Day 106-112: Sydney (Week 11)
Trip Start
Sep 12, 2004
1
22
57
Trip End
Jan 05, 2006
Sydney,
Australia
Monday, January 3, 2005
Jogged to the gym in the morning to help burn off some of the crap I'd eaten over the weekend, hasn't actually been too bad, would have probably eaten more if I was at home. Spent an hour at the gym but didn't have the energy to run home so just strolled. Got the bus to the Junction after lunch to have a look at the sales, was just window licking really, only wanted a new pair of jeans and was looking around at the mobile phones as a Christmas present to me, not gonna buy a new one tho, probably get something off eBay. Didn't end up buying anything at all tho coz it's impossible to find stuff in a sale, it's all piled up after hundreds of people have been fingering the merchandise and you can never find your size. Took some discreet undercover pics of the Christmas Decorations at the Westfield Bondi, still got spotted by a security guard but by then it was too late...I'd gotten most of the pics!! Ha! I'll stick them online at some point so you can see what all the fuss is about....
Got home about 4 and walked to Central Station to meet Alain who picked me up. Saw his place for the first time, a 2 bed apartment on the 3rd floor in Lewisham which is an Inner West suburb only about a 20 mins drive from mine. Good views over the area, very green, loads of trees. Pretty big apartment too for one person....might be able to save on rent...lol ;O) The main draw is that he has an actual sofa so more than one person can sit together at any one time, a luxury I don't have at the flat tho Niki says she'll be sorting a sofa out whilst she's on holiday for the next week or so....plus he has cable TV, so I'm pretty much sorted!
We just chilled at his place until the evening when he had plans to go out with a friend for her birthday, she didn't mind me tagging along so I went with him. We ended up at the Coogee Bay Hotel - Coogee being one of the many beaches around Sydney. It's a big venue with bars, food and gigs. We had some food in the Bistro about 8 and the rest of them were planning on watching a gig by Resin Dogs...nope never heard of them either, but as they weren't on stage until 1am I couldn't be bothered hanging around till that late to see a band I'd never heard of playing a type of music I'm not into. Enjoyed meeting Alain's friends tho, they were a nice bunch tho and very friendly.
Alain dropped me home about 10 and I treated myself to some Christmas Pud...bought it last Friday and it was the first time I'd had a chance to have any, it was loooovely! Think he thought he may have done something wrong coz I wanted to leave early but assured him he hadn't...still enjoying his company and we're getting on really well so we'll see how it goes. Of course bit late to be eating it but who cares, still loads left so should keep me going for a couple of days.
Tuesday:
Alain picked me up about 11 - see a pattern forming here???? - and we went for a drive out coz the weather was lovely, clear blue skies, warm, not too hot and a nice breeze. He drove me to North Sydney for the first time going through the tunnel under the harbour. We stopped off at a couple of scenic points with views over the harbour, and as we drove further north a lookout which looked over the ocean, harbour and back to the city - took some pics so you'll see them eventually.
We had a really long chat whilst driving around, found out quite a lot about each other and our families. His background is quite a mixture; French, Polynesian, Greek & Australian. He's got a French passport which is why he can go to Europe without worring about a visa...he's also changed his name for some reason from Alain Panayotou to Alain Pane, did it when he was a teenager so maybe it was just a rebellion thing. He's pretty much always lived in Sydney and is into Sydney's history so he's a great tour guide. Religion seems to have played a big part in his upbringing and most of his family are still religious, tho he's less so now. Think he's got a couple of brother's and a sister and all the family are still in Oz.
We ended up in a place called Warringah, no idea where that is but we stopped off in a mall for some food and just had a wander round. Got back from the drive about 3 and just crashed on the sofa, he let me use his PC to do some net stuff and we just hung out for the rest of the day only popping out to get some food in for dinner which he cooked for me...aww!! Keeps buying me chocolate too, really shouldn't have mentioned how much I like chocolate. So far I haven't bought him any presents at all coz I can't think what to get, but he is planning on travelling to Europe and the UK in 2005 so I'm thinking a Rough Guide or Lonely Planet or something like that....
He dropped me off back at mine about 10pm coz I had to be up at stupid o'clock the next morning coz I'm starting work at 7.15!!!
Wednesday:
Alarm went off at 6.15 - that's AM!! Ridiculous, nice thing about being here is that the morning's are light at that time so it's not too difficult to get up, haven't gotten up when it's dark since South Africa. Got to work on time and the place was dead as to be expected, most people have taken the 3 days between xmas and new year off but as I only get paid for what I work I'm gonna battle my way to work each day. It was a pretty dead day as far as the phones go coz half the workforce isn't in, meant I could do stuff like updating this anyway! The other nice thing about the early start is that I finish at 3.45pm.
Walked home as it wasn't too hot, quite breezy actually, been a lot of wind lately. Killed some time at home for half hour and Niki came home, earlier than I thought, hoped she wouldn't be back until New Year's Eve but she said she came home early coz the weather wasn't very good where she was so wasn't worth hanging around there. I jogged to the gym and done combat then jogged back...all the way this time which makes a change coz usually I can't be arsed.
Was about 7 by the time I got home, did think of going out and doing a night shoot of the xmas decorations in town before they rip them down but it was too windy this evening, would have shook the camera too much so just cooked dinner and stayed in for the evening, think it's the first full evening in since before xmas so haven't done too bad...and finished of the xmas pud...mmmmmmm :O)
Thursday:
Skipped lunch so finished work at 3.15 and went to Gowings Barber's in the city to get my hair cut so I look all smart and sexy for new year. Done a bit of shopping after too...got some little bits and pieces for Alain. The city was really busy, probably because it's school hols and loads of people have got the time off between xmas and new year - plus people are converging on the city ready for NYE.
Wandered down to the China Town end of George St coz I'd heard there were some secondhand stores and hoped I may find myself a shiny new phone there. Been researching for a couple of weeks on the net and looking at stuff on eBay - in the end decided I wanted a Sharp GX15. So checked out a couple of shops and they didn't have anything, hit gold in the third shop, they had 2 GX15s both boxed, one new, one secondhand. The secondhand one was a bit scuffed up so decided to go for the new one which was only $245 after they took a bit off.....so was very very pleased that I'd bought my new shiny thing for xmas!! :O)
On the way home I stopped off at the Lion King box office and booked up a couple of tickets. Always said that I would go see it once I got a job and got paid. Had to book it for Feb tho to get decent seats as there were only crap seats left for Jan, but not in a hurry as I'll still be around to see it then.
Got a call from Alain when I got home, he was driving around bored so wanted to know if I was around to pop over, told him that I was planning to go out and take some pics in the evening and he was happy to come along for the ride. Gave him his little gifts which he liked, just some toiletries....got the camera gear together and wandered out. Went and had sushi at the Sushi Train on Oxford St, then got to dusk at Hyde Park. Basically played around taking pics for a couple of hours, in Hyde Park and Martin Place, Alain didn't get bored, says he loves wandering around the city and doesn't get to do it much coz he lives in the suburbs. Pics look pretty good on the camera but we'll see how they come out on the screen, I'm sure they'll make it to the web soon.
Friday - New Year's Eve:
Firstly if you want to know more about Sydney's New Year's Eve celebrations then check the NYE site. It was dead at work as was to be expected, no managers after lunch either so most of the afternoon was spent chatting. Something I've noticed about this place is that no one seems to be bothered about time-keeping. I've been on earlies all week and someone else was supposed to start at the same time as me - 7.15am - but that guy didn't turn up until at least after 8 every day, and other people are 15-30 mins late, I know it's none of my business but it does mildly irritate when I'm always on time and make sure I don't go over time for lunch, yet hardly anyone else bothers.
Anyway, as everyone else seems to take the piss I left half hour early in the afternoon. Nipped to the bookstore on the way home to get Alain the Rough Guide to Britain as a belated xmas/birthday/new year present as he's thinking about travelling to Europe later in 2005. During the day Carlos had got in touch to invite me to a BBQ of a friend in the evening, it was only after a couple of hours that he also revealed that it would cost $15....someone charging to get into a BBQ at their house!! Ah well, not like I've got loads of other invites flooding in. Apparently they live at the Rocks which is the area close to the bridge so they have a good view of the fireworks. The plan was to go to the BBQ to see the 9pm fireworks, then leave and Carlos wanted to head back to Oxford St before going to another party to watch the midnight fireworks. Had a nap when I got home as it could well be a late one. Carlos was due to meet me at mine at about 6.30 but as usual plans changed and it ended up being 7 in the city at Wynyard Station. Most of the streets in the city were closed off from 6pm so the buses couldn't get all the way in so ended up being dumped off near Hyde Park so had a little walk and ended up being late, not the end of the world as Carlos rarely keeps to time anyway! When I arrived he was waiting with a friend, his name was Phillipe and he's from Brazil....very good looking too, nice tan.
So from Wynyard we walked to The Rocks, the city was filling up with people and the atmosphere was good, especially with the streets being free from traffic for a change, made the whole place feel less hectic. As expected the bars around the Rocks were pretty busy already and people and music were spilling onto the streets. Whilst walking to The Rocks Carlos revealed that he'd only just met the guy who was holding the BBQ at the gym a few days before so only knew him and none of his other friends. We arrived and there was only about 7 people out in the back garden where the BBQ was happening, it was all a bit awkward at first but a few people introduced themselves and we got chatting. There were lots of Germans as the host was German, but I got chatting to a Canadian girl who was in Oz studying as a Lighting Technician at NIDA - National Institute of Dramatic Art. Some of the other guys were friendly but there were a couple of others that didn't make any effort.
There was a small table with some salad, pasta and veggies available when we arrived, and the alcohol pretty much consisted of beers - eurgh! - tho Carlos had brought a bottle of wine so we had that. The meat cooking started not long after we arrived, in the corner of the garden we could see the BBQ, a big brick thing, but when you got closer they were actually trying to cook everything on a couple of disposable BBQs! lol....anyway, 9pm rapidly approached. The garden actually looked at the back of the bridge over toward Luna Park, one of the fireworks barges is located just to the west of the bridge so this was the one we'd be able to see. As 9pm approached the water started filling with boats which had all sorts of christmas lights all over them, all looked very pretty. Then it was fireworks time, the 9pm display is supposedly the 'family' display and lasts 8 minutes and it was pretty good, some huge huge fireworks, all very very pretty, lots of ooos and aaaahhhs. One of the most amazing things was the cheers that you could hear from the hundreds of thousands of people all around the harbour, many of the a good mile or two away but altogether it was such a huge noise.
Not long after the fireworks we made our excuses and left making our way back through The Rocks which was rammed with people, most of them completely pissed. So many police around too which was kind of a good thing as you got the impression with so many drunks around that it could go off at any time. Also wandered around Circular Quay which was just as busy, the view of the fireworks from there and from the main area of The Rocks must have been fantastic as it's all so close to the bridge, did think about going back there for the midnight fireworks. Slowly started walking back toward Oxford St, Phillipe left us and made his back home to Pyrmont where there was a party already happening. Carlos and I started walking to Hyde Park but by the time I got there I couldn't be arsed to walk anymore so insisted we get the bus. Turns out Carlos was going to meet a guy he's been dating who lives on the same road as me, decided I wouldn't join him to go to the other party coz a) I didn't know if I was invited and b) I didn't want to play gooseberry. So I said bye to Carlos about 10 at mine and I went in to have a little rest before heading back out.
Couldn't decide where was the best place to go watch the midnight show, would have liked to have gone to the Rocks coz it's got the best position, but couldn't be bothered to walk back into the city plus it would have been absolutely rammed. So in the end wandered to Embarkation Park in Wollomolloo which is about a 20 minute walk directly north toward the harbour from me, passing through Kings Cross. The park is actually on top of a car park and it's on a hill so it overlooks the harbour next to a naval shipyard. I'd read that it has really good views of the fireworks and as it wasn't too far away it seemed the best bet. The park was pretty busy when I arrived about 11.20, many people looked liked they'd been camping out most of the day to get the best spots. The view was pretty good but in some places it was difficult to see the bridge as it was obscured by trees, plus the masts of some of the ships obscured some things. I squeezed my way through to a pretty good vantage point where I could see the bridge, probably pissing a few people off who'd camped all day...ooops!
And then it was midnight and off they went, could see the fireworks from all 3 barges across the harbour tho the ones nearest me were obscured slightly by a tree...sods law! Could see the bridge clearly tho....the fireworks started on the bridge and then moved to the barges, some pretty spectacular ones too, then they went off from the bridge again and that was it. The ending wasn't as good as I'd hoped, you kinda want the whole sky to be full for a finale but they finished on the bridge which wasn't as spectacular. Also, because there wasn't much of breeze the smoke was hanging around the bridge making it difficult to see the light display from so far away. I guess a bit of me was wishing I'd have been closer to the action, but it was pretty amazing in the end and at least I can say I've been in Sydney for NYE.
Pretty much left the park straight away and made my way back to Oxford St to meet up with Carlos again for a final few drinks on Oxford. Got home about 3am so didn't have a very late one in the end which was kinda good coz I was flaggin after all the walking of the evening.
Saturday - New Years Day:
Woke up on and off during the night so it was a bit restless, slept in some of the morning but was up by about 11. Was possibly going to be meeting Alain today but he went to a dance party in the middle of nowhere last night so no idea what time he'd be rolling in.....he called just after midday, turns out he'd only just got home so had a long long night, plus he was designated driver, poor bugger! Turns out it was an hour and a half drive south of Sydney so no surprise he was knackered, said he was going to bed and would give me a call when he got up - which I didn't expect to be anytime soon!
Dragged myself up and after breakfast and shower went out to Starbucks for a cup of tea and a read of the paper. Quite amusing walking down Oxford as people were staggering around, some making their way home, others just moving on to the next bar. Columbian was really busy when I went past. Was very relaxing just reading the paper, read quite a lot about the whole Tsunami thing, the Sydney Morning Herald had some pictures that I hadn't seen before, just amazing pics and some not very pretty either. Spent a good couple of hours in there and only bought one drink....cheap bugger! lol Took a stroll down to Chinatown and Paddy's Markets in the afternoon, stocked up on a little veg and stuff as Paddy's is a good place to find fresh fruit and veg, not that I eat much of that.....and I think I should be after xmas and new year, going out with Alain so much hasn't helped as the little bugger keeps trying to get me to eat and buying chocolates, have told him not to but I think he likes getting me stuff and cooking too so I can't really complain.
By the time I got home late afternoon the lack of decent sleep had caught up with me so I went back to bed for a couple of hours. Not long after I woke up I heard from Carlos again....he's been in touch quite a lot since I had the chat with him about me being a backup friend, so maybe it worked. Asked me if I wanted to catch up for a coffee in the evening so arranged to meet about 9. Alain called at 8 to say he'd just woken up and was still shattered so was gonna have a quick bite to eat and go straight back to bed....which is fair enough, we arranged to do something tomorrow. Although it was a saturday night I simply couldn't be arsed to make an effort so just chucked some clothes on and went out to meet Carlos.
We went to Cafe Comity for a coffee, well I had a tea of course coz I'm trying to be good and not have hot chocolates! Now I don't know if I'm mis-reading signals but ever since I spoke to Carlos about the backup friend thing and told him that I'd met Alain he seems oddly attentive, he keeps saying things that make me wonder if he wants to be more than friends....not sure but things seem slightly different, maybe he's realised what he's missing!! lol....well I'm sure not, just my ego running away with me....
After coffee we just went to shift for a game of pool, by 11 I couldn't be bothered to stay out anymore and made my excuses and went home.
Sunday:
Didn't roll out of bed again until late morning, went for a wander down the Paddington end of Oxford St and stopped off for a tea and a read of the paper, done a bit of window licking as I was wandering around, looking for a pair of jeans but it would appear there are no short people in Australia coz it seems impossible to find anything shorter than 32" leg....gggrrrr! By the time I got back home it was about 1pm so wandered down to Central Station where Alain picked me up. I met his brother as he had just come back to Sydney after spending New Year in Byron Bay with some mates and he had a campervan which he needed to drop off so Alain followed him to give him a lift back to his place where his brother had left his car. They look very similar, but I guess that's not unusual as their brothers...duh!... Terry is the older one and is in the Aussie Air Force based in Canberra doing ceremonial stuff at the mo, he was just up this way for Christmas leave but has invited me down with Alain one weekend so that would be a cool way to visit Canberra.
After Terry went we drove to Mascot to the Manhattan ten pin bowling centre. Haven't been bowling for ages and it makes a change to do something different, plus Alain used to be part of a league when he was younger so he enjoys playing. We had 3 games, the first was a draw - how on earth do you draw a bowling game!! - and Alain won the other 2...boooo!! Had a game of pool and air hockey afterwards both of which I won just to even things up a bit. Nipped to the supermarche on the way home to get food for a roast dinner. Haven't had a roast for ages, bit of lemon and herb chicken, roast carrots, potatoes and pumpkins, and gravy...mmmm, very nice, and the best bit was I didn't have to do a thing, he wouldn't let me! I do however think he's trying to fatten me up like the Gluttony bloke in Se7en, the portions are rather large, couldn't eat it all. We just vegged on the sofa watching telly for the rest of the evening.
A cosy cuddly end to what's been a pretty good week.
So it's 2005 and I'm starting the year on the other side of the world, and it doesn't feel weird at all. I guess when I look back on what happened in 2004 it was a pretty major year as far as changes goes, having lived in the same city for 30 years it was a pretty scary thing to just bugger off on my own, leaving everything behind, leaving my lovely home in the hands of complete strangers!! The only wobbly moment was at Heathrow but since then I haven't really looked back. South Africa was fantastic, Perth was quiet but fun, and Sydney has been a whole mixture of emotions. It's been hard meeting new people and I think my expectations were too high about suddenly having a huge circle of friends in such a short period of time, but those that I have met are good people and hopefully more will come along in the next few months. It also looks like I may have met a really nice bloke too in Alain so 2005 has started off pretty well.
There's so much to do in this city and the next couple of months should be busy with the Sydney Festival through January and Mardi Gras throughout February. And then March arrives, the month that I'm thinking about heading off somewhere else in Oz, now the new year is here I've gotta start thinking about where I wanna go and how I'm gonna get there. On my list of places is Melbourne, East Coast, poss Adelaide, poss Uluru/Alice Springs. Not sure if I'm too bothered about going up north to Darwin, it's a bit too hot up there for me.
And who knows what the rest of the year will bring? The visa runs out in October which still seems so far away, where will I go after that? Will I have the money to go anywhere? Will I try and get a sponsored working visa? So many decisions and I still don't have a clue about most of it....the only thing I know is that I definately have no regrets about the changes I made in 2004......
