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Published: December 24th 2006
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Merry Christmas Everyone!
I'm sorry it has taken me so long to write this Australia blog. I have struggled to find a internet cafe that isn't full of people sending home their Christmas greetings!
Well I have included some amazing pictures of Sydney...including the Opera House, Harbour Bridge and of course the Christmas party last week!
I arrived in Sydney the Wednesday before last (13th December) and the one big difference I first noted was that it was alot hotter than New Zealand! It was great to be able to get out of the jeans and put on shorts and flip-flops.
I was staying in a hostel called 'Wake-up' in my first week. And I have to say it was pretty impressive! It was a large hostel (Which won the best hostel in the World award in 2005!) with a great atmosphere. I was staying in a 6 bedded dorm, which was very comfortable... but was sharing it with a couple of Scottish lads as well... so we had endless debates about football and which country is better... England of course. But there were some pretty cool English girls in my room too. The hostel was really
clean and despite it having 500 people staying there, it was very homely. They had a bar/nightclub in the basement area which was reasonably big called 'Sidebar'.
Immediately after arriving at Wake-up I met up with Karen and Hannah (who I had met in Fiji) and Hannah's boyfriend... Paul. That night we all got seriously drunk. Met some quality lads as well... Neil, Pete and Sy. All from England.
The next evening, we decided to go and watch Sydney F.C play 'Soccer' (not Aussie Rules crap football.... but proper football!) It was a really good atmosphere inside the 40,000 capacity 'Aussie Stadium'.... despite there only being an attendance of 11,000. They were playing Perth Glory.
The quality of football was really really poor though. I wasn't holding out too much hope before the game, but it was alot worse than I could imagine! They couldn't even get the basics right, like simple passes. They were always looking for the complicated passes, long balls (with only one man up top) and volleys which they couldn't pull off. Sydney got a player sent off in the first half for a stupid stupid foul. The Perth Glory striker was through
In front of the Stadium
(From Left to Right) Me, Karen, Pete, Sy and Neil - all with Facepaint on! on goal, and the disorientated defender came over and took him out. Straight red card. The game's only action came in the last 10 mins. Sydney took the lead through a well guided header and had a couple of other chances. But they held out for the win. Perth Glory had Stan Laziridis playing for them (he was poor) and Sydney had former Wolves man Steve Corica up front. They Sydney F.C manager is former England legend Terry Butcher. He looked ecstatic with the win, however if I were him I would come out of retirement and show them how it's done. Before the game we got out faces painted with the colours of Sydney (just in case you were wondering what we have on our faces in the pics.)
Then Saturday came along and the Hostel had organised a Christmas party in Sidebar. Most people came, so was a good attendance. And if you wore tinsel you got a 3-hour happy hour, instead of just the one. So as you can guess, everyone wore tinsel. A few people dressed up. And I decided to make my own 'Merry Christmas' t-shirt...complete with a flashing light Santa badge and silver
Sydney City
Us boys in front of the stadium tinsel. Oh and don't forget the Santa hat.
The next day we paid a trip to Sydney Opera House and Harbour bridge. And what a sight! I can see why people say that it is one of the must-see sights in the world. We even went on a one-hour guided tour of the inside of the Opera House. Which was impressive. Here's a fact for you... It was an Englishman called 'Goosens' who came up with the idea of having an Opera House and he chose the sight for it and pursuaded the Australian Government to have one. And it was an English company who were the engineers. The designer of the building is called Utzon... from Denmark. He never got to see the finished building though, because he fell out with the Australian Government about costs and left the project.
The harbour bridge was also Constructed by an English company from Middlesborough. The same company that built the Newcastle Tyne Bridge... hence the similarities.
The whole of Sydney has such a great atmosphere about the place, and despite the weather being on and off... it is still really hot. However it is quite expensive here... alot
moreso than anywhere in NZ.
But the food here is amazing! Such a great choice. And in China town they have these foodcourts that look amazing when you walk in. You see little counters to order, surrounded by lots of pictures of each dish. Dead-cheap the food in Chinatown though.
On the Tuesday Night I went for a walk along Harbour bridge... a great view.
On the Wednesday I had to change hostels...because Wake-up were fully booked for Xmas and New Year.
So I had booked into a hostel in Kings Cross. I prefer the location as it is nearer the main shopping malls and streets...and the harbour is closer. Met some really cool people already in my hostel and am looking forward to spending Christmas and New Year in their company.
There are 3 English girls in my room who all went to Surrey University (in Guildford) for the past 4 years... - another coincedence. So it's pretty cool talking to them about the same places etc. And another reason to call the world small: I was walking through Sydney Shopping Plaza, where I was stopped by one of those reps from 'Save the
Children' trying to get me to sign up. She was from England and asked me where abouts I was from. And it turned out she was also from Woking! Knaphill to be precise. After talking to her for about 30mins we had worked out that we both knew about 8 people the same. Her name is Tamsin Byrne... and went to Woking High. Strange all these things that keep happening to me.
On Thursday night we found a bar that plays Indie music... which was a relief to hear some decent music for a change. Got some really good deals on drinks aswell. Got in about 4:30am. Was a great night!
I will hopefully get some more pics from nights out etc. on my next blog... as I tend not to take my camera out at night. But the others do... so I will need to get hold fo their cameras at some stage!
Just had my haircut today... just in time for Christmas.
I really hope you all have a Great Christmas and I will post another blog before New Years. Enjoy the Christmas pics - took them just for you.
Don't forget to
Sydney FC Supporters
They were a passionate bunch... you have to give them that. But how they keep turning up week after week watching crap football like that... I'll never know. leave a comment for me.
Lots of love and best wishes for Christmas, xxxxxxx
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Mr Moore
non-member comment
Glorious Christmas!
Dear Michael Deans. I hope you are having a good time, sounds like it. Im am just glad I have a good christmas present, that being Man Utd two points clear at the top of the table! Merry Christmas to you!