Day 78-84: Sydney (Week 7)
Trip Start
Sep 12, 2004
1
18
57
Trip End
Jan 05, 2006
Sydney,
Australia
Monday, December 6, 2004
Felt a little better when I woke up this morning, less achy all over my body, but still got the swollen glands, sore throat and minor headache. Stayed in bed until about lunchtime but felt good enough to get up and have a shave and shower...helped me feel a bit more normal. Would have normally shadowed in Gabby's Combat class today but there's no way I'd be able to do that! Had planned to chase some recruitment agencies and the casting agency today to see if there's any work around, also needed to fax the First Aid Certificate off to Fitness NSW to complete my registration. So went to the net cafe to get the certificate faxed and also updated the diary as I hadn't had a chance to do that since Friday.
Spoke briefly to Arron too...last week he'd gone back to Melbourne to take part in a cycle tour as a volunteer massage therapist. However at the end of last week there was some problems with the business with one of the directors deciding to up sticks and leave. So he had to pull out of the tour and concentrate on the business, so instead of being in Melbourne for 3 weeks he's going to be back in Sydney tomorrow.
Went home and just vegged in front of the telly, the sore throat and headache seem to get worse in the evening, and the humidity doesn't help either. Hannible was on the telly so watched that with Nicky.
Tuesday:
Bit of an earlier start today coz it took me ages to get to sleep last night, probably coz I've had so much over the last couple of days. Felt a little better, still got the bloody sore throat but don't feel so weak and achy, hopefully by tomorrow I'll feel ok to go back to the gym. Now the forecast for the day was temperatures to hit 42C!! 42C for god's sake...what's that all about??? Nicky said the best thing to do on a day like that is to get to an air conditioned shopping centre with a cinema and just spend the day there wandering around, catch a film, have something to eat...etc. Anyway, stuck my head out the door this morning and it seemed hot but not that hot so thought I'd wander into the city, needed to make those phone calls to the agencies. Didn't get to talk to one person!! Every one was conveniently 'on the phone'...fucking agencies are really pissing me off now....how hard would it be for them to spend 30 seconds talking to me, this job hunting malarkey is a pile of shite!.......rant over! Of course none of them called me back either which was nice.
Also called the casting agency, didn't get to talk to any of them so thought i'd pop in, all busy so had to make an appointment for tomorrow afternoon to actually get to talk to someone. Called a couple of health clubs who were advertising for Combat instructors, one said they wouldn't be interested until after xmas, and with the other one the manager wasn't there in the morning and on the phone when I called in the afternoon.....going well don't you think!
By the afternoon it was hot but def not 42C....so thought I'd spend some time in air conditioned bookstores reading the books for free, cheap way of staying out of the heat. Also nipped into a music store to find some sheet music. There was an ad in the sunday paper for auditions for the possible 2005 re-casting of the Lion King in Sydney. They're looking for adult singers who can also move on stage, there are auditions on December 11th and 12th and as i've got bugger all to do I thought I might as well give it a go, haven't really got anything to lose have I. Arron sent a text to let me know that he's back in town, said we'll get together later in the week for a catch up.
After just came home and watched the Combat DVD which I should be learning but didn't really feel like jumping up and down quite yet. After dinner wandered to the net cafe to check any vacancies and fire off some more CVs. Had an email from one of the guys I tried to call earlier today asking if I was still looking for work as there was a 3 month support contract in the city...so of course emailed back to say i'm interested and will give him a call tomorrow.
Wednesday:
Decided that today I would go to Manly for a few hours before having to go to Rosey's for the casting interview. Before I caught the bus I gave the guy who emailed about the job a call to chase and see what it was all about. Turns out that the clients had said no already so that was another dead end.
Caught the bus to Circular Quay and then jumped on the Manly Ferry. The journey took about 30 mins. Got chatting to the old couple sitting next to me on the way. They were from England, had been in Australia for about 3 weeks and already visited a couple of cities, sounded like it was their second trip here and they sounded well travelled, that's what I wanna do when I retire! They kindly took a couple of pics for me on the ferry with the Opera House and Bridge in the background.
Arrived in Manly and christ it was hot! Sooo hot! The wind was just like having the heater on in the car, hadn't noticed it coz it was a little cooler on the ferry out on the water. The beach is only a short walk from the ferry, it's longer than Bondi but not so deep. Today was the first day I ventured into the ocean here in Oz, it was a bit nippy when you first got in but after that it was a nice relief from the sun...went in and out about 3 times. I cancelled the appointment with Rosey's coz there was no way I was gonna get back in time with the ferry trip and the walk there so just relaxed on the beach for a little longer. Later in the afternoon it clouded over a little and the wind changed direction and became a little cooler which was a nice relief.
Got back into the city about 4pm and on the way home bought a tripod so I could go do some night shoots sometime. Also got a text from a guy called Dave who I'd been talking to for ages, he works round the corner from me at a medical research institute so decided to meet after he finished work for a drink at the Green Park pub. So nipped home and showered....and it was then that I noticed that I'd got very very sunburnt, I'd been really stupid and not topped up the lotion after going swimming, it didn't seem as if I needed to, so anyway it turns out I should have coz several areas were now not looking too good! Chucked some Aloe Vera gel on after the shower to help.
Had a drink and then grabbed something to eat near where Dave lives, he's in Potts Point which is just down the road from me. The restaurant was a place called 'Roy's Famous'...and that's it, just 'Famous'....food was quite good tho. However the combination of the sunbed and still having the remnants of this viral thing meant that by about 9pm I thought my head was gonna implode! So called an early end to the evening and had a coolish shower. Felt so so so rough, had the shivers, couldn't decide if I was hot or cold and didn't think I'd get any sleep at all through the night, just trying to put the after sun gel on was not fun....gingerly crawled into bed and prayed for a half decent nights sleep.
Thursday:
Oh my god! What a bloody awful nights sleep! Was up every couple of hours needing to go to the loo probably coz I drank so much in the evening to help the sunburn. The soreness didn't help during the night either but once I'd got settled it seemed be ok, it was just moving and finding a new position that wasn't too nice. Took lots of drugs - of the legal variety - to help with both the viral thing and the sunburn. Rubbing in gel after the shower wasn't very comfortable so wandered around some chemists looking for some spray stuff so I didn't actually have to touch the skin!
Met Arron for lunch at Wagamama's - yep there's one right near me in Sydney for those that have heard of it - and he updated me with what's going on in his world. He also managed to get sunburnt over the weekend whilst doing some stuff back at his bungalow in Melbourne so we traded sunburn tips. He kindly offered to give me his aftersun spray as he'd moved onto the gel stuff now.
Decided that the sunburn and viral thing was not a good combo so went to the medical centre on Oxford St to get some advice from a doctor. This being my first run in with the Aussie healthcare system I was interested to see what it was like. The receptionist told me the wait could be anything from 45mins to 2 hours but that today they were quite quiet so it shouldn't be too long. In the end I was seen within about 15 mins. Explained everything to the doc and he basically said that it was viral and there was nothing he could do other than recommend some painkillers, he also said there was nothing he could do for the sunburn but I knew that already. The one thing about the Oz healthcare system is you have to pay for it and then get a rebate. The consultation cost me $55 (£22) and I was only in there for about 10 minutes! However I'd get a rebate from Medicare for about $30, though I have to go to a Medicare office to claim that. So went to the chemist to get the drugs he recommended and then went home.
Sprayed myself from head to toe and just lounged around the house with as few clothes on as possible - don't think about it or you may go blind! - just to get the air to my skin and help it cool down. Noticed in the papers that it got up to 40C yesterday, which is the only the 3rd time in 150 years it's done that, no wonder it was bloody hot in Manly and that'll also account for the sunburn!! See this news story about the heat - the link may die after a while so don't be surprised if it does....luckily today was much cooler and cloudier which helped keep me cool.
Evening was the usual SGLC rehearsal, we sang Christmas Carols....it's just not normal to be singing christmas carols in shorts and a t-shirt! The SGLC newsletter had a notice looking for someone to help with the redesign of the website so obviously put myself forward for that considering I've got bugger all to do
Friday:
A better nights sleep but the sunburn is still a bit sore. Had a shower and sprayed myself from head to toe again...the main problem with the spray thing is that it takes ages to dry so just have to wander around naked until it does - yes too much information again! Called Rosey's this morning too to arrange an appointment, arranged to meet Reese at 11.30 and amazingly my pics are ready too!! The meeting was very very quick, he basically said that I'd been put forward for a few jobs but the clients hadn't asked to see me...and that was it really. I said that I just thought I'd keep in touch so they didn't forget who I was and he said that they wouldn't forget.....yeah right! Anyway, at least I got the CD so I can take a look at those later.
Nipped into the Medicare office to get the rebate so the cash could go back in my wallet. Oh and talking of money...finally got the payslip for the 2 days work I done a couple of weeks ago, of course they cocked up and only paid me 16 hours instead of 18 so had to call them and get them to sort that out, so I'll have to wait another week for those extra hours but still got about $260 which is a little spending money. Again I wanted to keep cool this afternoon so spent the afternoon in air conditioned shops...Borders is fantastic, they supply chairs so you can sit down and read the mags and books for free! Marvellous...caught up with Heat and started to read the Dalai Lama's The Art of Happiness book, read the first 4 chapters and think i'll either buy it or try and get it from the library. It was my chat with Aron over the weekend that inspired me to take a look and see if I can learn anything from the book. Popped into the library on the way home to see what I had to do to join, and also checked that they had the book and they had it on the shelf...so need to get proof of name and address and I'm sorted.
After dinner caught up with a load of net stuff. Took my memory stick and agency CD with me to the cafe so I could get the pics online, plus as I hadn't been there for a few days needed to update the diary too and check mails. Out of 17 new messages not one was from anyone I know in the UK - that's you!! Come on guys and gals...say hello every now and again, at least let me think that you're stuggling to carry on without me!
Saturday:
Sunburn gets better each day but the shoulders are taking ages to stop being sore, they're the worse bit which is probably when I was in the water, it's a bit of a pain in the arse having to smother myself in sprays and gels regularly but i'm hoping it'll reduce the peeling. My nose has started peeling a little but you can barely notice when I put the gel stuff on.
This morning was really lazy, in fact I didn't get out of bed until about 12, read the manual for my Minolta coz despite owning it for months I still don't know everything it does and want to take some more arty B+W stuff on it. After showering and smothering I jumped on the bus to Bondi Junction for a bit of retail therapy and had to do some grocery stuff too. The new shopping mall has got some really cool christmas decorations, very funky, so will go back and take a few piccies one evening.
Found a pair of Adidas trainers which I've wanted since before I left the UK for only $80 (£36) which was a fantastic bargain so of course I snapped them up. That was about the only major purchase of the day.
In the evening I finally caught up with Carlos after not seeing him for a couple of weeks. Went over to his where he's got a German friend staying for a couple of weeks before he moves to somewhere else in NSW. We started off in the Newtown for one and then moved on to the Imperial which I'm sure I've mentioned before (the Priscilla bar). Stayed there for a few hours watching a few of the shows, they have one every hour from 10pm-2am, Sat night is the Priscilla show night, pretty good, tho not as funny as the shows I saw when I went on a Thursday, they also had their Christmas show which was pretty funny too. After the Imperial one of Carlos' friends drove to Oxford St, I was too knackered to go out anymore so went home.
Sunday:
Woken at 7.30am by the sounds of the upstairs neighbours deciding to carry on their clubbing at home. Had to stick the ear plugs in. By 11am it was still going and sounded like they had a few friends back too. Not the first time we've had to put up with their music but it is the first time that it's been on so early in the day and on a bloody sunday morning!! Got up, breakfast, showered and smothered and took myself off to a cafe to read the paper and for a little piece and quiet - spent a couple of hours doing that and by 2pm the music was still going so headed to the net cafe to check emails and update diary.
Music had finally stopped by the time I got home which was nice. Met Dave for a drink a couple of drinks and a couple of games of pool in the evening but wasn't a very big night so had an early one.
