Sydney by a special guest writer!
Trip Start
Mar 15, 2006
1
34
42
Trip End
May 30, 2007
Sydney,
Australia
Thursday, December 14, 2006
So here it is... Sydney and the life Chris is now leading through my eye's. Enjoy!
I was looking forward to seeing who would be the most tired at the airport, myself, having just had a gruelling 24 hour journey or Chris, who had only one hours kip before coming to meet me. The funny thing about seeing someone you haven't seen in a while is will things still be the same?. The last time I had seen the bugger was back in March at a slightly emotional and tearful farewell. But then the funny thing is that it's always as if you've never been apart. It took no time to catch up with stories of what we had both been up to, and then it was like I was truely hanging out with my old pal again
Chris and Cindy
. The 2 weeks sadly rushed by so I will try and pick out the best and most interesting moments from the time that I had. Well let's start near the beginning I guess...
After the unneccsarily long shuttle bus to the hostel (this was Chris' fault!) that would be my home for the coming weeks, Chris was quick to get me accustomed to what is currently his home. The hostel, called 'The Wood Duck Inn', was similar to how I imagined, having seen both photos and videos from Chris. The one thing that you can't prepare yourself for though is the view. And what a view it is of the city from the roof top of the hostel. I could of spent every evening up there drinking and watching the bats fly over. Before I had a chance to even think about relaxing I was being introduced to various guests at the 'Wood Duck' and then being whisked off to see the city. First port of call was the most obvious and impressive of the Sydney spots. the Opera House. It doesn't matter how many times you see it on television nothing prepares you for how quite stunning a building it is, made even more impressive with the Harbour Bridge as a back drop.
The evening rolled on, as did my tiredness, and Chris was off to work
Come on England!
. Leaving me in the lurch on my first evening I was dragged out to the local pub by his 2 female roomates, Kate and Vivian. The local for them is actually directly beneath the hostel so it soon became apparent that The William (name of the pub) would become a handy little drinking establishment. My first night in Sydney ended up with a very pissed Timmy (thanks Kate) clambering into my bed, the top bunk. The next few days consisted of more sightseeing. Bondi Beach is not as impressive as it might seem, meeting Chris' girlfriend Cindy who is in fact the manager of The Wood Duck Inn, enjoying one of Timo's rooftop BBQ's and catching up with Chris' brother Jonathan and his girlfriend Jane to watch the Ashes cricket down in Coogee Beach. Before I realised it the first few days had flown by and it soon became clear that this would probably be the case for the rest of my holiday.
One of things I wanted to make sure I did before I left Australia was to do the climb up the Harbour Bridge. After getting Chris to agree that it's an expensive but once in a lifetime thing to do we booked ourselves in on the three and half hour climb on the Monday night. I'm not going to even attempt to put into words just how incredible an experience this was. The view from the top was just breathtaking and will certainly be one of the things I remember the most from my trip
Drinking in Darling Harbour
. For anyone considering doing it I can certainly recommend that a night climb will be by far the best way of enjoying the views. The following day was spent catching up with old Uni friend Laura and her sister in the city centre and spending the day sightseeing with them. The highlight of the day being the walk round the Botanical Gardens and seeing the hundreds of fruit bats. Mid-week was soon upon us and it was then we decided to hire a car and head out to the Blue Mountains with Jonathan and Jane. We had decided to spend 2 days 'road trip' style exploring the area with a brief stop off in the 2000 Olympic Village. Once we had arrived at our stop off point in the Blue Mountains 'Katoomba' we proceeded to endure a 1000 step staircase down the side of the mountain, followed by a 2km walk to our transport back up the mountain. This transport just so happens to be a train that runs vertically up and down the side of mountain. A slightly unnerving experience I have to say as you whizz up the mountain backwards! The day was completed with a few beers and pizza and then a good nights rest in the YHA, ready for us to recharge for the next day. And my god did we not realise how much excersise we would have the following day. We all met in the morning and headed to a little cafe for breakfast. It was here that we decided to hire bikes for half the day and check out the Blue Mountains on wheels instead of feet
Drinks in The Gaff!
. In retrospect, feet might have been the better option. The bike hire shop were kind enough to give us a bike trail to have a stab at. The trail however seemed to be more geared up to the professional mountain biker as we encountered rough and steep terrain. I soon discovered how unfit I am, and I can safely say I think Chris and Jonanthan thought they were in fact fitter then they were. Only Jane put us to shame by constantly finding energy from somewhere. Needless to say that after about 30km we were all knackered. With me and Chris back on driving duties the 2 kids could get a kip in the back of the car as we took a long scenic drive back into Sydney were Chris passed out quicker then you could say Blue Mountains! After all this excersise it was time for 2 nights of what us Brits do best. Going out and drinking. Chris was working again on the Friday night so after enjoying another of Timo's rooftop BBQ's I headed to club with a number of the other Hostel residents to see one of the members of Kosheen Dj'ing. I had a great night apart from the fact I completely buggered my ankle and ended up limping rather slowly at 3 in the morning back to the hostel on my own. Quite why I walked passed the waiting taxi's I don't know.
The following evening Chris had off so it was a Saturday night out with his brother in tow with the possibility of Jane joining us later on
Harbour Bridge Climb!
. Now what occured this evening is so brilliantly random that in order for you to discover what happened properly you will have to speak to either myself or Chris. A few words in a travel diary will not give a true perspective of an exceedingly random evening. Although I will include one photo from that night that might give an idea!The last few days of my time spent in OZ was mostly a relaxed affair. Having fitted in far more then I thought I would, it was actually nice to chill out and reflect on my short but fantastic holiday. I met some fantastic people, saw some brilliant places but most of all I got to see my friend again.
Chris will be back on writing duties in the not too distant future so if i've missed anything he'll fill you in I'm sure. I am very jealous of the life he is living currently but sadly some of us have jobs to go back to.
