it'd be a bag of Cheezels followed by a Kangaroo pizza, washed down with a coconut mojito and finished off with Tim Tams and white chocolate gelato for dessert. From the harbour to The Rocks, from Kings Cross to Manly Beach, from the CBD to Bondi Beach... I found the sights and sounds of Sydney as varied as the tastes and flavours we indulged in.
We landed in Sydney early on a Thursday morning – a little knackered from a seriously 'no frills' 5-hour flight from Perth, but any signs of sleep deprivation were pretty well concealed by sheer excitement... we were in Sydney! The city that I felt like I'd seen even before I'd actually seen it. Driving from the airport to our backpackers accommodation I was like a 2-year old at Christmas, staring out the window trying to take as much of the passing cityscape in as I could without getting too motion sick. This was the city that had inspired a million postcards, the city that hosted the Olympics, the city that has seduced so many South Africans. This was also the city that would have me swearing off backpackers digs for a mighty long time...
A bag of Cheezels to start
You see, when we arrived at our place of residence for the next three nights, we were prepared to overlook the fact that we were in a colourful neighbourhood –"It has character," I said, "and it's a small price to pay for being a 10-minute walk from the city centre" (according to the backpackers website). We were prepared to overlook the overwhelming damp smell – we were just grateful to find out that we would be in the same room, our own private 4-sleeper, instead of sharing a dormitory-style room with whoever else was globetrotting on a budget. After having very nearly having landed in Sydney without a place to hang our hats, so to speak, we were just grateful to have a place to drop our backpacks and crash land after running around town acting like your stereotypical tourist.
Just like Cheezels, there is nothing glamorous about The Australian Backpackers in King's Cross... which is why we made it our mission not to be there much. We perfected the art of the speed shower –tip-toeing into the shower cubicle and balancing everything we needed (from towels to toiletries) on the single hook behind the door – making sure that bodily contact with anything in the bathroom was kept to an absolute minimum. We perfected the art of very light sleeping, practically levitating above our 2-inch thick mattresses and getting up and out as soon as we've had enough sleep to fuel us for the day ahead.
Yip, our accommodation in Sydney was like a bag of Cheezels... substantial enough to fulfil the purpose (fill the gap) but completely lacking in substance (no nutritional value whatsoever) – that being said, there is something very moreish about the bright orange, tartrazine drenched chip-like snacks... you know they're bad for you, but they just taste so good. The three-night stay was a bit like that – so bad it was good. So bad that it forced us to venture out early and come home late... our grungy bunk beds and interesting fellow travelers forced us to make the most of Sydney and, as a result, we squeezed every drop out of the experience that we could – including gatecrashing a wedding at The Sydney Opera House, but that's a story for another day...
To be continued...
The English Rose and the Aussie enjoying Cheezels on the rooftop 'terrace' of our less-than-glamorous backpackers in Sydney
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