East Coast Journey
We made it to Sydney on Wednesday and met up with Henni yesterday. Today we enjoyed a day of walking (and sitting and eating) around Darling Harbor, Sydney Cove with nice views of the Opera House and the Harbor bridge, the Rocks, and the city center. Here's what else we've been up to since Darwin:
We stayed one night in Brisbane at a great hostel--our dorm room was up in the tower of an old building originally built as a hotel with "1st class service and 3rd class prices". We liked Brisbane a lot, it reminded us a bit of Toronto and it was great to see so many people outdoors--walking, biking, barbequing or just hanging out. We also enjoyed the West End a lot, especially the 3 Monkeys Cafe. Of course we also had to go check out the "Birdee Num Num" bar, just because of the name (anyone else know the movie?, besides Lex and Papa of course).
We then took the local train up to Sandgate to stay with our Servas hosts Anishka, Tony and Sophie. Anishka is a yoga teacher so we got to join her for one of her classes, which was wonderful! We also got to enjoy yummy veggie food and laid-back conversation about life, travel and crazy Americans.
Our next stop was Mullumbimby, near Byron Bay, with our hosts Karin and Manfred, who are originally from Germany. Until recently they were living on an organic farm nearby, where they had hosted over one hundred WWOOFers. It was great to hear their WWOOFing stories and read in the guestbook how inspirational they have been in many people's lives. Karen drove us around to see some of the beautiful views of the area, including the amazing Byron Bay light house. They also introduced us to Dandelion coffee and dowsing (finding energy lines--interesting stuff!).
Sophie had convinced us to spend some time in Byron Bay itself, a beach town with a cool vibe. The first night we went to see Crash at the funky Lounge Cinema--intense movie! The next day was our anniversary, which we celebrated by relaxing on the beach, browsing in bookstores, getting a little drunk on two bottles of wine, and fending off a crazy German woman at dinner who was trying to steal Michael and our bread!
Monday we rode the bus 10 hours down to Buladehlah, where we met our next Servas hosts Ian, Kate and their 10 month old daughter Sage. Their house runs completely on solar power and rain water--it was great to learn more about that. Ian and Kate have also travelled a lot, so it was fun to exchange travel stories. And again we got to eat wonderful, healthy meals. We followed their suggestion and checked out Manly (a 30 minute ferry ride from the center of Sydney) for one night. We went through a bit of an ordeal at Circular Quay (changing from ferry to ferry and listening to the one boat guy warn "we don't want another Titanic"), but the gorgeous harbor views on the way to Manly more than made up for the wait.
We've really come to appreciate what a wonderful organization Servas is. It's amazing to experience the generosity, trust, open-mindedness, and feelings of connectedness that we have with all of our Servas hosts. When else do you just get to drop into other people's lives and interact almost like family with people you've just met? We've really met some great people, learned lots, and made connections that we hope will last a lifetime. Thank you to all of our hosts and we hope to return the hospitality one day!
Let's make it a contest. If you know the name of the movie, e-mail the answer to M&M. Knowing the name of the actor/actress is only worth half a point since if you know the movie you must know who said it. Alexa and I are of course not eligible since this is one of those movies watched on Circle Drive again and again and again and... Also, was the crazy German woman trying harder for the bread or for Michael, and, was this before or after the two bottles of wine? Love, Papa.
Oh, Sydney, beautiful Sydney!! Darling Harbor was my neck of the woods. Manly is lovely too!
If you're still in Sydney for a couple days, and you feel like a taste of China again -- there's an amazing tiny restaurant in Chinatown that makes homemade noodles. There are only about 10 tables and there's almost always a line out the door, but you can order while you're standing in line and then your food is ready as soon as you sit down. Yummy! Unfortunately, I don't remember what it's name was, but maybe your hosts know of it?
I'm beginning to think Scott and I should be Servas hosts when we move in to our new house... it sounds like a great organization!
G'day mates! (They really do say that, don't they?!)
Charlotte
WOW! I'm sitting here reading about your Australian adventures and was just thinking about the Australian adventure that Luke and I had tonight when we went to see the Wiggles in concert (if you don't know, they are four men from Australia who have quite the kiddy empire; inculding a show on the Disney channel, merchandise, concerts, DVD's, CD's etc...they have quite a following in the 2-5 crowd). What parallel lives we are leading!
You must be in kiwi land by now! did you see the All Blacks great victory over Australia in the rugby!!!
It was really cool to hang out with you in the Great Lakes for a couple of days. Sage was missing you once you'd left!
We'll send the photos of you wrestling the crocodile and eating those steaks from the shark we caught. Make sure you try some sauteed kiwi on a kebab on K Road in Auckland!
Enjoy the 'land of the long white cloud' (aeotearoa). haere r?.
ian+kate+sage
Hallo, da bin ich wieder! Bin heute mittag zwar mit großer Verspätung aber gut wieder in Linz gelandet - das heißt, rein körperlich bin ich anwesend, geistig noch nicht ganz...
Bussi, Henni