I arrived into Sydney bright and early on Wednesday morning having spent what seemd like days travelling and all I wanted to do was get to my hostel and have a refreshing shower. It seemed the easiest way to get into the city was to take the metro so I bought myself a ticket and then squeezed in among the smartly dressed commuters and 20 minutes later jumped off at my stop. It was a lovely, fresh day and I immediately liked the feel of the city as I walked the few blocks to my hostel. Having been used to fiarly sparse and basic accomodation for the last four months, ‘Base Backpackers’ was like a hotel. Very clean with lots of white accessories I felt a bit out of place, but to be honest it made a nice change. It all came at a price though as one night there was the same as about three nights in Central or South America and the internet wasn’t even complementary! I was given a card key for my room too which was novel so I took my stuff upstairs, had a shower and then headed out into the city around midday.
I had chosen the hostel as it was very close to the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House so it made sight seeing very easy. As I was walking towards the docks I found a nice looking hairdressers and I popped in to enquire about prices etc. They could fit me in there and then so I decided to treat myself to some much needed pampering and had the most blissful couple of hours. I was brought a hot cappucino, lots of magazines and once the foils were ready to be removed, I was placed in a massage chair as I had my hair rinsed.
From the hairdressers it only took me a few minutes to walk down to Circular Quay where I caught my first glimpse of the Harbour Bridge; it was actualy very exciting to see in the flesh one of the most recognisable landmarks in the modern world. Then taking a few more steps I saw the Opera House, also very exciting, though I thought it appeared smaller that I imagined.