6. Stop: Australia, Part 1: Down Under

P.Sherman 42, Wallaby Way, Sydney - This is the first thing that came to mind when we decided to fly to Sydney next. If this address means nothing to you: Don't worry, this knowledge gap can be closed by watching a movie. In the animated film "Finding Nemo," the confused fish Dory sets out with Nemo's father to this address to free Nemo, a small clownfish, from a dentist's aquarium. Sounds crazy, but it's true. Unfortunately, we had to realize that this address doesn't actually exist, but the thought of this wonderful film and all the funny moments the fish experience there in Sydney made us incredibly excited about Sydney. And this excitement was absolutely justified, as we all agree that Sydney is one of the most beautiful cities we have been to so far! Not only the buildings, location, and nature, but also the climate with about 3000 hours of sunshine per year is hard to beat. Seriously, you can't have more hours of sunshine, otherwise it would never be night.

But let's start from the beginning: Our arrival in Sydney after a few hours' flight from Christchurch couldn't have been better. Just before landing, our pilot made a nice panoramic round over the city, and we were lucky enough to be sitting on the right side to see the city from the air. What a sight: the huge skyscrapers by the sea, the harbor, the rugged coastline with its many bays, and in the middle of it all, the famous opera house and the harbor bridge.

Finally landed and with our luggage in one piece, we made our way to a park next to the airport to watch the planes land and kill time until our check-in at the AirBnB. And promptly, we got to know the incredible friendliness and sociability of the Australians, because with our huge backpacks, we immediately outed ourselves as tourists, and hardly a minute passed without a nice conversation with a true Aussie who gave us tips for Sydney or just wanted to talk about rugby, barbecuing, and traveling. One of them started grilling in the park at 9 am in the morning, mind you, in the middle of the week, and told us that he had to overcome his hangover from the previous evening before going to work. It was clear to us: These Australians are just relaxed guys.

Arriving at our accommodation for the next week, a small two-room apartment in a suburb of Sydney, we had to take a deep breath. Unfortunately, our landlady or her cleaning service didn't take cleanliness very seriously and left us with a completely dirty apartment. Since she was not available, we had no choice but to clean it ourselves, which at least resulted in it being as clean as possible and we could feel comfortable. The cleaning fee for the apartment was of course refunded to us by the landlady. Afterwards, we went shopping, just like a typical German would, at Aldi Süd! Yes, you read that right, there are actually over 1000 Aldi stores in Australia now, and one of them was right outside our doorstep. The range is strongly adapted to the Australian market (which means, for example, there is only toast, no bread), but we could treat ourselves to a few longed-for delicacies, such as mozzarella or Kinder Bueno.

But enough about the arrival, now the city had to be explored. The first thing we noticed was the high proportion of Asian residents. Especially the big cities like Sydney or Melbourne are attracting more and more immigrants from China, Vietnam, Japan, etc., who often start their own restaurants or Asian shops. There are also neighborhoods where mainly people from a certain background live, such as Chinatown or Little Vietnam. For us, it was initially unexpected to sit in a train in Australia and be surrounded only by Asians, but we quickly got used to it. The Australians seem to have mixed feelings about this increasing number of Asian immigrants, but mainly they are open-minded, because not only the interaction with each other appears mostly free of prejudice, but also the signs and announcements in public places take into account the often limited English skills of their fellow citizens. However, we sometimes reached our limits when restaurants only had their menus available in Chinese, but at least we tried new dishes without really knowing what we were eating. Some signs or announcements also provided amusement, reminding Asian citizens of "appropriate behavior," such as not spitting on the ground or not standing on the toilets (seriously, we wonder what's going on in Asia?).

Because of the very diverse population, we were also treated to quite a contrast during Easter: On the one hand, we repeatedly encountered extreme Christians who reminded us with signs and flyers that we would go to hell if we don't believe (threatening with that doesn't make sense though because if I don't believe, I don't believe in hell either, right?). On the other hand, the Asian part of the population largely does not celebrate Easter and keeps its restaurants, supermarkets, and shops open, which led to everyone who wanted to go shopping on Easter going to the Asian neighborhoods. The Christians with their threats of hell probably didn't appreciate that.

Since holidays currently have little meaning for us so far away from our family, we prefer to use the time for sightseeing, and first of all, we visited the city center and the landmarks of Sydney. Of course, we had to convince ourselves of the beauty of the opera house and explored it from all angles, and we come to the conclusion: A true masterpiece! Its location alone, surrounded by the sea and connected to the city from only one side, is impressive, but the whole thing, paired with the design that makes the opera house look like big waves breaking, is simply brilliant.

Opposite the opera house is the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which opened in 1932 and used to be the number 1 landmark of the city before the opera house was inaugurated in 1973. Since you can walk across the bridge and then come across a small amusement park on the other side, we naturally did that immediately and felt like children again in the amusement park.

The city center of Sydney impressed us, among other things, with its mix of modern skyscrapers and cruise ships on one side and old, ornately decorated buildings on the other side. Especially the shopping centers were worth a visit, even without buying anything, because we have never seen such fancy buildings before. Oh, and the street musicians: There are actually still so many undiscovered talents in the world, and some of them live in Sydney!

In addition to exploring the city center, a visit to the famous beaches is a must for any Sydney vacation, and so we made our way to both Manly Beach and Bondi Beach. Actually, we can't quite understand why these beaches are so famous, because they are simply city beaches surrounded by many houses and hotels. Sure, if you live here, it's nice to have a beach right on your doorstep, but for us, the only cool things were the small swimming pools right on the beach, filled with seawater but offering a safe bathing experience. However, as soon as you move away from the beaches and walk along the coastal paths, you get a beautiful first impression of Australia's nature with its eroded cliffs by the sea, coral reefs, bushes and branched trees, and of course, the spiders. Natalie's comment on the hairy eight-legged creatures: "If anyone in Germany claims to have found a big spider in the basement again, I will personally send them to Australia. That is real exposure therapy."

After a week in Sydney, we had soaked up enough city life and wanted to see more of Australia's nature (but you can keep the spiders in Sydney). Directly behind Sydney, a little further inland, the Blue Mountains are the perfect place for this. This region is filled with eucalyptus forests, which make the air appear blue in the sunlight due to their essential oils. Our journey by train took us to Katoomba, a small town in the heart of the Blue Mountains and the perfect starting point for some beautiful hikes. Right next to Katoomba, the mountains drop steeply into a valley, forming a long cliff with a beautiful panoramic view and new perspectives around every corner. We were also enchanted by the dense forest with its pleasant eucalyptus scent, the beautiful autumn colors in the town, and the variety of birds. Here, there are cockatoos and parrots, like pigeons or seagulls in our country.

From the Blue Mountains, we went directly to Melbourne by train and plane because, as we can anticipate, our little camper was eagerly waiting for us there. However, before we picked it up, we spent a few relaxing days in an apartment in the heart of Melbourne. Actually, we weren't really impressed by the city itself, but that can probably be attributed mainly to our lack of interest. Because after Sydney, we had soaked up enough city life. Nevertheless, the huge Victoria Market with its souvenirs and the street art here were worth a sightseeing tour, because in the small and winding alleys, plenty of artists have left their mark.

Sometimes we are just tired and want to be lazy, so we decided to use the few days in Melbourne to relax. It was particularly convenient that the high-rise of our apartment had a pool and sauna on the 33rd floor that we could use, and that our dear previous tenant hadn't logged out of his Netflix account, so we could watch lots of movies. Of course, most people are probably thinking: What, you're on the other side of the world and spend the day lounging and watching TV? But when you travel as long as we do, sometimes you just need a day without new impressions and planning. We had plenty of new and exciting experiences again soon, but more on that next time.

Song of Australia: Probier's mal mit Gemütlichkeit - Edgar Ott (The Jungle Book)