Arrival in Sydney

Didn't want to worry anybody but now we have landed I can say it. We travelled Air Malaysia. Surely at the safest time during their history (and they are a very safe airline), after the disappearance of MH370 they are probably triple-checking everything.

Sydney is definitely a young city, we can hardly see anybody over 40 in the streets. Maybe it's the traffic lights - they stay green for such a short time there is no way a little old lady can cross the road. I guess all OAPs have moved or slowly starved to death because they can't get to the supermarkets. Which, by the way, don't sell alcohol. Licensing laws are very strict. Your only option (apart from the pub) is the bottle shop (aka an off license). Taxes are sky high, a can of normal lager will set you back about 4.50 AUD. Wine is much more cost-effective.

Apart from that terrible flaw Sydney is a lovely city. It has the feel of a provincial city, but with skyscrapers. It is a cross between England (but newer, cleaner and sunnier) and the far East (there are Chinese and Japanese restaurants everywhere).

After settling in we went to the best public playground I have seen. It has a zipline, river, geysers, a huge slide and much more. Being Sunday it was completely packed but there was plenty of rides for all (though there was a pretty long queue for the zipline). We spent a couple of hours there and headed back for an early night to get rid of the jetlag.

Lesson learnt today: don't accidentally leave your food in the "common / left behind for others" section of the fridge at a YHA - it quickly disappears and there will be nothing left by the time you realise your mistake.