Discovering Sydney (English)

Hello everyone!

Here is a little resume of these first days in Sydney.

I arrived Saturday morning, after a sleepless night in the plane from Kuala Lumpur. Sleepless hours to blame on the latest episodes of a few series, Edward Norton and a lame French comedy...

But I'm actually grateful for being awake when we crossed Australia (it takes 3 or 4 hours...) and especially whe we flew over Alice Springs, whereabout is Uluru (or Ayer's Rock). The view would make you breathless, with the low pink sunrise. 

The land was covered by what seems waterless rivers (like a beach at low tide), or little canyons, as far I could see... Only a white line crossed the landscape, a road so perfectly straight for hundreds of kilometers, without any other road crossing it. Impressive and awesome!
I really wish to go one day in the Outback, you must feel so insigificantly small, there! 3 hours to cross a red desert..

Once arrived in Sydney, I took a taxi to reach my friends' home. It was so nice and warm that morning!
At first, crossing the city scared me out, it's so big! Arriving by the south to reach North Sydney, I crossed the City Business District with all the skyscrapers... I was thinking 'Crap but it's so ugly!' As USA! But fortunately, this was only the first impression!
I just had a quick glimpse at the Opera, and we actually crossed the famous Sydney Bridge. This is it!!! But you can't really see much from there, from a car... Patience...

Arrived in my friends's home in Neutral Bay, I met my first Kookaburra, a big bird with a huge white head and an awful cry. This is funny to meet tropical birds as cockattoo, ibis, and other parrots! Watch out!

This was it for my first day, as I wanted to rest and slept for 5 hours... My friends arrived the next day, we took it easy and wend to have few beers on the sea side, with view on the bridge and the Opera, how nice!

On Monday, I met Nick from Tours, who is jobless at the moment, so we went for a city tour and to take some pictures. From the North Side, the easiest is to take a Ferry to Circular Quay, it takes 10 minutes only to reach the city center. And such a great feeling to ride a boat instead of the Metro, or a dirty bus!! Moreover you arrive right between the Opera and the Bridge... Priceless... 

We went around the Opera and then we walked through the center districts all the afternoon : the Rocks, Darling Harbor, Wooloomooloo, King's cross. The City is actually really nice, the skyscrapers are quite beautiful, there are plenty of trees and many historical buildings anyway, in a nice architectural style (Classic/Neo-medieval) : The Town Hall, Victoria's Building, the beautiful Cathedral with a perfect classical gothic style. We ended up at the Royal Botanic Garden, a great spot to take pictures of the Opera and the Bridge at sunset. 
The sky was a bit cloudy, and my pictures dont do justice, but it is beautiful!

Here sunset is around 5.30PM, and it was dark when we reach Circular Quay. The City, the harbor, the Opera, the Brigde, by night, it's wonderful! Moreover from the ferry! 

This was my real first day discovering Sydney, and it was great!!! I forgot to mention that in the afternoon, the HR Manager from the Sheraton on the Park called me, for an Assistant Revenue Manager position, and we fixed a phone interview for the next day. A great job opportunity, just a couple of days after I arrived in Australia, that's great!

So the next day, I had the phone interview, and it went great, I will have the formal interview on the 17th. As salary expectation, I requested 60.000$, I'm getting confident!

I also applied to other Reservations jobs in other Hotels, and check some places to live.

That same afternoon, I went the famous Bondi Beach, to meet Nick for my first surf session!
On the way to Bondi, I met a bunch of backpackers, 2 irish lads, and Italian, french and german guys! A Cork-like bunch, this was nice! I could show off a bit in Italian, and the Irish lads were actually happy to meet a foreigner who could understand them, hihihi!

I could not resist and went straight away in the water, which was a bit fresh, 17-18 degrees, but whatever! How nice to swim in the sea again! Hopefully, Nick had a wetsuit for me to practice surf. The sea was quiet with few small waves, perfect to begin with!
I took few waves just liying on the board, and I tried to get up once. I only succeeded to kneel for 2 seconds before I lost balance, and I was pretty shaken, I love it!
I consider learning seriously, I'd like to go in the water everyday if I can!

I will go on looking for a flat. I was attracted by areas like Surry Hills, in the city center, with plenty of cafés, restaurants, and lovely designer boutique, but maybe I will consider living close to a beach. 
It will also depends on the job, so I will carry on the job and house hunting! 

I keep you posted!