Traveling Solo in Australia

I have never traveled alone before. Alone meaning not traveling with anyone or not know anyone in that city I am visiting. I finally decided to get out of my box and to do just that – traveling Solo in Sydney, Australia. A continent that I have never been before and more than 7,000 miles away from where I live. This adventure is truly a very memorable experience of my Spring 2010 !!!

I love traveling, I mean I LOVE traveling. I love everything about it – the people I meet , the different cultures from different countries and cities I visit, the food, the tourist attractions. I love traveling so much that I even enjoy airplane food, long lines to go through immigration/customs, filling out immigration forms, long wait for the luggage, and the tight seats on the plane when I travel economy. That’s how much I love traveling. Traveling is my “drug” , my “therapy’ and sometimes my way to get to know “me”. I tell people I can live without wearing designer clothes, designer bags, designer shoes or eating fancy food as long as I can travel and see more places all over the world.

After 15 hours on a plane I finally arrived in Sydney, Australia. When I got there, it was cold and cloudy since their winter season starts in 1 week. BBrrrhhhh !!! How I wish I brought sunny California with me.

Day 1 in Sydney, I got into the shuttle to go to my hotel and noticed that the driver is on the right hand side. The driving in the city was fast , changing lanes and not much regard for pedestrians. The driving reminded me of being in Time Square in NYC or one of the crazy streets in Manila. After I have dropped off my luggage at the hotel, I was ready to explore the city with me, myself and I. I went to have some dimsum in Chinatown which was just 4 blocks away from my hotel. My first stop, Art Gallery of New South Wales. I joined the tour of the highlights of the gallery. The painting , statues and crafts were all so amazing. It was not the paintings that awed me but it was the huge number of students in their uniforms ages 5 to 18 y ear olds in this gallery. I guess, Australians emphasize and nurture the appreciation of art. I then head to attend mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral, the first Catholic Church in Sydney. I learned a Catholic mass is the same in Australia, Philippines and US. I also stopped by Australian Museum It started to rain, but that did not stop me. I still continued to see other tourist places in Sydney. I went to Darling Harbour and enjoyed the sunset at 5 pm. Then continued to walk around the streets of Sydney until I found myself in Circular Quay where 2 world famous attractions are located – The Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House. It’s now 8 pm, time to head back to my hotel room and take my first train ride here in Sydney.

Day 2 in Sydney, I have been up since 4 am because of the 17 hour time difference of LA and Sydney. I turned on the TV and most of the channels are about sports – rugby, footsy (Australian football), golf, Tennis French Open – omg! I did read about Aussie’s love for sports but now I am actually seeing it myself . It was raining heavily on this day. I took my first ferry ride from Circular Quay to Olympic Park where they had the 2000 Summer Olympics. It was nice to see the venues for the different events. I even get to see the ANZ stadium where they were going to have the first Rugby game of the season that night. As I was walking around, I suddenly hear people cheering and screaming, I got a little scared that something was wrong. As it turned out the Rugby Players are walking around Olympic Park. I did take a couple pictures of the players even if I do not know who they are. Now I take a train back to the city center. I visited The Museum of Contemporary Art and Sydney Observatory. Did a little shopping at The Rocks. Some people said that I got to try some kebabs so I had some for dinner. It now, 8 pm and I found myself sitting inside the Sydney Opera House and about to experience the music of Sydney Symphony Orchestra. There are all so good. I am glad I got to watch a live performance rather than just doing a tour of the Sydney Opera House. Learned a few things about opera music from David, Australian sitting on my right side. I also learned certain “clapping’ rules when watching an orchestra perform. I really love all these new experiences.

Day 3 in Sydney, once again I woke up before sunrise. And since the rain have stopped, I decided to walk around and grab breakfast in a nearby café instead of eating in the hotel. It is a cold morning. After walking around for 30 minutes , 8 blocks and 5 cafes, I ended up in a 7 Eleven store sipping cappuccino because all the café opens up at 9 am. What 9 AM ?!? Today, I can see some sun and some blue skies so I took advntage of it and went to Bondi Beach and Manly Beach. It was so cold and windy in Bondi beach so I did not get to see the beautiful “attraction” as my gay friend would say. I like Manly Beach, it is a town about 40 minutes away by ferry from Sydney Harbour. It was nice to walk around this town. Once again, I get to see how much Aussie love sports - I saw highschool boys with their shirts off playing footsy on the sand . I also saw a few surfers and swimmers. It was cold and this do not bother them at all.

Day 4 in Sydney, as my solo adventure in Sydney ends today. I get to do a few more things before my flight to Melbourne. I got to try their favorite Australian spread – Vegemite. I will not share too much about this. All I can say is it is unforgettable and definitely very Australian. Everyone got to have some Vegemite when they visit Australia. I also learned a few Australian words – “Cheers” (Thank you) “No worries” (Welcome), Ta (Bye) and how they say the number “8”.

I am so glad that I chose Sydney as the place to travel alone because they have a great transportation system so I get to explore the city like a local by bus, train and ferry all for just $41 for a 1 week pass. Their prices also includes taxes so that’s pretty nice too when shopping.

The second part of my trip – I am in Melbourne. I am staying with my high school friends – Fe and Thess and also at my gradeschool friend, Christine. It was definitely a great reunion for us.

Day 1 in Melbourne, I explored the city with their free hop on hop off tram. I went to a tour of Parliament of Victoria, St. Patrick’s cathedral and Bourke St. for shopping. Just enjoyed the different sights while on the tram. Then had dinner with Fe and her husband, Fhedz and Thess with her daughter, Thadine.

Day 2 in Melbourne, Fe, Fhedz, Romy and I went for a 3 hour drive along the Great Ocean Road. I get to see the 12 Apostles rock formations that I first saw on pictures in a gallery in Las Vegas. I was so happy to see it in person. I also got to eat for the first time kangaroo meat. Very tough and required a lot of chewing. I was so happy when we went to the ice cream parlor and saw all these unique ice cream flavors – Boysenberry, Bailey, and Figtree. Yummy ! Then we all went to my friend’s Christine’s lovely home for dinner.

Day 3 in Melbourne, I had brunch Christine’s family, Fe and her husband and Thess and her family in a hotel overlooking the beach. We shared stories about our gradeshool and high school days and lots of laughters. It was great to reconnect and catch up on each other’s lives after not seeing each other for many years. After brunch, we went to church at St. Patrick’s Cathedral since it’s Sunday. In the afternoon, we walked around the city, harbour and did some shopping. I then found out that price of Ugg boots in Australia is the same in the States. Then again, we had dinner at Christine’s.

Day 4 – time for me to head back to the States. It might be the end of my trip but definitely have lots of great unforgettable experiences and memories. There were a few things that I found very unique here in Australia – they are very eco-friendly. They have this toilet bowl and sink combo so as you wash your hand the water you use for washing going directly to the toilet tank to be used as a flush, it is very common in restaurants that they serve cage free chickens. However, they smoke a lot here in Australia, there are walking chimneys everywhere. Another thing that I like is you can also text message on their payphones.

This is my Australia adventure! I experienced and learned a lot during this trip but my greatest lesson is – “Wherever I am, I am still who I am so I got to love me so I can give more love!” God, Thank you very much.

I’ve been to 5 continents and 2 more continents to go – let’s keep on going!!!

- Kaye