Number 8: Go to Australia

Here I am in Sydney, Australia. Because of the loooong flight, I figured I'd conquer Number 12: Read War and Peace on the flight. Or at least make a dent, but alas, I'm only on page 50. Out of 1408. I'm trying again on the flight back...

This was also supposed to be the first time I traveled with my AMERICAN PASSPORT but when I checked in for my flight at LAX, they couldn't find the electronic visa connected to it, so I'm flying Swedish all the way. Glad I grabbed that passport or I would have been in LA still.

So, the question is, how do you describe a whole new continent/ country/people in one blog entry? I did what I always do before I go to a new place: go to Wikipedia and find out about its government, economy, geography, etc. To get ready. So, I'm in Sydney, which is in New South Wales, which was the first British colony, established in 1788. People here are called Sydneysiders and they don't seem particularly inspired to part of the Commonwealth. Their money is pretty and you need to use a LOT of it for everything.

The Nut and the Nazi, party-hopping Oscar night

It's fall but the weather is nice. A bit rainy at times. I'm here with Radha, and despite the fact that we don't think or feel the same way about anything, she is one of my absolute best friends. I laugh at myself a lot when we're together, because her whole "free-spirit-confused-vibe" makes my "ridiculously-organized-vibe" seem very controlling in a military way. We went ashram hopping and got zapped by a couple gurus in India last year so we know we travel well together. We've had some crazy adventures, and it's not uncommon for Radha to go off for hours in her own world, oblivious to flights and other solid plans. One such time in India, I headed to the airport without her, and eventually, she strolled in leisurely, wearing harem pants...to which I announced "I'll take the plane and you take the magic carpet." (In her defense, I wore them on the plane home...)

The inspiration for my new favorite sport

We got off the plane (we flew separately but at the same time) and upon seeing each other at the airport in Sydney, I exclaimed "I watched Invictus and feel really strongly that we should spend time with rugby players." She looked at me like I was insane but later proceeded to make arrangements for me to watch Russell Crowe's rugby team train. The hunky players aside, I think it's genius...way more interesting than football...no over-sized protection and for whatever reason, I understand the rules.

Hipstamatic iPhone app gives a vintage, melancholy feel to beautiful Bondi Beach

We're in Bondi Beach at the Ravesi Hotel, and I say it over and over again in my newly developed Australian accent which is getting "betta" every day. I'm talking about our friend Nic a lot because I just love saying his name...Niiiiiic. I feel like I'm in a more exotic UK....there's Paddington, Oxford Street, Hyde Park, Kings Cross and Bondi Beach itself feels like a worn, dirty Hampstead - if the Heath was a boardwalk that overlooked a beautiful beach with big blue waves. The Pacific is warm and filled with tall surfers. One of them, Brant, delivers our room service meals. Adorable but with very bad hair. We are the kinds of people who like to leave each place we visit more beautiful than when we arrived, so we proceeded to "help him" with hair style tips.

As for Radha, I couldn't ask for a worse tour guide. It's actually because she's working, which is cool with me because I love adventures and I love doing my own thing. So, although we've taken some nice walks for miles along the beach together, I'm spending the day getting to know MY Sydney before we reconvene at night and I tell her about it. Morning coffee in my PJ's and uggs at the cafe next door. One day their quote board had the un-original "Early bird catches the worm," but the following day, the payoff came. Same quote, but underneath it someone had added "but second mouse gets the cheese." That made me laugh.

Being Swedish, I love public transportation, both because it tells you something about a country's infrastructure, but also because you get a sense of the locals. What they wear, read, listen to and talk about. I took the bus to the Opera House and then a ferry to Manly where I met a young gentleman who gave me a boomerang with his phone number "so you come back." I swear, I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried. Left the boomerang on the ferry back. Oh well. Another bad hair do and it's hard to get past that. There seems to be only three options here for the gentlemen; the Rod Blagojevich, the Justin Bieber/Jimmy Neutron combo and the Prince Valiant. The best time to be chatted up by an Aussie is right when they get out of the water, before they've had a chance to style (ruin) their hair.

For dinner one night we went to North Bondi Italian which had an overworked waiter and graffiti on the ceiling. I decided to go Aussie all the way, so I had lamb's brains and a good shiraz. After we ordered, I looked up at the graffiti and and knew I had decided on the right dish. It was delicious if I didn't spend too much time thinking about what it was. Which was hard because Radha kept on reminding me.

Nic finally got here and complimented me on my Aussie accent at brekkie. We saw his apartment which is fantastic...then I sprawled out on the beach for a few hours and watched people run, surf, box and do exercises on the monkey bars. I had brought War and Peace to ensure I would be able to nap and after watching the super fit Aussies do the workout thing for a while, I fell asleep in the sun.

The beautiful Botanical Gardens, The Museum of Sydney, and a day at the Zoo (where I saw echidnas, platypus, wallabies, kangaroos, tasmanian devils, red pandas, koalas, emus, wombats and more) was next, as was a whole day spent in bed, talking about life, eating chocolate and laughing. And a swim in the warm Pacific Ocean. All in all, it's been a fantastic trip, not going home yet but time to post the blog and disappear into the Sydney underworld for a bit.

See yar ron...