„Re-Acclimatizing“ to the Western World in Sydney

Although technically I have been in Australia I feel it’s more appropriate to say that I have been to Sydney. Three days is not a lot of time to explore a city like this, but no time at all to explore Australia, the country – a continent!

So yes, I got some nice views of harbor bridge, strolled around the amazing opera, and through the parks along the water – and felt somewhat lost. Nobody was asking me where I was going, no one wanted to take pictures with me, and there were no drivers urging me to take an ojek or mini bus to somewhere. I was not ushered into any souvenir shops. There were no souvenir shops. Neither were there any cheap convenience stores, nor street vendors deep-frying delicious snacks, nor people selling fresh fruit out of their trucks.

Instead everything was neat, clean, calm, and somewhat impersonal. But the longer I walked around, the more I started re-appreciating this once so familiar, now new environment. But in the evening I went down to Chinatown, found a food court and ordered an Indonesian meal at an Indonesian stall – in Indonesian. It was “only” five times more expensive than what I was been used to, and not quite as tasty, but it gave me the opportunity to properly say goodbye to that country and with it to a wonderful chapter in my travels.

I spent my remaining days in Sydney doing the tourist thing. Took a boat over to Manly, a suburb with a beautiful beach and a surfing vibe, that also gives direct access to a nature reserve.

A hike through the bush brought me to steep cliffs from where I got a nice view over the Pacifc Ocean and Sydney harbor.

I also went surfing at Bondi, Sydney’s most famous and usually incredibly crowded beach. But the day I had chosen was rather cold (something that I had not thought was possible here in early autumn) and I had the chilly water almost to myself.

By the time I had to leave, my reluctance towards entering this world again had almost entirely disappeared. (I am not saying this world is better; it is differnt. And experiencing the contrast between the two enabled me to see the benefits (and drawbacks) of both places more clearly and taught me to appreciate their differences.) So then the previously un-thought-of occurred: I would have liked to stay longer here in Sydney!

Tags: City

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