Exploring Sydney's other sides

The beginning of classes has gotten everyone to start settling into life here abroad in Sydney. While often many students travel around Australia when they come to study abroad, many who are living on a budget (like myself), find more local means of traveling around. I have a trip planned to Byron Bay for the mid-semester break, which I am excited to write about when I experience it later. For now, however, I have been taking a liking to adventuring around the suburbs surrounding Sydney. The bus system here is very easy and manageable, which has been nice to get around on. An Opal card is what people use to get around in Sydney. It is as easy as walking into any convenience store to purchase the card as well as topping it up in the store as well. The Opal card also has an app that allows one to top-up easily and on a mobile, which has been what I do mainly. 

I have been taking the bus everywhere except for the major city area for some reason. I really like getting to know the smaller areas around Sydney first; somehow it makes an already overwhelming experience less overwhelming I think. What I am noticing everywhere I go in the city is that each small suburb carries a certain connotation with it, like most do in most places.  For example, I live in Newtown, which is where the housing and University of Sydney campus is. Other than being a student city, Newtown is known as the hipster area of Sydney. There are many young and hip concept stores that I will write some individual posts on later as well. If you take the train over to Marrickville, you find a less gentrified Newtown, or what Newtown was in the beginning stages of its existence. It is grungy, young, and has a lot of less main-stream night-life and activities.

Continuing on the route of my favorite suburbs, one ends up in Surry Hills. Surry Hills is definitely more up-scale than Newtown and Marrickville, but still not a major city area. There are a myriad of cute cafes and vintage stores tucked away within the many hills of the city, but also a few more eclectic places as well. Heading over to Paddington for some reason seems to resonate with the name in my head...more preppy, upper-class, well to do suburb of the city. Adorable, on-trend shops are tucked away within the area as well as amazing thrift stores I have been finding due to the type of people that leave clothing there. 

Despite all the different suburbs I have been exploring, I feel I am in my comfort zone in a way still. I am out and about, but I am not running toward what makes me uncomfortable, which is at the moment, heading into the heart of the city. I am very fickle with cities; sometimes I love them, sometimes I hate them. I need a good dose of nature and city life to keep me grounded I think. There has always been something about cities for me since I was little that seems to make it harder to breathe in a way for me. I will hopefully push myself to get out of my suburb comfort zone and head toward the larger parts surrounding Sydney but keep making time to weave in and out of my favorite cities in the little towns scattered around that I have been frequenting.