Day 176-182: Sydney (Week 21)
Trip Start
Sep 12, 2004
1
32
57
Trip End
Jan 05, 2006
Sydney,
Australia
Monday, March 14, 2005
Another lazy arse morning after having a late one last night. Got up about 11.30 coz I wanted to go to the gym today so decided to do the 12.30 combat class and then do my lower body weights workout. Had brekkie then jogged down to the gym, spent a couple of hours or so there getting home about 3. Chucked some washing in the machine and had some late lunch. Needed to get to the net cafe to finish and update the diary from last week, plus wanted to check out the parade pics and get some memory sticks burnt to CD. Wandered down about 4 and spent about 4 hours in the cafe faffing around with the diary and the pics. Was using the newer nicer net cafe but stupid machines wouldn't allow me to upload pics on webshots so had to move to the crappy old one down the road which meant even more time, ended up getting home about half ten and that was it, that was Monday...well at least it didn't take long to write that up!
I'd put my sheets in the was before I left in the morning and obviously I needed to dry them before I could go to bed. Stuck the dryer on at 11 and one sheets was still at little damp by midnight so kept it running for a little while, then Niki sticks her oar in saying that the dryer is a little loud to be on at that time of night and may wake up the neighbours, she even said "I wish you'd planned your day a little better"....fucking woman, she treats me like a child and so getting sick of her, thank god I've only got to put up with the bint for a week or so, I pity the poor bugger that's moving in, little does he know what he's letting himself in for.
Tuesday 08/03/05:
Lisa's birthday today so she wanted to visit the zoo - Taronga Zoo, it was on my list of things to do too so killed two birds with one stone. Met down at Circular Quay at 10 and got a Zoo travelpass which included return ferry, zoo entry and a trip on the cable car in the zoo. Bought Lisa a little birthday donut coz I forgot to get anything else...lol. It was a quick journey over the harbour, only 15 mins. When we arrived the cable cars weren't working so we had to get a bus to the top entrance, there's a top and bottom entrance for the zoo but because it's on a hill it's best to start at the top and work your way down. It's a huge place and we actually ended up spending about 6 hours there. There was lots of wandering around and there's loads of animals to see....kangaroos, wallabies, possums, koalas, emus, lions, tigers, leopards, giraffes, lizards, elephants....god, loads more probably.
We saw a seal show at 1pm...only lasted about 15 mins but it was quite clever with a seal doing various tricks, it was more an educational thing for kids rather than exploiting the seal but worth seeing. 3.30pm we saw the bird show which was very good, amazing how they manage to get the birds to do what they're supposed to do, and surprising they don't just bugger off and fly away. We had lunch at the zoo in between the shows...tried to find something healthy but it was mainly all fast food stuff, ended up with chicken wrap and chips - about as healthy as I could get. We ended up leaving around half four, catching the cable car from the top down to the bottom. Taronga Zoo has a fantastic view of Sydney coz it's on a hill overlooking the bay, managed to get some pretty piccies which will appear online eventually. Nice ferry trip back to the quay where we chilled out for a little while, Lisa having an ice-cream and I went to Starbucks for a crappafrappacinno, tho god knows what they done with it coz it was horrible and I had to chuck it :O(
Left Lisa about half 5, she decided to get the ferry home tonight as it was a gorgeous evening, just nice for cruising up the harbour and the river. I caught the bus home and had a quick shower ready to meet Scott for a coffee....he's the bloke I got chatting to on Sunday night at the Shift. We met in Taylor Sq and then just went to the coffee shop round the corner which I can never remember the name of. Ended up chatting away for a couple of hours, he's a Sales and Marketing Rep for Botox, he visits clinics advising them how to sell it, etc....and he's tried his own product too, he does look quite good for his age and after he told me that I kept looking at his forehead to see if it moved....it didn't! lol.... We chatted about shared interests, all sorts of stuff, tho the one subject we didn't discuss was his boyfriend, he was very quiet about that. He'd come straight from work so was still in the shirt and suit so by 8pm he decided to go home - after we parted he sent a text saying he'd really enjoyed the chat....aw, bless.
Once I was home I decided to stay in, it's the first night I've had in for days and days and luckily Nikibitch wasn't it tho she did roll in about 10pm, dropped a piece of post in my lap and went to her room without even a hello - charming! Luckily she stayed there and we didn't say anything for the rest of the evening, not that there's anything to say and whenever she does open her mouth it's to whinge or tell me how to do something her way. Went to bed about half 11 and that was it.
Wednesday 09/03/05:
So much noise this morning, heard a hoover going off at about 8am...sounded like the cleaners had arrived at a ridiculous time to clean the stairwell in the flat. Then at 8.30 I heard the stereo in the living room come on which is unusual coz Nikibitch doesn't usually do that when she knows I'm in bed....so I get up and ask her to turn it down...she says "Weren't you just hoovering in your room?" - I pointed out that it was the cleaners in the stairwell - so she apologised and turned it down, but basically she turned the stereo on in retaliation for what she thought was me hoovering in the morning...what's that all about??? See what I mean about the stupid bint! Anyway she fucked off about 9 and I went back to sleep, I had intended to get up about 9 and go to the gym but ended up going back to sleep for another couple of hours instead. When I got back Nikibitch was home but in her room so didn't have to talk to her again over breakfast.
Chucked my gym gear in the bag and wandered in to town, didn't want to get to the gym over lunch as it's too busy with office types desperately trying to workout in their lunch hour, so took a book back to the library and wandered around all the camping supply shops in that area - there are about 6 or 7 all along Kent St. I've been thinking about getting a slightly bigger backpack coz I've accumulated a few things that I want to take with me when I leave, such as beach towel, gym trainers, clothes....etc. I'm also gonna leave some stuff behind which I hardly use but just don't thing the backpack I've got at the mo is gonna be big enough. Found a really big one at Larry Adler and it's only $230 so may well get that, only thing is getting rid of the other backpack, don't really want to throw it away, it's worth a good $100 so will have to try and sell it somehow. After wandering around those shops went to Bond St gym and did the usual, 15 min run, 20 min cycle, 15 min step, then upper body weights. Left there about 4 going to the Pitt St gym on the way back to cancel my membership as I won't be needing it when I leave Sydney, they tried to get me to pay a $10 a month holding fee but bugger that - it's not a lot but I don't even know if I'll be back long enough to re-instate the membership anyway.
Nipped in the net cafe on the way home to check emails and messages, update the diary and check the ebay auction. There's only one bid and that's for the minimum $150, if that's all it goes for I might not sell and try and sell it through the freeads type paper Trading Post. Wandered home and remembered that Niki was having friends over for dinner tonight and had asked if I could make plans, was going to go to the pub quiz with Chris, Nick and Leon anyway luckily. So had a quick shower and wandered down to Sushi Train before going to the Lord Roberts for the quiz at 7.30. Think we ended up coming second from last but we did manage to win four 4 packs of Malibu Chill - bleurgh!!! - during the bonus rounds so the free alcohol was good. We all wandered up to Stonewall for Malebox afterwards but it was all a bit quiet and nowt exciting going on so slowly disapated, was prob in bed by 1.
Thursday 10/03/05:
Up about 10ish, brekkie, shower then wandered down to the net cafe to get the Mardi Gras pics up loaded and take a look at the zoo pics from Tuesday, they came out real well but had too many pics of some animals, I mean once you've seen one koala.....after the cafe caught the bus to Bondi Junction to take a shirt back to Kmart - shirt from the SGLC concert actually, well you know $20 is a meal! - and to window lick at digital cameras. Yeah I know I've got 2 already but it's since Lisa's been here and I've seen her little camera that I realise how huge my Sony is, it's not really dinky enough to carry around in my pocket to parties and stuff and now I've kinda got it into my head to find something smaller. Needs to be a Sony really so I don't have to by all new memory cards....anyway, window licked a bit and what I'm looking at is about $600, not sure I can justify that really...however I do have an $800 bond coming back to me next week....hmmmm....
Had an appoinment at the SSHS at 4 so got back into the city for then. Just wandered home after that for a nap before getting ready to meet Lisa down at Museum Station. Nikibitch was around, she mentioned that the rent for next week was due tomorrow, then we had a 'discussion' about the moving out day. Now she tells me that the new guy is moving in the day I leave, and that I need to be out by lunch time...it was more the way she said it too - say that it's not her problem how I get out by that time, that I shouldn't be inconveniencing her and Adrian, etc, etc...by the end of the conversation she had toned down a bit and even apologised for being really defensive, but even so that fucking woman is unbelievable...roll on next Sat!
Arranged with Aaron to go to the Dark Side for a meal tonight, thought it would be something different for Lisa and not something she could do in the UK. Got to the restaurant about 7.30, Aaron came to say hello. Also wanted us to do him a favour, he wanted to take pics of us with his night vision camera to go into publicity material and brochures etc....didn't bother me and Lisa wasn't fussed either. Went upstairs to the light side to order, had Lamb and Lisa had beef, obviously I'd done it before so knew what to expect but Lisa didn't, freaked her out a bit for a while but she soon settled in, seemed to have a little difficult eating and insisted in trying to cut her meat up when it's so much easier to put the whole lot on your fork and just take bites. Aaron was taking pics whilst we were eating, getting us to pretend to try and feed each other, toast each other, etc....act like a couple actually...eurgh! lol.... I had some strawberry and chocolate thing for dessert and Lisa had chocolate and chilli brulee , had to steal her bowl from her a couple of times, of course she didn't realise for a minute or 2. Anyways, Aaron very kindly comped us the meal for letting him take pics and use them so the meal and wine didn't cost anything which was a bit of a bonus....bless him! He's also offered to store stuff for me whilst I go travelling and still might be able to help me out with a place to sleep when I leave the flat too.....so could all be good.
Caught the bus to Newtown to go to the Imperial and watch the shows. Forgot what street you have to walk down from Newtown to get there so we ended up getting a little lost...oops, caught a cab there instead. Arrived just in time to see the 11pm show - Gay Skool - which I've seen before but is still funny, then we watched the 12am and 1am shows - Wizard of Oz The Drag Show - which was really good, great costumes and well put together. Lisa seemed to enjoy so definately worth going out there, had to get a cab back into town, dropped Lisa off at Broadway to catch the nightbus back to Cheltenham, which luckily turned up within about 5 mins and I went home to bed.
Friday 11/03/05:
Went for a swim this morning, got there about 10am, was really hard work coz I'd missed a week last week, plus arms and chest were aching a bit from Wednesday's workout - but still managed to do 1700 metres in about 45 mins. Annoyingly the jacuzzi pool was being used by a 'Mums and Baby' class so couldn't go for a relaxing session in there afterwards. Then wandered to the net cafe to pay the last weeks rent to Nikibitches account, check out Greyhound travel passes for getting round Oz, messages, diary, etc. Went window licking for cameras in the afternoon, no realy bargains to be found, eBay was cheapest as you'd expect but not sure I wanna buy something off there if I'm gonna go travelling - and still not sure I can justify the money....probably end up keeping the old one. Did get myself a new backpack tho, a bigger one so I can get some more of the crap I've collected in it, essential stuff like a beach towel, trainers for running, etc, this one's a 90 litre compared to the 75 I've got at the mo so there 's a bit more flexibility....was only $206 which isn't too bad, now I gotta try and get rid of the old one somehow, will probably draw up some posters and stick them up around hostels.
Got home about 5 and got a text from Lisa to say that she'll meet me at the Newtown station at 6.30, she sent it from a payphone coz somehow she said her phone wasn't working. It's Bob Downe night tonight at the Enmore Theatre -I bought a couple of tickets ages ago and as it's Lisa's last night in Sydney thought it would be a good gig to go see. So got showered and caught the bus to Newtown getting there just before half 6. Lisa wasn't around so just sat at the station, her train turned up about 6.45...turns out she'd been trying to text me all day but kept getting 'Number not in use' so she thought I might have been mugged and had my phone nicked and had no idea whether I'd turn up tonight! Had got messages through from someone else during the day so doubt it's my number....anyway....wandered to the Enmore and had a drink before going in for the show.
Was an enjoyable couple of hours, Bob was funny as always, had some other woman with him playing different characters, not sure if that all worked but definately worth seeing, lasted a couple of hours with no interval. Went to Burgerlicious for some food after as there wasn't time to eat anything beforehand, very very good as usual and a complete bargain for what you get. Then we wandered down to a cafe near the station for a coffee before Lisa caught her train home, and we had a gorgeous slice of fat bitch chocolate cake as a last supper as I won't be seeing her tomorrow when she flies off. She got the train about half 11 and we said our goodbyes, she so doesn't wanna go home but then who would but she's done the year in Oz thing before so she's had her chance, was really good to see a familiar face and we had a good week together - of course she'll be reading this so I have to be suitable gushy, I'll put what I really think in my secret travel diary ;O)
After I left her at the station I wandered down to the Newtown for a drink before catching the bus back to the city around midnight. Dropped into the Shift on the way home where I bumped in San Francisco guy I'd been speaking to online who's here for Mardi Gras, we chatted for a bit but think he'd got a better offer from someone else so he buggered off with him....lol. Went home after and was in bed by 2.
Saturday 12/03/05 - 6 MONTH ANNIVERSARY!!!!:
Blimey - it's been 6 months since I left the UK on September 12th....certainly doesn't feel like it's been that long. Of course I'm not necessarily half way through the trip as the Oz visa runs until mid October....plus there's places to go on the way home - assuming I don't try and get a Business Sponsorship Visa over here....decisions, decisions...not that I have to make them right now anyway.
Got up about 11, gorgeous day today and supposed to stay that way, but needed to get to the net cafe to do a poster for the backpack I want to sell, thought I'd stick it up in some hostels in case someone wanted a new one. So went down there and spent and hour or so doing that and printing it up...then had a flash of inspiration, the street where I bought my new backpack has abuot 6 camping shops on it, so wandered down there and stuck the poster to a few lampposts in the area, in the hope that someone looking for a pack would see it and give me a call - sticking stuff to lampposts is pretty common here, seems the cheapest way to sell stuff. Also wandered to the Traveller's Contact Point in the city, then walked to the Cross and left a couple of posters in hostels there, got home abotu half 2.
Weather was so lovely decided to go to the beach, tho the bus to La Perouse takes about half an hour would still have a good couple of hours there. So got ready and jumped on the bus, arriving at about half 3. Quite busy as was to be expected, bumped into a guy who worked at the Attorney General's there too. Basically chilled on the beach and worked on the tan for a couple of hours getting the half 6 bus home. That was possibly the most painful busy journey ever, took about 50 minutes and for a large part of it we were joined by drunk teenagers on there way to a rugby game at Aussie Stadium - Rabbitohs v Roosters I think....so that was fun, dragged on coz the traffic was heavy round the stadium too. Finally got home about half 7.
Nipped out to the supermarket to get some stuff and then came home to cook dinner. Decided to have a Sat night in for a change as had no plans and would make the most of having the place to myself as Nikibitch always goes out on a Sat. Erin Brokovich was on the telly so watched that as I hadn't seen it before - getting through a bag of M&M Mixups (green bag with peanut, normal and crispy in it) in the process - tsk! In bed by half 11 but couldn't get to sleep, probably coz I'm having too many lye ins nowadays so not tired enough in the evening, will have to attempt to start getting up earlier during the week.
Sunday 13/03/05:
Another gorgeous day, blue sky, sunny and warm, tho not too hot and not humid which is always good. Woke up at 9 and thought I should really get up and do something, in the end of course fell asleep again and got up at 11. Banana for breakfast - healthy! - and wandered down to Starbucks to do the Sunday morning/afternoon paper thing. Stephen (pool party guy) called whilst I was there as he said he'd give me a call today to arrange to do something, turns out he's not feeling to good and said he'd call later in the afternoon to see how he feels and whether he wants to come out - don't you love waiting around for other people to decide what they're doing. He was all enthusiastic about meeting up a couple of weeks ago now it seems less so......or perhaps I should give him the benefit of the doubt and see what happens later....but i could probably put money on him saying he doesn't feel much better so will stay in.
Anyways, after papers wandered to the net cafe to update diary, etc. Wandered down to Paddy's Market after that to get some nuts and stuff, also had a wander around Market City to kill some time before going to the cinema. Can't remember if I mentioned but ages ago I found a couple of cinema gift vouchers for Hoyts lying on the floor in a shopping mall, so I've had them in the wallet for a little while and decided to go see a movie this afternoon - House of Flying Daggers - it's a kind of 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' type thing, chinese film with subtitles. Pretty good really, as usual the fight sequences were excellent and some of the cinematography was stunning, killed an afternooon anyway.
Got home about 7, decided to have a night out, maybe go to Arq as I haven't been there for ages. had something to eat and then ended up getting into a movie on SBS - Nine Queens - a Spanish language Argentinian film about a couple of swindlers trying to sell some fake stamps...well yeah it may not sound great but it was pretty good actually. Anyway, didn't finish till half 10 but went out anyway. Got changed and went to the Shift, was there for about 15 mins when I bumped into Leon, Chris and Nick so hung out with them for a little while. Come 1am I decided to move on and go for a wander but most of the other bars were really quiet - you could certainly tell the difference now all the Mardi Gras tourists have gone home. So wandered home and went to bed.
