The last morning in Sydney, I decided to take a walk in the neighborhood of my hotel. It was a beautiful day again. The sun was shining and it was perfect temperature. Everybody is in a short sleeves and a pair of short pants. Because it was Saturday, there was a market right out of the hotel; there were not so much of interesting stuff, but mainly for tourists.The picture is a view of Sydney downtown from the harbor. Lots of people use these ferries for their commutes. Some people takes this ferry for thirty minutes from Manley or some come from about ten minutes away. Anyhow, there are so many destinations, so the port is always busy. It is almost impossible to take a picture of Opera House without a ferry in it. That’s how often they go back and forth.
On the way to the Opera house, I saw Aborigine street performers. I am not sure if I should called those two guys performers because in front of them, there was a chair. And when tourists come by, they let him/her sit on the chair, and his/her friend takes a picture while those performers take a pose like any cheesy characters. I rather tip the guy playing music right next to them with a traditional music instrument; it looks like a long branch with a whole. It makes interesting sound. My colleague in NL has one in the office. It was funny to see bunch of those at the market as I always wonder what it was. Anyways, those Aborigines stand out on the street, not because they are among white people but because they are almost naked and put some white stuff on their faces, hair and bodies. I wanted to take a picture of them, too but they were just too scary.
What surprised me when I walk on the street in Sydney is a fly. They fly around you even if you don’t have any food. I thought it was only me, but it happens all the time. It reminded me of India, but flies didn’t come to me.
 | The bridge. Okay, I do not know why this bridge is famous. Perhaps, I should look it up on Wikipedia. I actually had this kind of bridge in my neighborhood in New York, but my bridge was not famous at all. I wonder… |
 | The postcards with Kangaroos on them are exactly the same ones that I bought ten years ago when I was here. It was shocking to see the same cards again, so I had to get them. I even forgot about those until I saw them. I guess the design of postcards don’t change for at least ten years. The boomerang is a gift from my client. I usually don’t buy any local items when I travel, but because I’m all the way to Australia, I was thinking about getting something, so I was very excited to get one as a gift. Aborigines were catching kangaroos with this by hitting in their heads. If they miss, the boomerang comes back to where you stand. It’s a well designed item which should be awarded for some kind of prize. |
On the way to the airport, this taxi driver talked a lot. As soon as I told him that I was Japanese, he started talking his Japanese experiences when he was there a couple years ago. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the conversations with a taxi driver as long as it is not 6 in the morning. When I think about it, the driver on the way from the airport a few days ago also was talking a lot! This guy was talking to me even in Japanese about when he was living there for six years as a student. Anyways, I don’t think it is only taxi drivers that I met but Australians in general are very friendly. Because it is so much fun to listen to their accent, I let them talk as much as they want.
Bye-bye, Sydney!
