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Published: January 5th 2006
Well here’s our latest update before we leave Sydney to head off on the next part of our journey around Australia.
We both finished up work on 23rd December after 5 enjoyable months living and working here, it’s been a great experience and we’re definitely going to miss the Sydney lifestyle and the friends we’ve made here. We were both fortunate enough to work more than the 3 month limit on travelling visa’s as we acquired new temporary business visas through Laura’s work. So it was a relief not to have to find work for the final month leading up to Christmas. Sydney has got so much more busy as the summer has approached, Bondi was pretty quiet when we arrived in August but now it’s heaving every day and night, Backpackers everywhere.
The heat has been pretty intense here recently too, one particular day when we were working was 40 degrees, then on New Years day it was a stifling 45 degrees. We’d never felt heat like that before and were thankful for air conditioning. The breeze on days like that is like a hairdryer being blown on you. This has caused the bushfire season to kick in
with pretty devastating effects in the northern parts of New South Wales and Victoria.
We spent a day at the Races back in October with some friends. The Aussies are very serious about horse racing and gambling in general. Unfortunately this had no positive effect on us and we didn’t make any profit that day, but didn’t lose too much either which was good. All in all a great day though.
We did the Bondi to Coogee walk one Saturday, which is a must whilst in Bondi. It’s a coastal line walk down to Coogee. There was an exhibition on called ‘Sculptures by the Sea’ on the way, which is an event show piecing a number of local artists work along the coastal walk. It was all modern art and there were some really good pieces on show, one of our favourites was a mini combi van parked by the beach.
The nation went football crazy back in November when Australia beat Uruguay in penalty shoot out to qualify for the World Cup in Germany 2006. It seems football is taking off here now in a big way now with the start of a professional league also
started up in August. Everyone was buzzing from the night before at work the next day and the Socceroos were paraded like champions at the Domain in the city during lunch. It will be interesting to see how they fair against Brazil..
One night we went to see the Kaiser Chiefs play at the Metro Theatre. We seen them play in the UK and they’re Sydney show was even better. It was good to go and see some good live music again. We’re spoilt for choice in London but not many of the bands we see in the UK seem to tour much in Australia. On that note I was sitting in the bar of the Four Season’s Hotel after a work function one night when I noticed Oasis sitting on the table next to us - minus Noel Gallagher.
The month of December has been no different from back home in terms of socialising. We’ve both had various work Christmas parties to go with lots of free flowing alcohol which is always a bonus. There seemed to be work functions every night with client do’s, team do’s etc.
We’ve had visits from friends and family recently
which has been nice. Laura’s mum Sally made the long trip over in November for one week to visit us in Bondi. It was great to see her and we knew Sydney well enough by that time to show her round the usual tourist haunts. We took time off work during her visit too which was well overdue. A trip to Paddington Markets, lunch at Bill Granger’s restaurant, a cold drink in the Opera Bar and a late afternoon stroll around the Botanical Gardens was a good start on the Saturday.
On the Sunday we hired a car and drove up to Palm Beach in the northern beaches area of Sydney. Our flatmate’s parents own a holiday home in the national park up there on a place called Mackerel Beach. We had to catch a boat from Palm Beach Wharf to get there. It’s a beautiful area with no roads or shops and lots of wildlife to see. People that live/holiday there have to carry their necessities from the boat to their houses in a wheelbarrow. Our flatmate showed us round the island where we fed wild kookaburras and Parakeets and seen some extraordinary houses. An idyllic place for
Kookaburra at Palm Beach
Taken at Sam's parents holiday home in Mackeral. This poor one was missing an eye..a weekend break away from the City. When we returned back to Palm Beach wharf we were greeted with a lovely $175 parking ticket, extortionate even by London standards!
Another day we spent lazing round in the sun and went for a seafood dinner in Darling Harbour which was excellent. Laura spent another couple of days with Sally while I went back to work. A week went by very quickly and Sally was gone again as quickly as she arrived. Was great too see a face from home.
Laura’s friend Helen arrived just before Christmas for her sisters wedding. We’ve had various nights out with her and attended the wedding reception up in Mosman. It was a lovely evening in a venue right by the water with the city skyline as a backdrop.
One of my cousin’s from Ireland was in Sydney for Christmas too, we met up with him for some drinks one night down in Bondi before he headed off to Cairns for the next part of his trip.
Also two of my friends from London, Paul & Jonny, arrived here on 3rd of Jan for a visit. So far have only seen them
once as we’ve been busy sorting out bits and pieces ready to leave while they’ve been getting the sightseeing done, we’re heading out for Jonny’s birthday tonight.
Christmas here was lovely. We headed down to Bondi beach in the morning with our flatmate Sam, it was all very surreal seeing all the people on the beach with their Santa hats on, even the surfers were wearing them. We passed The Catholic Church on Bondi Road on the way and there was almost a road block with all the people there, mainly Irish as you could tell by the Gaelic sports tops they all seemed to be wearing. Then we went to Sam’s family friends’ house in Paddington, where we enjoyed a feast of turkey and all the trimmings. There were about 20 of us, all ranging in age from mid 20s to 90 years old. It was a bit strange as Christmas crept up so quickly, and as it was so hot this added to us not feeling like Christmas as we know it.
New Years Eve was one of the best nights so far in Sydney. Fat Boy Slim put on one of his famous beach parties
Walking at Mackeral
We had to walk through the bush to get to the beaches on Bondi - it was excellent. We had a barbecue and drinks at our apartment before we made the short walk down to the beach with our friends. It was a very warm evening but perfect for the outdoor event. A great way to see in 2006 and say goodbye to 2005 and the great times we have had here in Bondi and Sydney.
Our last week in Sydney will be spent catching up with friends, chilling in the sun and making the most of having a lovely clean apartment as we will be camping or hostelling when we pick up our travels again.
We have booked up our trip to Cairns, which will include Melbourne, Great Ocean Road to Adelaide, Uluru (Ayers Rock) and finally Cairns. From Cairns we will be making our way down the East Coast back to Sydney where we will getting our next flight on the round the world tickets we have to Auckland, NZ. We’re both really looking forward to seeing some more of Oz as we have spent the past 5 ½ months in one area.
We’ve absolutely loved living and working in Sydney and will miss it when we’re
gone. Our apartment in Bondi will be sorely missed as well as our excellent flatmate Sam and his girlfriend Helen. We’ve made lots of good friends during our time here and will definitely stay in contact with them. It’s an early start on Monday morning to catch our flight to Melbourne but we’re sure that lots more good times lie ahead. Until then..
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Sally
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Thankyou both for the wonderful memories of my short visit with you both It was so great to see you both and see the sights You were terrific hosts Good luck for the next leg of your travels,have fun!!! Lots of Love Mum