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South Pacific - part I

Sydney, Byron Bay, Brisbane, Fraser Island, Whitsunday Islands, Cairns, The Red Center, Melbourne

Hector Yague
2005-10-09 10:05:44

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Sydney

On the 27th of September, 2004 I landed in Sydney early in the morning after an overnight flight from Indonesia. I immediately hopped into a shuttle bus towards the kinky area of King's Cross, (in)famous for being the red district of Sydney (prostitution, strip tease clubs, etc) and also a popular backpacker area with tons of cheap youth hostels. Well, cheap might not be exactly the word I'm looking for here. After 5 months traveling in Asia, I had grown accustomed to Asian prices. However Australia is a whole different story and paying up around US$15 for a shared dorm room with another 8 fellows is pretty common. In Asia you would have gotten a cable TV'ed, AC'ed, pretty pimped out double room for yourself for that much. Oh well, welcome back to the first world Hector.

As I walked around Sydney for the first couple of days, I soon came to appreciate this city as the American way of life paradigm: suburban heaven, fast'n'furious financial district, open green areas, wide avenues, etc. Australia enjoys one of the highest living standards in the world. Salaries are just a tad lower of those in central Europe or the USA, but prices are significantly lower too. However, specially in the older districts like The Rocks or even King's Cross back alleys, I had the feeling I was once again walking London's pavement. I dunno, but the building facades, the black iron fences, the twisty residential streets sort of flashbacked me to my days living in Her Majesty's land, only in a cleaner, neater fashion. Actually, after being spotted and mapped out by England's colonialist sailor, explorer and national hero Captain James Cook in the mid-XVIII century, Australia was colonized by british convicts sent here on a last-chance opportunity for redemption, just like Christopher Columbus' crew in their desperate voyage in search for the Americas in 1492.

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