Kjersti and I have spent the last few days maxin and relaxin here in the capital of New South Wales. We rolled into town last Thursday night, ready to hand Tori's keys back over to Hertz and spend a few days exploring the big city.
Our first afternoon however, Sydney decided to smack back a little. And we learned the hard way to never ever leave Tori on the curb even for a second alone (even if the hotel tells you it's ok, even if you are in a loading zone) because you will get a ticket for not having a ticket.
Oh and the best part is, the ticket we were lacking WAS FREE.
That's right you need to get a free TICKET to be in a loading zone for less than 10 minutes or you will get an $80 ticket in fines. I can't make this stuff up. And no, the parking guy doesn't care that it's a stupid rule, that you were uninformed, that the hotel said it was fine, or that you are obviously just a tourist. Jerk.
Can I report HIM to the Visitor's Information Centre?
Car drama aside, we returned Tori the next day (and thanks to the parking man we were happy to see her go, good as she had been to us) and hit the town on foot and public transport. Since then, we've hit both Bondi and Manly beaches to top up the tans (no more sunburn for this girl - we're going brown people, going brown!), took in some underwater wildlife at the Aquarium (the closest I'll ever get to diving), saw an amazing modern dance performance at the Opera House, sipped champers at the Opera Bar as the sun set behind Sydney, dined on fabulous seafood while gazing at views of Darling Harbour, and relived our youth at Cargo Bar on a Saturday night.
A few observations:
- Sydney reminds me a LOT of London - big city with an English feel - it's very familiar to me. But you have to replace the India culture of London with a Southeast Asian culture in Sydney. Not a lot of curry but some of the best damn noodles, thai food and sushi I've ever had...in ABUNDANCE.
- The Opera House, while a global icon, kinda looks a bit dated and 70's from up close. It's not gleaming white, it's more of a yellowing beige. I really felt a bit oppressed by the whole thing. Does that make me a bad person?
- While I prefer the neighborhood around Manly Beach to the neighborhood around Bondi Beach, I actually prefer Bondi Beach to Manly Beach. Go figure.
- Watching surfers is HOURS of entertainment but they are kinda like those kids on the skateboards in big cities. Sometimes you just watch and wonder if they are ever going to successfully nail a move.
- Definitely take the ferry to Manly Beach. It's like getting a whole Harbour Cruise for $6 instead of the $30+ some of the places want to charge.
- I am almost feeling too old to go clubbing. Is that sad?
- Lonely Planet actually does REALLY WELL on restaurant recommendations. Y-U-M. Oh, and pretty much every restaurant in Sydney is BYO. No corkage fee involved. Needless to say, we both felt a lot better about all that wine we purchased in Hunter Valley that we had no way of getting home!
I think Australia loves us.
Well, everyone except the parking guy.
(see? doesn't it look white and shiny? It's not.)
2 comments:
I vote for seeing what happens if you don't pay the ticket. The parking authority in Anchorage writes of thousands of tickets written to rental cars every year.
The SOH is not white and shiny on purpose. It is that color for a reason - if they made it white it would create a glare for the ships coming in/out of the Harbour.
And yeah, don't pay the ticket.
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