The sun will come out tomorrow....

Trip Start Jun 05, 2007
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Trip End Jun 2009


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Thursday, January 31, 2008

We arrived in Sydney about 4pm and cleared customs easily by declaring all the potentially suspect things we had, ie: wooden articles, walking boots etc... we even got through quicker than those who had nothing to declare. We caught the train into central Sydney and waited for Linzi who was coming to meet us after work to take us to her place. Seeing her familiar face come through the crowds to greet us was wonderful, it had been over a year since we last saw her and to be here in Sydney made it all the more special. We went for a quick beer whilst we waited for a ferry to take us out to Abbotsford. The ferry took us passed the Opera House and under the Sydney Bridge, we had to keep pinching ourselves to remind us that this was actually real, that we had indeed made it to Oz. We were greeted at the ferry wharf with a warm welcome from Craig, Linzi's partner and taken up to the flat, Helen (Linzi's friend from Liverpool) was also staying, so although a little cosy, the evening was spent with much wine and gossip. The following day we headed out into the city to meet up with Keith and his partner Jane at the Opera Bar, so as well as beer, we were treated to amazing views of the harbour and city sky line. It was great to see Keith again and the reunion was spent in some of his usual haunts and as we were a little tipsy, to say the least, we were kindly invited to crash at their flat in Elizabeth Bay.
The following days were largely spent wandering around the city and enjoying having a base in which to stop. City from ferry
City from ferry
 It would be Christmas in a few days so we didn't dwell too much on having to find work. For Christmas Day, we had kindly been invited to Keith and Jane's who lovingly cooked a turkey with all the trimmings. It was difficult to distinguish the day from any other as the warm weather was once again hindering our perception of the festive spirit, but with wine, sherry and scalextric to enjoy it was as close to a traditional christmas we could get. We also met up with Nick and his partner Renee that day and after all this time it was lovely to catch up on his news.
Before we knew it, New Year was upon us and of course the only thing to do on NYE in Sydney is to hang out to watch the midnight fireworks. We chose a spot that Linzi had been to before, a park that although busy, would not be heaving like around the central water front. Kev, Linzi, Craig and I headed out late afternoon for beer and food at a nearby pub then walked over to the park to set up camp. We had both bought numerous $2 presents and wrapped them up to play a dice game to pass the time, the game consisted of us unwrapping, stealing, trading or losing presents dependant on the roll of the dice - it was hilarious and great fun for me as I ended up with the most presents! At 9pm there was the family fireworks and an impressive, albeit tame, display that made us hungry for the ultimate display at 12 - it was promised to be the biggest and best yet! And it did not disappoint - the illuminated egg timer on the bridge counted down the last 10 seconds and into the air exploded colours of red, green, blue, pinks, and whites as well love hearts, cubes and fountains from the bridge and from the top of the tallest buildings in the city skyline. Jazz in the Domain
Jazz in the Domain
 2008 had arrived and it was only fitting for a very drunken rendition of Auld Lang Syne.
We had kept in touch with the crazy Danes and the Irish girls and as they were still in Sydney we had already met up with them, but January 3rd would be their last day - in Oz for the boys and Sydney for the girls. So it seemed only fitting that we should go out to send them off in style. We met up in the opera bar and continued onto The Rocks - the oldest area in Sydney, cobbled streets, weekend markets and many pubs makes this a very lovely area. We went to a pub called Lowenbrau which is your typical Bavarian fayre - plenty of sausages, big steins of beer and shots of Vunderburg - or something similar, very, very dangerous, reminded Kev of Jagermeister, I steered well clear, my reputation with shots is well documented!
A few days later we met up with Keith and Jane again and undertook the Bondi to Coogee walk, a lovely cliff top walk taking in several beaches in between. Bondi was lovely but not quite what we had anticipated, the beach was incredibly busy and the waves were not what we had been led to believe they would be. But here we were at Bondi, amazing. The walk itself was about 3 hours and the views were great, we passed by a cemetery that must have to be one of the best spots in Sydney, looking right out to sea. The weather hasn't been that hot since we have been in Sydney, very cool in fact considering usual temperatures but today was different, we were very hot and sweaty and by the time we got to Coogee we were well ready for a dip. As the sun was beginning to fade we headed to the local pub for some more beers to quench our thirst.
As part of the Sydney festival there was to be a free jazz event in the city's central park - the Domain. The venue was full by the time we got there, people had spent the whole day down there picknicking. We did manage to find a spot but we were quite far back, the music was performed by a Harlem orchestra but with a latino feel and it certainly felt more latino than jazz and although it was great music, we were a little disappointed that it wasn't what we would have classed as jazz.
So, after several weeks we have finally found work and our plan is to get our heads down and get the money earnt. Of course we plan to enjoy our days off, we are in Sydney after all, but generally it will be quite mundane normal working weeks. We certainly plan to write about any weekends away but I think the blog will be quiet for the next few months as we slowly make our plans for our onward trip.
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