More on Sydney + Canberra + Melbourne

Since my last entry, I've explored Sydney more, then went to Canberra (Australia's capital) and Melbourne.

I rented a bike in Sydney to explore the inner suburbs of the city. They were all nice: clean neighborhoods with beautiful, liveable architecture. I didn't see any ghetto. I'm sure there are poor people in Australia, but you don't see as much as in Canada (which is a pretty good country to start with).

Australians are known for their sense of humor and business names reflect that. Many of them are clever puns such as "Hits & Myths" (a video rental shop), "Scent from Heaven" (a perfume shop), "Pleasure Chest" (a sex shop), "LawnOrder" (a lawn care business)...

Really, I don't have much to say against Sydney. The city could use one or two more light-rail lines and could be more bicycle-friendly (all the sewer caps are aligned so that bike tires can get stuck in them, there are almost no bike racks, you are not allowed to bike in many parks, you are legally obligated to wear a helmet when biking and the hills are annoying to ascend). Other than that, the only annoyance I've encountered is that the flies in Australia are very persistent. They'll follow you forever and try to enter your mouth and ears. But, when enumerating what's bad with a city, if you only come up with the small stuff I mentioned, it's a sign that the place is pretty good. In fact, I really wouldn't mind living there. The thing that would freak me out the most about living in Australia is that it's so far from the rest of the world and that it requires lots of money and time to get anywhere from there. Living in Australia is living on an island, literally and figuratively.

I had a fillet of kangaroo in Sydney. Pretty tasty meat. It's lean and is best when not cooked too much. I can add kangaroo to the ever-expanding list of animals I ate.

I took a 3 hour bus ride to Canberra. Canberra, like Brasilia in Brazil, is a city that was created from scratch to be the capital of its nation. As such, it's a pretty small and sleepy place. Personally, I think they should have let the capital remain Melbourne.

After spending a somewhat boring day in Canberra, I took another bus. This time to Melbourne. Melbourne is small than Sydney. Sydney is about the size of Toronto and Melbourne that of Montreal. The analogy goes further as Sydney is supposed to be more business-oriented and Melbourne more cultural. For both pairs of cities, that is arguable.

Melbourne reminds me of San Francisco (without the homeless junkies and the hills) because of its medley of architectures and the presence of tramways. It's a beautiful city with a good quality of life.

I still prefer Sydney because it's larger, warmer and has nicer beaches.

I had a second encounter with bedbugs. I went to a hotel and everything was fine for the night. In the morning, after taking my shower, I saw a bedbug crawl on the pair of pants I had put on a chair to wear that day. I caught the bug and showed it to the manager. That earned me 50% discount on my room. The problem is that I spent a whole night in that hotel and that I had left my bags open. Bedbugs are very sneaky and are usually carried on travelers' luggage. Once you get them, they are very difficult to get rid of. The last thing I want is to bring some to where I'm going to stay in Canada. So, I'll have to assume that my bags are infested and wrap them in tightly closed garbage bags once I get back home. To insure the bags and their contents is clear, I will need to place them in freezing temperature for a day. Montreal's weather will do the trick. Items from the bags that I want to use before that (clothes and such) will need to be washed with water hot enough to kill any potential bug.

All this is a pain. I was paying the big bucks in Australia to stay in hotels precisely to avoid exposure to bed bugs after my encounter in Singapore. Well, there is no point for that anymore. I'll go to backpacker hostels to save money from now on.

I'm flying to New Zealand in a few hours. All this traveling has exhausted me. I think I'll need a vacation to recover from this vacation. So, I'm likely to go to Hawaii on my way back to North America to relax and rest.