City Tour + First Reaction

Today we went on a tour of Sydney. Not your typical tourist tour, one catered to helping newcomers get acquainted with a city. It was really helpful to drive through the various neighbourhoods to get a feel for what type of area is best suited to our personality and preferences. It is also really helpful to have a tour guide who specializes in this type of tour because you can ask pretty much any type of question and they'll either have an answer or at least point you in the right direction.

Some of the key things I think are important when starting up somewhere new:

• How to get around. E.g. how does the transit system work, where do I buy tickets, what frequency do buses run on the weekend, etc.
• What is the general rule for tipping
• Where to do banking or access funds
• Most popular grocery stores, what are the cheap, average and high tier stores
• Where to buy a prepaid SIM card
• Areas or things to beware of
• Where to pick up a local map

So, after spending our first full day in Syndey, what is my first reaction?

Its lovely. Think of Vancouver minus the rain, add shops and driving of UK, add the hills of San Francisco, sprinkle in a habour, a beautiful bridge and really friendly people and you'll have something close to Sydney. We tour the various neighbourhoods falling in love with the city the more areas we visit. Each area has its own character and personality. The residential streets are really diverse and interesting to look at, unlike some residential areas in Canada where every house looks the same, here each house is totally different to the next.

Its early days still and maybe I have newcomer's goggles on, but so far so good. I didn't come here with any expectations, but if I did, they would have been exceeded for sure.

- Priyesh