It's been far too long since I posted anything on this blog, but hell, I've got to start again somewhere. It was nearly a year ago now that I passed through Sydney, but I'm going to outline how I got by whilst I was there.
When i first arrived, I'd just finished 2 months in Asia. I didn't busk there very much at all aside from a stint in Bangkok, and I'd been staying in hostels travelling a very well trodden path. Coming to Australia, I knew, with the price of things, I'd have to get back to my old vagabonding ways. It didn't start too well, I arrived with a friend of mine and we went to check into a hostel. At $38 a night it was extortionate, so I only booked in for 2 nights, and figured I'd find myself something better for myself.
Sydney is a pretty easy place to get by for next to nothing for the astute wanderer. For a couple of days I wandered the city with my heavy pack, looking for good busking spots. In the evenings, I would take a bus to Coogee Beach and set up my tent among the trees and sand dunes. It was hardly ideal. I had nowhere to leave my things and could usually hear the music from the nearby bars as I tried to sleep in the evening.
Luckily, on about my fourth day, I found a great place to stay. It was completely by chance. I went to visit a couple about the possibility of sailing with them to Tasmania. They wanted more money than I could afford, but they where anchored off of a beach that I noticed straight away as a great place to sleep. That night Set up my tent on the beach. It was a lovely place. I could see the lights of the city and the Sydney harbour bridge sprawling out before me. I had a fire there and laid out next to it with a bottle of wine. As it got dark, i used the light of the fire to read from a battered copy of Dharma Bums by Kerouac.
The beach is really easy to find. All you have to do is take the train to wollstonecraft station, once you get off the train and walk out of the station, directly opposite is a road going down hill. At the bottom of this hill is the sea, and to your left is a lovely secluded beach. I camped there in total for nearly two weeks. In the day I'd leave my pack, without my valuables, in the tent as I went into the city. Nobody disturbed anything the whole time I was there. I'd have a fire every evening to cook and warm myself by. Nearby is a public bathroom, there's also a water point and free public BBQs.
Once I'd found this beach I started to explore more of Sydney. I'd spend my mornings sight seeing and looking for good busking spots. My favorite busking spot in Sydney is a popular one, but for the right reasons. I like to play in the tunnel under central station. You're supposed to have a license, but nobody ever bothers to check there. It' s easy to make some good money here. I'd usually just play until I had enough for some dinner and a bottle of wine. There's usually three people playing in the tunnel, so it's better not to be the one in the middle. There are probably better spots in the city, but this is the one I settled on.
In retrospect there's a lot of Sydney I didn't see. I found out later that there's a branch of Lentil as anything in Newtown, which is a restaurant working on a pay as you feel model. Since it's donation based, it's good when you're struggling. I eventually discovered it in Melbourne, the food is all vegetarian and all delicious :)
It's a long time since I was in Sydney, so I'm struggling to remember everything about my time there but here's some stuff the avid hobo should know when passing through.
Need a free feed? Seven11 bins can be awesome. You can always find Krispy Kreme donuts, salad, sandwiches and Iced coffee in the evenings. There have been times I'd had so much food I had to take it round to all the homeless and had it out because there was more than I could ever finish. This actually applies to all australia. Seven11 throw out heaps of edible food.
Arrive late in the centre with nowhere to go? central station is open the whole night. Lots of people use it as a free hotel. You can bed down there in a sleeping bag and nobody is likely to bother you until about 7 am. I've slept there a couple of times. There's cameras everywhere so I feel pretty same. I've never had any trouble sleeping there. Another option, I've noticed the police turn a blind eye to homeless people putting up tents in many of the cities parks. Especially the one next to central station but I can't remember the name. I didn't do it since I was a little nervous of the amount of drunk people sleeping there and the potential for trouble. By that time I'd found my beach and I was happy.
I identified some otehr good places to busk. If you get the liscense, there's plenty of places in the centre where you'll be moved on without one. also, I like the park next to the quantas arena near china town. You need a license but I usually managed over an hour and would make 40 to 60 bucks.
All in all, Sydney is an easy place to live like this, but not a fun one. I was looking for work whilst I was there but quickly gave up and left.
Need to get out? i used hitch wiki and got a ride in no time :) http://hitchwiki.org/en/Sydney
