Last year my best friend started her working holiday in Australia. She’s still traveling with her boyfriend around the country. Last year the idea grows in my mind to visit her. I don’t want to spoiler – but my dream came true.
I’ll never forget how excited I was when I entered the plane. My first stop was Paris, from Paris I’ve been transferred to Abu Dhabi and my last arrival was Sydney. Before I started my journey I thought that I would be very lonely on plane, because for 27 hours I’ll only have myself to trust in. What if I’m overtaxed and begin to panic? Surprisingly, I felt well and I kept an overview on the great airports even if I tingled for excitement. On plane I was luckily able to sleep and I improved my Mario Card skills. Finally, I arrived at Sydney airport.
My heart skipped a beat when I saw my best friend and her boyfriend again after six months. They welcomed me with a koala soft-toy and wombat poop (chocolate balls) which made me laugh, because I didn’t realize immediately that it’s no real poop. After a 27hours flight it’s justified, or not? Not only my mind needed time to recover from the long flight. Also my body had to recover its balance. The ground wobbled under me and I felt drunk. My „drunkenness“ didn’t get better when I closed my eyes and everything revolved around inside my head.
By train we drove to our Airbnb apartment and I took a refreshing shower. After we exchanged the latest news I slept like a baby on my air mattress. I had no jet lag at all!
The next day we went to the Sydney Opera House and its botanic garden. I imagined the Opera house differently, because its white color seemed to be matt-polished on television, but the three waves were covered with mosaic. Additionally, the mosaic wasn’t only white. The color of the Opera House is a mixture of beige an white. After I admired the world-wide celebrated architecture of the Opera, my friends showed me around in the botanic garden. It is my favorite place in Sydney. You are suddenly outside of town even if you see next to you gigantic skyscrapers. The busy crowd and the noise disappeared right in the moment when I stood on this piece of nature. I took a deep breath. The sun tickled on my nose and on my shoulders. (Luckily, I am a good girl which uses sun cream! If I wouldn’t have used it, my skin could be mistaken as a tomato’s skin). Palm trees taller than the Sydneytower, tropical plants and exotic flowers surrounded the footpaths. The view on Sydney’s harbour and the harbour bridge was overwhelming. My dream came true, but it seemed like I was still dreaming. While we went around the garden I was touching every tree that I haven’t seen yet. I also hugged one tree like I did in elementary school. This situation has leaved its mark on me, because my teacher whispered:“Hug this tree and feel how it transfers its energy in you. Can you sense the signals from nature? Feel like you grow together with this tree.“ At the latest now you’re thinking that I’m crazy (or you think my teacher in elementary school is crazy)! Maybe I am (or my teacher), but I’m convinced that trees are empowering me. It was important to me to capture my Australia memories with all of my senses.
Hugging a tree in Australia – Check.
We only stayed three days in Sydney, because we planned to drive down the Great Ocean Road to Melbourne. So, how can I see most of Sydney’s precious places in three days? It’s all about the will! The next day we left the city to say „hello“ to the Blue Mountains. On the train we played the game „Black stories“ (I can only recommend it! We became addicted to it). After two hours playing games in the train we arrived at the Blue Mountains train station. On foot we needed a further hour until we arrived in the Blue Mountains National Park. I felt sweaty, but happy when I saw the Blue Mountains. After you fought yourself a way through the tourists you have a fantastic view over the sea of tropical trees and the impressive Blue Mountains. Also, the three sisters are worth to be seen from the platform. They were our next stop. We followed the crowd a way down to the three sisters. It is possible to go in the edge of one of the sisters. Honestly, it was too windy to keep my eyes open all the time, but it was a great experience. We hiked a hundred of steps downstairs until we found ourselves on a footpath through the forest. After a few kilometers we had a short break at a beautiful cascade before we continued our way to the 52° steepest passenger railway in the world. On the so called „Scenic Railway“ you are allowed to adjust your seated position up to 20 degrees! You can adjust the „Original“ (52 degrees), laid back or the „Cliffhanger“ (64 degrees) position. I was joking around, so I adjusted the lever in the „Cliffhanger“ position. I thought I could change the position also during the ride (now I know that this thought never made any sense!). I formulate it like that – We survived! It was fun, but scary. The person who have been seated in the row before me could have felt my shoes pressing on her/his shoulders (sorry for that). Next time I’ll also chose „Cliffhanger“, because of the adrenaline-kick, but I’ll try to keep my shoes away from foreign shoulders.
The next and last day in Sydney was a hard one for my feet, because I got blisters on them. How could that happened although I’ve worn my hiking shoes (Converse/Chucks)? We marched trough the streets and malls of Sydney and I searched for all kind of inspirations. I love it to explore something without a plan, because I’m more open for adventures. Often the spontaneous decisions are the best one! We landed at the Sydney Tower which is not a „must-have-seen“ place. The tower wasn’t the adventure I was looking for, but nevertheless the 360° view over Sydney was charming. Especially seeing the world’s greatest natural harbour from above was impressive. The Harbour Bridge was our next destination. It is the only connection to the other side of Sydney. We were too lazy to walk over the whole bridge, but it had no influence on the view. I felt so tiny on the bridge with the enormous steel girders.
Back in the city we spent some time at Darling Harbour. From the Opera House you can take a ferry to the harbour where lots of shops and restaurants are located. By night it is the perfect place to calm down. Sitting near by the water while sea gulls arguing about crumbs can be very relaxing. Colorful lights were shining on the water’s surface. Our last destination was the Holy (Guca-)Moley Bar. Mini-golf is normally not one of my favorite sports to do, but the Holy Moly Bar made it attractive again! The golf paths were crazy decorated and every path had a theme. For example the last hole were inside a throne. It wasn’t a random throne – it was the „Game of Thrones“- throne made of golf clubs. The other reason why the Holy Moly Bar is worth seeing ,is that the Cocktails are very delicious. They also had creative names like „Sugar Caddy“ or „Bayonce“. It is a nice place because someone was so passionated in creating mini-golf paths that you can just be enthusiastic about mini-golf even if you don’t like it. What a nice ending of a wonderful time in Sydney!
To be continued..
