Landed in Sydney. Completely confused the taxi driver as still in ‘Asia Mode’ – refused to enter the car until we had fixed a definate price, despite he explaining to us that he had a meter. Only realised later that in the west taxi drivers screw you by driving you in ever decreasing circles to your required destination – by the time you fall out of the car into the cutter you pay them for taking you the long way because you are do flipping dizzy!
Feeling decidedly worse for wear considering the jet-lag and … ahem … complentary drinks, we stumbled into town to have a look around Darling Harbour where the ferries bombed in and out, and a battleship and black submarine sat rusting away. Wobbled through town to Circular Quay … yet more ferries. Finally to see Sydney Harbour bridge from underneath … bet that picture doesn’t feature on many postcards. Continued through to ‘The Rocks’, the old part of town where we found a traditional Australian Bavarian pub, complete with Laderhosen, stag heads, fraulines and ooompa bands. The other three were almost home … was that a few tears in their eyes. (I have it on good authority the Bavaria and Germany are two completely different things … I of course, can`t tell the difference.)
Bweing here is weird … they drive on the proper side of the road … they speak [a kind of] English … it`s pissing it down with rain … they have proper shops with things that you´d actually want to buy … they park their cars in parking places rather than sprawl them over the pavement … and they even have old Queenie on their money! Hell … my senses are starting to dull all ready with the lack of smell, beeping horns and the dramatic decrease in processing power required to walk without having to avoid dog poo, being run over by mopeds, and fobbing off cyclo drivers.
Oh my goodness … it´s like a saturday afternoon back home.
Started to get a sinking feeling, a premonition of what it would be like when we finally got home. Ordinary again … nothing new … no one rushing up to ask where we come from … the only conversation we’ve had with the locals so far is “… do you want fries with that?”
|
