Hit the road Jack......

Trip Start Jun 05, 2007
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Trip End Jun 2009


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Sunday, August 24, 2008

As our time in Sydney finally comes to an end, we thought we would bring the pod up to date with what we have been doing in between working over the past 9 months.. Well not a great deal really, as we have spent most of the time working ! Working sucks, especially when you are meant to be on the trip of a lifetime around the globe, however a necessity if we are going to earn the money needed to fund part 2 of the trip. Renting a place in Sydney is very expensive and would have been almost impossible when trying to save money, we were fortunate enough to have been put up by our wonderful friends and sharing their rent, but for our friends to stay wonderful friends, there came a time when we had to move out and give them a little peace. So, we have been Housesitting, the idea is that we live rent free in a strangers house whilst they are away and in return we look after their gaff and if they have any pets, we look after them as well. A great way to save money, experience different areas of Sydney and live suburban life Flugtag Ramp
Flugtag Ramp
 .
House sit 1 was for 4 weeks, looking after Jan's house in Kensington with her maltese cross poodle, Joey. A proper lap dog, who loved attention 24/7. He was a real character as the photo's below will show i am sure. Kensington is about 15 minutes by bus from the CBD, next to Randwick Racecourse and close to Coogee and the beach. Randwick also houses the Sydney Childrens hospital, which made Rachel's journeys to work all the more bearable for her, however added a little time onto my journey over to the North Shore and Ryde. As we were new at this House Sitting lark it took us a couple of weeks to settle in to what is a complete strangers house. Someone whom we had met only a couple of times, and briefly at that, had entrusted two complete strangers to not only ensure her house was safe at all times whilst she was away, but also her beloved dog. THE PRESSURE !!
The time flew by, with 2 good walks a day for Joey, taking in Centennial and Moore park, which were close by, Remembering to water the plants and having a lovely house to ourselves, we realised that Housesitting was the way forward. By the end of the 4 weeks, we had lined up a second house sit, this time the other side of Sydney in a place called Gladesville for 6 weeks looking after Chica and Bono. Chica an Alsation cross cattle dog and Bono a Kelpie, both much bigger than Joey, needing double the exercise, double the care and for 6 weeks, had we bitten off more than we could chew ?
To be honest, Chica and Bono were less of a handful than Joey, as both were slightly older, Chica being 10 and Bono being 2, whereas Joey was only just 1, plus both were perfectly trained in all ways Competitor
Competitor
 . The house was a delight, although a little cold, but a great wood burning stove that we could huddle around, and it gave us opportunity to invite round our friends for dinner to thank them for their generosity.
In all, housesitting has been great and would certainly recommend to anyone thinking of it - it is definitely a big responsibility and it does take commitment but with affectionate dogs, surburbia really does become a way of life.
It has also been our birthdays. Kev's birthday back in May saw him desperate for warm, flat ale so upon recommendation, we headed for food and drinks at The Lord Nelson pub in The Rocks. It is a microbrewery and the closest thing to bitter that we have found, although they still manage to serve their beer cold, the aussies just don't seem to get it!!! This was followed by a pub crawl through The Rocks and as you can imagine, a very drunk Kevin came through the other end. We had booked a night in The Menzies Hotel and fortunately were within walking distance to it, Kev could hardly stand up and found it impossible to stay still at traffic lights, with a very firm grip on him we finally made it back to the hotel. I would love to say that Kev enjoyed stopping at the hotel but I don't think he has much recollection as he promptly passed out as soon as we came throught the doors, granted I wasn't far behind!!
Mr Bean
Mr Bean
 For my birthday Kev had been a very busy bee, unbeknown to me he had arranged several surprises to welcome in my big 30. Firstly, on the saturday before my birthday we headed into the city for surprise number one, which was a guided tour of the Opera House, the inside was incredible, especially in the main auditorium - so much so we booked to see a performance, The Legends of Jazz with James Morrison in July. That evening we went back into the city to meet with everyone for a meal and some Belgian beer delights at the aptly named Belgian beer cafe, with pork belly and framboise beer, I was in my element. On the sunday I had surprise number 2, after being duped by Keith and Jane earlier in the day, Kev took me to meet them in The Rocks for a ghost tour in the evening - a spooky tour of back streets and stories of murder and ghostly goings on, all finished off with a beer! The following day saw me turm 30 and began in a cab where I was shown some footage of Kev's family sending happy birthday wishes which was a bit of a shock. Back in the city I was taken on a bit of a mystery tour that saw us walking in the direction of the harbour bridge, I guessed inches from the entrance that today would be the day that we climbed the bridge. The weather wasn't great in the morning and we were a little apprehensive but shit, we have jumped out of  plane, this would be easy!! After the safety breifing and getting togged up in our fetching jumpsuits, the time had come to brave the elements and the great height of the bridge Army Entry
Army Entry
 . We were near the front and can honestly say that we had a whale of a time, the weather cleared for us for a bit and we had great views of Sydney and the harbour from the top. After this, we headed back to pick up our bags from Jan's where I was shown another 'clip' this time from our friends in Sherwood, a rather amusing set of messages taken at Bev and Sarah's wedding, another wedding to add to the list of events sadly missed during our trip. Following a couple of glasses of bubbly, we skirted the city and headed for Woollomolloo, and the rather swanky hotel Blue. At the hotel there were more clips, this time from my family both back home and in the states, it brought a few tears to see everyone but it was also lovely just to see their faces and hear their voices, it made me feel not quite so far away from home! That evening  we dressed for dinner and had an amazing meal on Finger Wharf, topped off with a candle to blow out on my desert. The following day saw us back to reality and the joys of work, made sweeter by a wonderful weekend.
I wrongly thought that all my surprises were over, but once again Kev managed to pull a blinder by arranging for us to go out for the day on The James Craig, a tall ship built in 1860 something.... and recently renovated to full working order. We had a great day hoisting up the sails, sailing out through the heads and into the Tasman Sea, looking for whales and enjoying a gourmet lunch. The weather was perfect with brilliant blue skies and warm sun, which added to the whole experience. So, yes, I have been thoroughly spoilt and have had a wicked birthday - what a way to see in my 30's.
We have really enjoyed our time in Sydney despite the work and the cold weather, but now feel it is time to move on and so we begin our next leg.........
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