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Surface Detail is the blog of Ben Walker.
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Tourist-ing
Hi Everyone. So what have I been up to? Well, I’ve used the last week or so to be a tourist around Sydney. I’d been here for nearly three months and still hadn’t walked across the Harbour Bridge, nor seen the Opera house or done any of those touristy things. Armed with nothing more than a street directory, a travel pass, a cold and a poor sense of direction, I set off… And I think I’m finally getting the hang of this city.
So on the Easter Sunday, Roger, his flatmate Kathrin (aka Catherine), her friend Iwona (that’s ‘ee-vwoh-nah’) and I went on a walk from Bondi to Coogee after going to an awesome cafe called ‘Green’s Cafe’ (1) in Bondi for brunch and wandering around for a while.
So we wandered along the coast and generally had a nice walk, aside from the odd shower. Also, it was a constant effort to keep dodging the joggers.
Tuesday I met up with Rosie (from Adelaide) for coffee in the morning and I had a little arts tour of the city for the afternoon, checking out the Art Gallery going to the Tetsuka exhibition (2). Had a wander on down to the Opera house and went a bit nuts with the camera…
Wednesday, Kathrin and Roger joined me for lunch, a wander through the Rocks, a walk across the Bridge (I regret not going on the day it was closed for it’s 75th birthday now) and a wander through the botanic gardens and an afternoon beer on Pitt street… A very nice day.
Friday, Emma (another person from the village, from Holland) and Roger and I caught the ferry (3) out to Manly. We went for a walk up to North Head, the headland that looks back down the Harbour. Bit of a trek, but nothing strenuous. Wandered back to Manly beach, had a coffee and caught the ferry back at sunset which was magical – the photos don’t do it justice. The sunset was at its most spectacular as we were getting close to Sydney and the city lights lit up. It was just one of those moments.
Saturday was a fairly laid back day where again Emma, Roger and I went to Newtown and looked through some second had stores (no bargains found). Newtown, by the way, is filled with what Amy describes as ‘unique’ people. Lots of uni students; cheaper, but not nasty. That sort of place. Had a couple of beers at the Court House hotel where we met up with (sister) Amy, had dinner at a Thai place, tried to get into the local cemetery – it is supposed to be awesome because it’s really old – but it was closed and there were too many zombies.
Talking about zombies, it’s back to AFTRS Monday. The rest of Sydney will have to wait.
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1) They do a really nice B.L.T. if you’re ever there. Tasty stuff.
2) Tetsuka was the guy who created Astro Boy.
3) On a side note, ferries are awesome and easily the best way to get around Sydney.