By Erik Skye

December 14, 2010:

I had breakfast this morning with Ceren. We both have an interest in photography, and took photos with our DSLR’s of quirky little things throughout the meal, and throughout the day. Here are some images of our food. My bowl of fruit & yogurt-covered muesli (which was very good quality) only cost $10. I’m including some photos from a local supermarket showing meat and seafood with pricing so you can get an idea of the cost of living. Remember that those prices are per kilogram (1 kilogram = 2.2 pounds).

I want to show you the currency too. The coins are of 5, 10, 20, and 50 cents (there is no penny – they round at the checkout), and coins for 1 and 2 dollars. Interestingly, the 2 dollar coin is smaller than the 1 dollar coin. There is no paper dollar. Bills come in 5, 10, 20, & 50 (not sure of anything higher). Notice the physical size and color differences.

Ceren and I headed to North Sydney (across the famous Harbor Bridge – which I’ll be photographing tomorrow) for Manly Beach. Manly and Bondi are the two most popular beaches of Sydney (there are plenty of lesser beaches around also). We each agreed that we liked Manly the best of the two. Manly seems to be a bit more tastefully done than Bondi. And it seems to have more room. One exception might be that Bondi is interconnected with two other beaches by a terrific “Coastal Trail”, show-casing wonderful displays of weathered sandstones.

I spoke with another French woman who was working as a cashier at a food stand at Manly. She just got permanent residency by “defacto” (that’s what people have been calling it), where you are with a live-in romantic mate (not married) for one year. You then get residency privileges for 2 years, after which time, if you can prove you are still together, you are eligible for permanent residency. She was an environmental scientist back in France, but they don’t need those here (not in Sydney anyway). So she apparently chose the defacto/work as a cashier route. People do like it here, and the theme of how to earn permanent residency has come up a number of times now, among European foreigners.

I’ve met one American here, through Ceren, and she’s doing the same thing as I just described above (she has a defacto partner and is a waitress). But in general, I don’t get the impression that many American’s are here. Keep in mind that America has a lot of options (for moving around, changing your lifestyle, weather - without leaving your country) while Europeans maybe not as much so.

Trivia: Wall outlets are 240 volt (its 120 volt in America). You need a special plug-in adapter (and you need to make sure your equipment is rated for 240 volt – my computer battery charger is; my camera battery charger is not).