I can’t sleep on airplanes unless I’m
exhausted. No matter what I’ve tried so far it has been without success. I
don’t like resorting to drugs. In case something happens I don’t like being
drowsy or seeing little elves flying about the cabin. I’ve tried drinking the
day before, listening to sleepy music, force yawning, moonlight meditation
sessions, watching videos of sloths sleeping, counting sheep which usually ends
up in a craving for shoarma and drinking tea with milk. Nothing seems to work.
The flight from Hawaii to Sydney took about
11 hours. After 2 movies, half a book and 1 article I started to doze off. I
slept for a whole half hour when I got woken up by the pilot’s voice shouting
at me through the intercom system. “We are starting our approach to the
airport. We’ll be landing in approximately 30 minutes. Please fasten your
seatbelts, return your chair in an upright position and close the tray in front
of you. All electronic devices and mobile phones must be turned off until
you’ve have past customs. I hope you had a pleasant flight. We from Hawaiian
Air hope to serve you again soon. Mahalo”.
‘Finally we are there’, I thought. But no,
not quite yet. The intercom came back on again. “In accordance with quarantine
rules we will spray the cabin. Please remain seated until we have completed
this process. If anyone gets up before completion we will have to start all
over again. After the spraying stay seated for 5 minutes before getting up. I
thank you for your cooperation.”
The flight attendants opened all the luggage
compartments and walked passed while holding down the button on a spray can
with a disinfectant of some kind. The spray didn’t get everywhere and the can
was as good as empty by the time they reached the last compartments. It was
quite a farce. My flight neighbor, who was from Sydney shook her head and
laughed. “It is always like this”, she said. I can appreciate that Australian
government wants to protect their borders against foreign diseases which can harm
crops and what not. But with half measures like this it is more of a nuisance
than anything else.
After
I got off the plane it was quite a smooth ride through customs. The TV shows
about the Australian border control show a very strict policy and any undeclared
items are taken and the ‘smuggler’ fined. It took about 15 minutes in total and
I had no trouble at all ‘smuggling’ my Dutch mayo, hagelslag and curry ketchup
across the border. (For a friend, I don’t even like curry ketchup)
It was easy enough to find the shuttle bus
that would take me to Jolly swagman Hostel in Kings Cross where I would stay
for the coming 4 nights. Traffic in the city was crazy and it took about 1,5
hours to get there. I didn’t mind it that much. There were 2 pretty girls from
New Zeeland in the shuttle that were in town for some hair dressers expo. We
talked a bit. I was too tired to be very talkative so I didn’t end up with any
phone numbers. But it was a promising first 2 hours in my new country.
I checked in at the hostel and got settled in
my room. Since airplane food is generally disgusting and not very filling I
ventured out into Kings Cross to get a bite to eat. Some very salty fish ‘n
chips was the diner of choice. I went by an ATM to get some cash first. The
ATM’s here spit out monopoly money. Australian money looks weird. I’m not
saying the Euro doesn’t, but still. The colors are bright but not quite and the
watermark is transparent. Australian money has one feature though that makes is
the best money in the world. It is waterproof! Get thrown in the water by some
cheeky friends, go swimming without having to leave cash on the beach, go scuba
diving with some decompression beer money in your pocket. Just dry it off and
you´re ready to go. Briljant.
At about eleven I turned in. Time traveling
is exhausting. Let me explain. I left at 12.30 on the 7th of June. I
traveled for 11 hours. That would make it 23.30 on the 7th of June.
Instead I arrived at 19.00 on the 8th of June. Some made up border
called the International Date Line is to blame. So apparently you don´t have be
travelling at the speed of light to travel though time. I guess a certain
Albert was wrong, relatively speaking.
The next morning I woke at 7 in the morning,
made my way down to the kitchen and had some breakfast. I started working on a
new article in the common area and ended up talking to Juan. A guy from
Argentina who also had arrived the day before. He turned out to be my age and a
very nice guy. A nice surprise since we were surrounded by hung over people in
their early twenties. We ended up discovering Sydney together on this first
day.
We walked through the Botanical gardens
towards the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. He sun was out and it
was very comfortable 19 to 20 degrees Celsius. I really liked the Botanical
gardens. Lots of cool looking trees in a beautiful landscaped park. A bird
passed over which sounded like a goat and white Ibis are found everywhere. I
found that particularly cool since we go to the zoo to see its red cousin back
home. It felt like summer, but it is actually autumn. Juan and I walk past palm
trees as we heard the crackling of fallen leaves beneath our feet. I had some
trouble understanding that since for one from northern Europe that’s quite the
contradiction. But I can definitely get used to it.
The view of the Sydney Opera House and the
Bridge behind it as we looked across the water is pretty impressive. Everybody
always says it is, but seeing with my own eyes made me a believer. If you ever
go to Sydney keep your distance from the Opera House. From afar it looks a hell
of a lot better than from close by. It felt a bit like waking up next to a girl
that looked really hot the night before but turned into a mistake overnight. The
closer you get the more Asians you come across. Chinese, Japanese Koreans, you
name it. I don´t know why. I can’t explain it and I sure as hell can´t justify
it, but for some reason they get on my nerve.
We continued on around Circular Quay where
all the ferries dock towards an area called The Rocks. It seems to be an older
part of the city. There was a market with a wide variety of goods. Artsy stuff,
odd hippies selling incense, scarfs, a man who sold books who referred us to a
place where they sold books when Juan asked for a lonely planet.
Feet started hurting, I need to get some new
shoes pronto, so we decides to head back to the hostel. On our way there we
picked up some groceries at the local supermarket. I opted for a healthy meal. I
made a killer salad with feta, cherry tomatoes, some salt drizzled with garlic
infused olive oil. If you´ve never had garlic infused olive oil go out buy some
and treat yourself to heaven I a bottle.
The Vivid light festival was on in Sydney. I
decided to check that out. The buildings around Circular Quay, including the
Opera House had light projections on it. As I walked down town I heard the
sound of wings flapping. But it did not sounds as any bird. Turns out that the
palm tree in front of the hostel is the home to a huge bat. A wing span of at
least 1 meter, maybe more. I looked around if Christian Bale would emerge from
the darkness, but I guess he had a prior engagement. I had to think of my good
friend Laura, who freaked out when cute little bats passed overhead back in
Curacao. Although I´d like for her to be here, I´m sure she wouldn´t have liked
this big sucker at all.
I really like Sydney. I´ve been here only 1
day and I feel very comfortable here. It helps that the weather is nice and
there are pretty girls everywhere. I know Holland has a good percentage of
pretty women, Hawaii was not too bad either but Sydney is just ridiculous. In the
past two weeks I have seen more new things and met more new people then in the
past 12 months. I love it and although I miss my friends and family I feel genuinely
happy. This is the life I chose to live and it is the life I love.
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