Bondi Beach

After flying through Brisbane to get to Sydney, I had to walk around for forever to find a hostel. The first three or four of the hostels I had checked with were full. I finally found one and moved my stuff in. The hostel was a very different style than I was used to. The people there were kind of rude and there were a bunch of dirty hippies all rolling their own cigarettes and smoking them wherever they felt like, but it was about all I could find. I went out that night looking for some Kangaroo on a menu. All of the places I had checked with did not offer it. I wanted to try some because I figured that I would not have another chance and as you probably guessed, I was in Australia. After searching and finding nothing, I just settled with some ordinary food. I came to find out later that most people in Australia don't eat kangaroo. It is mainly a tourist thing that foreigners think is all Aussies eat. The next day I headed for Bondi Beach, the famous beach of Sydney. As soon as I got there it was high tide so I decided to try my luck on a surfboard. I rented one for two hours and since I was a beginner, he gave me the beginner board. It was a very long softboard. The long ones are supposed to be easier to get up on and the softboard was so I didn't have manslaughter on my record. If you have never tried surfing before, let me tell you, it is not easy. First, getting out to the break is a process all in itself. I kept getting knocked off of my board whenever a wave broke close to me. Another surfer finally saw my frustration and showed me a tip to get past the wave. After finally getting out to the point where the waves start to break, you have to sit and wait for a good one to come as well as your turn. A real hard thing for me was the paddling. It isn't like normal swimming because your arms are way out to the side and it really tires your shoulders if you aren't used to it. After several failed attempts to catch a wave I fnially caught one and actually stood up for a couple of seconds. I not only got fully up about two or three times but I was very satisfied with my accomplishment without any teaching. The surfing experience ended when I was paddling back out to catch another wave. A guy had gotten up on a wave and was headed right for me. Since I was on this beginner board I was not able to move out of the way quick enough and got nailed. I had a cut on my shin and my knee. Needless to say, it hurt...alot. I came back in and retired the board, hobbling up the beach. I wasn't that upset I couldn't ride anymore because I had already used the two hours up. The rest of the day was spent on this walkway that goes around three or four other beaches. There were people on every beach and everyone there was real friendly. The walk across the beaches has alot of places describing the history of the area. It was nice being able to get a bit of Australian beach knowledge. After some time hanging out at Bondi I headed back to the hostel. That night, after some asking and searching, I finally was able to find a place with kangaroo. Although it was in kebab form, I can still say I had kangaroo in Australia, right? It was very tender and had a very unique taste to it. Not bad but I would probably not pick it as my meat of choice. I was not able to go out that night because I had to catch a flight to Bangkok real early in the morning. I basically just hung out playing cards with some guys and packing up my stuff. Unfortunately, my time in Australia had expired. It definitely could've been longer, but I was happy for the time I had there. There is a weird thing about Australia. It has so many things that seem so familiar, yet at the same time, is so different. It is a very westernized country, obssessed with cricket, no modern concept of size, having no worries, and drinking the bloody poms under the table. Australia seemed a bit different from what I had imagined. Maybe because I went to a country that was so different first, it was hard to see the exoticness there. Of course, maybe it helped to see the differences between the familiar and the exotic. Without seeing Japan first, I don't think I would be able to appreciate the familiarity of it and maybe because I saw Japan first I can appreciate the exoticness. Either way, I felt like I was able to get a very good understanding of the country and the way it works. It was hard for me to understand how they can be left out of so much news and attention, yet it is such a huge, thriving, bustling country seeming so small in the media. Australia truly is the land down under and that is about all I can agree upon with what I had heard. The country does not eat kangaroo, throw boomarangs, play the didjeridoo, and only eat vegemite. It was far from this in fact. You can tell that this is what they set up for the tourists. The country is not what you have seen in the media or on old shows of the Crocodile Hunter. It is just Australia, big and full of character. Visit it and see for yourself.