Sydney, Australia

When we got to the airport in Sydney we were not bombarded with taxi drivers offering deals, we could understand their language (to an extent) and it was clean. This was a new experience for us. It soon became clear that we were not in the third world any longer. This came as a disappointment to me because I have become accustomed to the busy, loud, kind, and in your face energy of South and Central America. In Sydney everyone minds their own business and no one cares if you need a taxi or where you are staying. We found WIFI in the airport and skyped with our parents because we had not spoken to them in over thirty hours of travel. It was a very long trip to Australia and we just wanted to get somewhere to relax and settle.

We tried to call the gentleman that had accepted our couchsurfing request but his phone number was not working. So we wrote down his directions as well as directions to a nearby hostel just in case. We met a Scottish guy at the information desk at the airport who had recently done a world trip with his wife. He helped us out with bus tickets and advice for our adventure down under. To get out of the airport one way on a ten minute train downtown it was only $15 each. Canadian currency is also only worth 86 cents on their dollar so the exchange is crappy for our purposes. We bought a week long bus pass for $41 AUD even though we would only be in town for five days. After only three days, we have already spent over $100 in public transport ($5 per bus ride, $7 for ferries etc) so I'm glad we bought the pass. Also, the quarter candy machines cost $4 here, so we quickly came to realize that with the loud taxi drivers went the cheap empanadas and quarter bus rides.

We took a bus, a train and another bus to a place called Balmain where we were supposed to couchsurf. When we were travelling to the host site we stopped at Bondi junction near Bondi beach. There was a very nice organic market, and we stopped for groceries at a local chain called Coles.

We finally got to the the guy's home but he was not there. Another older guy who was there as a couchsurfer warned us to try and find another place to stay if we could. He showed us inside the home and I will attempt to paint a picture of the disgusting sight we saw. There was filth in the form of dirty dishes, old food and hoarded appliances and household items. There were bugs everywhere and the smell was similar to that of an extremely dirty locker room.The couchsurfer also showed us his neck where he had been bitten several times by "bedbugs" in the house. We were unfcomfortable standing, let alone staying there. We politely backed up out of the house and ran as far as we could as fast as we could (even backpackers have standards). It was so bad that we went to the hostel we had found and paid more than double the advertised rate for it. The most expensive accomadation so far in our travels has been $10 per person per night. Here the cheapest bed is worth $22 each and those beds are generally sold out. Next week the prices rise up to $50 per person per bed for a 10 bed dorm and New Years eve night there is nothing less that $375 per person. Even if we were prepared to pay that, the beds sold out last March. It's insanity.

We spent one night in Balmain Backpackers hostel. it was a very busy place full of long term working travellers. We had a good night's sleep and got in a fight with the owner the next morning. We packed up our things and were homeless once again.

I could spend an entire entry on the outrageous prices of Sydney but that would be boring. I will mention that Sydney is the most expensive city in the world followed by Tokyo. Also this is the most expensive time in the most expensive city. Two hours parking downtown costs $50.

In the morning we went to the Bahai temple which is absolutely beautiful. I have many pictures that I will post on my facebook page but I am not sure that it will accurately portray the building's beauty and peaceful nature. We sat inside the temple for some time and wandered around the gardens. Here we met several new friends. One man was serving as a guide and lived on the property. Another girl was a tourist from Switzerland who was also travelling through Australia and we also met the manager of the temple who very kindly invited us to stay at his home. We were thrilled since we had nothing lined up for that night and the prospects were not good. We drove with him to his lovely suite in Ryde that he lives in with his wife. As it turns out his wife and I served at the same time in Haifa, Israel. I was even in her photo album, what a small world. We had a great time with them, we all went out for dinner to a Thai place that they frequent. They explained to us that the Thai influence is great here because of the close proximity of the countries. We then walked around in an area called New-Town which is a trendy, new-age type of place. We went to a chocolate restaurant for dessert where we had coffees and hot chocolates.

The next morning we left our bags at their home with the intention of picking them up later and heading out to a hostel or another couchsurfing site we had found. We stopped at a market in balmain that was really like a huge garage sale with brand new product prices. We window shopped there and continued on to Central Station in downtown Sydney. We took the famous Manly ferry to Manly beach. It was a gorgeous ride with beautiful views of the harbour bridge and the opera house. The beach was nothing short of amazing. The water is the crystal clear bright blue that you see on post cards, the waves were crashing and the ocean was riddled with surfers and swimmers. We walked around for a while and found a spot to lay out our blankets on the sand. I slept there and browned (more than before) while Tyson swam. The waters are very cold (to me) and I could not swim in them. We hiked to North head where there is a beautiful look out of the city. On the hike we met a guy from Germany who we chatted with for three hours about travelling and life in general.

It stays light out until about 8pm here so we have been losing track of time. By the time we caught the ferry back it was around 7pm already. We hustled to the hostel area and found that there were absolutely no beds available whatsoever. Unfortunately both Tyson and I had also forgotten the name of the city, road and any other pointers to get back to the home of our friends. After some detective work and asking a lot of questions to strangers, by 9pm we managed to get back to Ryde to collect our bags with no where to go afterwards. Thankfully they offered us one more night at their place. They even prepared us dinner and mint ice cream for dessert. We watched movies and passed out.

The next morning the four of us head out to the temple where there was a deepening at 11am. The temple was packed full of people and there was a choir performing in between multi-religion prayers and readings. The choir was out of this world. They blew us away with their talent and really succeeded in setting a spiritual and reverent energy in the room. Our new Swiss friend who we had met a couple of days prior also joined us. We all socialized for hours and hours after the event and before we knew it, it was 4pm. The Malaysian Baha'i community had prepared a huge traditional lunch and invited us to join them. It created some real excitiment for Tyson and I about going to Malaysia because the food was so tasty.
At the temple we also saw some of the funny insects that Australia is famous for but thankfully we have avoided the poisonous spiders and snakes thus far. Australia has more varieties of dangerous animals than any other country. We have already been warned which to watch out for and how many minutes we have before we die from their bites. There is the funnel webbed spider, five minutes, red backed spider, five minutes. Also the brown snakes are very deadly. We have looked at pictures and they are not pretty. It's hard to believe that with this risk, many people walk around barefoot here. It is a type of style (I suppose) that many young people do not wear shoes around town.

We caught the bus back into town with our Swiss friend and parted ways with her as we head to our new hostel. It was in a town called Glebe which is very near downtown Sydney. It was a nice hostel, although very large and only provided internet at an extra cost. We stayed in a ten bed room and payed $45 AUD for both of us. The next night the new prices were acitivated at $45 per person per night and the prices would increase up until after New Years Eve. After we checked into our hostel, we went back downtown to check out the city at night. We walked up to the bridge that was lit up and circled the opera house. Both sites are very impressive and a lot larger than we had anticipated. The Opera house especially, is huge with very intricate design and details. I can now understand where it gets its fame.

Although over priced for what it is, Sydney is very beautiful and reminds us a lot of Vancouver. With one day left here and much more to see, we are heading out to the Botanical Gardens and Bondi Beach for the day.
"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"