Solo in Sydney
One thing I love just as much as traveling with Erik, is traveling alone. In fact, I love being alone. I am a true introvert and my social meter runs out – even with my husband. However, this trip was not meant to be done alone. The whole purpose was to spend close time with each other and family along the way to remind ourselves of how life can/should feel. So, it was a surprise to be finding myself boarding the flight from Christchurch to Sydney alone.
It's a long story, and really it’s Erik’s story to tell, let’s just call it a visa mishap. And really the decision for me to go alone was encouraged by Erik. No sense in both of us missing out and having to pay the excess fees.
ANYWAY. I landed late and grabbed an uber to go straight to my hotel. An indulgence, yes, but I had no interest in more travel time. I was hungry and tired. After checking in I ran across the street for a burger and was planning to take it back to my room to eat alone and cry. But, you know what – I’M IN SYDNEY! So, I took myself on a date by the waterfront and looked over the beautiful harbor as I ate my dinner. Then I went and crashed.
The next day was all about preparing for Erik to join me just later that night. He spent almost the whole day on the phone with immigration and two different airlines. Meanwhile, I basically was killing time. I walked through the incredibly beautiful Royal Botanical Gardens, and then set off for a little adventure to Chinatown.
Even though I had been walking for about 4-5 hours at this time, nothing was open still. The adventure to Chinatown was a wash but I totally forgot I had walked all that way to go to a museum. Oye, so about an hour into my walk back, I realized this and started back the other way. I went to The White Rabbit museum, which was free and an incredible collection of modern Chinese art. Sculptures, murals, painted wood carvings, stones polished that were gathered from the river by where Confucius was born. Just some incredible stuff! I was glad I turned back but golly geewizz did my feet hurt at this point. I think by noon or so I had already walked over 10 miles.
I grabbed some food and chatted with Erik – he was still not getting any answers. He had about an hour until he could get a reply to be able to board for that night’s flight to Sydney. To pass the time, I went up the Sky Tower and found a foot massage place and settled with some yummy tea and an eye mask. While it felt great, it did not distract me enough and just sat there thinking about Erik sitting in NZ just trying to piece a solution together. After that I found a cute spot for a cocktail and waited to hear from Erik. It was a no go, the gate was closed and he still hadn’t heard back.
I pouted and walked some more and got something to eat and then decided to propose a date night to Erik! Super Mario Bros had just come out and I recommended we go see it at the same time 1200 miles apart 😊. It was a delight and we had so much fun! As we went to bed, we had one more day to try!
But, when we got up we had decided on a new plan. Since I was only going to be in Sydney another day and a half or so – our goal now was to meet up somehow on our flight from Sydney to Sri Lanka. Erik got his day started with that and began his call center action!
Meanwhile, for Christmas my dad had gotten us tickets to a koala sanctuary in Sydney. So cute!! But this was my last full day so, again with Erik’s encouragement, I set out to visit the koala’s alone. It was a commitment, a bus to a train to another bus – an hour and 15 minute journey. But I made it and when straight to the koala’s and, wow, it was sad. The buildings were run down and the other animals had such tiny cages, it was giving me serious Tiger King vibes, which was so so sad. The koala’s at least had open top areas where they could climb on the trees and not be in a cage. There were two males in one area, and a lil’ wee babe in another one – I believe it was still in quarantine. It wasn’t clear why the animals were there, if they were found orphaned, if they were injured, if they were healing still from the 2019 fires. Regardless, I felt sad for these sweet squishy boogers. I stood and watched them for a good half hour, just sleeping and munchin’ on their leaves. It started to downpour so I decided I didn’t need to stick around much longer. Erik was making progress but no final plan was sorted out yet.
I hopped back on a bus, to a train to go to another bus again to check out an AMAZING restaurant. Ooshie Bakehouse, a Lebanese restaurant. I had a scrumptious zaatar pizza with cheese and garlic.
From there, Erik had made all his progress. We had a plan and there really wasn’t much that could get in the way this time. However, the sticker price sent me straight back to the hotel room for a little rest. But, in stressed out Leeah fashion, I stopped for a massage, bought a painting and did my Australia Irish Pub stop before getting back to my hotel. Whoops. Guess I know how I manage stress (not well $$).
But, whatever, it got solved, we’d be reunited the next day and that night I had tickets to the opera! I got all dressed up and took myself on another date, well, who am I kidding the whole three days were just endless romantic dates with myself! I had passed the outdoor venue the day before as I walked through the botanical gardens so I knew the route to go. Turns out though, the gardens close about 2 hours before the show. I tried all the gates and could not figure out how to get to the stage. People who were driving there were confused, some got out and tried to push the gates, I saw confused dressed up people wandering all over wondering the same thing as me.
It was getting pretty close to showtime and the new directions to go around was going to take about 40 minutes, so, that was not an option. I decided to get an Uber. But, right before I did a saw and mom and daughter pair, all dressed up looking confused and I asked if they were trying to get to the show. Yes, they were and no, they had no idea how to get there. I mentioned I was getting an Uber and there would be room, and the mom offered to buy me a wine when we got there. It was a match made in heaven 😊. We Ubered and ordered our drinks and talked for about 15 minutes before the show and it was so fun to have a nice conversation after 2.5 days of solitude.
The show was absolutely incredible, Madam Butterfly. The story is horribly heartbreaking, and Mr. Pinkerton is a complete loser, piece of trash, but the staging, the fireworks, the huge floating ‘sun’ on the water – everything came together to be a breathtaking performance.
Then I took a boujie water taxi back. It was an indulgent day but pretty darn near perfect.
The next day was ERIK day!! He caught his flight to Australia early while I walked around endlessly sipping more chai tea lattes. I also had a mini photo shoot with the opera house. It was Good Friday and I was absolutely floored to see nearly everything was closed. In my two hour walk I only saw 4 cafes, one Starbucks and one McD’s open – the city was so quiet. I was surprised to hear it was a national holiday the day before, but, good for them getting additional time off. Eventually, I made my way to the airport and got through security to be reunited with Erik.
It was not the few days in Australia I was thinking we’d have, but it was relaxing and honestly just really nice to spend some time alone. This just means we’ll, obviously, need to get back so Erik can enjoy it too!
