Week 7 and after touching down in Sydney, we make our way to the hostel.
My best friend, Mass (who went travelling 3 years ago and never returned) currently works here and has kindly set us up with our first few nights accommodation.
He’s not working this evening so I’m planning to catch up with him in the morning, however after booking in and get to our room, I see he has set us up with not only a room, but a photograph of John Kreese and Terry Silver form ‘The Karate Kid – Part 3’ (What a film!) – just helping me to feel at home! :-)
After catching up with Mass the next day, we spent the majority of the week wandering around, getting bearings, taking in the sights and just generally enjoying being back in a City again, with all of the people and energy that comes with it.
Some of the more interesting things on the wanders included stumbling accross an outdoor debating platform ‘Speakers Corner’ where people can (literally) bring, and stand on a soap box and discuss with the ‘crowd’ anything that they choose :-)
While I was hanging around and listening to the debate, I noticed another guy on the outskirts trying to engage people away from the main debate and direct them to the posters and signs he had laid out on the floor around him. I would say he was in his mid sixties and was not having much luck with the crowd, apart from a handful of teenagers who only seemed interested in provoking him into an argument.
I wandered over to see what was going on and he was more than happy to engage with me and turn away from the teenagers who were now just openly mocking him. Turns out, this guy has created his own language! He was obviously excited and passionate about his idea but it was difficult to fully grasp what he was trying to achieve. My understanding from what he was trying to tell me, was that his goal was to make language ‘more logical’ and accessible to everyone, regardless of nationality. He said it was loosely based on ‘binary’ (a computing language) and it wouldn’t require any learning.
I took his leaflet and made a note to try to not judge the guy and just let what he had told me digest for a while. There is sometimes a thin line between crazy and genius!
Some other photos from the wanderings and brilliant (and free) galleries in the area:
Another backpacker treat was the abundance of free music in the city. There was an outdoor arts and music festival throughout the weekend, we chilled out and listened to a brilliant Thai band in ‘Thai Town’ of the central business district, and enjoyed the massive amount of talented buskers and street artists.
Thanks Sydney, it’s been nice to be back in the city again!
So it was 6 am here when I opened your email and read the latest instalment . I made some tea and put the tv on and what was I watching?? The Karate KId! Weird isn’t it? Xx