Sydney - Catch up

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G'day, had a very nice sleep in our little hostel again, probably cos we didn't come back til 01.00 am as we caught up with old friends. Firstly though, in the morning, we decided to scout around the area where we're staying as it is not all Adult establishments and ladies !! So we walked down to the Jewish museum but decided we would come back and see that when we had a little more time. In our guide book there was the old gaol house and court house which is in Darlinghurst. This area is the next one to Kings Cross, we wandered around the back and found the old gaol is now an art school. We must have been looking a bit gormless as the caretaker came out and asked what we were doing. We showed him our guide book and he kindly offered to show us what was the gaol was like back in the 1800's. Bonus or what, took us on a free tour, telling us where they used to do the public hangings, where the chapel was, unlocking doors to show us where the cells were and giving us a general run down of the place. Such a nice chap, said he was from Argentina and had been working there for 40 years and loved his job. After that we walked to Surry Hills. Which is a very nice area, open air cafes and bars, but really didn't see a lot of it as we were just walking through, but looked very nice. All these suburbs used to be slumey areas but now all up and coming where everyone wants to live and of course very pricey now.

So today I was meeting an old friend who I back packed around with 32 years ago. Mandy is originally from London, came out here 28 years ago, married a Kiwi and had two daughters. We were on a kibbutz and moshav in Israel, then went onto Greece grape picking and onto Turkey. It was great catching up, we went up to Paddy's market, had lunch and then caught the train to Newtown which is another hip and trendy suburb, with lots of vintage second hand shops. Here we had to meet Stu's mate, Marcel from Southampton. Stu went to school with his brother and Marcel was back home at Christmas. We all had a drink, Mandy then went home, so the 3 of us went for dinner in an Italian place which was very nice and then to an Irish bar. It was great catching up with old friends, we were all saying where does the time go ?

Unfortunately for us, Kings Cross railway station are doing overnight rail works So everytime we come home in the evening we have to get as far as we can on the train, get off and onto a bus. So last night decided to walk back to the hostel and there they were the ladies of the night !!! Lycra and short seem to be fashionable !! They just look a bit odd standing there as there all on their mobile phones, texting away. We have been people watching, nearly everyone has their face in their phones, texting away whilst walking along, bumping into people. The last couple of nights it has been quiet outside, one night it was so noisey and the street was really busy with people off their heads, shouting at absolutely nothing and looking very scarey !! Still it is entertainment, maybe not so good but certainly interesting !!!! Doesn't appear to ever be a dull moment in Kings Cross !!

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