbor walk with Tim and Stef, and a day trip out to The Blue Mountains with Stef, Tim and Aliette. The landscape out to The Blue Mountains was beautiful, but the mountains were as blue as the purple mountains majesty are purple, which I hear aren't purple at all. With several Disneyesque characters explaining how they used to mine the area, a ride on the "steepest rail car in the world" (and a failed second ride, they caught on to our 'we left our camera at the bottom' ploy) and an attempt to speak like Ozzie's and not use the word "the" for the entire train ride home.


Last night I took an overnight Greyhound bus to Byron Bay (which is GREAT because I don't have to spend money on accommodation), where I rented a bike and rode around town, and met an awesome guy named rob and i... no we, decided to get married. No not really, but he did ask me, and he also wrote that last sentence. I have a surf lesson tomorrow morning and another night in Byron Bay before I head up north to Surfer's Paradise!