Sydney in 24 hours

On Monday morning this week I got on a bus to Sydney, with three goals in mind for my 24 hour trip. 1. See the Dixie Chicks. 2. Go on a harbour cruise. 3. Go to IKEA!!!

I'm happy to report that all 3 things were satisfactorily completed. The Dixie Chicks concert was great. I ended up going alone to the concert and as a result it was a very emotional concert for me - their songs, especially from the latest album, hold so much truth for me right now - it was a powerful experience. Songs like 'Stepping Out', 'Not Ready to Make Nice', 'Taking the Long Way', as well as some older ones, 'Landslide' and 'Wide Open Spaces' just hit me in the heart. It was a moving concert and made me feel more like myself than I've felt since moving here.

On Tuesday morning I went on a harbour cruise. It was grey and overcast, but I love Being on the water in almost any condition, so it was great. Before the cruise left, I walked around Circular Quay a little. My first view of the Opera House was from behind, and I have to confess, I was a bit underwhelmed by it from that angle. The shells look pretty strange up close, and it's just sort of sitting there on the point, next to the Botanic Gardens and hotels and souvenir shops. But - once on the water - that's a pretty impressive building! It was definitely designed to be appreciated from the water and it did not disappoint, even in grey weather. Wow. As we got farther away from the harbor, there was the most iconic view in all of Australia (besides Uluru of course) - the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. Even though I was there and experiencing it all, it still felt really surreal to realize that I'm not just visiting this place, it's home now and the Sydney harbour is a 3 hour bus ride or 1 hour car ride away. CRAZY.

After the harbour cruise, which introduced me to great parts of the harbour that I can't wait to explore more on my next couple of trips, I set off for the IKEA. This for me was sort of like my Target run on my first weekend in Canberra. I needed to get there to get some familiar things for my house. After a couple of false starts I finally ended up at the IKEA in Rhodes Shopping Center. BTW, the City Rail system in Sydney is really good and got me everywhere I needed to go, with train station attendants that were more than happy to help me. And IKEA was everything I remembered. I seriously could have been in Atlanta or Oakland when inside that store. Which is a good thing but also sort of a weird thing too. But I know have the same set of knives here that I did in Atlanta. I drew the line at buying the same curtains though.. that'd be too much of home here. So, after a successful shopping trip I loaded my 3 bags onto the Murray's bus and enjoyed the bus ride home. To my new apt, in my new home-town. And it made me happy.