Day 2: G’day from Sydney!

I made it to Sydney! After an exhausting 30 hour journey, I am finally in Australia.

Last night I was hopeful that I would get a good sleep on my flight to Fiji. Unfortunately that didn’t exactly turn out to be the case. I did manage to get about five hours of sleep, which isn’t bad for an 11 hour flight, but I had assumed I would pass out as soon as I got in my seat.

The flight to Fiji was completely full, so my dream of having a row to myself didn’t come true. I ended up sitting the middle of a large family with grandparents, parents and kids all heading to Australia via Fiji. Thankfully they were quite content to leave me be to try and get some rest.

I have to give some recognition to the Fiji Airways crew; they were incredibly friendly and quite happy to be aboard. At one point, the lead flight attendant made an announcement advising that sleeping in the aisles of the plane is not allowed – there must be a story there! Despite my uncomfortable sleeping position, I can’t say I’d feel like moving to the floor.

We arrived in Nadi a little after 05:00, at which point the airport was quite empty. After going through security again, I decided to grab a seat and rest my head for a bit. Around 45 minutes later, I got up to find the terminal absolutely packed! There were flights to Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney all leaving at the same time, and to get to the washroom, I had to weave through one of the lines of people waiting to board their flight.

My time in Fiji was short, about three hours or so, but I would love to go back and visit in earnest. I had originally tried to schedule some time there on the way over but it didn’t end up working out.

The flight to Sydney was just as full, and I ended up being seated with a school group from Manly returning from their service trip to Fiji. They were volunteering in a village on the other side of the island, something which seems to be common as there was no less than three school groups on the flight. I was a bit offended when the students thought I was American, but they were quite friendly to chat to and tried teaching me some Aussie slang.

Upon arriving in Sydney, I was quite relieved to see my suitcase show up at the baggage claim. In fact, it was one of the first ones off! I was able to quickly make my way out of the airport and into the CBD where I am staying. The Sydney train network has a station directly at the international terminal, which makes getting into the city quick and painless!

I was able to check into my room immediately which was great as it gave me the chance to drop off my bags and have a shower before heading out to explore the city. My goal was to stay awake until 21:00, and since I was tired of sitting, I decided it would be a great day to walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

But first, I needed some caffeine. I found a coffee shop around the corner from my hotel and picked up a caffe latte and raspberry muffin, which gave me the fuel I needed to make it through the rest of the day. Feeling energized, I made my way down to Circular Quay, the main ferry terminal, to catch a view of the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge.

I made my way through the southern part of The Rocks, the original part of Sydney which was established in the late 1700s. This area consists of a maze of narrow streets, many of which have been opened up to pedestrians. It makes for such a warm and inviting environment, and I intend to spend more time here on Monday, since I’ll be seeing a performance there in the evening.

Eventually I made it to the Bridge Steps and climbed up to begin my walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The iconic bridge was completed in 1932 after almost a decade of construction. Despite its imposing size, it’s only about 1.5 km from end to end and took me about 25 minutes to walk (with stopping to take lots of photos of course).

The Sydney Harbour Bridge opened in 1932 after almost a decade of construction. The arched bridge carries vehicles, trains, bikes and pedestrians across Sydney Harbour, with the tallest part of the bridge at the midpoint being 134 m. I walked along the east side of the bridge, which provided for some great views of the CBD and Sydney Opera House. There’s an observation level in one of the pylons and I thought about stopping to take a look, but it cost $25 and closed at 16:00, and it was already 15:30, so I decided to push on.

Once on the northern side, I took the train from Milton’s Point to Chatswood to ride the Sydney Metro. This is one of the new transit projects that opened in 2019, and takes passengers from the northwestern suburbs to Chatswood. An under construction extension will go underneath Sydney Harbour through the CBD to Bankstown, and departs from the current double-decker trains by using long single-level automated trains.

I rode all the way to the end, and then back to Epping. The ride was quick and smooth, and I quite enjoyed standing at the front of the train on the way back. Again, I have to give some love to the Sydney transit network: with the exception of fares, it’s easy to use and every service I used was frequent enough that I was never waiting more than 10 minutes. At Epping, I took the long way back into the CBD, and enjoyed watching the sun set while crossing the Parramatta River.

I had two free “welcome drinks” to use at the hotel so I decided to try out their restaurant for supper. I tried a local beer which was quite refreshing and ordered a $32 (!!) burger which was just okay. I suppose I came out even with the two free drinks. One silver lining is that in Australia, there’s no tipping to worry about, and all prices include tax, so the price you see is what you pay. I certainly wish that was the case in Canada!

I was pretty exhausted so I ended up in bed around 21:00, which was just as well since it would be an early Saturday.

Today by the numbers

Flights taken: 2

Distance travelled: 7,488 miles (12,051 km)

Steps taken: 11,572

Times I thought I lost my passport: 1