Melbourne to Sydney

Jan 12

The night leading to this day was long. The temperature was so hot that John could simply not stand laying down in his bedroom at Janice's. In fact later on (at 4am) it was still 32.5 degrees outside and hotter inside the second floor of the home even though Janice turned her bedroom A/C on to maximum and left her door open.

So John asked if it would be ok to sleep on one of the couches in the living room where it was a bit cooler. Janice was ok with that. Stewart was out with his mates and came in around midnight but in true Aussie fashion seemed better able to cope with the heat.

About midnight, Barney the beagle came down to his bed in the living room, close to the couch and feel deeply asleep. John counted all the different ways the dog could snore and found that there were 16. It was only when John got up and went to the kitchen to get himself a glass of milk that Barney stopped his snoring. He was obviously thinking that perhaps he was in luck and there would be food on offer - or at least left close to edge of the counter!

Eventually John feel asleep. He guesses that it was about 2:40am. And then he heard Janice get up and come down the stairs. It was 3:40 and they had agreed to get up at 3:30. He jumped off the couch, brushed his teeth (having already taken a cool shower and shaved the night before), packed his toothbrush and was ready to go.

They set off about 3:55 into the hot, still, dry night. It was dark and there were few cards on the road. John was very grateful to Janice for driving him (in fact she wouldn't take 'no' for an answer when he said he would find his own way) because a taxi would have cost $200. It was a 75 minute drive in the middle of the night because John's flight left from Melbourne-Avalon and not the main Melbourne airport. Perhaps that is why the flight was so inexpensive.

When they arrived at the airport, he gave Janice his heartfelt thanks but she said she was happy to to do it and that she would meet him on his return. He also asked her to give his best to Stewart as he would be gone before John returns to Melbourne for a few days.

John got his boarding pass and went through security. Once again John is blaming me for his having to regularly undergo 'random' security checks. This one was to make sure I wasn't carrying any explosives. The man made John read a statement that said that John could refuse to let me be searched but then neither of us would be allowed to get on the plane. Of course, I wasn't carrying any. But the man did not even check the videocamera! John thought he should have checked it too but realized that it was prudent to say nothing and move on.

The flight was uneventful. John sat beside a young Chinese couple who spoke no English at all. Even the flight attendants had to gesture to show them to stow her purse and to put the seats in the full, upright position for landing. At least it was only a 75 minute flight.

When they landed John immediately felt a different Australia. Hot (not very, very hot) but muggy. Much more like our summers at home. He asked about how to get to his hotel and the information person showed him where to pick up a shuttle bus. He could take the train but would have to find his way from the nearest station and he decided the $14 would be well spent taking him directly there.

Sydney seemed completely different than Melbourne. It reminded John of the first day he arrived in Canada, June 19, 1957, in Montreal. Sydney seems older than Melbourne, more gritty, more businesslike, more trashy. In fact, it seemed a lot like the London of John's childhood - not in a backward way - but in the feel of the place.

It is almost as if Melbourne is a pretty, feminine ballerina and Sydney is a sexy harlot, out to get your money.

After arriving at the hotel, John dropped off his luggage and went for breakfast at Hungry Jacks, who do an egg muffin just like Macca's (aka Mickey D's) except it comes with a latte. As he walked around he realized with delight his hotel was plumb in the middle of Chinatown. What a eclectic combination of stores! Chinese groeceries and restaurants, adult bookstores, high end fashion stores like you'd find in Yorkville, big supermarkets, liquor stores, and tourist places comingling together. There were people, cars, buses, and trams everywhere with a Vancouver type monorail overhead. Sydney is busy!

He walked down to Darling Harbour and got some information and shot a quick scene. He noticed that Sydney has the world's largest Imax theatre and that they have Avatar playing in 3-D. He went in and was able to buy a good ticket but not today, but Saturday, and then only at 9:30 am!



The old guy was starting to feel tired, so he went back to the hotel where a room had been made up. He laid on the bed and thought wistfully of home eventually falling asleep for an hour before waking up and going out to get some groceries. He will make his breakfasts and so has cereal, bananas, milk, pop and some little madeleine cakes. He also bought himself a six pack of Steinlager - pure New Zealand beer!

After putting his stache in the fridge he went out again looking for an early dinner. He went to the local RSL but it wasn't yet open for dinner and John was hungry. So he went and found an Irish pub. It was $10 night and he got one of the best Porterhouse steaks he has ever eaten for $10. It came with salad and chips (err french fries). There was a minimum for using his Visa card so he also got a Carleton draft.

While waiting on the patio for his dinner to arrive a really old guy came up, smoking a cigarette, drinking a half pint of Guiness, and insisting on an inappropriately l-o-n-g handshake. He talked in such a thick accent (from goodness knows where) that John had to ask him to repeat himself three times after everything he said. He told John that he (John) was a guy named Mark that the old guy had met at that very pub last night. John said he hadn't been there before. The old guy than asked John for $10. John quickly said, "I don't have that kind of money" which kind of perplexed the old dude. He just sat there smoking. John then told him that the sun was starting to get to him on the patio and all the smokers' ashes were wafting around so he was about to go inside to eat his steak. The old guy took that as an insult and, leaving half his drink on the table, tottered off down the street. John still doesn't know if the guy was legitimately being friendly or using an old con trick. If he was, he wasn't good at it. But he definitely was an alcoholic.

Sydney is not Melbourne!

TRB