Well, I haven't posted in a week, but it’s not because I
haven’t found anything worth posting about. I’ve been busy with work, catching
up with old friends, and seeing and doing things that I wanted to do the first
time I was here and didn’t get to, or things I missed when I left Sydney. I’ll
share just a few of the highlights so far.
Saturday was my first day off, and I spent it wandering
around Darlinghurst, Paddington, and Surry Hills looking at all the little shops
and markets. One thing new I did was stop by the Paddington Reserve. This used
to be a reservoir for drinking water. After it was emptied in the 1920’s, it
had several reincarnations as a car park, a lawn, and I think a market. Then
the roof fell in, and the city decided to turn it into a sunken garden. One part
of the garden still has the old supports for the roof. The second part (which
was closed off) still has the roof and lets you see what the reservoir looked
like back when it had the roof on it.
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| Reminiscent of the Roman Aqueducts |
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| The pool is a nod to the Reserve's history. |
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| Cool, but a little creepy. This was just a small area though. |
It was really pretty, but I didn’t stick around too long
because there was a wedding happening that afternoon and I didn’t want to crash
it. The officiant informally invited me to stay, but I really didn’t feel
comfortable in my jeans and t-shirt with everyone else all dressed up.
After that, another stop on my list of things I always meant
to do: have a drink at the Captain Cook Hotel. For those of you who don’t know,
there’s a Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage. But it’s a high end hotel, whereas
the one in Sydney is a local pub. I was dying of thirst, so all I asked for was
water, but I’m glad to say I’ve been to the Captain Cook Hotel in two
hemispheres.
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| Captain Cook: representing drunks worldwide since 1779 |
On Sunday, I went to Paddy’s Market in the morning to buy some
fruit and vegetables. Paddy’s Market has a lot of stalls full of crap of
questionable quality and sourcing, but the fruit and veg section is pretty
good. I was looking for mangosteen, but didn’t find any. I guess it’s not in season.
So I got a mango and a papaya instead. I’ve never prepared a fresh papaya so I
will have to look up how to do that!
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| Fruit at Paddy's Market |
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| The durian are the weird spiky melons under the calendar. |
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| I never get tired of this view. |
On the way home, I had the chance to enjoy some great guitar
music by one of the buskers near Westfield Mall. He was probably one of the
best buskers I’ve seen. I stayed and watched him play for at least fifteen
minutes.
Today, I went snorkeling at Clovelly Beach. I didn’t take my
camera, so sorry for the lack of pics. But I enjoyed the snorkeling even though
the water was a bit cold. I even got to see one of the big blue groupers they have
in the area! He was really pretty, but I was glad they only eat coral, or else I
might have been intimidated by his size.
Something different I’ve been doing this time is writing my
experiences in a travel journal. My grandparents suggested it the last time I
came over, but I really didn’t know what to write, or how I was going to
maintain a travel journal for 2 years. Then, my friend Erica bought me one that
I used when we went to Japan and I really enjoyed it. It’s a little hard to
keep up when I’m tired at the end of the day, but I like to go back and read
the things I wrote and look at the things I’ve drawn. And it will be helpful to
remind me of things for composing blog posts in the future!
4 comments:
I thought the Captain Cook was condemned!
I seem to remember that too. Or it sold, or something. But it's still there, and open. Not too many customers at 3:30 p.m. on a Saturday, though.
Shudder, cockatoo flashbacks! I'm sorry you didn't get to crash the wedding, that is SO much fun! (It's easy to find people fascinating when you only know them an hour or two.) Maybe next time!
Andria, I probably would have stayed if I had been invited by the bride or groom and not just the officiant!
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