Down Under

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Where was I? Melbourne I think, with the prospect of Mark Watson looming. He was excellent, which pleased me as I had persuaded Jens, my friendly Irish sounding Sweedish roommate to come along with me. But the comedy was good and we went out to sample the delights of St Kilda nightlife after.
I spent the next day recovering, and didn't do very much, which kinda disappointed me because I should have been more touristy and seen some more sights. But didn't whoops. And the following day I managed to get myself to the immigration museum, to find out where all the people who live here came from (or something like that) and spent an age wandering round looking at the shops. I liked melbourne and would love to go back there to spend some more time seeing things! I left Melb on Tues morning on the Oz experience bus and had a three day trip up to Sydney.
There was a nice crew travelling with me and we got to know each other pretty well over the two days. There was a lot of driving involved and we stayed at a small fishing town called lakes entrance and a ski resort (yeah and there was actual real snow). We went for a couple of walks, and a mountain bike ride (at which i was not good, not good at all) and had some drinks. I have to say, though there was some nice scenery along the route, i was glad when we finally got in to sydney. We had a good night out at 'The Gaff' on our first evening. The music was good and we got free food and drink because the owner of the club is related to the owner of the travel company. Winner.
My first full day in sydney was spent nursing my hangover and actually getting out of the city again! I went on a free trip run by Base hostels, bus-ing to Coogee bay and walking the coastal path round to Bondi Beach. I had good times. Met some more nice people on the walk and got my first glimpse at the joys of Aussie beaches. The weather was gorgeous for us which made a difference. In the evening I met up with Olivia who had been on my tour in India. It was good to see her again, and she took me to a club called the Argyle. Nice venue, pricey drinks ($17 (8 squids 50) for a double bourbon and coke!) but I was warned that aus (and Sydney especially) was a hike in prices, still what a joke.
Next day I decided I would have a wander and actually see the City! I had a good day 'mooching' about looking at the sights. It was fantastic weather for it in the afternoon and I got to see the harbour in the bright sunshine. I also went up one of the towers of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I decided against the bridge climb but the tower has a viewing platfrom which provided me with great views. Just as I got there I had bright sunshine on one side and a massive cloud bank forming up on the other which as you will see from the pics looked awesome. I went out again in the evening, with someone i'd met in NZ and some of my sydney roommates. But actually ended up on my own in a club in Kings Cross (the moulin rouge club to be exact - its nothing like the name would suggest!)
Yesterday I sampled the delights of Darling Harbour. It had its 21st birthday (from re-development) celebrations, and there were bands/world music/ ozpopidols/and fireworks. wooop. I went to the Chinese garden of friendship, which was paradise in the city. It all the classic chinese garden features centred on yin yang. You get the idea. And then went to the Powerhouse museum. Dull. I think I was in major need of a caffeine fix before I got there, in fact I know I needed a coffee. The museum probably would be good if I'd had any energy levels before entering the building. In fact it had many themes we covered in my uni course, it would've been good to pay it a visit whilst I was still studying technology, past and future and Marketing. And then I found the Sustainable future section, after making the decision that I shouldn't really be in the building any more. Damn. Maybe I'll check it out again another day.
After this we checked out a cafe. And then bought ingredients for me to cook Chilli, which I was excited about, of course. Then went to see Wes Carr (OzIdol2008Winner - Rubbish) and some drum troup and some wicked fireworks. I then cooked the chilli which, by the way, was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. Even if it did take me an age to put it together, apparently. I was happy tho. We then went out with a new roommate to visit some dude she'd met through couch surfing. Couch Surfing? I hear some of you ask...People sign up to have people come kip on their couch when they're in town, and then they are rated on their hospitality, and then you can also go stay with other people when you're away....cheap and relatively not tooooo dangerous. yeah, sure? But we went out, had fun, drank responsibly etc.
Today I braved the hangover to get up and sort my life out. Thai/Viet Viasas, Oz Experience Organising, Blue Mountains Organising, Wine Tour Organising, Star Trek@Imax Booking (yeah, i'm not actually a trekky, but on the worlds largest screen this weekend will be awesome i'm sure, plus its got Silar from Heroes in it, so is sure to be a winner :-) Oh and here's a rant for you. STA sold me Koala Adventures package for Fraser Island and Whitsundays. Bunch of Muppets, the lot of them. Really unprofessional, no idea what's going on. Couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery. Don't use them.
And finally I've writted my blog. Hope you enjoyed.

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Photos

Whisky Headland
Not real name

Thredbo Ski Slopes!
Jindabyne, Australia