A day in Sydney……

If you are in Oz and living here for a while, you definitely can’t afford to miss the shadow of the Opera House, a UNESCO world heritage site and 20th century’s most famous building known for its performing arts centre. I had to see it to believe it. People had warned me of Sydney being one of the most expensive city in Australia and to be honest, the bills were actually burning a hole in my wallet. The outrageous restaurant prices gave me goosebumps as the minimum cost of a one time meal was from $15 to $25. Apart from the food, the public transport was much expensive than other Australian cities and I had to recharge the Opel card to use the double decker trains, trams and the buses. But if I ignore the expenses, I could not have expected more than what this city had to offer me. I met amazing friendly people on the streets, the view of the entire city from the Sydney tower eye was magnificent. From enjoying the vivid Sydney festival near the harbor bridge to the Sydney film festival, it was one of the best time to visit and I was totally in love with it.

I was looking for an opportunity to explore this city for almost a year and my friend and travelling buddy Hui Dong was coming to Sydney for a TEDx conference and I decided to tag along. We landed in Sydney after the delay of our flight by an hour due to fog and low visibility at Melbourne’s Avalon airport. As soon as we landed, Hui Dong guided me to get an Opel card at the airport and take the train to the Museum station. From the Museum station we walked a KM to arrive at the central perk backpacker’s hostel in the China town. We left our luggage and took a walk to the China Town. For a moment, I realized that I was in China. There were only Asians around, whether I went to Mcdonalds(Maccas) or KFC or any other restaurants, encountered only Chinese. In fact the owner of the hostel we were staying in was also Chinese. I remember, Hui Dong on seeing a pretty white girl sitting in a restaurant told me: “ look at that foreigner” and I remember saying him back: ‘man she is not a foreigner, in fact we are foreigners’. I am sure he said that because he was already feeling that he was in his home in China. As we walked to the China town and the market nearby a Chinese woman requested me to get some free trial Chinese massage for 5 minutes. As soon as I sat she completely hijacked me and certainly convinced me to get the whole back massage for 15 minutes. She used all Chinese strategies, which helped me get rid of my back pain. While, she was doing massage, Hui chatted with her in mandarin and she told him that she was in this business over there for the last 30 years. She charged me $15 and it was totally worth it. In the evening, myself and Hui went to explore the city and passed through Hayd Park, Opera house and the Vivid Sydney festival. We had lovely dinner at Jimmy’s recipe, a Malaysian restaurant famous for its street food near the Circular Que station at the harbor bridge. Next day, Hui went for the conference and I decided to walk alone in the city. I met an American artist who were painting in the streets, and her name was Suki, as soon as she came to know that I am also referred as Suki, she got excited and we took pictures from my Go pro. Soon, I came across an Oz guy in a bar and he started talking cricket with me, assuming that I am Indian from my skin color. He betted me that Pakistan would win the match against India this time in London and trust me he was right. He was very friendly and sweet although we met for a very short while.

While returning back in the hostel, I met two girls from Chile who were travelling the world and were in Oz for few weeks. As Hui returned back, I cooked chicken tikka masala in the hostel and all the French guys staying in the hostel were curious to know what I was cooking as the smell was tempting. I made them taste. I invited Valeria and Victoria , the girls from Chile over dinner and started the dinner as soon as Hui arrived. They loved it and as we ate they shared their stories of travel. I realized that everyone in the hostel I came across had a unique story to share. Next day, we left for Macquerie University after breakfast and met our friend Fenicia who worked at Hokkaido. We retuned back to the CBD and Hui explored Madame Tussauds museum and the zoo since he had the free passes , while I waited for him. We went to the Sydney tower eye and enjoyed the amazing view of the city and the Queen Victoria market, an elegant European market and came across a talented construction worker. He was playing piano wearing the workers outfit and the whole crowd was mesmerized by it. One thing I liked about the city was there was talent flowing all over, everywhere I went over in the streets I came across musicians, artists, painters. I also came across a painter who was giving his sketches for free to people. I had not observed this anywhere else.

This trip was coming to an end and we went to a Nepalese restaurant for dinner. We had lovely samosa chat and tandoori chicken. It was an expensive restaurant but food and ambience was totally worth it. We still had time for our flight so we decided to explore the last day of the vivid Sydney festival. It was completely packed as we took pictures and saw the graffiti’s created through different colors of light. We also explored the Australian arts museum before heading back to the airport. These three days and two nights were a great learning experiences and i wish to travel more in future. Due to lack of time, we didn’t visited other popular places in Sydney like the Bondi beach, Blue mountains but I am looking forward to visit this beautiful city again in the future………..

Explored Grampian, Grampians Way

Travelling gives me mental satisfaction and writing a travel blog to share my experiences with the world gives me an even better contentment. For many people, travelling is running away from work or life but I feel travelling is way to live life. Exploring new places not only helps me build my inner strength but also makes me realize that I am not mere surviving but also living.

On 13^th April, 2017, I was sick with slight fever and cold and the very next day I was with my five friends on a road trip to the Grampian National Park and Pink Lake. So, how did this happened? My travelling buddy  and a good friend Hui Dong called me for this trip , it took me few seconds to  realize that mountains are calling and I have to go. I immediately took some pills and guess what , recovered in no time, out of excitement. I had heard a lot of the Grampian National Park, which is also listed in the Australian National Heritage list and is known for its diverse ecological landscapes, wildlife(Emu, Kangaroo, Koala),waterfalls and Aboriginal rock arts. I had to see it to believe it.

We left Melbourne by 10 am and around 2 pm we arrived at the Brambuk backpackers hostel at the Grampians. Without wasting any time, we headed to grab some fish and chips and later on the girls Tess, Lessy and Cindy enjoyed the famous ‘Coolas Ice Creamery’, while we boys Hui, Louis and myself waited for them to finish their favorite flavors. Few minutes later, Tess drove us to Reeds Look out, a well known point to see the sunset. Reeds Lookout is famous for its breathtaking view of the Victoria valley, Lakes and mountain ranges. As soon as, we landed the balconies lookout, Hui started showing his photography skills and took our pictures in every corner possible. Giving competition to Hui, Lessy took out her big selfie stick, which probably looked like a Chinese weapon and started taking numerous selfie’s. I remember she told me it is her weapon to defend herself from Kangaroos. As the sun was setting, we were becoming even closer friends. It was getting dark and we were so hungry that we could eat a horse.

We stopped on the way back to the hostel to the ‘Spirit of Punjab’, a north Indian restaurant famous for its butter chicken. Since I was the only Indian in the group, it was my idea to taste butter chicken, Palak Paneer and Rogan Josh. We were so hungry that the three curries with garlic na’an finished in no time. So, we decided to order another curry called Kadhai chicken. As we ate the curries, we discussed from food to politics, travel and what not. What I liked about the restaurant was the ambience. Although the quantities were a bit less but curries were yummy. It was $ 90 for six of us so the rate was reasonable.

It was 9 pm and we were back in the hostel playing Nintendo switch, an interesting home video game and simi simi(introduced to me by Louis and his gf Tess). We divided ourselves into two groups and each of us played with a member from other group. We played the games which included from treasure hunting, to dice the roll and sword wrestling and what not, till we got bored of it. Than, we ended up playing our traditional game which was simi simi. Soon it was midnight and I said Bunas Noches to everyone.

The next day, we woke up with great excitement at 5am to see the sunrise. Hui Dong was the first to get up and with great accuracy he calculated everyone’s bathroom timings(how much time everyone spent in the bathroom, for instance, according to his watch I took 7 minutes and Lessy broke all records by taking 22 minutes and 7 seconds in the bathroom). I guess he had no better job to do in the morning than to calculate the bathroom timings.

Anyways, we drove to another location to see the sunrise, it was cold but beautiful. We waited for the sunrise and as usual continued taking pictures. After the sunrise, Tess drove us to the Mackenzie Falls, not far from halls Gap. Mackenzie Falls, is known for its spectacular steep trail. We could hear the flow of water as we landed and starting hiking downwards. We reached one of balconies and saw water cascading over huge cliffs into deep pool, sending fine sprays of rainbow mist high into the air. We saw the first  group of baby Kangaroos here.

After, reaching the Mackenzie Falls, we continued trekking towards the fish falls. We saw another Kangaroo on the way to fish falls and Lessy immediately got frightened thinking it was a snake. She immediately took out her weapon and was folding her hands for help. I couldn’t stop laughing. Later on she relaxed knowing it was a baby kangaroo. As we reached fish falls, we met a French bag backer who joined us on our way to the falls. We also tried climbing small cliffs, Cindy struggled to climb with my help but Louis finally taught her the technique and she felt like she had conquered the Everest. We retreated back up to the parking lot and headed to another Lake before heading to our final destination the Pink Lake.

On our way to Pink Lake, we stopped at Horsham city, Australia’s tidiest city for lunch. The city is located somewhere between Melbourne and Adelaide and is known for its beautiful small houses and cleanliness. We arrived Pink Lake by 4 pm and enjoyed taking a walk on the salts which is located in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia. The Lake is not always Pink but the view from a distance is pink for sure probably because the color of the water changes with presence of Green alga.

This trip was coming to end and on the way back some of us slept while I gave some head massage to cindy, Lessy and Louis. By 8pm, we were back home. It was definitely short and sweet trip which I will always cherish and would thank Tess and Louis for organizing it. One thing I also learnt that life is short and still there is a lot to explore, so I am looking forward to my next adventure, Hasta Leugo, Adios Amigo……