And so ends another adventure. Today marked my final full day in Australia, and I am now back in the room, about to get ready for the big push tomorrow. As always, I get a little depressed whenever it comes time to leave one of my travel destinations, and today was no different. My plunge back to reality was always coming, but who would have thought so soon? Anyway, I didn't let it put a damper on the occasion....
I started out the day by exploring two sections of the city that I never got around to during my stay in Sydney with the girls: King's Cross and Wooloomooloo (that's right...Wooloomooloo). King's Cross is the red light district of Sydney, but there are supposed to be a couple of interesting things to check out. Its seediness didn't really show during the early afternoon, it just seemed like any other inter-city suburb, with lots of traffic, some shops and places to eat. I ended up walking about Victoria Street, a residential street filled with old Victorian terrace houses. The street is also lined with trees, and offers a nice, relatively quiet reprieve from the ruckus going on around the area. I explored on foot a bit more, and came across a neat side street with some unique looking coffee shops and boutiques. From there I made my way into Wooloomooloo, a district locked near the harbor. Its historically a working-class, lower income area, but the public housing in the area is actually well done, and not some eye-sore monoliths you might expect.
As I came to the harbor-side I bounded upon a place recommended by the guidebook: Harry's Cafe de Wheels. The place isn't really a cafe, its a just a small trailer, but its actually a Sydney icon. Famous for its meat pies and hot-dogs, the little trailer first began operations in the 1930s, serving sailors based at the wharf. The place is still going strong all these years later, and has a large number of photos hung all around the sides of celebrities who have stopped by for a bite. I noticed Russell Crowe had his mug up there. I figured, "When in Rome", and went for a meat pie (only $3.70) smothered in bbq sauce (as lunch time was just beginning, the line wasn't very long, but a small crowd began to gather as I ate). It didn't blow my world away, but it was pretty good. Definitely messy. Anyway, I tried a local favorite, just like Mr. Crowe. He and I are basically drinking buddies.
From there I cut through the city's botanical gardens, which abut the CBD's eastern edge. The park is huge, and apparently immensely popular with the locals (no surprise, gorgeous as the weather was today). Joggers and walkers went up and down the walkways, while the grass was filled with a number of pick up football (soccer for the Yanks) games. Some sat on the grass in the shade of trees, taking their lunch or to read. I stood by and watched to see how good the locals were at football (alright, I suppose) for a while, and then moved on.
I crossed from the gardens to the CBD to once again look for Aurora Place, the office building designed by Renzo Piano. Before reaching it I crossed the pedestrian mall of Martin Place, where a crowd had gathered to watch skate-boarders performing tricks over a stairway. Interestingly enough, they were the same dudes I had just seen a couple days before in Brisbane, doing the same thing. Small world, I guess. I too stood by and watched for a bit, putting the "action" setting of my camera (three shots in a second) to the test.
This time I found Aurora Place no problem (now that I knew what it looked like). The exterior is pretty impressive, but the interior let me down a bit. Unfortunately the lobby is just a bank of elevators, and not much else. However, I became acquainted with Edward, the receptionist (not sure what else to call his position-he basically is there to greet people, and make sure no bad shit happens). He immediately asked if I needed assistance; apparently a young guy listening to an iPod and sporting shades was a bit out of place in the building. I explained my reason for entering, and he lightened up, and was quite the friendly chap. He let me flip through a coffee table-type book they had on the history of the building, and questioned me on my interest in modern architecture. We chatted for a while longer, interrupted once by another worker in the building (security guard I think), who came over to complain about the country's politics with Edward. His claim that "the Labour and Liberal parties are all a bunch of fucking cunts" took me a bit by surprise, and made poor Edward (who I would say was in his 60s), blush. Anyway, with a decent discussion on Aurora Place, and an idea of the local sentiment towards the two main national political parties, under my belt, I said my goodbyes and headed out.
Going back for a rest in the hotel, I walked part of the way along King's Street, a portion of which is a large, pedestrian only shopping arcade. Usually this is nothing special, but at that time I was able to catch some impressive street performers, including a little Asian guy performing acrobatics with a jump-rope, a dude banging out tunes on plastic cans (the kind you might buy driveway sealer in) with drumsticks, and a Japanese couple playing a didgeridoo and some kind of cymbal.
After resting up in the room, my last order of business in Sydney was lunch with Pierre. We agreed to meet in front of the Town Hall once again. For me it turned into an ad-hoc people watching session, as he showed up quite a bit later than we agreed. It was OK though, I felt like a local, waiting at everyone's favorite meeting point. We had a nice dinner of Chinese, this time in a small hole-in-the-wall joint some way down George Street. After dinner we strolled about for a while, affording me the opportunity to witness the Friday night crowds hitting the bars, restaurants and clubs along George street. We eventually settled on a bench located in a little pedestrian square, chatting and enjoying the perfect night air. Unfortunately I had to call a stop to proceedings as the time passed 10, so I could come back and prepare for tomorrow's long road home.
With that, my time in Australia has reached its end. For now. The past two weeks have slipped by quicker than I had imagined, which is a testament to what a good time its been. There is so much to be had in this country I can only say I definitely plan on coming back. What I have seen so far has impressed though, and I think we can call this one a success.
Photos: tree-lined Victoria Street, in King's Cross; Harry's Cafe de Wheels in Wooloomooloo, where Your Correspondent rubbed shoulders with the greats (OK, not really) for a quick lunch; Sydney CBD from across the Botanical Gardens with football matches going on in the foreground; Renzo Piano's Aurora Place, in Sydney CBD; Your Correspondent and friend Pierre, before parting ways; all six of the inhabited continents have now been touched upon by The Four Corners.
I started out the day by exploring two sections of the city that I never got around to during my stay in Sydney with the girls: King's Cross and Wooloomooloo (that's right...Wooloomooloo). King's Cross is the red light district of Sydney, but there are supposed to be a couple of interesting things to check out. Its seediness didn't really show during the early afternoon, it just seemed like any other inter-city suburb, with lots of traffic, some shops and places to eat. I ended up walking about Victoria Street, a residential street filled with old Victorian terrace houses. The street is also lined with trees, and offers a nice, relatively quiet reprieve from the ruckus going on around the area. I explored on foot a bit more, and came across a neat side street with some unique looking coffee shops and boutiques. From there I made my way into Wooloomooloo, a district locked near the harbor. Its historically a working-class, lower income area, but the public housing in the area is actually well done, and not some eye-sore monoliths you might expect.
As I came to the harbor-side I bounded upon a place recommended by the guidebook: Harry's Cafe de Wheels. The place isn't really a cafe, its a just a small trailer, but its actually a Sydney icon. Famous for its meat pies and hot-dogs, the little trailer first began operations in the 1930s, serving sailors based at the wharf. The place is still going strong all these years later, and has a large number of photos hung all around the sides of celebrities who have stopped by for a bite. I noticed Russell Crowe had his mug up there. I figured, "When in Rome", and went for a meat pie (only $3.70) smothered in bbq sauce (as lunch time was just beginning, the line wasn't very long, but a small crowd began to gather as I ate). It didn't blow my world away, but it was pretty good. Definitely messy. Anyway, I tried a local favorite, just like Mr. Crowe. He and I are basically drinking buddies.
From there I cut through the city's botanical gardens, which abut the CBD's eastern edge. The park is huge, and apparently immensely popular with the locals (no surprise, gorgeous as the weather was today). Joggers and walkers went up and down the walkways, while the grass was filled with a number of pick up football (soccer for the Yanks) games. Some sat on the grass in the shade of trees, taking their lunch or to read. I stood by and watched to see how good the locals were at football (alright, I suppose) for a while, and then moved on.
I crossed from the gardens to the CBD to once again look for Aurora Place, the office building designed by Renzo Piano. Before reaching it I crossed the pedestrian mall of Martin Place, where a crowd had gathered to watch skate-boarders performing tricks over a stairway. Interestingly enough, they were the same dudes I had just seen a couple days before in Brisbane, doing the same thing. Small world, I guess. I too stood by and watched for a bit, putting the "action" setting of my camera (three shots in a second) to the test.
This time I found Aurora Place no problem (now that I knew what it looked like). The exterior is pretty impressive, but the interior let me down a bit. Unfortunately the lobby is just a bank of elevators, and not much else. However, I became acquainted with Edward, the receptionist (not sure what else to call his position-he basically is there to greet people, and make sure no bad shit happens). He immediately asked if I needed assistance; apparently a young guy listening to an iPod and sporting shades was a bit out of place in the building. I explained my reason for entering, and he lightened up, and was quite the friendly chap. He let me flip through a coffee table-type book they had on the history of the building, and questioned me on my interest in modern architecture. We chatted for a while longer, interrupted once by another worker in the building (security guard I think), who came over to complain about the country's politics with Edward. His claim that "the Labour and Liberal parties are all a bunch of fucking cunts" took me a bit by surprise, and made poor Edward (who I would say was in his 60s), blush. Anyway, with a decent discussion on Aurora Place, and an idea of the local sentiment towards the two main national political parties, under my belt, I said my goodbyes and headed out.
Going back for a rest in the hotel, I walked part of the way along King's Street, a portion of which is a large, pedestrian only shopping arcade. Usually this is nothing special, but at that time I was able to catch some impressive street performers, including a little Asian guy performing acrobatics with a jump-rope, a dude banging out tunes on plastic cans (the kind you might buy driveway sealer in) with drumsticks, and a Japanese couple playing a didgeridoo and some kind of cymbal.
After resting up in the room, my last order of business in Sydney was lunch with Pierre. We agreed to meet in front of the Town Hall once again. For me it turned into an ad-hoc people watching session, as he showed up quite a bit later than we agreed. It was OK though, I felt like a local, waiting at everyone's favorite meeting point. We had a nice dinner of Chinese, this time in a small hole-in-the-wall joint some way down George Street. After dinner we strolled about for a while, affording me the opportunity to witness the Friday night crowds hitting the bars, restaurants and clubs along George street. We eventually settled on a bench located in a little pedestrian square, chatting and enjoying the perfect night air. Unfortunately I had to call a stop to proceedings as the time passed 10, so I could come back and prepare for tomorrow's long road home.
With that, my time in Australia has reached its end. For now. The past two weeks have slipped by quicker than I had imagined, which is a testament to what a good time its been. There is so much to be had in this country I can only say I definitely plan on coming back. What I have seen so far has impressed though, and I think we can call this one a success.
Photos: tree-lined Victoria Street, in King's Cross; Harry's Cafe de Wheels in Wooloomooloo, where Your Correspondent rubbed shoulders with the greats (OK, not really) for a quick lunch; Sydney CBD from across the Botanical Gardens with football matches going on in the foreground; Renzo Piano's Aurora Place, in Sydney CBD; Your Correspondent and friend Pierre, before parting ways; all six of the inhabited continents have now been touched upon by The Four Corners.
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