The weather has been fantastic here the last few days. I’ve been walking around and seeing new areas around the city that I haven’t checked out before.
On Wednesday I headed east towards the downtown area. Past the part with all the big buildings and right into the Botanical Garden. I’m not sure if this is the biggest park in Sydney but it’s definitely the biggest park that’s within walking distance.
I did a little bit of exploring around here when I first arrived. The hostel I was originally staying in was on this side of the city. But I got to explore more of the park today.
It’s honestly gorgeous. Most of the park is nestled right up against the water and I just walked the path along it. My destination was Mrs. Macqueries Chair, a favorite hangout spot for one of the governor’s wives. There’s a sandstone bench carved by the convicts for her to sit on and everything.
Today was a cloudier day but I still got about two hours worth of walking in. This time I went the other direction. Away from the downtown area. For the first half I was able to walk along the water again. The park was called Blackwattle Bay Park and the views of the Anzac Bridge and the skyline were, again, very good.
I’m really starting to like Sydney. I realized that I’ve never spent as much time in one city as I’ve spent in Sydney (besides New York of course). It honestly doesn’t feel like I’ve been here for five weeks. It seems like I’ve been here for longer.
The only real gripe I have is with the crossing lights. You can not imagine how long it takes for these things to change. You can easily wait for the light to change for two or three minutes. You’d think that you have the right away but still, it doesn’t change. Compared to NYC it feels like it is taking forever.
There are times when literally both cars and people are stopped at the intersections and it seems no one is alerted to move along. The first week I was here I would obey the lights because I was still getting used to the cars driving on the left side of the road. And I still do when I’m at a busy intersection. But it must drive the people that live here mad having to deal with this.