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Published: March 31st 2010
Beautiful people, climbing Sydney Harbour Bridge, an amazing hostel and wine that tasted like ribena… read on to hear what our week in Sydney was like…
After a crazy bus journey and a loooooong plane ride, Charlie and I descended on Sydney unaware of how expensive everything would be and how stylish everyone would look. The hostel we stayed in, ‘The Blue Parrott’ was brilliant. Really friendly and welcoming and as there were quite a few long-term residents it had a real community atmosphere. After a well needed wash when we arrived at about 11pm we both crawled straight into bed!
The next morning, we rose like the sun and set off for a walk around Sydney. Morwenna, a friend from School, was also in Sydney at the same time so we formed a merry trio and set off through the Botanical Gardens finally reaching the main Harbour and the Opera House. Seeing the Opera House was amazing though it does look slightly strange close up. Still doing the tourist thing, we wandered all through old Sydney eventually climbing a hill to the Observatory where we found this brilliant little garden with views of the whole of Sydney. Lying down to take in the view I found myself drifting off to the sound of Morwenna’s sweet voice… and waking up to it…
Arguably the best part of Sydney was meeting up with friends from home. Sofia, Rob and Steve; friends from Nottingham we spent the week with. Some good nights out, home cooked meals by Fia (thank you so much!) and days in the park all made me miss friends and family at home a lot!
I also found myself employed for a day. Realising that Sydney was extremely dear and a strain on my meagre resources, when the call at the hostel came for car washers, I immediately signed up. The pay was 12 dollars an hour and all transport would be paid for. Brilliant. I imagined myself with others from the hostel, in the sun, splashing around with soap and water, potentially dancing to the ‘car wash… wowowowowow… at the car was yyeaah’, having a brilliant time. Sadly that was not the case. It was run like a military operation with lots of people who didn’t speak English and I was put on dashboards wearing a smelly t-shirt. Running round in the heat for 6 hours straight while a man yelled at me to go faster in Hindi was not my idea of a good time. Car washing is definitely off my list of future careers now! Charlie and Morwenna went for a long walk round the coast that day… should have done that.
Bondi beach and Manly beach were also beautiful; time lazing in the sun is always top on Charlie and I’s list of priorities. Some good nights out were also had; Charlie and I discovered a wine that tasted like ribena which made for some fun pre-drinking and Rob sadly found out the hard way how clumsy we are when Charlie spilled her glass of red wine all over him. The clubs in Sydney are cool and we also went on a cruise round the harbour at night which was fun. It was also the first time we cooked for ourselves since we left home as the hostel had a kitchen… this also meant we had to do washing up. Boo. I know the stories on here are fairly tame and boring but as always, what happens travelling stays travelling!
Climbing Sydney Harbour Bridge was also an amazing experience. Charlie conquered her fear of heights and we are all so proud of her. After an initial 30mins safety prep, we donned our matching jump suits, radios and head torches and off we set. We were doing the climb at dusk, hoping to reach the top by sunset and our leader was a delightful man called Chris but I called him Brian. He didn’t seem to mind. The first section was the hardest; we had to climb up 4 big ladders, emerging in between the lanes of traffic then started the climb. The view from the top was amazing! The whole experience has definitely been the highlight of the trip.
And now we’re in Auckland! Ready for a month of good times in New Zealand. Heading off on the Kiwi Experience tomorrow to skydive, see glowworms and bungee jump. Bet you all cant freaking wait for the next instalment.
Hiral and Charlie- taking over the world
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Kishor Mistry
non-member comment
Swinging Sydney
Hello me dears, Great blog .. as usual. Many Thanks. The Sydney Harbour Bridge photos arrived yesterday. You both look stunning. Very brave indeed to get to the top that way. I think the car wash just about paid for the bridge climb. Kiwi experience - sky dive, bungee jump... hmmmm Cheers for now Dad