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Published: August 17th 2007
The travelblog finally returns! My lack of entries has not been through lack of trying. Any of you that may have checked the website recently will have noticed that the whole site had crashed and my blog was lost! I have recovered most of the entries, 3 are still floating around in cyberspace somewhere but Grandma Birch has paper copies of the lot so it's not too much of a disaster. This one is being saved on my memory stick as soon as it's written!
Well I am onto my third week in Sydney now so this could be a big entry! A lot of friends met along the way are in Sydney so I have fitted in a lot of partying which was great for my 4 day Birthday! Sonia and I met up with Erin and the two of them got along well which was good and helped us to form the three stooges! In amongst the student lifestyle that I have adapted to rather well I have fitted in a few sights which I will tell you all about now!
My first major event was Neighbours Night which was an evening spent with Neighbour's "Stars". The
Harold Bishop's Jowls Quiz team
Neighbours night. L-R Me, Jack, Erin, Shaun, Soniahighlight of the night was meeting Dr Karl Kennedy! The rest of the night was a bit of a disaster with our team, "Harold Bishop's jowls" sitting through a mammoth quiz with unrelated Neighbours questions such as "What is the worlds smallest mammal?", a cheesy compere and other "stars" of the show, Dylan and Janelle - I posed for pics with them but must admit I didn't have a clue who they were. We did have a laugh but it wasn't really what we were expecting!!
The following day Sonia, Erin, Shaun (one of my new bessie Sydney mates - a mad geordie!) and I got the bus and train to Bondi Beach. It is a really nice beach but it was cold and quiet so I intend to return in the summer. The following day Sonia and I walked to Mrs Macquaries chair which is in the botanical gardens. We saw a tree full of flying fox bats sleeping and some lovely greenery. Again I think it will be even more amazing when I return! From the viewpoint you get superb views of Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House and we caught it as the light was
being to fade so I got some great pictures. After this we went to see The Simpsons movie as it was cheap Tuesday at the cinema. Sonia and Erin came first in the hostel quiz so they won tickets for Route 69 pub crawl the following night. Luckily they won 3 tickets so even though my team lost I was able to join them for a coach trip around 5 bars and clubs with free drinks. Needless to say it got a little drunken but I have my bright pink t-shirt as a souvenir that I will probably never wear!
On Friday 3rd August my Birthday celebrations began, I treated myself to a hair cut, colour and highlights to hide my roots and prepared for Birthday night out 1. Erin, Sonia, Shaun and I ate out in China Town which was a delicious treat. We then met up with a few of our hostel pals and hit a couple of bars. On the Saturday we got the ferry across the harbour to Manly Beach with a mate from our new hostel, cockney Steve. Manly is a nice beach with good shops and another must do re-visit when I get
back here at Christmas. That night the bar under our hostel had a mexican night so it was sombreros and fake 'tashes all around. After a couple of tequillas we collected my new Birthday hat (Thanks Aunty Pam!) and went to an irish bar to meet Andy who Erin and I originally met in Cairns and Airlie Beach. At midnight I was officially the Birthday girl so Sonia and Craig (another bessie mate from Blackburn) bought me a rose which promptly snapped in half!
Sunday was my official Birthday and got off to a very quiet start, with Erin leaving for New Zealand in the morning. We decided that celebrations needed to be had so we started with a Sunday Roast with Sonia, Craig, Shaun, Steve and Flo. After dinner Criag and I went to buy a Birthday cake and candles - although they had ran out of number 2s so we opted for my 95th Birthday instead. We also bought a cheap kids adaptation of pin the tail on the donkey which was stick the sticky handbag on the girl. My candles were lit for all of 1 second to avoid setting of the fire alarm and the
goon drinking began as did the party games. As I was wearing my Birthday hat and Steve was wearing his sombreros we inforced a hats only rule which resulted in Sonia wearing an empty goon box on her head, Craig wearing a shoebox, Shaun a cake box and Flo a poncho. Our other roomies were 6 brazilians who sang Happy Birthday to me in portugese. We ended up playing musical statues, pass the goon and stick the bag on the girl - I got down to the finals but ended up sticking the bag on someones bunkbed instead of the poster!! We moved on to the bar under the hostel where we played matchbox drinking games for a few hours on Steve's bartab! All in all it was my most immature, random Birthday I have had in years but I thoroughly enjoyed myself! Thank you for all the cards and texts, they were all greatly appreciated!
Following the officially closing of my Birthday, Sonia and I went down to Darling Harbour where the sun was shining and the Darling Harbour boat show was taking place. We eyed up a few boats but didn't find ourselves any rich Ozzie millionairres!
We decided to check out the Opera House so the next day we went on a one hour tour with a guide who sounded like Dame Edna Everage. Due to copyright licensing we weren't allowed to take any photographs inside the theatres so have a couple from the corridors. Another day of nice weather meant we got some more great bridge shots and then met a few pals for sunny drinks. The sun and socialising continued onto the next day where we posed outside the chinese gardens and had tea and caught some live music with Shaun and Craig.
Since we felt we were drinking and socialising a little too much, Sonia and I decided to retreat to the Blue Mountains which are a 2 hour train ride from Sydney. The Blue Mountains are so called because they are full of eucalyptus so have a lovely faint blue hue to them. On arrival at the Mountains we were hit by the wind! As the photos show we struggled to get photos without our hair all over our faces but had fun trying anyway. We saw the three sisters which are 3 rocks with aboriginal significance. If you google them
you will be able to get the full story on them. We then walked down into Echo Valley, took a rocking skycar across to the other side, the steepest railway in the world down into the bottom of the valley and a cable car back up to the top catching sights of Wenworth Falls on the way! That night we enjoyed staying in and playing Monopoly by the open fire and then snuggled in bed as the wind threatened to take the windows out!!
On returning to Sydney we got a few more nights out in and ate delicious crepes at Pancakes on the rocks before watching the sunset from a bar in Darling Harbour. On Tuesday Sonia, Craig, Shaun and I got the ferry to Taronga Zoo which was another childish fun day where we were given langur monkey masks which we either wore on our faces or on our heads the entire day - well I am in a totally different country after all! We watched a seal show including a performing seal called Andy, a bird show, saw echina and platypus (native Australian animals) for the first time. Also saw some great views of giraffes in
Pub Crawl!
Fetching free pink t-shirts for Me, Erin and Sonia front of the Sydney skyline (see pics). We seemed to spend most of the day posing with statues and sticking our heads through cut out animal boards!
Today we have been to Paddy's Market and have been joined by some new friendly roomies. I have booked a flight to Darwin for Monday which is above Cairns. As Sonia is leaving for New Zealand soon I thought I have got time to travel the West Coast before returning here late October to experience Christmas and New Year Sydney style. I have been tempted to stay here and work / live until Christmas but it is too long to spend in one place and I fear I will become an alcoholic if I decide to do that. Darwin is 35 degrees at the moment and the starting point of a lot of West Coast travellers. The Blue Mountains made me appreciate the scenery out there so although my Sydney party has been thoroughly enjoyed I am looking forward to a change, hitting the road and a lot more sun! Hopefully travelblog will keep posted so I can keep you all posted!! There are 2 pages of pics here so keep clicking
Birthday Night Out 1
New Hair, dress, Chinese and drinks - very sophisticated! on to page 2. 11 weeks travelling now!!
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Laura & Hayley
non-member comment
Hey there
Hey hun forgot about your b'day we can make up for it at christmas!! Looks like you have had a cracking few weeks and met some good mates. Have fun in the WA im sure you will it supose to be awesome! I think you liver could do with the break haha! Nah it will be fine it can rest when you get home! We are in Brisbane at the moment working for a few weeks and then heading for sydney for christmas wahoo should be good! Speak soon love