With only two short weeks to blitz through big brother Australia, there wasn't enough time to give it a fair chance. But the trip was great for reconnecting with family on dad's side and eating yum food. And at least I didn't encounter any poisonous spiders or rabid kangas, only super beautiful but incredibly annoying birds.
When I landed in Aussie, Aunty picked me up from the airport and I stayed with her and Uncle for the next 10 days in Gordon, one of the many small suburbs in sprawling Sydney.
And I thought Auckland was big... I think Sydney would be a nice place to live if you're a city person. As a traveler there aren't that many typical tourist attractions to see besides the Opera House; rather, it's more about checking out the unique neighborhoods, eateries and events that dot the city.
The first night I was whisked away to dinner with all the family: aunty and uncle, cousin Karinn, her husband Jaan and toddler Aki, and cousin James from another aunt in T-dot. Oh it was so good to eat proper Chinese food (xiao long bao! xiao long bao!) and hang out with cousins - never done that before because of all the distance.
For the rest of the week I tried to help babysit Aki, went to dim sum with the fam (again, drool), had talks and dinner with aunty and took the train by myself to explore the city. One day I took a boat ride to Manly, which is a beachy suburb nearby, and another day aunty and uncle took me to Blue Mountain for some touristy sightseeing and lunch (some fighting and scratching ensued over the bill..somehow the older Chinese person always wins). There are some peaks called the Three Sisters, and we got to walk to one of them and check out the expansive view of the surrounding mountains. Very refreshing to see after missing all the ubiquitous nature of New Zealand.
That night I got dropped off in town to have a cousins' night out with Karinn and James. Karinn took us for drinks to 2 different places that looked like holes in the walls from the outside but were funky and packed inside. Good to have a local in the know! After a noodley dinner, she left me and James on one of the main streets to check out another bar. We found some live music but after awhile the place turned clubby and we felt tired, so we lamed out and went back to James' bachelor pad (filled with Canadian sports fanatics) for a movie and sleep.
The next day we checked out Darling Harbour before James ran off to catch the bus to Canberra. It turned out to be a happy surprise because there was a circus there for Easter weekend, and so the day after I went back to see street performers (including a Japanese guy with fangs who swallowed balloons and fire) and some acrobatics. Chinatown and the night market was also nearby, so I got a tasty egg tart out of it too.
On Saturday after some vintage shopping in Surry Hills, I went back to the circus and caught a show in the big top (with hoola hooping Canadian barbie) and enjoyed the 10 minute fireworks display over Darling Harbour. A great way to spend Easter!
Monday I had a fun family outing to the zoo with me, Karinn, Jaan and Aki. The Sydney Zoo is awesome! It's got a gondola and tons of animals that I've never seen before, including Tasmanian Devils, a bajillion wallabys and kangas, and a HUGE condor vulture that swooped over people's heads during the cool bird show. Also some extremely lethargic (ie. half-baked) koalas and Aki's favorite, monkeys and chimps.
After a couple days and much more Chinese food consumed, it was time to fly up the coast to Byron Bay. I had gotten mixed reviews about Byron Bay, most people saying that it's beautiful and worth going to but has gotten more commercial because of its popularity. The beach was indeed gorgeous, but the weather was wet and inconsistent for the 5 days I was there. Bursts of five minute showers throughout the day, followed by hot scorching sun. Repeat. The highest expectations I had were for the hostel I stayed at called the Arts Factory. I knew about it through Luminate festival peoples, namely the drumming teacher Albert and his girlfriend Hiro, who have been living at Arts Factory for the last four years. The pictures I had seen made it look like the perfect hippy paradise, and for so much monies per night I subconsciously expected a festival repeat with NZ standard facilities.
Unfortunately, the real hippies seemed long gone. The hostel had been taken over by another company, so despite the hippy surroundings, quite a number of guests were young North Americans who were in 'WOO Spring Break!' mode and drank and smoked late into the night. It would've been fine if I had been able to hole myself up in my room, but the one I had chosen was a big pentagon tent with no door, just canvas curtains. So we could hear everything and everyone outside. And some bush turkey wandered into the room and got into my food! People also didn't know how to clean up after themselves, so the kitchen and bathrooms were always dirty no matter how many times the staff cleaned it. As a result I didn't feel like meeting new people. I did find Albert and Hiro though, who were across the pond with a sweet setup in the camping area. They had a living room outside their tent with a couch and aquarium, so when things got too overwhelming on the 'mainland' I hid over there and shared some tasty meals with them.
Not that my time at Byron Bay was a total bust, I think I was mostly going through a funk and had too high expectations. I eventually met a few awesome people at the hostel, did some gardening and got veggies out of it, practiced some yoga, saw live music, and had delicious meals at a Hare Krishna cafe. One day I had a pleasant afternoon at nearby Brunswick after a failed attempt to hitch to Nimbin (famous pot town 1.5 hrs away). On another day in the midst of a downpour at the beach I met some Melbourne uni students (incl. a Vancouverite) under a tree and hung out with them for the afternoon. We walked to the lighthouse and saw a pack of 10 dolphins swimming on the beach below (finally!).
By the end of it, I decided that my time in Australia was nice and all, but I'm a New Zealand girl at heart. I was also tremendously looking forward to my arrival in Bali, Indonesia to reunite with Ken. And it worked out great! But more on that later...for now we're going to enjoy paradise and eat heaps of delicious cheap Asian food :)
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