Asian Invasion

Sydney, Australia is infested, with Asians. My second trip to Sydney started with an early morning train ride from Newcastle to Sydney. The weather was beautiful so the views from the large windows on the train we're amazing. It is truly a beautiful country. We arrived in Sydney early afternoon, and after three hours, we were all starving. Of course, we found the $7 steak, salad and fries deal that we had eaten the weekend before because our budgets are extremely small (and the $8 pitcher helps the cause). After a good meal, we started walking to where we thought our hostel was. We knew the vicinity, but didn't have an address (genius). We'd stop people on the street, excuse me do you know where the Base Backpackers Hostel is? They'd reply, do you have an address? No, we're just tourists. Anyway, after missing the hostel by six city blocks, we finally made our way back to the correct spot. Much to our surprise, we we're actually only a block from Darling Harbour which is a major hot spot in Sydney, and beautiful during the day and night.

The hostel didn't have our reservation, but luckily was able to fit us in an 8-bed-room. They cut the rate slightly and gave us free breakfast (a bowl of cereal). After settling, we headed over to Darling to try and find a happy hour, since it was later in the afternoon. Unfortunately this country only charges more, never less. The Harbour is very beautiful, very similar to a larger Navy Pier with more bars and restaurants. Of course, also more people since Sydney is packed. After a few cocktails we got ready and headed for Gay Mardi Gras. Gay Mardi Gras was actually a week long celebration and the big event was the parade on Saturday night. The event was packed. The most amount of people I had ever seen at a free public event like that. The Asians we're suffocating though, and basically ruined the night. Now, I love my Asian roommates, but the ones in Sydney are some of the most rude people in the world. We would come around the corner and be jammed in a swaying crowd of hundreds. Eventually we made our way to a less crowded area and saw portions of the parade.

After the parade we headed back to Darling. We went to a cool bar/bowling alley/karaoke place called Strike. They had $14 Red Bull Vodkas on special, so that really helped my checking account. Unfortunatley, the group had been drinking far to long, and we lost members along the way. Eventually there was only about four of us left. The problem with going out in Sydney is the proximity of the bars and clubs. Once your in one district, its hard to get to another. Each little neighborhood is its own portion of the city. It ended up being a fine night, but I got home way to late to wake up way to early.

The morning came quickly, with an early checkout and rain outside. I decided to head back with Phil on the first train we could find. As we walked though, the weather seemed to change for the better, and we met up with a friend who was at another hostel. We decided to stick around a little longer and hit a few of the places we still hadn't seen. This was the best decision, ever. We made our way to King's Cross, which is the "Red Light District." I had seen it at night, but its much different during the day. From there we made it to the large park in the middle of the city (a smaller Central Park), and the gardens which also fill a portion of the center of the city. We then hit the oldest part of Sydney, the first areas of colonization. The buildings are extremely old, but have beautiful architecture and obviously wonderful elements of history.

We continued on our long journey to the Opera House and Sydney Bridge. The area was filled with lots of people, many taking pictures of the beautiful scenery. The Opera House is huge! It looks very small in pictures compared to when your standing next to it. The weather had gone from terrible, to perfect, as did our attitudes. We headed around the pier and went to a restaurant in the "rocks," another very old district in Sydney. By that time, it was nearly 5 pm, and we had seen almost all of the city. I now realize the importance of the Fodor's guide, and will never leave home without it.