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Published: November 20th 2005
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I am there really...
looking a little superimposed on the famous back drop of Sydney With Natalie and Joe back from their holiday and Lou and Dom back from Bali I was out of the flat and moved to a Backpackers near town between Kings Cross and Potts Point. They've managed to re-create the atmosphere of Londons Kings Cross out here almost perfectly, there's just something in the air that feels the same, but why they would want to do this I have no idea....... But the hostel was nice, not too big and on a quite road with a few bars and cafes.
Dressing in the Dark
As I was working I was put in a room with 4 beds as I thought it would be quieter, there was only 1 other bloke in it when I moved in, an Italian called Dave who worked 2 jobs and was either not in or else sleeping at odd hours. It suited us fine as I was hardly ever there, either out to work or out with friends. Then 2 German blokes moved in who had just arrived in Australia and were looking for work and getting over jet lag. I spent a week or so in the room with the 3 of them and
in that week I never got to see my belongings without the aid of the pitiful torch light on my phone. It didn't matter what time of day I came back one of them would be in bed sleeping, whether it was 11 in the morning, 11 at night or 3 in the afternoon. It was a really dark room and pretty much pitch black so every morning and night I had to try and get ready as quietly as possible and just feel my way around everything, I was never quite sure what I'd end up wearing to work until I'd left the hostel and was out into daylight. They were all nice blokes, not that I got to speak to them much with our odd sleeping habits, but I was very glad to move out of there and back in Yanko Ave for my final couple of weeks. Hostels are fine and most of them have been really good and generally clean and a great way to meet people but being in the city and working I really appreciated being able to stay at the flat for most of my time in Sydney. Michelle from the flat had
some sunglasses
me and Farrah are behind them somewhere.... packed up her stuff after about 8 months out here and was off to Thailand and so I moved into her room for my last couple of weeks.
Old School
I had a great few nights out with an old school friend Jo who I hadn't seen for about 11 years, pretty much since we left school (a worringly long period of time that is yet another reminder of how old I am....). I was a bit nervous about meeting up for the first time and had a last minute panic that I wouldn't recognise her but she hadn't changed a bit and our first words were, 'do you fancy a glass of wine? oh we've got 40 minutes we may as well get a bottle', we knew we'd get along just fine and never stopped nattering from then on in. She took me out to a bar by the water and met up with some of her girlfriends for free champange and half price cocktails and a free massage which all sounds a bit too good to be true, but it is. I went along to a friends birthday of hers in the Botanical Gardens one Sunday
as well, the gardens are beautiful, right by the city and by the water, we sat in the sunshine all afternoon drinking cheap bubbly and catching up on the past 11 years, its amazing how much we both know about whats been going on with who from school, those gossip networks seem to keep going for years!
A night at the Opera (nearly)
I treated myself to a night out at the Sydney Opera House, not to an Opera unfortunaltey but they have a studio theatre there where new companies can show their work, it was just a Scratch night but a very professional one and definitley came under the heading of experimental theatre. It was all slightly odd but with fantastic use of film and lighting and I was just pleased to have been able to go and see something actually at the Opera House. I sat out and had a glass of bubbly before the show at the Opera House Bar, it would be hard to come up with a bar in the city with a better view, looking out over at the bridge and all the city light right next to the beautiful building.
They had a parade in the city one day, Sydney had won, I think, the Aussie rules football, but it could have been the International rules or the Gaellic, but definitley not the soccer....I don't think. Anyway, they hadn't won it for a very long time so all the players were out and they had a ticker tape parade without much ticker and with very little tape, but it was a good atmosphere and it got us out of work for a while. With working I've not managed to do an awful lot of tourist stuff but I did finally manage to jump on a ferry on one of my last weekends, I headed up to Manly mostly as a little homage to my mate Shahreen who loved living out there last year. It was pretty grey day so I didn't see the beach at its best but the ferry ride is such a good way to see the Harbour. I also walked over the Harbour bridge and walked my way around a lot of markets, Glebe was my favourite with a real student, hippy feel to it.
In my last week or so I had some good nights
out with Farrah and Carwyn and the guys from work and I headed over to Balmain to Jo's flat and out to the pub with her and her man and a mate of theirs, another bloke from the Poynton/Stockport area, there seems to be loads of them out here! I had a last Friday night out on the town with the work lot with promises of meeting up when I get back to Sydney for my last couple of days before heading out to Vietnam. My mate Lou has been working away in India for most of the time I was there so I made sure I have a night or two back in Sydney with her before I head to Asia.
The coast is calling
Sydney has been great, I did enjoy my time there, but I because I was working and watching the money and things I felt that I was just waiting to get moving again. I also don't think I made the most of it in some ways, I didn't get out much on the weekends to the national parks or the beaches that are further a field, and I missed out on the
'Neighbours' night which was very upsetting.... I got straight into work mode and just wanted to chill at weekends, especially after my 5 weeks of endless activity and moving around in New Zealand. But don;t get me wrong, I had a great few weeks and I've met some fantastic people and its been so good to see Lou and Jo and folk but I am desperate to get back on the road again to have some adventures and face up to some challenges. One of the biggest challenges I had to deal with in Sydney was convincing door men that I was old enough to drink in their bar, one of them just laughed in my face when I explained I was 29. Not that I'm being smug or anything.............
So I am heading up the East coast to tread a path many have trod before me to see the beaches and sunshine of the Sunshine coast and head on up to the tropical rainforests and Great Barrier Reef of Cairns. I can't wait. So next time I write hopefully it will be a little more exciting and exoctic than tales of work and the pub!
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