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Published: December 31st 2006
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Greetings from Sydney! I've literally just arrived off the plane from Melbourne but our room isn't ready until 12.00pm so I've got an hour to kill - and what better way to spend it than updating my travel blog! It's New Years Eve here and I've just seen some guy from the hostel lead a group of 160 people off to queue for entrance to Sydney Harbour to watch the fireworks this evening. Rather them than me! It's baking hot here.
My New Years plans involve a trip to The Summit club overlooking Sydney Harbour with drinks and canapes until the early hours kindly arranged by Ben Mair Hospitality Ltd. Should be a fun night - if it isn't I'll be seeking a refund!!
The 10 days I spent in Melbourne were fantastic. I really liked the city. I seemed to spend the whole time eating and drinking (bit like Perth in that respect), but there was also a lot to do culturally. The National Gallery of Victoria was brilliant and well worth the visit, and Dad and I went to a very funny production of Joe Orton's Entertaining Mister Sloane at the Melbourne Arts Centre. The South Bank
area of the city, by the Yarra river, was I felt a scaled down version of London's South Bank - lots of al fresco dining, theatres, bars and museums - great fun.
The hostel we stayed at was ok too, but unfortunately dad was struggling to get to sleep. I'm probably used to thin walls and banging doors after 4 months away, but I think for an older bloke it is a bit different. So dad moved up to some serviced apartments on nearby Collins Street and I had the hostel room to myself! It was the first proper "hostel" I'd stayed at on my whole trip, and the communal bathrooms can be a bit of a nightmare. People just don't seem to be very good at clearing up after themselves! Scaby plasters in the showers, unflushed toilets, and sinks not cleaned after shaving....maybe I'm getting a bit old for hostel life too!!! Breakfast (which was free) was a hilarious time too. Most days it's just cereal and toast, but Thursdays is Big Breakfast Day, when you get eggs, bacon, tomatoes, sausages etc. It's served between 7 and 9, but I reckon you have to get there between 7
and 7.15 to have any chance of a semblence of a fry up. It is carnage! The buffet counter looked more like the first day of a Next sale - people rummaging around like maniacs for not much reward.
Anyway enough about the joys of hostel life. As I say, Melbourne was great - and very different from Perth. Much more cosmopolitan, more chic, and more cool. I loved Perth too but for different reasons. I think anyone from London would easily slip into the Melbourne way of life - there is a lot going on (but obviously not quite on London's scale). The weather was ceratinly London-like when I arrived. After the 40 degree heat of Perth, arriving to 17 degree temperatures was a bit of a shock. The fleece certainly came in handy!
Christmas day was certainly unlike any I've had before. It's funny being out here because although it's 25th December it doesn't feel like Christmas. There are decorations in the streets and they're playing Nat King Cole and Dean Martin in the shops, but I think it's the mild weather and the sun not setting until well after 7pm - it's just different! We
had a lovely lunch at the Hyatt hotel on Collins Street kindly organised by dad's friends Chris and Winnie. It was a good crowd in the end, with their sons James and Martin, me and dad, and my friends Alexy and Vince over from Paris. Alexy and Vince are old mates of mine from my William Prior days - they're in Melbourne and Sydney for Xmas and New Year before heading off to Thailand to see Alexy's brother. It was great to see them again here. Anyway six courses of food, champagne, lots of wine, port and cigars later, we were all slightly worse for wear! I foolishly was tempted back to Alexy and Vinny's hotel for a late night "cleansing VB" from their mini-bar - and woke up for the Boxing Day test feeling very sorry for myself!
The test match itself was a real disappointment. Losing in 3 days after the supporters were promised a fighting performance by Freddie and the boys. The Melbourne Cricket Ground is by far the best stadium I have been in to watch a game of cricket. Sure - it doesn't have the same charm and character of Lords, but there is
With the Barmy Army chefs at the WACA
Waving a couple of turkeys...called Giles and Jones!!! something special about being in a crowd of over 90,000 people watching a test match. It's just a shame such a large crowd were treated to such a dismal display of batting from England. The saving grace was being present as one of the best bowlers the world has ever seen, Shane Warne, got his 700th test wicket. Love him or loathe him, you can't argue with the fact he is a genius with a cricket ball. I had to laugh though when an advert on day two read "Congratulations Shane Warne On 700 Test Wickets...From The Advanced Hair Replacement Studio"! Warnie went for the hair replacement weave a few years back to halt the receding hairline!
On day three of the test I met up with Colin Redman and his wife Andrea at the lunchbreak. It was great to see them. Colin was the Trust director at Grosvenor up until his recent semi-retirement and he and his wife are lovely people. His trip to Australia had been planned a long time ago, and he was at the start of a well deserved long holiday. He had arrived in time for the third day and also had tickets for
day four in the members stand, before heading to Sydney. Unfortunately he didn't get a chance to use his day four tickets because the match didn't last that long!
In between the cricket and Christmas I had a chance to see some other old friends from Grosvenor. Erica used to work there around 18 months ago, before her and her husband Fraser moved back to their hometown. We had a great day with some other friends they had over, Georgina and Neil, taking the ferry down the Yarra River to Williamstown, having a nice Italian meal, before heading back to their place in McKinnon for a barbie and a meeting with their mad golden retriever Molly! Fraser is a brilliant cook and the food was amazing. It was so nice to see them both again. Erica looked well and is enjoying life by the looks of it!
I also had a nice meal out with Sylvia, who had arrived in Melbourne via New York and Washington. Sylvia had the immense pleasure of sitting across from me when I worked at Grosvenor - lucky girl!! She has now left and is staying with her folks in Melbourne before having
a long break in India and Nepal. We just spent the whole night exchanging travel stories, and catching up on all the gossip at my old place! It took a while to find a restaurant along the South Bank with a spare table though because of the number of disgruntled poms with time on their hands after the cricket finished prematurely!
I hired a bike and went to St Kilda one day too. What a nice place. About 20 minutes cycle ride out of town, it has a nice beach and loads of restaurants and beach cafes, and lots of little shops. I chilled on the beach for a few hours with a good book, before heading to the pier for a very pleasant fish and chip lunch washed down with a VB! Nice way to spend an afternoon!
I've decided I need to get fitter - I've done far too much eating and drinking in Australia. I've invested in a pair of running shoes and have managed to go for a few runs around the botanical gardens in Melbourne - the thing is EVERYONE runs in Melbourne - and they all look fitter than me! I'll keep
persevering in Sydney though!!
I'll sign off for now - and put some piccies on tomorrow. Take care everyone and...
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Doogs
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Barebum
non-member comment
enough about the cricket
Doogs, I just managed to find a spare six weeks to catch up on your essays - a bloody good read tho mate, if not a long one ! Sounds as tho you are having a blast and a half and I am just one of your many jealous fans. 2 things, wots with the beard and wots with the Hammers ? I trust you are being kept up to date. Husband wants a Contract out on Curb - we even gave the game a miss on Boxing Day ! Anyway mate, keep on tapping away at the ivories, really enjoy hearing all your news. Lots and lots of love The Barebum xxx