After arriving in Australia's capitol city Jackie and I found ourselves weary from travel.
I had secured a room byin the City Resort Hostel is Woolloomooloo by shooting for them in exchange for room and board, as I have at several points in this trip and as arduous a journey as it was to find the place, the additional savings were too good to pass up. The building is high and narrow and despite the fact that no smoking signs are posted on nearly every door, the place smelled of my grandfather's den, but the room was private and the WiFi was free - so I was a happy camper. Or backpacker, as the case may be.
After dropping our bags in our own private Idaho, ie room 30 on the 2nd floor of the walk up hostel, Jackie and I went in search of sustenance, and with a map of freebies and deals at reception, we were able to source some tasty Thai at The Strand Hotel, just a block away. The food was good, a fair price, and the bartender took it upon himself to talk us through our trip to Australia. I think he had a thing for tall blondes, but when information about trekking into the outback can be ascertained, I am fine being the chubby, dark-haired sidekick any day! Aussie bartender was insistent that we make the drive out to Uluru (Ayer's Rock for those of us old enough to remember Saved by the Bell when it first aired) and it re-sparked our desire to take our dinky hatchback into the vast openness of central Australia.
Back in our bunk I slept restlessly, which has become a trend, and awoke with the morning songs of the birds yet again. However, this did not lead to an early start to the day. We went in search of the post office, which I do in every country I visit. This often leads to a stronger love for my country, as we Americans believe in convenience and believe in things being open all the time. Our dreams of stamps were crushed as a nice native in Darlinghurst pointed out the offices are closed on weekends so we instead chose to eat. At the top of William Street is a cute little art cafe called Awkward where a lone waitress runs around frantically in the attempt to service the breakfast crowd - but does so with a smile. They had wifi, line drawings on the walls, eclectic mismatched furniture and served their breakfast beans in little tins so I was good to go. I unfortunately, did not get to enjoy the atmosphere for long as I had to run back to the hostel and shoot the location while Jackie was benefited the luxury of a lazy Saturday morning perched atop a hill on a rainy morning in Sydney.
After a quick shoot I headed back to the cafe, only to pass American actor and rapper Donald Glover/Childish Gambino on the street. In the hopes he would in turn ask me to carry his children I gave a quick 'big fan' mid-motion. I'd like to think he is still wondering who that bewitching beauty in the lesbian flannel and moccasins was.
With the clouds temporarily giving way to bits of blue skies, we made our way out to the Botanic Gardens where I insisted that we walk around the Wish Tree 3 times forwards and 3 times backwards for good luck, as Jackie insisted we looked like assholes.
The gardens give way to the bay and to the Sydney Opera House. I'll admit that overcast and rainy is not the environment in which you want the SOH to be revealed, but alas this trip - and life - is a lesson is making the best of it - so I took a long moment to gaze upon the white structure nonetheless. We walked around the house, went inside the house, sat on the steps of the house and took some photos in front of the house before we decided that we had exhausted the tourist opportunity and moved on to the Harbour Bridge, the Museum of Contemporary Art and some postcard shopping. The Museum had an interesting exhibit entitled 'Taboo' that spoke, at least to some degree, about Aboriginals. I make note only because in this sea of vanilla and bronze I have not really seen any note of indigenous culture or spirit and it was nice to see someone acknowledge it - if only to comment on the raping and pillaging of it.
Located behind the museum is the section of town known as The Rocks. For anyone from Sacramento, California, this is the equivalent of Old Sac with antiquated architecture and the opportunity to spend loads of money on things you never really need at every turn. Luckily for us our freebie map also made note of free music night at the Hero of Waterloo, the oldest pub in Sydney, but before being able to drink we had to eat.
I will say here only that while in Australia, so not eat Italian food. I have been spoiled by my mother's homemade pasta sauce, but even if I had been raised on Ragu, I would know something was not right here. After having to explain to the waiter that spaghetti marinara does not mean with seafood, I ordered what turned out to be their noodles with a splash of tomato juice and gristle from the chicken parts. Needless to say I was underwhelmed and added copious amounts of salt to my food to make it palatable while receiving a heart to heart/pep talk/lecture from Jackie about pulling myself together.
It is likely clear that on this trip I have not been thrilled with life - often vacillating between long stretches of silence where I am so inside my own head that I am totally unaware of my physical surroundings and tears. Lots and lots of tears. The lack of sleep has not been good for my emotional state and, understandably my travel mate would like me to get my shit together. I assume mostly for my own benefit - but given our current circumstances - for her's as well - and rightfully so.
After our disappointing Italian dining experience seated next to the cast of 'Hocus Pocus' we headed back to Hero where a cute young barkeep suggested Tooheys when I asked what beer I should sample while in Australia. Now here is my question, if a foreigner asked you while in the US what they should drink - would you actually recommend Budweiser? Because the Bud from down under is for sure what I got in my pint glass. With both Jackie and myself being lightweights we nursed our one beer each while listening to folk music and watching the locals chatter amongst themselves. While staring at some poor dentisty in disbelief we accidentally gave the green light to some old timers, but with my friendly flirt game nearly dead and gone - and so were they.
Tipsy and exhausted, yet feeling satisfied with our day of touring the town, we began our meandering walk back the way we came, past the harbour at night and through the city to our hostel. Having not slept well, Jackie insisted I take some meds to get me to bed early in hopes I would feel better both physically and emotionally the following day. She took her role of caretaker so seriously that she got all mental patient on me and made me lift my tongue after shoving 2 Tylenol PM in my face just to make sure I wasn't trying to pull a fast one on her. I suppose that is what friends are for - pushing drugs.
Another restless night of sleep due to the excessively noisy neighbors and a morning of bird chatter. Here we go again...
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