The Sydney Poem
by Tara McKenzie
written March 3, 2007
(Based on City & Balmain/Birchgrove sights)

Sydney is light and warmth
and breezy summer;
striking as sun's rays
on busy bay waters.
Sydney is fresh, floral scented,
fruity undertones,
wafting cuisines
and cool winds stirring.
Sydney is sun-kissed skin
and children playing;
laughter, music
and the constant tap
of foot and paw on pavement.
Sydney is sipped wine
and good conversation;
closing your eyes as night falls
warm and dark 'round the palm trees
and terraced houses.
Sydney is opening your eyes to a dream.

--------------------------
Days 1 through 10.

My first day in town was lovely! Judith collected me from the airport shortly after 8 a.m. and thus began my exposure to Australia.
As soon as I stepped foot out side of the airport, I began to sweat. It was so warm and humid! These characteristics have come to define many a day in Sydney.

We drove to Birchgrove via the Anzac Bridge. The vast expanse of water below was a magnificent sight, and the view of the city flanking the harbour was absolutely awe-inspiring! This was to be my first view of the city.

Arriving at Judith's home we were greeted by Sally, her Cavoodle breed puppy. Sally is absolutely precious and such a bundle of energy! I was too amazed by the sights and sounds to take a nap once I arrived, so Sally and I played a bit in the courtyard garden. The garden is lovely, comprising a wide variety of tropical plants (many of which I've never before seen) and artifacts brought back from the Wards' travels abroad.

After having a bit of time to relax and refresh after the long flight, Judith and I walked from Birchgrove to Balmain village for lunch and a look around. I don't think one could ever tire of walking around Birchgrove and Balmain, as the architecture is so diverse and interesting! Ornate terraced homes stand alongside brightly colored blocky homes and ultra-modern irregularly-shaped homes.

The main street of Balmain is Darling Street, which is lined with all manner of bookstores, cafes, ethnic restaurants, fresh produce vendors, chic clothing stores, etc. Beyond the varied shops and restaurants, Darling Street also boasts a fantastic view of Sydney City. Nonetheless, a short walk from Darling Street to the bay that is only blocks from Judith's house yields far spectacular views of the Harbour Bridge, the city and the bay waters.

View of the Harbor Bridge from Birchgrove.

My second day in Sydney was fantastic! I slept very well the previous night and was ready for the big day that lay ahead of me! Judith and I caught the 441 bus to the City, where she had Rotary legislation meetings and I had a day of exploration.

I first made my way to Circular Quay. Stopping only briefly at a baker's to purchase a Cornish pasty and a water, I made my way to The Rocks, where I planted myself for lunch---in perfect view of the Sydney Opera House.

The Sydney Opera House.

Following lunch, I trekked back up George Street and made my way to Darling Harbour. I sat for some time in the sun, eating fresh fruit and watching the people, boats and birds moving around the harbour. I was completely, utterly and unabashedly complacent.

That night, I accompanied Judith to a gala final of a series of 10 minute plays at The Seymore Centre. Known as the Short & Sweet Festival, the series consisted of a diverse array of plays that had made it to the final round of the festival's competition. Being such a varied offering, the plays touched on a number of emotions and dealt with many provocative themes. Thus, all of the plays were very thought-provoking and enjoyable. In addition to seeing some brilliant plays, I also had the chance to meet some very interesting people. I had a great time!

The following day was something of a recuperative day for me. Having been mesmerized by the Sydney sights the day before, I got a bit of a blistering sunburn. The evidence had presented itself the previous night as the folks I met commented on how I should use sunblock due to the harsh nature of the Australian sun. I felt a bit silly that I would allow myself to get so burned, but I joked that at least I had established my base coat---the formal tanning process could now begin. ha ha ha...

Tired and sunburned, I slept in on Friday. When I did arrive just on the edge of morning/noon, I had a delicious glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice. After playing a bit with Sally and slathering on some sunblock, I headed out to wander around Balmain.

I stopped in to the Balmain Bakehouse for a cup of coffee before I made my way to Gladstone Park. There, I stumbled onto a bowling club. Four sets of all-male teams enjoyed pitchers of beer as they played several round of lawn bowling. I wonder why no women were playing...

The sky began to cloud up quite a bit as I sat watching the bowling game. While I had no clear destination in mind, I decided it best to make a move before the storm rolled in.

From Gladstone Park I went to the Balmain Market. Keeping in the tradition of the day, I continued to amble about directionless. By this time, the sky was becoming dark and the wind had picked up. Granted, it wasn't terribly foreboding weather, but I did find it best to cut short what would have become me standing around staring at the goods on offer in the market and chatting with artisans about their craft.

At this point, I had gotten myself completely turned around and I wasn't sure which direction Bay Street was! It began to rain very lightly, but I wasn't really troubled by it. I was, however, worried that I wouldn't make it back by 5 p.m. (the time at which we were to go to the grocery store for sandwich-making materials for an event the following day).

Ultimately, I asked a man on the street for directions. What a nice man! The first thing he said, in noticing my still very red sunburn, was, "Oh, stay out of the sun" in such a lovely Australian accent. After a little joking over my obviously bright red color, the gentleman broke out a map and pointed me in the correct direction. Now, it may not be scientifically proven, but as far as I'm concerned Australians are the nicest folks one could encounter!

Sunday proved to be a busy day, but an extremely delightful one! It began rather early with a Balmain Rotary function (namely a community bike ride). It was a great opportunity to meet some of the Balmain Rotarians and chat with them a bit. They're such a lovely group of folks!

After a few hours of chatting and assisting a bit with the event, I was delivered back to Bay Street to get ready for an outing in Manly. I had been looking forward to the Manly trip since the day I first was made aware of it! I had never been to a live opera performance, so the trip to Manly would certainly be a significant first.

The views in Manly were absolutely amazing! It was slightly overcast, but I was completely inspired by the beautiful shoreline and harbour views. But, perhaps more captivating, was the amazing operatic music we had the opportunity to hear. The performers were fantastic, and several of the performances actually gave me chills! Needless to say, I had an amazing time.

Following the afternoon at Many, we went to Judith's Aunt Roana's house. She had a most spectacular view of Manly from her balcony! It was absolutely breathtaking! We had tea at her flat and looked at family photos. It was lovely!

Shortly following our arrival back to Birchgrove, Judith, Gail (one of the loveliest people around; also the estate agent across the road) and I went to The William Wallace for dinner. It was my first exposure to an Aussie pub. What a great place!

Day 6 in Oz proved to be yet another interesting one! The day began very simply--I awoke at 9 a.m., showered and spent the afternoon playing with Sally while Judith went into the City. Sally was in a particularly playful mood and literally kept me on my toes the whole afternoon.

By 1 p.m. Sally and I both were knackered. She curled up on the floor of the family room and I dozed in a chair next to her. We slept a good hour and a half before being awakened by Judith's return.

As it happened, a lady I was in contact with regarding a flatshare had phoned while I was in the shower. She was ringing me to arrange a meeting for that evening. After a few rounds of phone tag, and and I finally nailed down a meeting time and place. We were to meet just outside her workplace: Sydney City Town Hall. Shortly after our conversation I was on the 441 to the city to meet Desiree.

Desiree and I caught the 423 bound for Kingsgrove and were off! We chatted en route about my scholarship,why I chose to come to Oz, our hobbies & interests, and our travels. She, too, had spent a bit of time in England.

Upon arriving at the flat (which she affectionately refers to as "The Penthouse"), I had the opportunity to meet her absolutely star of a neighbor, Lisa. She seemed like a real sweetheart!

Desiree then showed me around the flat and we had a bit of a chat before heading off for a walk on the edge of Cook River. The views from the flat were fantastic and the walking areas on ground level were extremely nice too. There were so many lovely green areas and little parks.

When we returned, Desiree and I indulged in a few glasses of sauv blanc and had a fantastic Thai-inspired tofu/veg/noodle dish she prepared. We carried on in conversation for a few more hours before I realized that it was 10:30 p.m. and I had to catch the 423 to the QVB and then catch the 442 from the QVB back to Birchgrove! Before leaving, we agreed that I would move in to the flat on the coming Sunday.

Needless to say, I made it to the QVB by midnight and ended up lurking around the bus stop until 12:45. It became obvious that the Birchgrove bus was not turning up. (It was made apparent to me later on that I was on the wrong side of the QVB for the Birchgrove bus---I needed to be on the opposite side of the building.) At any rate, I hailed a taxi and ended up rolling onto Bay Street shortly after 1 a.m.

The next day was equally--if not exceedingly--exhausting. I had my uni registration and needed to arrive before 12 p.m. This was to be my first time at Sydney Uni., and I was extremely excited! However, I first had to determine how to get there from Darling Street. With the help of a very attractive bus driver, I found that the 433 runs from Darling Street to Broadway/Glebe Point Road (both of which are adjacent to Sydney Uni.). Lucky day, lucky day!

Walking toward the university's main quadrangle for the first time was pretty spectacular. The ancient-looking stoneworks of the main quad are absolutely beautiful!

While I do feel as if I accomplished a lot, I did so begrudgingly. The day was a series of queues--hours long queues! I was so sore from standing, so sweaty from the humidity, and famished that I could not wait to leave the campus! ha ha ha...

Day 9
Judith and I went to the cinema to see The Last King of Scotland. What a great movie! Granted, it was very disturbing, but it was good. After the movie we had Thai on Darling Street and a great bottle of white wine. It was such a nice evening!

Day 10
It has been a very busy day indeed! I awoke rather late (9:50 a.m.) and set to the task of packing my suitcases. Today I moved from Bay Street to the flat on Undercliffe Road.

Sally and I played a bit in the garden as I washed my towels and had my lunch. She's so energetic! The morning consisted mostly of me collecting her from the plant beds. She had gnawed down a very interesting aloe-like plant and had wallowed the other plants down to make a bed of sorts. Each time I collected her from amid the plants she would grab a toy and head straight back to the plant bed. I felt awful that the plants' destruction was occurring on my watch!

Finally, however, Sally ran herself ragged and took a nap on the floor of the family room. She was so tired that she couldn't be bothered to try to rush out the doors to the foyer and parlor when I opened the doors to the family room. She was completely knackered!

Plotting the trip from Birchgrove to Undercliffe was interesting. Luckily, Judith had determined the streets we would need to take. Unfortunately, I had the job of navigator. I generally can't be bothered with maps or atlases---I usually chuck 'em into my bag and just go with instinct.
Of course, I told her to take a wrong turn (typical Tara) and we ended up way off track. I had a chance to redeem myself once we got back on track. I really wasn't too bad, actually! ha ha ha...

My first few days in Sydney have been absolutely fantastic. I've seen so many beautiful sights and I have met so many lovely people! I feel very privileged to be here and to have so many wonderful experiences. It truly feels surreal.