Trip to Sydney ...

I wrote this blog in May 2005, when I travelled to Sydney. It is funny how alien the blog sounds to me today. If I had written this journal today, it would have been very different. I am just uploading half of my experience as is, as I wrote it almost 2 years back. The rest ... nah! I dont think it deserves a place in my today's journal. Oh ya ... since this is a consolidation of 3 of my old blogs ... it is a reaallly long post. This is your chance ... quit now!

First day at Sydney,

It was around 8:00 pm when I reached in Sydney. I walked straight to the Taxi Stand and called the taxi to my hotel. The windows of the taxi were open. I could feel the cold breeze hitting my face and making it numb. Somehow, I liked it. The place was obviously so unlike Singapore. It was spacious and I could see normal housing instead of HDBs. The wide road had big banners covered on both sides with a lot of advertisements varying from movies to LG Digital Technology. These banners reminded me of the flyover in Coimbatore.

At the hotel, everything was ready for me. The rest of whatever was left of the day went by adjusting to the cold weather, experimenting my room heater and preparing for the next day’s event.

Second day at Sydney,

The day dawned early for me. Luckily my health was better and my voice was clear. The official event began at 8:00am and went non-stop until lunch. Despite the tension in the air, I seemed to have enjoyed everything around me. Whenever I was not with somebody, I stood by the window enjoying the view of Darling Harbour. After everything was done and goodbyes were bid, I started walking towards my hotel. The walk over the Pyrmont Bridge was fantastic. The view was lovely: glittering waters, vanishing cruises, busy flyovers …..The sun was shining, but it was cold. After living in Singapore, I really cherished the broad walking space and the unbounded swings of the wind.

After making a few calls, I walked through the brochures to find out what Sydney could offer. From the information I had gathered from the taxi drivers and hotel staff, I knew I had to fit in the aquarium and beach into my schedule. “Alright, downtown area tonight!” I decided.

Sydney Tower was my first destination. Luckily my hotel was situated right next to the Pyrmont Bridge at a very convenient location. The only thing worth mentioning about the tower was the view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Fascinating it was. The structure was so huge. Everything next to it looked tiny. The telescope provided an absolutely close look at the bridge. Every bend and curve was visible and looked great. If I had an extra day, I would definitely climbed the bridge.

Aquarium … Another underwater world, I thought. It was better. It was big with a great variety of water-life. The best part was the Oceanarium, the place where the world’s largest collections of sharks could be found. In one word, “Great”. Sharks swam all around me. Their size and variety and the fact that “they were sharks” is sure something difficult to find in Singapore.

[Written today ... ]
I was so impressed by the Sydney Harbour Bridge, that I had to check it out. I cannot recollect the place I went to ... it was some kind of a Fisherman's Wharf area. The highlights of that place as I remember today, was the Opera House, the Sydney Harbour Bridge of course and one of the biggest fish markets in Sydney.

My third day in Sydney ...

Sydney provides two city-tours for tourists. The first one covered most of the commercial areas, shopping and man made attractions. The second covered the naturally scenic locations along the coast. No prizes for guessing what I picked. Beaches, waters, oceans, sand-dunes, cliffs, trails along the beach ... I saw and did it all. I returned back to downtown only after seeing the sun-set on the beach and walking in a park in downtown. Even though I was freezing in the cold in the Australian winters, I enjoyed the walks thoroughly.

In Australia, business ends very early. After 8/9 in the evening, you wont find any shops open ... not even restaurants. This was causing a big problem for me. I had to retire early to my hotel. In fact, I had to come in earlier to finish the shopping and cover the business districts before the close.

I spent the last moments of the day, sitting in my hotel's lounge and watching the busy harbor of Australia. Ships coming in, loading/unloading ... I can still remember those moments. I sat there reflecting on my trip. It had been a good trip for me. I was confident of the outcome. I knew I had some changes to deal with when I went back to Singapore. And yet ... at that moment, nothing mattered. I had seen Sydney. I had been to Australia ... and I could tick off another country from the world map.