My First Few Days Down Under

I left Chicago's O'Hare airport on Tuesday July 7th at 5:45pm, flew four hours to LAX and then 15 and a half hours to Sydney. I arrived at 6:10am Sydney time on Thursday July 7th. The flights were actually easier than I anticipated. I slept the first six hours and since there was no one in the middle seat next to me I could spread out a little. However, United Airline's lack of seatback TV's (and the fact that I could not see the TV's in the aisle) meant I couldn't really watch any of the movies they played during the flight. Food on the plane consisted of a cold chicken sandwich for dinner and a choice of pancakes or eggs in the morning. It was very bad, but I guess with the airline cutbacks decent food was one of the first things to go. Although, for $1600 I expected a bag of peanuts...

I met my airport shuttle I had booked last week and they took me conveniently right to my hotel. I arrived at my hotel, Holiday Inn Old Sydney, in the historic Rocks neighborhood at 7:45am. Needless to say my room was not ready. They gave me a key to the rooftop pool/spa area so I could take a shower. I felt much better appearing in public after that. I signed on the hotel's internet ($5 per hour) to let my parents know that I was alive and around 9am they let me into my room. The lady at the desk said it had a view (most likely due to my dad's priority club platinum status) and the view was gorgeous. The window in my room framed the Opera House and I could see the whole harbor. It was such a beautiful day out, I decided to skip the nap I had planned and go explore. I stopped at the visitor's center and picked up about 100 brochures and explored the cobblestone streets of the Rocks, Sydney's oldest area. I made it to about 12 and then the jet lag hit me hard. I got dizzy and super tired so I headed back to my hotel for a nap. That nap ended up lasting nine hours and I woke up at 9pm Sydney time. At first I was mad about missing the whole day, but I realize that my body cannot just skip a day and go on like usual. I tried to find some Australian television shows to watch but I only came across the Simpsons, Desperate Housewives and V. So I watched the news. Every news station was showing outraged citizens arguing over the ban that the government had just lifted on trading livestock with Malaysia. It took me awhile to figure out that this is because Australians think that in Malaysia they do not kill the livestock in humane ways.

On my second day in Sydney I woke up bright and early and walked about a mile to a free tour. Sydney is an exceptionally easy city to find your way around. On the way to the tour I stopped and bought a prepaid mobile phone. It cost me $20 for the phone and $30 to charge it with minutes. The international plan is only 8 cents per minute to call the states. It is much more convenient than trying to deal with roaming charges on my phone from home. The free tour ended up being 3 hours long and covering most of Sydney. I highly recommend it if you ever visit Sydney. It was started by a University student and his girlfriend, both native Sydneysiders. It really gave me a overview of what there is to do in Sydney so I could plan out my days. I have done so much and met so many people in the week that I have been here it is hard to know where to start.

I am having a fabulous time! I'll list a few here and I'll try to keep updating the next few days before I leave Sydney on my tour up the coast. On my plane to LA I met a seventeen year old boxer named Javier. He had just finished fighting in the Olympic qualifiers and had lost, but was very entertaining. I met Catie on my shuttle ride from the airport she is from England doing a gap year before she starts university at Edinburgh. She had just finished travelling around Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand for the last three months. On the free tour I met Christophe, who is from France but has been living in San Francisco for the last seven years. We booked a Harbor Cruise together. It really is easy to meet people when you are travelling by yourself. Look back in a few days for my posts about my first hostel experience, Taronga Zoo, Watson's Bay, Manly, The Botanical Gardens, Sydney Opera House tour and Bondi Beach.

BAS