After almost half a year in Southeast Asia, the stopover in Sydney, Australia, felt extremely refreshing. The romantic island life was over, but we enjoyed the advantages of a modern big city. We noticed more and more details we hadn't thought about for a long time. We were delighted by little things we had long forgotten but hadn't consciously missed either. But once they're there, you're really happy about them again and appreciate everything anew. Like the fact that communication in English is a given here and therefore many times easier. Or that there are public toilets with flushing and enough toilet paper. But above all, that you can drink the tap water and we could refill our travel bottles for free again and again. Cleanliness is very important in Sydney, the air was a lot cleaner and transport more comfortable. On the other hand, services also came at a hefty price – no comparison to our previous destinations.
We stayed in an Airbnb a little outside the centre. It was only a short bus ride over the northern bridge, which leads more or less straight to the world-famous Opera House.
Already at the airport we were guided through the rather strict customs control by extremely polite, accommodating and organised staff. Channel 7 was even filming an episode of "Border Patrol" that very day.
By the time we arrived at our new home, we had already dealt with all sorts of staff at the airport, on the trains and on the bus. We were both amazed and astonished at how friendly everyone here was to us, and noticed that things once again worked a little differently than we were used to so far. People were strikingly friendly and in a good mood. In principle you pay even the smallest amounts by credit card; cash is superfluous. Bus drivers are highly regarded, and everyone getting on or off the bus politely greets them and says goodbye. The driver waits until everyone is seated before setting off, and now and then there's some small talk too. We weren't used to that from Vienna. We mostly stayed in our outer suburb and in the city centre, so we don't know whether what I've just described applies to the whole city or even the whole country. In any case, it was super pleasant to have so many nice English-speaking people around.
I could continue to recover here, and the weather was pleasantly mild and settled – perfect for seeing nearby tourist attractions. In total we had a week for sightseeing and recovery before moving on to New Zealand.
Our first outing took us straight to Sydney's Royal Botanic Garden. We really liked the huge park. We can definitely recommend a picnic in the park. We discovered all sorts of new birds and plants, which already hinted that there was a lot of flora and fauna still to explore here in Australia.
We were really taken with the cockatoos flying around freely in the park. Soon, however, it turned out that right where we were staying, a good 10 of these big white parrots lived in a nearby tree.
The Opera House is right next to the Botanic Garden. So we went straight on to a photo session in front of the world-famous building and symbol of the city. The opera complex at the harbour is so big that it's always easy to photograph despite the crowds of tourists, because everyone spreads out. It's also simply fun to stroll through the city centre in the sunshine looking for great photo spots while you can smell the salt water in the air.
We also managed some shopping at Haymarket in Chinatown, which let us wander a little through the city. Haymarket is a great tip, by the way, if you want to buy fresh fruit and vegetables at a lower price than in the rather expensive supermarkets. Since it happened to be "Pride Month" during our visit, we found the city even more colourful and full of festivals than it probably is the rest of the year.
Our favourite activity, however, was the "Spit to Manly Walk". This was a day trip on which you could walk from "the Spit" in Sydney to Manly. You hike along the coast through different types of landscape, which here are referred to, among other things, as "bush".
We hiked a whole 11 km one way through unforgettable nature. The paths were superbly prepared and really easy to walk. Along the way we kept coming across the native lizards called "water dragons", which even crept up on us during our snack to get a share of it.
After our swimming adventures we weren't so used to long hikes any more, so after 11 km we could feel our legs a bit. But since our host Sonia had given us a great tip about a fantastic snorkelling beach in Manly, we kept going and added a few more kilometres to make it all the way to the Shelly Beach marine reserve.
We found the higher karst landscape particularly beautiful, where we also discovered a few colourful parrots.
By the time we arrived at Shelly Beach it was a bit later and getting a little windy and chilly. Chris still bravely waded into the comparatively cool seawater and snorkelled us some great underwater videos. (Don't forget that until then we had only been used to tropical water temperatures.) I had to stay out, as I had promised Chris to dutifully recover. Chris came back from his snorkel thrilled. He raved about the various new sightings that differed greatly from the underwater world of Southeast Asia. Here impressive golden kelp took the place of the familiar corals, offering shelter to many exciting animals. So we decided to dedicate a whole beach day to Shelly Beach soon – but this time getting here by bus.
With tired legs and happy faces (possibly also a little red from the Australian sun), we headed to the next ferry stop, where we bought tickets for the next ferry, which sailed towards the Sydney Opera House and the night skyline at sunset. What an amazing day full of impressions and memories.
The following activity spared our legs. A huge thank you at this point to Gitte and Ernst, who invited us to an evening performance on the other side of the globe at what is probably the most famous opera house in the world, giving the two of us a dreamlike evening.
In case you're wondering how our opera outfits fitted into our travel backpacks, let us tell you this: when we enquired beforehand, the lady at the information desk told us straight away that she understood we Europeans like to dress up for evenings at the opera, but here in Australia it didn't matter at all whether we came in shorts and hiking boots or in an evening dress. In Australia everything is rather uncomplicated.
Of course we still dressed up as smartly as our travel wardrobe allowed and spent a great evening around the opera, where everything was now decorated with lights. The rainbow colours of the "Pride" theme were projected onto the facade of the Opera House, and the Ferris wheel, which you could see across the strait on the other side of the bridge, also shone in purple, red, yellow, blue and green.
Since the national ballet company was touring the country at the time, we chose a modern dance theatre performance. The company was known for its acrobatic and daring partner and group figures and was performing a choreography on the theme of "mirroring". The piece was fantastic, suited us perfectly and simply made the evening perfect. (The Mirror / Drama Theatre / Sydney Opera House)
As planned, we dedicated our last day before flying on to Shelly Beach. This time Chris got himself a wetsuit. I had enough reading and food with me, so we spent another pleasant beach day on the Australian coast. It was so warm that even I could go into the water now and then to cool off briefly. I can already tell you that underwater you can find, among others, eagle rays, stingrays, giant snails and sea creatures with names like "dusky flathead", "numbfish", "fanbelly leatherjacket", "dusky whaler shark" and the "old wife". But the best way to see what they look like is in our video summary. Enjoy looking through the pictures!