24 Hours in Sydney

Friday Morning June 4 (Yes this is Caitlin of the future)

So I believe in miracles. Because somehow after watching Avatar the first few hours of my plane ride I actually fell asleep and woke up with only 3 hours to go. Glorious! So I arrived, feeling like I’d hardly traveled 7500 miles, but rather took a long car ride. It still hasn’t settled in that I’m even on another continent. I’ve been trying my best to take notes, so that I could accurately describe my feelings on this other continent, but I’ve been a poor travel writer. So let me summarize so far:

When I first arrived it was dark, I slipped easily enough through customs, and stuffed myself in a cab. “Glebe please”, I said to the driver then smashed my face against the window and searched for the CBD (Central Business District) skyline. Suddenly it loomed ahead of us shrouded in gray rain, pointy and lumped together so no building was individually distinguishable, this gave it a space age quality.

Yes, the weather has been rainy, which most people here have told me they do not like. I love it! The rain here reminds me of Humboldt’s summer storms, brief downpours and a slight chill to the air, but in no way freezing by any means. Then suddenly the sun will come out, and everything is wet and sparkly.

I guess I expected to be more shocked, or intrigued is perhaps the right word, as we sped along to Glebe. But I guess it’s not surprising that I felt reminded of Britain, driving on the left side, the traffic signs have similar designs, even the pavement eerily remind me of Britain. Plus I guess I’m used to English being spoken with a foreign accent, it hasn’t really tripped me up yet to hear other folks speaking. I arrived within 20 minutes at Anna’s front gate, but I still didn’t feel like I was on another continent. I punched in the code, maneuvered my way through leaves and cat poo to her porch. The most noticeable difference I have to say, are the noises the birds make. There aren’t annoying sparrows chirps, but rather long whistles and shrieks, and sometimes the laugh of a kookaburra.

After catching up with Anna, drinking tea and eating Australian crumpets, I took a shower. I like judging a place by the feel of it’s water. Southern California water, just feels harsh, or to me it feels like it’s traveled hundreds of miles through concrete and pipes, because well it has. Sydney’s is glorious, even if it too was probably pumped here. Or maybe it’s Anna’s glorious showerhead.

Having walked up and down Glebe Point Road a couple times now, I’ve discovered one of my favorite things so far, the shopping situation in Glebe. There aren’t mega stores, (perhaps there are in suburbs father out) but here on Glebe Point Road they only have a few shops carrying everything, most are individual bakers, fruit and ‘veg’ shops, and meat shops, and fish shops, flower shops, shoe repair shops all lined up neatly every few blocks or so.

Anna and I ate at her favorite café ‘Elizabeth’s’ one of many small cafes and restaurants along the road. I have to say, service is very slow but that’s an Australia norm since tipping is all but non-existent here. But holy crap, the mushroom bruschetta I had was amazing. In fact all the food I have eaten here either from café or ‘veg’ shop, baker, or otherwise has been, well better. Better quality, better flavor, I don’t think of giant trucks shipping the fruit in (although it probably does) the way I feel like it is when I buy from massive super markets back home. Another reminder of how much I like places of smaller scale.

Last night, we hopped buses in the pouring rain to cross the Harbor Bridge into the North Shore to go to a benefit. Sydney is pretty trendy, but not in the pretentious LA way, and not in the quirky British way. Most people here seem to dress practically but don’t skimp out on style for trend. And my god I have never seen so many young and beautiful (and mostly white or Asian people) walk by me on the street at one time. So I may feel ugly as heck, but at least my ‘style’ seems to fit in quite nicely haha.

On the cab ride home from the North Shore I wiped the condensation from the taxi window and stared up at the dark CBD buildings, twisted my neck around to get a better view of the bridge itself, it still didn’t hit me that I’m in Sydney. This morning waking up after a luxurious night of solid sleep, it still has not settled in that I am in Sydney.

So yes, Sydney isn’t a giant city like LA, most cities aren’t…but Sydney is only one tiny point on a vast continent, who’s scale is bigger than I could possibly grasp having only been here 24 hours. Although I may not get to see most of that continent this trip, I try to imagine what lies beyond the horizon when I look out over Anna’s porch at the rolling hills of Glebe. Try to envision red sand, koalas, kangaroos, eucalyptus woodlands etc. all the things people think of when they think Australia, and I can’t wrap my head around the fact that those things do exist and are only several hundred miles away from me, rather than 7000.

In the meantime I’ll try to take more notes about the vernacular of Australia. Things we don’t see on TV, don’t read in books, don’t see in movies.