Day 1
The 13.5 hour flight was GNARLY (plus it took an hour to load and get off the ground.) I was able to sleep for 6 hours then watched 2 movies (Blades of Glory and a killer indy called Cashback) and a few episodes of The Simpsons. The food was excellent and plenty. I did not need to bring any of the stuff I carried on. I lucked out and had an empty seat next to me and met a very cool girl in my row from Alaska who was going to school in Newcastle. She was reading Angels and Demons so we had a good chat about Dan Brown. The crew passed out eye covers and socks to encourage folks to take off their shoes. I got two pairs :) you can never have enough socks!!
On the ground at Sidney International I was pulled into a very detailed search by customs. It took the better part of an hour and all of my stuff was unloaded and inspected very closely. They were very nice but scolded me for my knife (formerly Andrea’s) that I did not declare and they confiscated all of my beef jerky. L They asked twice if I had any pornography. I assume that A) I looked like I did or B) Americans always travel with pornography and they ask all of us the same question. I Met some cool folks from Brazil on the shuttle bus ride down town (is everyone from Brazil amazingly good looking??). He was a free diver and was packing oversized fins. I’m certain she was a bikini model. They gave me some good info on the Great Barrier Reef.
Day 2
The Maze Backpacker hotel is kind of a dump but it’s clean and safe, plus I get 15 free drinks. It’s a holiday weekend (Ozzie Labor Day) so the city is buzzing, to top it off the Super Bowl of rugby is in town as well. Tonight was movie night at the Maze, we watched a bootleg copy of Stardust and a couple of English indy films. Good stuff.
Sydney = San Diego
The vibe is almost the exact same right down to the weather. (if you can put aside the fact they drive on the left) but it is really expensive here, a can of coke was almost $3.00. Good thing I don’t like coke that much! I can see why they brag about the 15 free drinks!
I went to some of the usual tourist spots today: Darling Harbor, The Sky Tower and China Town. I passed by a wildlife park that had a huge picture of a Sugar Glider out front so I had to go in. I was lucky enough to meet the marsupial keeper who went in to the Glider exhibit and put some food in for them so they would come out. Sure enough there they were and twice as big as my gliders. The keeper was pretty astounded that I had pet sugar gliders in the USA. We had a nice chat. It’s funny how much my “accent” stands out. As it was in the UK, folks just like to hear me talk, which of course works both ways.
Off to the airport. This stay in Sydney was just to recover from the flight and get acclimated. Tonight I went to the airport for a 5 hour flight to the top of the country and begin my real trip. The airport was a huge mess (holiday plus Rugby Super Bowl) almost every flight was delayed and many were canceled. My flight to Darwin was 4 hours late putting me in at 3 AM. Ouch. Something funny did happen while I waiting for my flight.
I ran into a group of kids all wearing hip hop clothes and sideways baseball caps, these wanna be hip hoppers were hysterical. I couldn’t resist asking one of them where they got, LA Lakers, Dodgers, Raiders and Cardinals hats. He very politely told me they were a professional dance troop on tour and they got the “gear” in LA. Turns out they were really nice kids and were astounded to find that I had lived in Inglewood so close to Compton and I had even seen Snoop Dog live I concert. It was a freakin crack up. The picture says it all. When I asked how they got the money to travel he said they were supported by their church. How gangster is that J.
Day 4 Darwin
The doorstep to the jungle and it’s hot and muggy like Tampa in June. I’m here for one day at a hostel before heading off camping in the rain forest for 3 days. It’s a pretty cool place, as in Sydney folks are in a party mood, things are a little cheaper here but not much. Bottle of beer is $5 and my pancakes were $10 this AM. I will need to watch my money closely.
One funny story from last night. I checked in at 3:30 AM and was given my room key. I went upstairs to the room and found 3 bunk beds with one open at the top. I tried to make as little noise as possible and slipped into the bathroom to change. I noticed the toilet seat was down but didn’t think anything of it. In my haste I left it up. I climbed into bed and as my eyes adjusted, I noticed the person to my left was a girl. I looked down and they were all girls, they had put me in a girl’s dorm!! The even started snoring little girl snores. Uh oh wait till they hear me L. This was kind of a dilemma, I thought it might be a bit of a shock to wake up and find me in their midst, I got back up and put more clothes on and went in and put the seat down. (I am trained very well) when the sun came up they were quite surprised to see me but didn’t really have a problem. I closed my eyes so they could change (well they were almost closed) and all was well. We are getting along great, there is one Canadian and 3 Aussies. It’s good to be the man around the house once again, I hope nothing breaks.
