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Published: June 13th 2006
Arrived in Sydney on 7th June, wasn't feeling that fresh after the 9 hour nightbus but we still managed to have a bit of an explore on our first day. Our hostel, Maze Backpackers, is in the centre of the city and is really good value. We booked it in Byron Bay and it worked out at only $13 a night?! We were expecting to be hit in the pocket when we arrived in the big cities but it hasn't been the case.
Our friend Daniel "Giant Haystacks" Holtby was supposed to be joining us at around 7pm, but as the clock struck 9pm there was still no sign of him- we hadn't even heard the tremors that would inevitably be roaring through the city as his plane landed (Banter T!) Just as we had given up hope and were about to leave the room for the night who do we see? Yes ladies and gentlemen, the man, the legend: Mr Daniel "Big Man on Campus""Ten Scoops""Big Daddy""Jupiter""Ginormous boy""T-bone""Tubs""Arbuckle" Holtby had arrived!!! Needless to say Dan was relieved/peeved that the last few months travelling hadn't changed our primary school senses of humour. We headed out for a couple of drinks
Is it a bird is it a plane..
No it's Tubs! Christened Daniel Holtby.that night including one at Sidebar where our friend Henrietta, whom we'd met in Magnetic Island, was working.
The next day we had a quick look in St Mary's Cathedral and then headed to the Sydney Tower via Hyde Park (It seems to be a recurring theme that everywhere in Sydney is named after a place in England) where a couple of men were playing Chess on one of those Giant Boards where the pieces are bigger than the Cookmeister! The Sydney Tower is just like the KL Tower with the key difference that, yes you've guessed it, you get a birdseye view of Syney rather than Kuala Lumpur. After the Sydney Tower we went on this 45 minute interactive simulator typed thingy that took us on an adventure through the whole of Australia- particularly enjoyed turning everybodies headsets to the Japanese language function!
That night we got a tube into King's Cross where we went to The World Bar. They had an Indie Music Night so i was in my element, the Libertines were blaring out as we walked into the place and they played plenty of T'Arctic Monkeys fromt Sheffield. We met up with Liz and
Sacrelige!
Dan in front of St Mary's Cathedral Sam who we done our Fraser Island Trip with and also by coincidence the Germans who we done our Whitsundays Trip with- as Jonny would say, Small World! Had a great night!
The 8th June of course signalled the beginning of the World Cup; although the first game didn't start till 2am on 9th June over here. Before the footie started at 2am the next morning we had plenty of time to Kill in not so sunny Sydney (The weathers been appaling by the way) We had a wander towards the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge and took a few photographs. The Opera House looks really cool: not since the days of Sir Christopher Wren have the boundaries of human thought and architectural ingenuity been pushed to such levels (in my humble opinion!) Spiel aside, it did look pretty smart. The Harbour Bridge didn't look that amazing on it's own: but the fact that you can see it and the Opera House on the same skyline, and the fact that you've seen the pictures so many times in the past, made it quite an experience.
We watched the Germany Costa Rica game that night in "The
Gaff" with a couple of our German mates, Walter and Frank, who had German flags painted on their faces. Kaiser Wilhelm decided to represent our Germanic "brothers" aswell and soon had the warpaint on his face. The atmosphere in the pub was really good and so was the game: despite the fact my fantasy footie team took an early blow with Ballack not playing.
Bully arrived from Coff's Harbour on the Saturday Morning and we all visited the Aquarium. There were a few glass tunnels you could go through in which you had sharks and various other marine life swimming all around you. Jonny also treated us to his factfile on Saltwater Crocodiles insisting that they were "symbols of evolution...and they have more intelect than an Oxford student"?!? He should do tours. Of course much of the day consisted of us eagerly anticipating England's World Cup kick off!!!!!!!!
Oh my God! The waiting was almost over, the greatest show on earth-the World Cup was upon us- Had been looking forward to this moment for months, would England deliver? Me, Tubs and Jonjo had our England tops on and we were pumping out Footie anthems from T's speakers in
our room before hand: "We're singing for England, En-Ger-Land!" Aftwer an aborted attempt to watch the match at some random pub we headed to the Gaff about 1 hour before kick off- It was a sea of red and white, was heaving, fortunately managed to get on a stage at the side so had a pefect view of the big screen. Obviously the place erupted when we scored after 4 minutes! As a whole i thought we were pretty awful, not learning the lessons of the past when we try and hold out for a 1-0 win with pretty much the whole game left?! Also how the ref can book Stevie G when he never even gave a free kick is beyond me- the last thing we need is for him to get suspended (Rooney getting back asap would help aswell!)
On Sunday me and Bully had a tour around Government house, the residence of the Governor of New South Wales- the PM resides in the Capital, Canberra. Looked like a quintessential eighteenth century English Manor house, possibly similar in architecture to Scott Towers only with a smaller garden! (Banter Wils!) Was enjoying soaking up a bit of history.
World Cup!
Fom left to right: Kaiser Wilhelm, Daniel "Munich Beer Festival extrordinaire" Holtby, Michael(Ballak), Boris Becker, Walter, some random! That night we went to the Telstra Stadium to watch England play rugby against the Wallabies. It was the same stadium in which they had the Athletics in the 2000 Olympics and also where Jonny Wilkinson won the World Cup for England in 2003 (Remember watching it at our house in Sheffield where Geordie Dave came up to the siiting room wearing his suit and Pink Tapton Intro Comittee T-Shirt underneath!) Had a great time at the game despite the fact that we got mullered about 30-3?! The atmosphere was pretty poor aswell considering the aussies should have had a lot to cheer about.
On Monday me and Wilson went to the Anzac memorial in Hyde Park(Australia and New Zealand Army corps- i think?) Afterwards we visited a museum set in an old Convict barracks: it was where a lot of the convict from England resided and worked until they'd earned their freedom. A lot of the stuff in the museum was relevant to the main subject i studied in my last year at Uni: God, actual work! that seems a lifetime ago (alas it's not a lifetime away though...) Was quite eerie walking through the rooms full
Hyde Park from above
Taken from the Sydney Tower, St Mary's in the background of hammocks where the prisoners slept, almost as Eerie as that Kids TV Program from yesteryear, Eerie Indiana- now that was Eerie!
That night after a quick goon we went to the nearby Shark Hotel to watch Australia, the Socceroos as everybody calls them, to watch them against Japan. I'm hoping they stay in the tournament as long as possible to keep the country interest in the World Cup, feels a bit like wanting Ireland to do well when they're in the World Cup. Incidentally the pub we were in, smack bang in the middle of Sydney, was made up of about 70% Japanese fans?!? "Japan""Japan" they were screaming throughout the game. They literally became Mental Orientals (tone it Mike) when Japan took the lead. For much of the game, despite our chanting of "Ozzy Ozzy Ozzy Oi Oi Oi!", it looked like Australia were destined to be defeated: enter the scene Mr Timothy Cahill of Everton! 6 minutes to go,: 1-1, our end of the bar went crazy, felt as happy as when England scored given the circumstances. 1 minute to go: Cahill scores from the edge of the box, Unbelievable Geoff!!!!! Pints were flying up in the
Telstra stadium
England were awful!I'd rather lose the egg chasing than the football though. air (not in a violent way!) and everyone was hugging- the Japanese were surprisingly a bit silent. Stoppage time: 3-1!!!!!!!!!!!!, absolute delerium- what a difference 7 minutes make! I'm sure that after that game Australia will finally start calling Football: Football, instead of that game they've got over here in which the players can use their hands?! I reckon the egg chasing will take a back seat to the World Cup aswell- what a game! At full time we headed out towards the Gaff, people were singing on the streets and cars were going by with horns blaring and Green and White Scarves draped over the windows. Headed home at 3ish, decided it would be as good a time as any to ring home?! What time is it there?! How the mind works!
We're gonna be in Sydney for about 3 more nights and are going to the nearby Blue Mountains on Thursday, should be sweet. All England need to do to qualify for the 2nd round is beat Trinidad and Tobago- even if Brian Laras playing i still reckon we'll be alreet.
adios, Mike
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Old Mother Tubs
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A Mother's Heart Breaks
Every jibe at my darling son's expense is like a knife through my heart. How very dare you! Only kidding Mike - I am "basically" loving reading the blogs from all of you guys. Take good care of yourselves.