I didn’t intend to come here. You might remember that before I came to Australia I had done some homework. In doing so I watched documentaries on Australia. The docos became repetitive and somewhat lacking in terms of intrigue after some time but I remember specifically several things that enamored my attention. Two Aussies travel the Outback and repair fence posts. They drive in their truck for days and they sleep under the stars. I thought that I too would like to do that. I would later fall upon similar fortune when I worked for PPi pipeline protection in Darwin. Two other things were Bills breakfast in Sydney and the nearby Blue Mountains just out of the city. I hadn’t intended to go to Sydney, but I said that if I did I would visit these places.
Bills breakfast of ricotta hotcakes with fresh banana and honeycomb butter was a wonderful morning delight. The steepest mining railway cart ride in the world, which is in the Blue Mountains, was somewhat entertaining but it did not have the fan-fare of the thrill seeker in me. Yet, I am glad I experienced it because it was on that documentary that I had watched on the sofa couch in Florida weeks before I began this.
I have been disappointed by the cities that Australia has to offer. It isn’t that I expected anything really, but that the larger cities such as Brisbane, Perth, and Darwin are all capital cities. Quite simply, they are among Australia’s largest cities. The thing is, they aren’t that large. Perhaps they are somewhat decent in size, but they seem to lack something. I’m not sure what I have been seeking when I say this. The best way I can describe it is “identity”. I just simply haven’t felt that the cities I have visited have had any of this. Cities like D.C., and New York, and Seattle, and New Orleans, and Dallas, and San Diego all come to mind when I think of cities of large scale from home. All of these share a uniqueness and a quality that separates them from one another. The cities in Australia haven’t had this, except for Sydney. Sydney has been the game changer. Sydney is robust with culture and history and a style all to its own. A harbor community rapidly built up through a convict and settlement history that shows the undeniable sign of firm roots and a foothold in this world as being all to its own.
I can go on about what makes Sydney unique, but would you really be interested in reading about it? There are travel websites for such things. The numbers of commuters do not ride the rail as their primary transportation but instead take ferrys from nearby bays such as Manly. The city has a wealth of opportunistic beaches to enjoy your lazy days. The scene is ripe with culture and you can find this with events such as Picasso exhibits, artwork along Bondi beach, and fairs at the Friday evening markets at Rocks. I could go on about things such as the vast array of evening haunts and the most spectacular shopping mall that I have ever seen in my life. The food is genuine and vibrantly displayed with fresh displays of the offerings in place of menus. Food shopping made easy for the browser I must say.
It isn’t the details of what Sydney has to offer, you can seek those out for yourself with just a few searches on the internet. Put quite simply, its just that Sydney offers the richness that I had been looking for. Months ago I posed a question to myself. I asked myself what would be my response if someone asked me where they should visit when they come to Australia. I based this one a week long visit and a maximum of two weeks. It was a peculiar thing, because I couldn’t come up with an answer. I actually came to the conclusion that you should not visit Australia on such a short pass. It is too vast of a place. It is an unassuming land that provides no direct attraction other than things like The Great Barrier Reef. If you were to visit such a place you could quite easily miss out on a true Australian experience. I have since amended my answer. I now say that if you were to come to Australia you should do two things, and after doing so you could quite possibly leave with your Aussie thirst quenched!