Nick Abroad

I’ve been living in Sydney for over six weeks now, and I saw the Sydney Opera House for the first time today. It was the logo on the door of a ‘Sydney Smash Repairs’ service car.

That’s pretty pathetic.

Also pathetic is the fact that I discovered Paddington Five Ways for brunch for the first time this morning. It’s a great spot with real Sydney character and good coffee. It is also 200 metres from where I live. And I’ve just been there for the first time.

Paddington Five Ways

For an adventurous kind of guy, I’m not displaying a whole heap of explorer-like behaviours.

This rocks me a little, as I’ve generally been the first person when travelling to a new city to wander the streets and find new places. In Sydney I seem to have discovered the triangle between work (next to Central Station), Oxford Street’s restaurants, and home at the city end of Paddington. That’s pretty much just the 2010 postcode, not much more than Darlinghurst and Surry Hills.

Have I turned into one of the gay ghetto dwellers I’ve always poked fun at?

In my defence, I do know the path to the Sydney Uni Pool quite well, but that’s been pretty much a there-and-back affair in the dark Sydney evenings.

And I have been out on the road with work, but, well, that’s been pretty much about the work and not about the destinations.

The weather hasn’t been in my favour, it’s true. I was half expecting to see Noah float past in his ark on Friday night, in fact there’s been more rain in Sydney over the last week or so than I’ve seen in Melbourne in ten years. Makes me laugh when people say Melbourne’s weather is bad.

And I have been travelling a lot with work, ticking off Auckland, Wellington, Brisbane and Melbourne over the last few weeks.

Excuse #2: Evidence of visiting Auckland.

If it sounds like I’m looking for excuses, I probably am. It’s embarassing. The truth is, I need to spend more time in my new city, and I need to get out more. Glebe and Balmain call. And the northern beaches. Oh, and the harbour – I honestly don’t think I’ve seen it once since I arrived.

I will. I promise.

Now, let me duck off and pack for this week’s trip to Melbourne.