St Patricks Day

The weekend life in Sydney can be expensive. A lot of backpackers end up splashing their full wages (or money saved from home) on going out to clubs & pubs, which was something we were looking to avoid due to our finances. Sitting in our flat isn't particularly fun though due to uncomfortable seating, assorted mess from our flatmate, and the cockroach situation. On the Sunday of the weekend that started in the last blog, was the public celebration of St Patricks Day (a day earlier here this year), an organised drinking day. We still had some money left in our weekly budget, so we decided to partake in the festivities.

Guinness must be rubbing their grubby mits each year in March, as in reality, St Patricks Day is more of a lucrative sales day than a religious holiday or a genuine Irish day. Well, it's certainly true in Sydney anyway, with most people adopting green and/or kitsch t-shirts with leprechauns or dubious claims of being Irish. The Irish backpacker population is unbeliavably high to be fair, but aside from some of the early penal settlements, there isn't that much of an Irish community. Particularly in comparison to other ethnic groups. As one Australian said to us though, half of the population seems to be Irish and the other half wishes they were.

That being said, we embraced the cheesyness and headed down to watch the St Patricks Day parade early on Sunday morning. It was surprisingly low key though with a fairly low crowd turnout and aside from a few imaginatively decorated cars, it was pretty underwhelming. It seemed to be over within about half an hour and the crowds pushed there way to Hyde Park, which had a function on for the day. No alcohol was to be smuggled in, although plenty of people tried.

After going in, we met up with some Australians that Megan had met last time she was here and sat down with them near the stage. Going up to the bar and waiting in the long queues, we purchased some overpriced drinks and then briefly bumped in to Brid and Sinead who obviously had a bit more of a genuine claim to the day than most other people there. The stage beside us had some Irish folk music on, which consisted of the usual repertoire of Irish songs and even Caledonia, which the singer dedicated to the Scottish people present. This was followed by Gaelic singing and it was a pretty enjoyable afternoon, but after a while we needed to get money out and use the facilities, so we left the park.

By this point it was only myself, Emma & Gemma and after getting money out, we decided to go to a pub instead of back to the park, enticed by the possibility of being served within an hour. Several drinks and games of pool later, Megan, Stew & Shannon had rejoined us and for the banter, we started covering ourselves in Irish themed transfers, which can be seen in some of the pictures. One thing led to another, and we soon found ouselves in Scruffy Murphys, minus Megan & Stew. It seemed OK to begin with but after a while it just seemed to be full of really drunken guys, all wearing t-shirts saying "Kiss Me, I'm Irish" or "Who's Your Paddy?" and we managed to stay relatively sober having mostly avoided their inflated prices for the day.

The following day was back to work as usual. My job seems to be a bit of a joke with barely half an hour worth of work a day and internet reading for the remainder and in Emma's, it seems as if it is the management themselves that are the joke. Life as a temp couldn't be better, although to be fair, the rate of pay is pretty good for such basic jobs. This is offset a bit by the Sydney living costs but our rent is still cheaper than most places out here.

It was a shorter working week due to Easter and we finished up on the Thursday, so we planned another barbeque for the evening, which was also a farewell to Sharleen. She had finished up at work and was embarking upon the rest of her trip after a weekend spent in Brisbane. It was sad to see her go but I think we were also jealous of the fact she was hitting the road, with all of us fed up of this temping malarkey. Despite forgetting cooking oil and sauces, it was by all accounts a successful barbeque, although the weather is now starting to get noticably chillier in Sydney.

It goes without saying that somebody brought Goon and we were soon back in Megan & Stew's flat watching DVDs and crappy TV. We had things planned for the Easter weekend so it was just a quiet night in.

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