The end of Oceania

Sydney, Australia

Don't tell me it was too short. I know. 35 days in Oceania is short. Especially to visit both New Zealand and the enormous country Australia is. But the intelligent choice, in the circumstances, was probably the one I made : concentrate on Melbourne and Sydney.

No Uluru's Rock, no West Coast, not even a minute in Brisbane or Cairns. Too bad!

That said, since I didn't have a cultural shock yet, Australia share the comfort of a society very close to ours. Same for New Zealand.

Especially since there are numerous occasions to surround yourself with nature, everywhere, minutes away from downtown or in the middle of nowhere. It's probably a necessary cure before diving in a sea of people in Hong Kong and, eventually, in Beijing.

I'll remember that even if Australia is the home of eight of the ten most dangerous snakes in the world, three species of sharks, spiders that can seriously handicap you, the real dangers, for most people, are really small.

The memories I'll keep, probably like everywhere I traveled to, will be the people I met. Unexpected friendships, sometimes, with people way younger or way older. People I saw, saw again, and then left with a simple handshake on the corner of the street. More goodbyes. Those to new friends. Those to the places I might never see again. Melancholy the next handshake will chase away, a handshake to a stanger who walks with me for a while before more goodbyes.

The blues won't last. I'll change gear and it will be fine. Even if after a complete week in Sydney, I felt nostalgic, in a park under Harbour Bridge, before going back to my hostel to get my luggage. In a day where I was always a little bit out of time, I at least could stop and take a little bit of sun.

From there, I took a shuttle with a crazy driver who unbelievably brought us alive to the airport. "I'm more than scared" said a passenger. It didn't cost us a lot to tip the driver.

Tired of my day, I will easily fall asleep on the 9 h 40 flight from Sydney to Taipei for a stopover.
Great news. As soon as I'll get in Hong Kong, I will rush to get my chinese visa. I already feel it's gonna be a big adventure.

I'll see if the chinese wi-fi and internet allow me to give news from day to day.