Yesterday was Helena's first day working at her job and I've pretty much come to the conclusion that I will be WWOOFing it at some stage so set about at looking at likely destinations and hosts across southern, western and central Australia.
I walked and sat in Hyde Park, plugged myself into my Ipod and proceeded to map out in my mind and using my lovely planet guide book map at the front of the book to visually give me a picture of just were abouts i will be travelling and how.
That night we had arranged to go out to a club with two people we'd met out her, one was a room mate and he'd met someone travelling who he introduced to us and we'd been getting along with quite well.
We mapped out a rough plan in the afternoon and come 6 O'clock we kicked into action.
because Helena was still at work so the three of us went and got something to eat and then on the way back we would pick up some Goon - 4 litres of the nastiest tasting wine your ever going to have but for $10 its no surprise that its a student/travelling favourite - and set about trying to act marginally civilised whilst drinking (crap) wine out of a tin and plastic cups.
WE then proceeded out on the town, we went originally to a place called World Bar - the scene of my bikini clad escapade - but didn't want to pay the entrance fee as we were only going to have one drink and then move on so we decided to walk around the corner towards the club when we walked past a club called B.A.B, we were sold the story by the bouncer trying to Usher us in that this was Australia's finest strip club, so, being lads on tour and at that time Helenaless, Andrew presented the idea that we, you know, 'treat ourselves'. For the same price it would have cost to get into World Bar we dutifully agreed with Andrew and walked in.
Now, up until then I'd never been in a strip joint and wasn't to sure what to expect but what it turned out to be wasn't that much of a surprise...if that makes sense..
The obvious scantily clad women were in there droves either walking around offering to dance with some guys, i some how thing it wasn't as clean cut as you dancing? you asking? I'm asking...I'm dancing....I've a slight incline that it was a little more....ya know..
Anyway we were told to sit and that the bar lady would bring over our drinks so we got a nice little secluded spot in the corner and observed the show....
It was alright, out of the six girls who got on stage only two looked remotely female whilst two looked a little...not very nice...and one was about 4ft and looked like a kid, not cool.
It was funny looking around though at the other people in the place and you can kind of break it down into three categories, 1. the kids around my age who are sitting there fascinated and in awe but as soon as they walk from there chair to the bar or toilet they'd immediately put on a kind of strut that implied yer, I'm cool with this, this is like a hobby of mine whilst all the time avoiding eye contact with anyone afraid that they'd give off a 'my girlfriend would kill me if she knew i was here' look. Number 2 consists of people (Hi Granddad) his age and they would generally sit on the outskirts of the room by the tables and as soon as a girl would be on stage that they liked they'd move up to the seats situated directly around the stage and proceed to be mocked by the girl dancing on stage as they chucked away $50 at a time just to get the girl to dance for, that little bit longer, in front of them...the third is your typical 30-40 year old who looks the business, trimmed, well groomed, daft little goatee bit, diamond earrings, usually with another girl they brought with them in arm sitting about being laddish as if this was nothing more than a normal bar...
Anyway, we stayed for about half an hour, got asked for $80 between the three of us for a dance from this podgey little fat girl dressed in a latex maids outfit, I made the excuse that I had to meet Helena, which i actually did, but i also wasn't prepared to pay my share of the money to be danced on by an umpa-lumpa
so we left, procceded to the club, had a really good time there....but this is the interesting part..
We left the club in the small hours, we were all a little intoxicated but we decided to walk home, whilst walking along a stretch of road there was a group of guys walking towards us who were staring people out, firstly they stared out Helena, who was actually oblivious, then Colin the other friend with me and then me and now me being me continued to stare at him to even to the stage were i had to start walking backwards to keep eye contact, he obviously didn't like this so stopped, started shouting something so i gave him some friendly mouth back he walked up towards me and we were nose to nose, or more it was my nose resting on top of his head as he was about a foot smaller, and then his even shorter ass of a mate twatted me a good'en on the side of the head with a nicely connected punch, the fact that couldn't see it coming due to my eyes looking at the bonce under my nose kinda didn't help, i obviously wanted to kick ten tons of S*&% out of him...and his five mates but for some reason Colin wouldn't let me and dragged me off.
All in all I've probably got a lot worse a headache than i deserve from just the alcohol and my neck hurts once more but for an entirely different reason...
Friday, 31 October 2008
Tuesday, 28 October 2008
WWOOFing and Couch Surfing
Before i left England i was told about these two ingenious ideas on how to live in and around Australia for free, the concept is brilliant and I'm seriously thinking about getting involved in some of the action.
WWOOF: Willing Workers On Organic Farms - the concept is simple, you work 4-6 (varies) hours on a farm doing things such as fruit picking, painting, house cleaning, gardening and so on for 'free' and in return you are given accommodation (usually the family home) and food. There are hosts all across Australia and even the world, the best thing about being in Oz is that there are fruits that need harvesting all year around all across the country thus enabling you to travel all across the country, theoretically just paying for transportation such as flights or a bus, to go from one spot to the next - as it says on there website you'll learn not only about the ways of farming what ever it is your harvesting but also Australia itself.
After i complete writing this post I am going out to buy myself a WWOOF directory which basically does what it says on the tin, it gives you contact information for participating hosts all over Oz.
Couch Surfing: This is a truly brilliant idea that came about when some fella went to Iceland for a couple of weeks, but didn't have anywhere to stay so he came up with a plan and proceeded to 'spam' 1500 students in the area he was staying simply asking if any had a couch that he could crash on and in return he offered to cook for them and keep general maintenance of there probably grotty little abode. He got several response and not only crashed at a couple of places but also struck up some great friendships and was shown the 'real Iceland' as he puts it, you know, the stuff that they don't put into travel guides.
So, when he returned home he got together with some other mates and made it to what it is today, a network of millions of people all over the world offering couch's for people to stay on for a day, a week and in some cases even a month. In return for the host's hospitality the surfers would cook them meals, clean or in some cases turn up with a gift for there host upon arrival.
The system works a little like EBay to, the host's are given a rating and feedback on how they accommodate there surfer and vis-versa as the host will then give feedback on the surfer on how they were as a guest enabling people to who are in the process of looking for somewhere to stay a heads up on what to expect. In Australia alone there is roughly over 10,000 host's but with allot of them from Sydney 'fully booked' in advance for the Christmas and new years.
You could if you wanted to make use of both WWOOFing and CSing together by, say if you get a placement working in a farm in Perth whilst your in Sydney and you've only enough for a bus ticket you could try and find a couch mid-way between the two that will let you crash just for the night so that you have somewhere to stay....
Talking about being fully booked for Christmas, i think that's a serious problem Helena and I are going to face, as we booked to stay another week in our current hostel although for me it was no problem Helena found that someone had already been penciled in to her bed already, after throwing the bugger out and changing the sheets she managed to sleep peacefully but all the same, we were told that a big party of nearly 30 odd people will be arriving as hostels/hotels and campsites become fully booked for Christmas and as your all away theres no were really better to be at New Years than in viewing distance of the Harbour Bridge...
WWOOF: Willing Workers On Organic Farms - the concept is simple, you work 4-6 (varies) hours on a farm doing things such as fruit picking, painting, house cleaning, gardening and so on for 'free' and in return you are given accommodation (usually the family home) and food. There are hosts all across Australia and even the world, the best thing about being in Oz is that there are fruits that need harvesting all year around all across the country thus enabling you to travel all across the country, theoretically just paying for transportation such as flights or a bus, to go from one spot to the next - as it says on there website you'll learn not only about the ways of farming what ever it is your harvesting but also Australia itself.
After i complete writing this post I am going out to buy myself a WWOOF directory which basically does what it says on the tin, it gives you contact information for participating hosts all over Oz.
Couch Surfing: This is a truly brilliant idea that came about when some fella went to Iceland for a couple of weeks, but didn't have anywhere to stay so he came up with a plan and proceeded to 'spam' 1500 students in the area he was staying simply asking if any had a couch that he could crash on and in return he offered to cook for them and keep general maintenance of there probably grotty little abode. He got several response and not only crashed at a couple of places but also struck up some great friendships and was shown the 'real Iceland' as he puts it, you know, the stuff that they don't put into travel guides.
So, when he returned home he got together with some other mates and made it to what it is today, a network of millions of people all over the world offering couch's for people to stay on for a day, a week and in some cases even a month. In return for the host's hospitality the surfers would cook them meals, clean or in some cases turn up with a gift for there host upon arrival.
The system works a little like EBay to, the host's are given a rating and feedback on how they accommodate there surfer and vis-versa as the host will then give feedback on the surfer on how they were as a guest enabling people to who are in the process of looking for somewhere to stay a heads up on what to expect. In Australia alone there is roughly over 10,000 host's but with allot of them from Sydney 'fully booked' in advance for the Christmas and new years.
You could if you wanted to make use of both WWOOFing and CSing together by, say if you get a placement working in a farm in Perth whilst your in Sydney and you've only enough for a bus ticket you could try and find a couch mid-way between the two that will let you crash just for the night so that you have somewhere to stay....
Talking about being fully booked for Christmas, i think that's a serious problem Helena and I are going to face, as we booked to stay another week in our current hostel although for me it was no problem Helena found that someone had already been penciled in to her bed already, after throwing the bugger out and changing the sheets she managed to sleep peacefully but all the same, we were told that a big party of nearly 30 odd people will be arriving as hostels/hotels and campsites become fully booked for Christmas and as your all away theres no were really better to be at New Years than in viewing distance of the Harbour Bridge...
World Bar
Last night we decided to join tag along to a outing organised by the staff at Maze, it was simply to go to a bar called World bar and, from the posters doted around the hostel to entice people to get involved it made it clear that there would be champagne for the girls, and for guys dressed as girls.....................................................................................................................................
Well what did you expect me to do...having already experienced the female side of life at the Southdowns on our last night before we closed were i dressed up as Geri Halliwell i was a little to easily persuaded to 'get involved' this time around and dress up again.
Helena was more than happy to let me borrow a skirt and top, a bikini top if I'm exact, falsely expressed that i looked fine and not, in anyway out of place....
There was only one other guy from our hostel who dressed up and he ended up missing the bus anyway but luckily about 5-6 people from a sister hostel just across the street were sporting items of clothing ranging from skirts to dresses to boob tubes to god knows what and, whilst I'd drawn the line at wearing make up, again, they seemed to have gone over bored and were verging on dressing as drag instead of as just a girl.
Upon getting to the club we guys who were dressed as girls were given three vouchers to get either a VB (beer) or a vodka and mixer, along with the free champers on entry and also i managed to blag another free drink from the lady organising the event from our hostel as i was the only one representing Maze, noooot bad....
The actual bar was a bit of a mix, downstairs in one room was a mixture of indie, r&b, dance, cheese and electro music but there wasn't really a dance floor whilst in another room there was a karaoke run by a fat Australian who liked to swear a little to much and finally upstairs there was an actual dance floor that was near enough deserted probably due to the crazy ass music being played.
It was a good night and Helena and I spent most of it with a kid in our dorm called Andrew and a mate he had met whilst travelling around, they are both English and Andrew in particular has awesome like-for-like taste in music as me and told me about a club on Friday which plays things like The Strokes, Datarock, Manic Street Preachers, Twangs, Justice and all that usually found in Goo kinda music. b-e-a-utiful!
With that I'm going to love you and leave you and catch some well deserved zzz's after a night out, i appreciate its 1.27pm but I'm a lazy git and no amount of red bull is keeping me awake...
Monday, 27 October 2008
The day I met my first PROPER Aussie...
So, I've been in Sydney exactly a week today and so far everything seems to be happening at 100mph, that is everything except finding work....getting around to getting my bank account and also TFN, but besides that were has the time gone??
Gawd knows!
Anyway, the latter has been done and the former is in the process of being found.
My general feeling of Sydney is that its not very Australian, i mean there is the occasional Australian person doted about but they come few and far between, everywhere is fast food deli's and 24/7 conviniance stores run by Asians who speak very little English let alone with an Australian twang to there accent....
Earlier i decided to go and grab a coffee, actually, to be precise a Mocha - a nice lil coffee-come-chocolate combination - and walked until i found a suitable, non-Starbuck run coffee shop and proceeded to sit and sort out my documents into a easily readily accessible and easy to find order such as flight information (outbound and inbound), my medical information (which has recently been updated thanks to my own stupidity of being unable to determine were the floor began), hostel info and other important pieces of paper that i would be stupid to loose. Anyways, whilst sifting through the papers a mid 40ish something (I'd guess) fella sat next to me and, not right away, but after a couple of minutes popped the question of 'where you from', thus entails a healthy conversation of my life back home and his life from up the east coast in Cairns. Turns out that he was down in Sydney in a legal tax battle with something to do with his Yacht that he has harboured back home, he's had a heavy day at Court which had ended up costing the poor fella about $6000. I'm surprised he wasn't drinking something stronger.
The natural progression of questions ranging form what was i doing in Sydney to what else will i be doing whilst in Aus followed and i eludicated that i would be staying in Sydney for a while doing the classic working and shared accommodation combination.
He shed some light on his youth and his hometown and said that it was a wasted trip to stay in an un-Australian run town such as Sydney and that i should venture north not only for the surroundings and scenery but also for work, which was allot easier to come by especially as it was just going into fruit picking season. It made sense to me.
With our visa we were given a platinum card which enables a free night stay in hostels and apartments dotted up the east coast and southern Australia (well a free night should you book 3-4 nights with them first) and today (because we are waiting on our Bank card to be sent through the post which can take up to 5-7 working days and which we had to give out an address for) we had to book another week's stay in the hostel, because of this it was worth while getting something called a 'Mad' Card (short for Nomads, the hostel company we are with) and this, just like the visa card, enables free nights, money off bookings and also up to $400 worth of vouchers ranging from free meals, free entry to clubs, free drinks and also money off attractions and events and there are hostels that this card lets you stay in all over the Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tasmania so i believe it would be stupid to let such opportunities go to waste.....
The fella also highlighted that, unlike Sydney, people up north are allot more talkative and friendly and are more likely to help you out and generally be more 'human' towards you, it was funny for an Australian to highlight the fact that in Sydney everyone pretty much keeps them selves to them selves and that on several occasions you will look up from reading a paper or book or having a sip of your tea to see a small number of eyes staring at you from various places in the room, its weird but because of they number of eyes looking at you it leads you to believe that you may have something on your face such as a huge spot that's appeared in a matter of minutes or someone behind you is pulling faces over your shoulder.....its a little off-putting....
Anyway, besides his inspirational talk and knowledge of his hometown he was actually using proper Aussie lingo and on several occasions i had to ask what it was something meant after he'd say a word, it was cool and reassured me that all the slang terms I'd read about in the Lonely Planet guide hadn't totally died out, up until that point the only slang I'd heard had been 'schooner' which is not quite a pint but more than a half when ordering a beer...
Finally here are a couple of pics of nothing in particular but it will give you guys something to look at anyway, the graffiti I've been doing to pass the time (tilt head to the right), theres a picture of a billabong from the Blue Mountains and also a pic of some ugly git (small children be advised).....
Gawd knows!
Anyway, the latter has been done and the former is in the process of being found.
My general feeling of Sydney is that its not very Australian, i mean there is the occasional Australian person doted about but they come few and far between, everywhere is fast food deli's and 24/7 conviniance stores run by Asians who speak very little English let alone with an Australian twang to there accent....
Earlier i decided to go and grab a coffee, actually, to be precise a Mocha - a nice lil coffee-come-chocolate combination - and walked until i found a suitable, non-Starbuck run coffee shop and proceeded to sit and sort out my documents into a easily readily accessible and easy to find order such as flight information (outbound and inbound), my medical information (which has recently been updated thanks to my own stupidity of being unable to determine were the floor began), hostel info and other important pieces of paper that i would be stupid to loose. Anyways, whilst sifting through the papers a mid 40ish something (I'd guess) fella sat next to me and, not right away, but after a couple of minutes popped the question of 'where you from', thus entails a healthy conversation of my life back home and his life from up the east coast in Cairns. Turns out that he was down in Sydney in a legal tax battle with something to do with his Yacht that he has harboured back home, he's had a heavy day at Court which had ended up costing the poor fella about $6000. I'm surprised he wasn't drinking something stronger.
The natural progression of questions ranging form what was i doing in Sydney to what else will i be doing whilst in Aus followed and i eludicated that i would be staying in Sydney for a while doing the classic working and shared accommodation combination.
He shed some light on his youth and his hometown and said that it was a wasted trip to stay in an un-Australian run town such as Sydney and that i should venture north not only for the surroundings and scenery but also for work, which was allot easier to come by especially as it was just going into fruit picking season. It made sense to me.
With our visa we were given a platinum card which enables a free night stay in hostels and apartments dotted up the east coast and southern Australia (well a free night should you book 3-4 nights with them first) and today (because we are waiting on our Bank card to be sent through the post which can take up to 5-7 working days and which we had to give out an address for) we had to book another week's stay in the hostel, because of this it was worth while getting something called a 'Mad' Card (short for Nomads, the hostel company we are with) and this, just like the visa card, enables free nights, money off bookings and also up to $400 worth of vouchers ranging from free meals, free entry to clubs, free drinks and also money off attractions and events and there are hostels that this card lets you stay in all over the Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tasmania so i believe it would be stupid to let such opportunities go to waste.....
The fella also highlighted that, unlike Sydney, people up north are allot more talkative and friendly and are more likely to help you out and generally be more 'human' towards you, it was funny for an Australian to highlight the fact that in Sydney everyone pretty much keeps them selves to them selves and that on several occasions you will look up from reading a paper or book or having a sip of your tea to see a small number of eyes staring at you from various places in the room, its weird but because of they number of eyes looking at you it leads you to believe that you may have something on your face such as a huge spot that's appeared in a matter of minutes or someone behind you is pulling faces over your shoulder.....its a little off-putting....
Anyway, besides his inspirational talk and knowledge of his hometown he was actually using proper Aussie lingo and on several occasions i had to ask what it was something meant after he'd say a word, it was cool and reassured me that all the slang terms I'd read about in the Lonely Planet guide hadn't totally died out, up until that point the only slang I'd heard had been 'schooner' which is not quite a pint but more than a half when ordering a beer...
Finally here are a couple of pics of nothing in particular but it will give you guys something to look at anyway, the graffiti I've been doing to pass the time (tilt head to the right), theres a picture of a billabong from the Blue Mountains and also a pic of some ugly git (small children be advised).....
Sunday, 26 October 2008
Hospital.....
Intresting Day, to follow up on my post about yesterday i ended up going to hosptial to see what they'd say and as it turned out that is were i would be for the majority of the day.
I went in and told the Nurse what had happened and they went through a couple of things and asked a couple of questions....
From what i replied to the questions obviously didnt sit to well with the Nurse and i ended up having this bloody neck brace put on leaving me to do nothing but walk and turn about like a zombie.
Another nurse came in and said that i will be going for an X-ray just to make sure that im in tip top(ish) working order and that nothing more serious had been done internally, thankfully there hadnt been and i was sent on my way a couple of hours later with a simple 'take things nice and easy for a couple of days' still ringing in my ears...
All well and good and it gave helena something to laugh about with me lying on the bed unable to do anything beside's blink.
Besides this all happening i spoke with helena and we've decided that, because its near enough impossible to find a shared accomidation thats looking for a male, let alone two people, we may have to simply look for our own apparments, by this i mean Helena look for one searching for a female flatmate and i do the same, but obviously for me...a male....
It's gonna suck that we might not be together and all that but it's going to work out alot cheaper financially, we'll be able to meet more people and were obviously still gonna see each other anyway...
I went in and told the Nurse what had happened and they went through a couple of things and asked a couple of questions....
From what i replied to the questions obviously didnt sit to well with the Nurse and i ended up having this bloody neck brace put on leaving me to do nothing but walk and turn about like a zombie.
Another nurse came in and said that i will be going for an X-ray just to make sure that im in tip top(ish) working order and that nothing more serious had been done internally, thankfully there hadnt been and i was sent on my way a couple of hours later with a simple 'take things nice and easy for a couple of days' still ringing in my ears...
All well and good and it gave helena something to laugh about with me lying on the bed unable to do anything beside's blink.
Besides this all happening i spoke with helena and we've decided that, because its near enough impossible to find a shared accomidation thats looking for a male, let alone two people, we may have to simply look for our own apparments, by this i mean Helena look for one searching for a female flatmate and i do the same, but obviously for me...a male....
It's gonna suck that we might not be together and all that but it's going to work out alot cheaper financially, we'll be able to meet more people and were obviously still gonna see each other anyway...
Saturday, 25 October 2008
Coogee Beach
Today was the planned day to get our TFN and Bank account details sorted and all was well and good until we got the the office only to find it shut for the weekend, soooooo, posponed till Monday...
So, instead what else could we do on a day were the weather was reaching nearly 25 degrees but spend it at the beach, Coogee ass it turned out to be....
Maze, the hostel were staying at were even organising a social event and anyone intrested was to meet in the reception at 12.15 were we would get the bus down the the beach and the staff from the hostel would put on a BBQ and offer arounjd a couple of free drinks - the BBQ as it turned out was cooked on permantly fixed BBQ's all along the beach front, there was two seperate grills to one BBQ so two different parties could eat at once and there were roughly about....12 stations...tick to barbie on the beach!!
So, instead what else could we do on a day were the weather was reaching nearly 25 degrees but spend it at the beach, Coogee ass it turned out to be....
Maze, the hostel were staying at were even organising a social event and anyone intrested was to meet in the reception at 12.15 were we would get the bus down the the beach and the staff from the hostel would put on a BBQ and offer arounjd a couple of free drinks - the BBQ as it turned out was cooked on permantly fixed BBQ's all along the beach front, there was two seperate grills to one BBQ so two different parties could eat at once and there were roughly about....12 stations...tick to barbie on the beach!!
Between cooking we simply sunbathed on the beach and, sorry to mention it again lads but woooooooooooooooooowee, THE WOMEN!!!there were some stunning specimens i had to be said, i've never liked wearing sunglasses before but i had to put them on then and just let, ya
know, the eyes wander a little.....just a bit.....
Anyways, it didnt end to sweetly, we went into the sea for a wee paddle (which was suprisingly cold) and we were just messing about jumping over the typical surfing made waves when i dived under neath one, proper smashed my head on the sea floor, chipping one of my teeth and giving myself what i think is concusion and/or whiplash, lets just say i was seeing stars for a minute or two, we got back to the hostel at 4ish O'clock and my neck was starting to reeeeeally hurt, i woke up this morning and @#*% me does it kill, i'm considering going to the doctors or hospital but i cant see what can be done apart from tell me what i already know, my neck hurts.....either way, it kinda put a damper on the rest of the day.
On the upside my 'proud-to-be-english' tan lines are slowly fading away into a nice golden brown, today, again, the weather is stunning so i think the beach is calling yet again but, you know whats coming, i think i'll stick to just sunbathing this time...
On the upside my 'proud-to-be-english' tan lines are slowly fading away into a nice golden brown, today, again, the weather is stunning so i think the beach is calling yet again but, you know whats coming, i think i'll stick to just sunbathing this time...
Friday, 24 October 2008
The Blue Mountains
So today we finally get around to doing our tour of the Blue Mountains and I'd just like to say thanks to you know Mum for booking us on it as i personally thought it was b-e-a-utiful!
We got picked up from our hostel at 8.15am by this dumpy looking dude called Hayden, he would in turn be our driver, tour guide and also what seemed to be encyclopedia for the day...
We gave in our STA voucher and then ushered onto the mini bus that would soon be full without a seat to spare, a couple of nationalities that were included in the tin can were Austrian, Canadian, Spanish, some more Swedish and nice spread of English ranging from Derbyshire to Manc's....
it took a little while to actually get to the mountains so we went via a more scenic route were we stopped a couple of times and had drinks and biscuits and what-nots that were provided by the company.
Between stop offs and whilst travelling towards the Mountains Hayden would pump through and continue to teach the vast age spectrum of customers he had on his bus with interesting facts about the colonisation and making of Australia, he was basically reeling off a timeline of whats what in Australian history but at the same time would refer to interesting going-on's across the world whilst in a particular time zone such as the Battle of Waterloo and the Boston Massacre (which he informed had an effect on how Australia would become a dumping ground for cons and crooks from England as America no longer wanted anything to do wish us- for a little while at least), like i said, he's a walking history book!
Anyway, before actually getting into the heart of the Mountains we stopped of at various viewing points which i touristy obliged to take pictures from and tried to emphasis the height at which we were at...
We got picked up from our hostel at 8.15am by this dumpy looking dude called Hayden, he would in turn be our driver, tour guide and also what seemed to be encyclopedia for the day...
We gave in our STA voucher and then ushered onto the mini bus that would soon be full without a seat to spare, a couple of nationalities that were included in the tin can were Austrian, Canadian, Spanish, some more Swedish and nice spread of English ranging from Derbyshire to Manc's....
it took a little while to actually get to the mountains so we went via a more scenic route were we stopped a couple of times and had drinks and biscuits and what-nots that were provided by the company.
Between stop offs and whilst travelling towards the Mountains Hayden would pump through and continue to teach the vast age spectrum of customers he had on his bus with interesting facts about the colonisation and making of Australia, he was basically reeling off a timeline of whats what in Australian history but at the same time would refer to interesting going-on's across the world whilst in a particular time zone such as the Battle of Waterloo and the Boston Massacre (which he informed had an effect on how Australia would become a dumping ground for cons and crooks from England as America no longer wanted anything to do wish us- for a little while at least), like i said, he's a walking history book!
Anyway, before actually getting into the heart of the Mountains we stopped of at various viewing points which i touristy obliged to take pictures from and tried to emphasis the height at which we were at...
whilst up there the wannabe Mr Webster (Inside joke) shared facts about aboriginal carvings in the stone, how they got 'paint' from the rocks to decorate there shields, totem poles and didgeridoo (which surprisingly i spelt right first time) and also about the numerous plants such as the eucalyptus tree's (which they have over 900 off and which i didn't spell right first time) and that every 'grass plant' they have all across Aus is, in some way, edible. 
Oh yer, fact: the reason the blue mountains are called the BLUE mountains is because of something to do with the eucalyptus leaves and the light reflecting off them so when viewed from a distance a a bluey-sometimes-purpley glow is given off, a bit like when theres alot of pollution at home and you see a orange glow in the sky over a city....We then proceeded to get on the steepest cable car in the southern hemisphere, without me knowing at the time that Helena was scared of heights, and travelled down to the foot of the mountains and were taken through a 'north shore' style network of tracks through the woody growth....more plant facts, waterfall photos and mining information was educated to the party...
After this it was lunch, thanks again mum - the Pesto was very nice, and then it was onto a aboriginal marking of a kangaroo which was discovered and has since been preserved and then onto another part of the Blue Mountains national park in which we were told we would be able to possibly see kangaroo's, wallabies, parrots, cookerborough's and other things...we were in luck that we were able to see a baby Kangaroo and i walked off and saw a something-type-of-bird but besides that there was nothing, i mean i wasn't walking off in the hope of trying to see a snake or nothing.
Fact #2: there are something like 20 different types of poisonous snakes across Aus in which the Blue Mountains is home to 15 of them....
Its safe to say that from the views and ever changing depth in landscape and scenery my Dad would have been in his element taking photos to take home and then picturesquely transfer onto a paint or drawing pad and I'm not even gonna think to embarrass myself by trying to do the same thing - If you fancy it though Chris, i got a couple.....
after leaving the Blue's we were left to get a ferry boat back into Circular Quay (in between the Opera house and Harbour Bridge) and Helena and I simply walked back to our hostel which is only a rough 10-15 minute walk away.....
Tomorrow its time to get work stuff sorted and again, luckily, the place we need to go to get it done is only a 10 minute walk down the road and apparently it takes no time at all so all's being well by Monday we can start seriously looking for work and even an apartment......
Wednesday, 22 October 2008
Not Alot To Do...
It's not hard to realise that theres not alot to do in Sydney that doesnt involve spending money....even me typing this is costing me seeing as how i needed to re-top-up my card that i use to enter my pin on the home screen, for $2 a hour its reasonable but it all adds up...
Anyway, an update on the Blue Mountains situation, we were sheduled to go today but we later found out that we were meant to let the tour company know 72 hours in advance that we were defiantly going to be attending.....seeing as how were were probably either still flying or only just touching down that was a little hard to do thus they simply thought we weren't bothering with the tour and were laughing there little Ozzie heads off at the sum of money they'd acquired by doing nothing....
However, Helena asked at the reception in the hostel and the women there (who appeared to be alot more 'with it' than the bloke i spoke to yesterday) said she would ring the company to see if there was anything that could be done and, result, she managed to get us onto a tour that will pick us up from the hostel at 8.15 tomorrow morning - the only thing this effects is it puts us back a day on getting our tax file number and Ozzie bank account set up that will enable us to start properly looking for work
As its a 9 hour tour tomorrow i thought i'd take the opportunity to fill you in on the latest today as i'll probably be shattered and all tourist'ed' out, possibly with my photo finger still smouldering from all the the photos that will be taken....
So i've got some useful information on where to go to get my TFN and bank account set up and luckily enough its a building in the same street as the hostel were staying in, i've decided i probably will go with paying for a course that enables me to look for work selling and handling alcohol, the course is $85 but you've gotta spend money to make money plus the course will not only enable me to look for work in pubs/bars and clubs but also off licences and conviniant stores - i told you, any work possible!!
In the same booklet it gives you a couple of websites to check out that search for house sharing accomidation and other similar places that, once i've found sustanable and paid work i will look to move into along with helena.....
I hope to kick all this into motion on Saturday (friday to you Guys) and will hopefully be working beofre the following week is through (but from the sounds of things and speaking to a few of the other people at the hostel this is alot easier said than done, but fingers crossed)
Besides that, all there is to really do without spending money is....sleep....read...play cards...sleep....listen to music.....take in the rather attractive foreign girls....sleep....listen to music and, ummmmm sleep...
Oh and at least its dry...er today, its rained a little but i could at least venture outside in a t-shirt and not be in danger of taking out the guy across the street with my nipples...
Anyway, an update on the Blue Mountains situation, we were sheduled to go today but we later found out that we were meant to let the tour company know 72 hours in advance that we were defiantly going to be attending.....seeing as how were were probably either still flying or only just touching down that was a little hard to do thus they simply thought we weren't bothering with the tour and were laughing there little Ozzie heads off at the sum of money they'd acquired by doing nothing....
However, Helena asked at the reception in the hostel and the women there (who appeared to be alot more 'with it' than the bloke i spoke to yesterday) said she would ring the company to see if there was anything that could be done and, result, she managed to get us onto a tour that will pick us up from the hostel at 8.15 tomorrow morning - the only thing this effects is it puts us back a day on getting our tax file number and Ozzie bank account set up that will enable us to start properly looking for work
As its a 9 hour tour tomorrow i thought i'd take the opportunity to fill you in on the latest today as i'll probably be shattered and all tourist'ed' out, possibly with my photo finger still smouldering from all the the photos that will be taken....
So i've got some useful information on where to go to get my TFN and bank account set up and luckily enough its a building in the same street as the hostel were staying in, i've decided i probably will go with paying for a course that enables me to look for work selling and handling alcohol, the course is $85 but you've gotta spend money to make money plus the course will not only enable me to look for work in pubs/bars and clubs but also off licences and conviniant stores - i told you, any work possible!!
In the same booklet it gives you a couple of websites to check out that search for house sharing accomidation and other similar places that, once i've found sustanable and paid work i will look to move into along with helena.....
I hope to kick all this into motion on Saturday (friday to you Guys) and will hopefully be working beofre the following week is through (but from the sounds of things and speaking to a few of the other people at the hostel this is alot easier said than done, but fingers crossed)
Besides that, all there is to really do without spending money is....sleep....read...play cards...sleep....listen to music.....take in the rather attractive foreign girls....sleep....listen to music and, ummmmm sleep...
Oh and at least its dry...er today, its rained a little but i could at least venture outside in a t-shirt and not be in danger of taking out the guy across the street with my nipples...
Touchdown!!
Well, firstly, we made it! An hour later than scheduled but all the same, were here..
The flight over wasn't as bad as i thought it'd be, the delays on the other hand....waiting to leave from Heathrow was stupid, we got told that one of the cockpit crew was 'unwell' and had been sent home and that they were looking to find a replacement, how long this would take they or we didn't know, they kept us updated as much as possible but truth be told it was clear they didnt have a clue....at one point they even suggested that the flight may be cancelled and we'd have to fly out tomorrow but luckly they found someone and we managed to get underway, what i believe, or felt like, was 5 hours later...Anyway, because of this we could no longer land straight at San Francisco and instead had to go via New York and land at JFK for an hour so they could re-somethingorother, whether it was fuel..food..or personell i have nooo idea! Anyway, we made it to San Fran and unlike the 10 hours we would have had to spend waiting around for or connecting flight to Sydney we had to wait only half an hour between touch down and then checking in again so in some ways it wasnt so bad...
After this we were straight off to Syndney, we slept...some more...we touched down at just gone 8.00am local time (Only an hour later than planned which isn't bad considering the ground me made up), we met up with a bloke from Sunspot who would drive us to our Hostel and sat back and took in the surroundings.
Were staying in a 6 bedroom dorm with, from what i can work out a couple of germans....
Oh yer, the reason, we later found out, that they had to find a new cockpit member was becasue of this... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7679165.stm
GOOD START
We had a tour of Sydney booked for today which we got on but for any of you thinking its all Sun, Sea and Sand here, your crazzy, we woke up and it had been raining through the night and it was starting and stoping all day, add to that winds that wouldnt be out of place in England and you'll get the picture, it was to cold for Helena and even at somestages for me, we got off at Sydney opera house and got a few touristy snaps (that i will try and upload later) but decided to to bother with bondai as there wouldnt be any bikini clad surfer babes in site...at least thats what Helena thought anyway.....
So im just sitting on the comp whilst helena catches up on some sleep, the jetlags got her bad, and trying to get through the ridiculus, but not unexpected, wall post's my mum and some other people have left on my facebook....
Tomorrow, Blue Mountains tour...thats if we can find out were to get picked up from, it says on the recipt that they pick up from all Sydney hostels and hotels, well i asked the dude at reception if this was right and he wasnt to sure but instead suggested other companies to book a tour with, great f***ing help so i emailed STA's customer service desk to try and find out but Mum, if you have any suggestions....great!!!!
Anyways, Chow
The flight over wasn't as bad as i thought it'd be, the delays on the other hand....waiting to leave from Heathrow was stupid, we got told that one of the cockpit crew was 'unwell' and had been sent home and that they were looking to find a replacement, how long this would take they or we didn't know, they kept us updated as much as possible but truth be told it was clear they didnt have a clue....at one point they even suggested that the flight may be cancelled and we'd have to fly out tomorrow but luckly they found someone and we managed to get underway, what i believe, or felt like, was 5 hours later...Anyway, because of this we could no longer land straight at San Francisco and instead had to go via New York and land at JFK for an hour so they could re-somethingorother, whether it was fuel..food..or personell i have nooo idea! Anyway, we made it to San Fran and unlike the 10 hours we would have had to spend waiting around for or connecting flight to Sydney we had to wait only half an hour between touch down and then checking in again so in some ways it wasnt so bad...
After this we were straight off to Syndney, we slept...some more...we touched down at just gone 8.00am local time (Only an hour later than planned which isn't bad considering the ground me made up), we met up with a bloke from Sunspot who would drive us to our Hostel and sat back and took in the surroundings.
Were staying in a 6 bedroom dorm with, from what i can work out a couple of germans....
Oh yer, the reason, we later found out, that they had to find a new cockpit member was becasue of this... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7679165.stm
GOOD START
We had a tour of Sydney booked for today which we got on but for any of you thinking its all Sun, Sea and Sand here, your crazzy, we woke up and it had been raining through the night and it was starting and stoping all day, add to that winds that wouldnt be out of place in England and you'll get the picture, it was to cold for Helena and even at somestages for me, we got off at Sydney opera house and got a few touristy snaps (that i will try and upload later) but decided to to bother with bondai as there wouldnt be any bikini clad surfer babes in site...at least thats what Helena thought anyway.....So im just sitting on the comp whilst helena catches up on some sleep, the jetlags got her bad, and trying to get through the ridiculus, but not unexpected, wall post's my mum and some other people have left on my facebook....
Tomorrow, Blue Mountains tour...thats if we can find out were to get picked up from, it says on the recipt that they pick up from all Sydney hostels and hotels, well i asked the dude at reception if this was right and he wasnt to sure but instead suggested other companies to book a tour with, great f***ing help so i emailed STA's customer service desk to try and find out but Mum, if you have any suggestions....great!!!!
Anyways, Chow
Wednesday, 8 October 2008
To Start With.....
So i've decided to create one of these Blog things to keep ya'll updated, and probably mostly my nervous wreck of a Mum, up to date on what i've been up to and how I'm getting on the other side of the pond.
I only booked my flights the other day on the 6th and Helena, the girl I'm going with, will both leave on the 19th of this month. With Helena living in Sweden she will be flying over here the day before on the Saturday.
We will be flying to Sydney airport via San Francisco which we will have a stop off for 10 hours, this isn't to bad but were not allowed outside the terminal so i can see it dragging quite a bit.
Right now though I'm trying to work out what essentials i need to take with me and need to decide how many of what clothing i need to take.
I'll try and keep this updated as long as possible but if there is a bit of a pause between updates don't worry to much, the wigi grub probably didnt go down to well or i'm lost in the outback or something.....
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