Sydney

On March 22nd we turned in our car - the little Hyundai Getz that got us places - and said goodbye to camping on the side of the road. We checked ourselves into a hostel in the Bondi Beach neighborhood of Sydney, took a shower and went for a long walk along the water in the last of our clean clothes. We would be in Sydney for three days before our next leg of the trip.

Bondi is a quaint neighborhood located on the cliffs above some of Sydney's best surf beaches. There is a walk way that follows the water from one beach to the next and reminded us of Zoagli - one of our favorite beaches in Italy. We hadn't even seen Sydney proper yet but we liked this city a lot and Woody was talking about seeing if he could get a job for a community college some where in Sydney just so we could live in Bondi and he could surf the waves in his off time.


The next day we went downtown to see the sights - the Botanical Gardens, Harbor Bridge and the Opera House.


After walking all morning we decided to take a ferry to Manly (another neighborhood outside of Sydney), which gave us a chance to see the city from the water and rest our feet a bit. In Manly we got lunch, checked out the surf beach there and then headed back to Sydney. What a spectacular city! Set right on the water with mountains in the backdrop.


In some ways it very much reminded us of home - Seattle has many of the same features - but Sydney is much larger yet it doesn't feel like it. It is cleaner, better organized and incredibly easy to get around on train, subway or bus. But not cheap, you need money to live in this city.

With our time in Australia coming to an end, we both reminisced about what a wonderful time we had had and all the amazing people we had met. I (Giovannina) have wanted to go to Australia all of my life and Woody asked me if it lived up to all of my dreams. I replied "Some times our dreams are unrealistic but being in Australia felt like a dream to me, the animals have pouches and other odd adaptations and there are so many things that will kill you, you just have to live every day to the fullest - so ... yes I feel Australia was everything I wanted it to be and more."

When we arrived in Australia and were standing in the line to go through customs there was a girl in front of us that had a tattoo across her back that read "Dream until your dreams come true" It was very fitting and it made us both smile.
I am sure we will be back...... Many times, there is so much more to see, but for now - good buy Australia and off to Hong Kong we will go.

To see our photos of Sydney, check out the web album.