Australia Day 4: So Many Stops, So Little Time

Thinking back, today was a major traveling day to try to pack as many last minute adventures into the last minute. First off was the ferry ride to Manly Beach, another popular tourist beach. The day was bright and sunny with a nice breeze. Perfect beach weather. But no, I was still not going in the water. We hung out on the wall and took a bunch of pictures. I once again thought about taking some sand, but I wasn't sure what the previous occupant of the extra ziploc bag in my backpack was... and why it had left black stains on the sides. Is it weird that in just four days in Australia, I've spent more time at the beach than I have in the past year back home? Anyways, here's Manly Beach

One day I'll develop a steadier hand so these videos aren't so shaky. Not that I'm promising more videos... it's just that I know how much you'd rather do something other than read. By the way, all that bright and sunny got me in trouble a lot with my picture taking as I had no idea my camera had an exposure feature (I think I'm saying that right). Simply meaning the difference between this

 and this

A lot better, right? (also, thanks for the camera lesson, Aurora... and I assume Jacob for teaching her)

I guess one day I'll learn how to fully use a camera I've had for four years already. From the beach, we went on to explore the rest of the Manly area, where almost every shop was "Manly". Manly Seafood. Manly Bookstore. Manly Nail Salon. Manly Bottle Shop. You get the picture. I picked up a notebook from one of the street vendors to add to my ever-growing collection of unused notebooks (though since this is my first leather-bound one it was completely worth it).

except that it stains everything blue

Having eaten nothing all morning except for some stolen oranges Taryn claimed were free, it was now time for food. We found the least crowded restaurant for lunch. Not an easy feat as it was nearly noon on a Sunday and every local and tourist had descended on Manly. They were marketing something as the "Aussie Burger" which I took to mean "Pick me, this is how Australians eat their burgers!" The only differences I could spot - it came with an egg and beets.

The egg was a nice touch as the yolk broke as I bit into it and it oozed on my hands and the plate. It was the beets, however. I don't really care for them, not because of the taste or consistency, but strangely enough because they ooze their purple juices everywhere, soggying everything it touches (that's a word right? soggying?). I'm not sure why I have a problem with that but not with the egg yolk. But I had to have it. It sounded too interesting to pass up.

I also couldn't resist taking a picture of this

When we got back to The Rocks, we made our way to the Sydney Bridge Pylon. Back when we, i.e. Aurora and Taryn, were planning the trip, we could've walked up to the top of the bridge for $200, at the cheapest (we'd have to climb at night). The night before, we found out we could instead climb the tallest pylon for the same view and at a fraction of the price (I forgot exactly, but I'm pretty sure it was under $10). And, luckily, the bridge to get to the pylon was right behind the hostel. Up on the pylon, we could see the entire harbor, caught an aerial view of the Opera House, and, if you look closely through the glass railings, you can see lines matching buildings in the distance to their names (which was the coolest part, I think).

its too bad not all the names would show up in the picture

We headed to an Art Museum next. I'm never sure on how to describe art museums, or art in general. So, I'll just say that I used this trip as a moment to steal ideas and inspirations I'll hopefully one day turn into stories. Side note: I haven't been writing for a while. I just bought Devil May Cry about a month ago, the new TV season just started, and I got to reading again. I'll try to make the time again.

From there, we said goodbye to Eileena as she got on a train back to the airport and we went last minute souvenir shopping, mostly for food stuff, like jerky and Timtams and candy. Oh, and cigarettes

I really wish America had adopted the new carton design, it makes me want to collect them all (I grew up with Pokemon and Magic: The Gathering, after all). But at $15 a pack, I'd probably quit.

Oddly enough, we still hadn't eaten what I'm almost certain is the national food of Australia, Meat Pies. The best were supposedly at Harry's Cafe de Wheels. Yeah, we could have easily just gone to one of the chain franchise shops, but the original is always the best. But first, we needed to get there. We once again resorted to vaguely following Google Maps from the hostel all the way to Harry's. It was a long walk and the hunger just made it worse. I still can't explain how we managed to get there, with all the twists and turns and the one elevator ride (no, I don't know how the three of us ended up on a rooftop). But we made it! and I gotta say, it was worth the walk.

Chili Pie with extra chili

As satisfying as that meal was, especially after the journey there, we took a cab back because, well, fuck walking anymore.

Then came the worst part of the day, packing. Since Taryn and Aurora were heading off to Cairns the next day and I was returning home, it was decided I would take one of their bags back with me. I had only brought a duffel bag and backpack so another piece of luggage wasn't too bad, especially since I paid to check-in 20kg (yeah, I thought I was buying 20lb forgetting the rest of the world uses the metric system and I was actually buying closer to 40lbs). So, after deciding on what they would leave with me, what I could move from my bags to Taryn's bag, and finishing a bottle of wine we bought earlier from a bottle shop, we headed to the roof lounge for one last view. And a smoke, which, if you've been paying attention, makes my first and only cigarette all trip! Then it was back to the room as I had one last day of adventure while the other two needed to be at the train to the airport at 3am (or some other god awful hour like that).

Oh, and in case you're wondering, John (the other roommate) was in the room the whole time while we argued about what to pack and swigged that wine bottle empty.