Sydney Part 2


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Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Sydney » Coogee
March 4th 2008
Published: March 9th 2008
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After flying back into Sydney from Parkes, we were keen to regain possession of our beloved passports, so we headed into the city. We got to the Indian embassy to find a scum of anxious looking travelers (ourselves included!), but within 30 minutes we were out of there, visas in hand. That night we got some awesome pizza from Base in Randwick delivered, easily the best I've ever had, and headed down to the park to watch Shakespeare's Twelfth Night being performed. It was fantastic to sit with beer in one hand, pizza in the other in the open air, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. In the end it all came together (kind of) and the audience were clearly impressed. It was a tad unnerving when the more educated members of the crowd laughed at subtle puns that visibly sailed over my head, but I did my best to fake it and chortle along.

The weekend properly arrived with cracking weather on Saturday, so Simon, Kate and I decided to do the Coogee to Bondi walk, and take in the stunning sights along the way (I'm winking here fellas...) We paused for a well earned rest at Tamarama Beach (aka Glamourama for the quality of genetics found sunning themselves here) and enjoyed the view from our sandy seats. We strolled past Bondi Icebergs, possibly the most exclusive swimming club in the world - situated on a cliff overlooking Bondi Beach, the views are to die for. It is the place to been seen practicing your front crawl or slurping Cosmo's on the balcony. Needless to say we could just about afford to walk past the place.

Sunday was again a day of lounging by water, but on this occasion we were introduced to the legend that is Wylie's Baths in Coogee, just across the road from Simon & Row's apartment. Built by an overenthusiastic father for his daughter to train in, these sea baths are a great spot to let the hours roll by. Flake out on the concrete with a coffee and read your book, and when the heat becomes too much go for a dip and start the whole process again. Easy to see why old man McMullan loved it so much last year! It should also be mentioned that later that day I enriched Simon & Row's until now insignificant existence with Millionaire Shortbread, and have now given them a reason to live, and live diabetically!

On Monday night we headed to Chinadoll for a snazzy dinner, kindly sponsored by the parental unit. En route we walked past the Opera House just as the Cunard QEII was leaving port. This seemed to be causing quite the stir, with crowds of people out to wave her off, and harbour tugs spraying water in the air in celebration (no fireworks, but hey...). We had worked up a good thirst, and the cocktails were a great way to kick off the evening, and had such a profound effect I even found myself eating fish moments later! Unheard-of before now, it was actually so well cooked that they could have taken garbage off the street and I would have munched it down! Course after course of delicious food followed until we were all full to bursting point.

As we were so rained out of it in our first week in Sydney before the outback, we had a lot of sightseeing to do this week. It was off to the famous Taronga Zoo which comes highly recommended, where we wandered around snapping manys a happy animal. The Giraffes have possibly the best view of any animal in captivity, overlooking Sydney harbour's dazzling skyline - tough for some! All this without a predator in sight!

The next day we had the delight of the Nepali embassy to contend with. Chalk to the Indian embassy's cheese, we handed over the dosh and 10 minutes later we were on the road, visas in passport, before the place was even due to open. Lets just hope that they're accepted when we arrive in Kathmandu! Then we headed off on the ferry to Manly. This also happens to be the cheapskates harbour cruise, so there were great views of the Opera House and bridge. The agenda in Manly was similar to other neighbourhoods of Sydney, find somewhere comfortable and loll about for a while. It was pretty scenic, but for my money the Coogees and Bondis of this world are better. That night Simon & Row insisted on buying us dinner (they faced little resistance to be honest), and we headed for Radio Cairo, a great spot for African cuisine. There was much umming and ahhhing at the delights ingested, another great feast.

With the weekend hurtling
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Tamarama Beach
towards us, the last bit of sightseeing was upon us, and those fond of the silver screen would argue the best. It was north on the bus we headed to Palm Beach, otherwise known as Summer Bay. With Home & Away fans now salivating at my every word, I shall not dilly-dally! We weaved through lush greenery with vomit-inducingly nice homes at every turn, overlooking still water and golden sand. We arrived and instantly recognised the surf club, with Alf Stewart's name on the front. We walked up and down the famous path to the beach, and took tons of photos, being as cheesy as possible! We both agreed that Palm Beach would be worth the visit if it weren't the set of Home & Away, but what a bonus!

On Saturday Pete and Tash (of Parkes fame) offered to pop over and make us breakfast as they wanted to see us off, which was so good of them. Lashings of bacon and garlic mushrooms later we were ready for a big day of lying around, and headed down to Coogee Beach to watch the men's surf lifesaving championships. Imagine a water based triathlon of paddling a canoe, swimming and paddling on a surf board and you have the idea. The blokes were built, and seemed to have shoulders on their shoulders they were so muscely. We decided that we were knackered just watching them, so off to Wylie's again for some more relaxation. That night we went out for a big feed with Row's sister and her fella Steve and some friends of theirs. We went to a Brazilian restaurant that put on a great show involving scantily clad dancers, where various male members of the clientèle embarrassed their respective families. Kate and I were shocked to realise that the music being played during the show was none other than Evete Sangalo, the cruel siren who tortured us on our transfer to Isla Grande off the coast of Brazil. Thankfully the stoners did not follow us to Sydney too! We were amazed that having heard her for one afternoon 4 months ago, we were able to pick her voice out straight away. Talk about bad memories! Anyways, bottle upon bottle of vino was consumed with the all-you-can-eat steak buffet (where I certainly made an impact; a vegetarian dinner the night before had me feeling carnivorous!).

From there
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Mark manning the bbq
the intrepid duo and Simon hit Kings Cross, which was complete carnage. We emerged from the underground station to find the city packed with revelers, spilling out of bars onto the street. It was Mardi Gras weekend so the place was buzzing. We started off high brow and classy at a cocktail bar called Hugo's, but things turned south rapidly as we headed on a downmarket trajectory. Before we knew what was happening, Kate was leading the two McMullan boys astray, with her insatiable curiosity. After a brief and puzzling lap of Kinks Adult Shop, we were back in a bar sinking some Guinness. Then a rather deranged man tried to befriend us, who appeared to be on drugs. He started off quite sociable, but then after stating the obvious by saying that Kate could do better than me (D'uhhh) his mood changed, and we grew tired of him. He then turned on Kate and kind of shoved her in her chair. It was time for the McMullan boys to put their height to good use. Simon and I stood up, and with 13 foot of McMullan infront of him he elected to walk off, only to be thrown out
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Kate at Wylie's Baths
by the bouncers. Genetics 1- 0 Drugs. Kate then said she wanted to go to a strip club, and who were we to stop her! The first place we tried denied Kate on her lack of ID, but the second were far less scrupulous. Despite the bouncer demanding a tip even though there was no entry fee, we headed in and went straight to the bar. Simon was thankfully on the ball, and when 3 bottles of alcohol-free beer were produced, they were sild back in the barman's direction. "Can we have some real beer please?" Alas, apparently with the prostitutes upstairs that wasn't an option (Australian law), so out we piled. We headed for one more drink and the booze fuelled bender continued on till 5am when we decided that it was time to head home and catch some shut eye, just before the sun came up! Great night had by all.

I promised a pancake breakfast and dually delivered on Sunday morning. Feeling a little ropey, the lads headed for the beach for a spot of body surfing/hangover removal, which worked a treat. It turns out that having a near drowning experience really distracts the brain from
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At Shakespeare
the hangover. We returned to find Kate considerably worse than we left her, and not long later she was driving the porcelain bus (hugging the toilet bowl) all the way pukesville! This continued until moments before Row produced, as the French say, the piece of resistance - a roast chicken and chocolate cake for Sunday dinner. Awesome!

It was great to catch up with Simon and Row in Sydney, and experience the amazing beach lifestyle. It is little wonder the Irish are heading there in their droves (and ruining it for everyone I might add, nobody likes a Dublin GAA jersey abroad). Glad to see that someone in the family is smart enough to get out of rainy Ireland!


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At Shakespeare
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Wylie's Baths
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Dame Edna imposters
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The wee hours
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Wylie's Baths
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Simon with the waves crashing into the pool at Wylie's
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Mark waiting for the ferry at Circular Quay
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View of downtown Sydney from the Harbour
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Harbour Bridge
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View of downtown Sydney and the Opera House from the Harbour


9th March 2008

Loving the travel diary
Guys, Honestly, your travel diary is fab, the pics the stories, everything! It is bringing back memories by the dozen for Warren and I. Your brother Simon's apartment looks fab. Make the most of your time there as you will see it goes by too fast! Well look forward to the next batch of photos/stories Look after each other See you soon Fi and Warren xx Ps Mark whats with the pink glasses haha ?
10th March 2008

Can I have my glasses back?
10th March 2008

Couch is a lot colder without you guys - come back soon. Hope you found the present I left in your rucksack. xx
10th March 2008

Kate what IS your sudden obsession with strip clubs? How are you going to cope when you're on the Everest trek? I'm half expecting you two to show up in the background on the beach in Home and Away this evening...
13th March 2008

Hookers(!) & props.....
God Mark...I hope you meant 'scrum' on the third line or else you are in for a tough time in India!! We're all mad jealous here looking at those fab photos, while the rain lashes us.....
7th April 2008

Great to join you again at the bottom of the world as you ponder the delights of Bondi, Coogee and other places of notoriety. Only thing new is Mark's haircut because you both are continuing to have a whale of a time. Even your stint working the farm in the outback seems to have been most enjoyable. I look forward to reading the next input as I am on catch-up

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