Sydney
It’s probably common to arrive in Australia excited. It’s famously a fantastic country to visit. I arrived in Sydney so shattered I had no energy for excitement. Driving through New Zealand and moving every day had been tiring, and I had truly given every last bit of energy to snowboarding, only hours before getting on a flight. My mind was tired and my body felt bruised and broken. I needed a rest.
When looking for cheap beds in Sydney, I stumbled across a hostel which centred around meditation. The beds were the cheapest in the city, but only if you committed to meditate 90 minutes every day with the group, including an early session at 7am every morning. I decided that given I needed a rest, being forced to sit quietly was probably a good thing, and the early wake up would encourage some early nights. My first 24 hours in the hostel involved only rest and meditation, and when on my second day I ventured out for a walk around the city, everything still hurt. I was still recovering.
I’m glad I still managed to see some of this beautiful city. The opera house and the harbour bridge didn’t disappoint, but also the mixture of buildings and the public spaces made it an interesting place to walk around. Residential streets were nicely coloured and sometimes ornate, some mazy spaces around museums and galleries felt welcoming and the botanical gardens were filled with trees alien to me and the sound of birdsong.
I also got to see the blue mountains before leaving - a two hour train ride from central station. From a distance the mountains do have a blue haze, apparently due to chemicals produced by the multitudes of eucalyptus trees there. What stood out to me more though, were the flat tops of the mountains, a sight I associate with Australia and hadn’t really witnessed before. I walked for a few hours round easy paths and stopped at numerous lookout points for panoramic views of dramatic nature. I wish I could have got deeper in to the tracks and trails that run through the national park, but I knew my body wasn’t ready for that yet, so I headed home… and left immediately to get an overnight bus to my next destination. I can rest later.