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One of the somewhat strange things about being a professional house sitter in Sydney is that I spend a lot of time on " first dates" with dogs. And that's exactly what I planned for today. I had two dog appointments scheduled for today, but the owner of the puppy I was supposed to be looking after tomorrow just canceled the visit. This means that, firstly, I have some free time today, and secondly, the whole of tomorrow is now unexpectedly free. So maybe I'll catch up on work or go on an adventure somewhere in Sydney I've never been before to make the most of my free time. I thought I'd take you with me for the next 48 hours to give you a better
understanding of what it's like to be a professional housesitter in Sydney. For the past few weeks we have been staying in a suburb called Leichhardt, in Sydney's inner west, where we had not been before. I really like it here , there's a big Italian community here, and. This morning we found out that today is one of the biggest Italian festivals in all of Sydney, on one of the main streets right next to where we live. So we're going to look at it. Can you imagine me being able to sing like that? Okay, now we're off to our little puppy meeting. Well, they're not exactly puppies, they're two dogs, both seem to be about 6 years old, and they live comfortably, just a 10-minute walk from where I'm currently staying. So, we suggested
meeting with them. We don't always meet our pets in person before grooming, but we personally like it. In addition, the owners also really like it because they can personally form an impression of us, and we can look around the house, make sure we get along with the dogs and that everything will be fine. They can show us where they keep the dog food and where they walk them. I actually really like it, and now that we're only 5 minutes away from the venue, I'm going to check the ad to see if there were any special details we should know about in advance. We are back. Oh, that was so nice. The visit to that house was just the tip of the iceberg.
It doesn't look like much from the outside, but it's actually a spacious house, and I noticed they had Aesop hand soap, which to me is a sure sign that someone has a really nice home. And the dogs were very cute. They seem to be very polite and they have air conditioning. It's the middle of spring in Sydney, but today it's 31 degrees. It is very hot. So going there was just bliss. Oh, I think we'll like it there. I feel very good about this. Is anyone else watching "Traitors"? I had never watched this show before, but everyone around me was talking about it all the time, so I thought, okay, I'll watch this season, and I was completely hooked. When an episode ends, I just wait for the
next one to start. But of course, living in Australia, you might be thinking: Christian, how do you watch Traitors? Because watching British television here is not always easy. That's why I use Surfshark, who are the kind sponsors of today's video. If you don't already know, Surfshark is a VPN that allows you to change the virtual location of your device with just a few clicks. So I can connect my iPad to a UK server to watch services like BBC iPlayer, or switch locations around the world depending on what media or streaming service I want to access. They also recently introduced email fraud checking, which uses artificial intelligence to scan suspicious emails in Gmail and flag potential scams or phishing attempts, which is
especially handy when you're traveling, when you receive booking confirmations and random emails. So if you want to try Surfshark for yourself, be sure to go to surfshark.com/backpacking or just use my code backpacking and it will give you an extra 4 months of Surfshark. So, now I'll watch the rest, and then I'll go to bed to rest early. I have almost no nightlife social life in Sydney, and that suits me fine. In fact, I'm absolutely thrilled about it. I personally really like this lifestyle-early to bed, early to rise-that I have developed here. Well, anyway, see you in the morning. Are you ready to go for a walk? Are you ready? The house we live in now is very, very old, and the lady who owns it wants to do some renovations soon. To be
honest, it's not a place we would normally choose because we have the privilege of choice in Sydney and so many people have such beautiful homes; but the reason we chose this one is because we just wanted to take care of Suki, who is a very calm dog. The last dog we looked after was so sweet and adorable, but had separation anxiety and we couldn't leave her home alone. Even though we both work from home, it's still very limiting when, essentially, one person has to stay home all the time, or you have to take the dog everywhere with you because dogs can't go everywhere you need them to. We also couldn't let her off the leash, and I love when you can let dogs off the leash to run free, so this time we're prioritizing not the house, but just an
easy-care dog. Good morning. Can I have a small strong flat white with one sugar, please? Thank you very much. Sugar. Bon appetit. Thank you. She doesn't like to eat her dry food in the morning, so I try to hide the wet food under the dry food so she'll at least eat a little of it before she gets to the wet food. Like I said, I had to take care of the puppy all day today. I was going to meet them yesterday and then take care of the puppy today. This was a paid job organized on MadPaws. But just last night she said, "Oh, actually my friend offered to look after the puppy." So, work was canceled, and suddenly
my entire Monday is free. And I could catch up on work. Maybe I should catch up on work. But the sun is out this afternoon, and it's not too hot. And I feel like these are perfect conditions to go hiking. A little hike alone in a place I've never been before. I think it will be very interesting. I heard about this natural swimming spot in the Royal National Park called Karlu Pools. And, apparently, you can walk this entire route, arriving at Heathcote Station in the Royal National Park, and starting from there. So I think I'll ride a scooter for a bit, then take the train so I don't have to go too far, and then go hiking from Heathcote train station. Oh, that's perfect. Okay, I found what I was looking for on AllTrails,
called the Karlu Hiking Trail. So, I'll download it because, as I recall, the connection in the Royal National Park is poor and doesn't work everywhere, and I don't want to get lost. I'll go to Wally Creek and take the train from there. I've never been to Wally Creek before, and as you know, I'm still not allowed to use my phone as a navigation device on this scooter because I'm still on a "learner's" license. So I have to memorize directions everywhere I go, which is both annoying and interesting, keeps me sane, and actually helped me learn Sydney much better. Would I want to use my phone for navigation? Yes.
Definitely yes. This would certainly make my life much easier. I wouldn't have to study a map every time I leave the house. Another reason I came to Wally Creek is that there is a Woolworths supermarket here, where I can not only park, but also buy myself lunch, a small picnic to take with me. While I'm here, I want to tell you that this is the best cream cheese known to mankind I won't buy it now because it's too much for a picnic, but just know
Okay, this is Heathcote. It was really so quick and easy, and the walking route starts right from the station. This is the one I will choose-the Karl- Lu trail. It says that this is a difficult route, 2.5 km to the goal, an hour and 15 minutes, right deep into the forest. It's a shame that in New South Wales you can't take dogs on public transport and in national parks, because I think our dog would really like it here. But I'm so glad I went for a walk today. I feel like I don't do it often enough, you know? This is what I enjoy: exploring, going somewhere alone, giving myself a little challenge. While I love this kind of thing, it's not exactly in my comfort zone.
I think when you go somewhere alone, it's never completely out of your comfort zone, but that's why it's beneficial to do it. Wow, look at this. It's like an enchanted forest. Wearing regular sneakers was n't the best decision, because it's a bit damp here. I'm just going lower and lower into the valley, which is great right now, but I'm getting a little uneasy about the way back, which I know will be a continuous climb up. Here we are approaching the Carlo pool. It's now quite obvious that I wasn't very well prepared, because I had already reached the Carlo pool, about 2.5 km away, and that's where I thought I was going.
But in fact, the route I chose, which I didn't know about, leads to Lulu Falls, which is another 2.5 km further along the trail. But you know what? I just wanted to come here to swim, I really wanted to get to the Carlo pool, and it's just magical. So I think I'll just stop here, swim, and then come back, and I'll be perfectly happy with that, and maybe next time I'll go to Lulu Falls, probably if I come with someone else. I want to show you how clear the water is here. This is so incredible. To my surprise, here it's actually.Oh, this lighting is just awful. To my surprise, she is not cold at all. The temperature is just wonderful. I would say it's warmer than the ocean, which
surprises me because for some reason I imagined that all freshwater bodies of water should be icy, but it's just amazing here. I'm here on a weekday, as you know, today is Monday, so it's probably not very crowded here. There are several people here. I can imagine how crowded it must be on the weekends, especially on a sunny day like this. I'm just thrilled about it. This is such a wonderful place. I can't get away from the impressions. When people ask me, "Oh, why did you choose Sydney?" or "Why did you want to live in Sydney?" This is just one of the reasons.
The fact that you can take public transportation and in less than an hour be on a trail that leads to places like this is a pretty special moment. So, I'm leaving the Carlo pool. I love this. In fact, I'm the only one here who goes out. So quiet today. Although I don't know what it's like here And it took me 44 minutes to walk from the station to the pool. So we'll see how long the return trip takes. Probably a little more, because you have to go uphill all the time to get back. And I got back to Heathcote station. In fact, I covered the return journey in 35 minutes. 10 minutes faster than the way down. It seems like I just didn't stop and was going here at full speed. Besides, I wasn't sure about the train schedule, so I decided to leave
as soon as possible to catch the next flight. But now that I'm here, I have about 5-10 minutes to wait, which is actually perfect. In total, the journey from Heathcote station to Carlo's Pools and back was 5.36 km, and the total journey time was 1 hour 20 minutes. The elevation gain was about 200 meters, which is not bad at all. And I would say this is one of my favorite routes in Sydney, if I may say so. Simply because that pool was incredible. I love swimming in the wild. And it was transparent. The water was moving, you know, it's not very pleasant to swim when the water in a wild body of water seems stagnant. The sun was shining.
Of course, that always helps. It was wonderful. Okay, I'm home, Sookie. Shall we go for a walk? Come in. Oh my, in true Sydney style: after such heat today, it suddenly started raining and storming. I'm going to meet my friend at the botanical garden for an art exhibition. I really hope it doesn't start raining again, because this jacket I'm wearing isn't waterproof. This is a very steep bridge that is pleasant to drive across. This is the Anzac Bridge, which connects the western part of the city with the center. Are we there yet? And this is behind me-what I always look for: just for motorcycles, because there are
usually no restrictions there, which is just incredible. My friend Genevieve invited me to Sophie Tee's art exhibition at the Palm House at the Royal Botanic Gardens, and I think Sophie is incredible. She is so talented and the works she exhibited are part of her " Lady Garden" collection. I'm just in love with the depictions of natural bodies and the floral patterns that permeate them, and the colors- oh, the colors were just gorgeous. Sophie was painting live on a huge canvas in the back of the hall. Since I work as a full-time housekeeper, I'm technically homeless and won't be able to post any of these jobs, but it does n't hurt to dream. It was great to see Sophie's work up close, and that concludes my vlog. I hope you enjoyed
spending this weekend with me in Sydney, see you in the next video. See you later.
