SydneySighter
After a lengthy time crouching in Australia I am but weeks away from my reintegration into America. I’ve only a few things left on my list to do before I can journey across the Pacific, namely polishing off three daunting exams and rounding out three esoteric term papers, booking my heinously expensive aeroplane ticket eastward, and slipping my absentee ballot in the mail for the upcoming presidential election. Luckily, I’ve been able to tick off many of my other goals early; specifically I can strike a fat line through “visit Sydney,” since I spent the last ten days as a Sydneysider with my father, traipsing about New South Wales for UQ’s spring vacation, both of us escaping serious heat (Houston for dad and Brisbane for me).
When you spend the first afternoon gleefully clinging to your caprese sandwich amid the breeze blowing off the harbour you know you’ve successfully escaped. Of course it doesn’t hurt to chow down on the best spring vegetable salad in memory at arguably the city’s swankiest restaurant, especially when your table overlooks a perfect view of the sunset over the harbour bridge. And who wouldn’t enjoy the epic vistas of Hunter Valley, which played background to a gloriously slow set of near-private wine tastings that revealed Verdelo as the region favourite.
For a small city the physical size of Boston with a population to rival Los Angeles, Sydney hosts a decent number of idiosyncratic neighbourhoods and an alarming sprawl of spacious suburbs. While much of the region is inaccessible to those not in the know, the heart of the city is knit close enough to walk freely and easily between neighbourhood to neighbourhood, a fact redeeming the otherwise crippling traffic and inadequate and expensive public transit. In our leisurely week we found the region offered good coffee, solid restaurants, decent wine, fantastic parks (both urban gardens and national reserves), and a number of good views.
As to which view was the most breathtaking, I still cannot decide. I offer a few contenders below:
Hunter Valley - famous wine region three hours north of the city
The Blue Mountains - the eucalyptus vapour turns it blue, and we were lucky enough to gaze at the three sisters, the Jameson Valley canyon, and a cluster of kangaroo also taking their morning tea
Taronga Point - a beautiful view looking back at the city from Taronga Zoo
The Rocks - offered the greatest view of the harbour, complete with skyline, Circular Quay, opera house, and harbour bridge
Bridge Climb - we couldn’t take cameras on the actual climb, but the views from the top of the ol’ coathanger were magnificent
Overall I had a thoroughly enjoyable time, though if I had to paint the tarnish on a silver lining I’ll admit it was expensive, and I found the art severely lacking (though it must be said that the theatrical arts — theatre, opera, ballet, symphony — were in good form, it’s just the visual art museums that fell short). But both of these qualms I take with me back on the plane to Queensland, so you can be sure to add them to the list of Australian shortcomings, rather than Sydney’s, along with poor telecommunications infrastructure and the country’s difficulty to access. Yet even in the face of these frustrations, it is easy to see why so many fall in love with Sydney and so few of its citizens ever leave it. It really was a fantastic vacation.