Sydney

On my way from Hong Kong to my actual destination, Sydney was a mandatory stopover. Therefore, I turned a few hours of layover into five days so I could explore the city a bit. The landing was shortly after sunrise, and coincidentally I sat on the right side and got my first glimpse of the Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House from the plane. That was really cool!

I had also booked a Free Guided Tour in Sydney, and Gabriel showed us many beautiful spots in the city center: The Rocks (one of the oldest districts in Sydney), the Sydney Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, the Botanical Gardens, the Mitchell Library (where the first map of Australia by Abel Tasman is displayed as a mosaic, along with a Shakespeare Room), Hyde Park, and the Queen Victoria Building...

I spent a day with Giorgio from Italy, whom I met at the accommodation. He is a street musician, traveling for the next four months, and wants to play music on the streets of different cities. We took the ferry to Manly together and visited the Quarantine Beach there. It has nothing to do with Corona; instead, it was the first stop in Australia for many settlers on their way to their new home. After months at sea, the newcomers had to go into quarantine there to keep Australia free from the Spanish flu, smallpox, the plague, and other contagious diseases.

After that, we went to Manly Beach, and before we headed back to the accommodation, Giorgio wanted to visit a beautiful church. I had no objections to this; after all, I had already visited other churches, monasteries, and temples on my trip so far. It was only on the way there that Giorgio told me it was a Church of Scientology, as he has been a Scientologist for 20 years. I still went with him; after all, I had never been in a Scientology church, and I must say that the church and the surrounding gardens were very beautifully maintained. Of course, I was immediately shown several videos in the church explaining how Scientology can help in various areas of life. Solutions were not presented, since you're also supposed to book the courses. However, Giorgio later showed me that all the course materials are available for free online. Nevertheless, it didn't convince me. And only when we left did I realize that I hadn't taken any photos or even asked if I could take photos...

On my last full day in Sydney, I did a hike from Coogee Beach to Bondi Beach. The views of the cliffs were really amazing! There are also some art installations at Bondi Beach. I photographed 'Shanana' by Drew McDonald just a few days before it was awarded the People's Choice Award and the Kid's Choice Prize (I only know about the award because I saw a picture of it in the highlights on the Tagesschau website).

Another installation featuring many black and red-brown inflatable air sacs aims to raise awareness about the significantly increased risk of skin cancer in Australia. Apparently, Australia has the highest skin cancer rate in the world; 2 out of 3 people will be diagnosed with skin cancer in their lifetime while in Australia. So, always be careful not to get sunburned and show any strange moles to a doctor!

At sunset, I was at Mrs Macquarie's Chair, enjoying an incredibly stunning view of the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, and the skyscrapers of Sydney. I could also see planes flying past the Harbour Bridge and the Opera at ten-minute intervals before disappearing behind the skyscrapers and landing at the airport.

Since I also traveled on from Sydney in the evening, I actually had the chance to listen to Giorgio singing at a fountain in Hyde Park before my departure, and as a farewell, he gave me one of his CDs. I was lucky again at departure; the sun was just setting, and I sat on the right side again and was able to take a last look at Sydney, the Opera, and the Harbour Bridge before I fell asleep and woke up just before reaching my destination.