Work has been OK, just work really. It's a bit scary how easy it is to fall back in the whole 9-5
routine again after such a long time. I've sort of enjoyed using my brain again and I've missed my spreadsheets!, but 3 months was enough for me!! The day I left they did a little presentation for me and gave me an Aussie cricket shirt with Travelex on it (as they sponsor them, they didn't just randomly sew on a badge on a t-shirt!). I really wasn't expecting anything like that so was really embarrassed but it was a really lovely thing for them to do and greatly appreciated!!Sydney has been a great place to live as there always seems to be something going on. Sometimes you have to look for it (I seem to have become the social secretary as am always suggesting things for us to do!) but it's there! Activities so far have included...
Priscilla Queen of the Desert musical - excellent and very funny!
Snow Patrol concert - really good live band, would def recommend seeing them!!
the Cure concert - quite random as Ash had a spare ticket but was good fun!
Ryan Adams concert - live at The Enmore in Newtown. Not really heard much of his stuff before but really liked his music so was really good!
Watson's Bay and South Head - caught a bus over to Watson's Bay and walked all around the area and down by the beach to Rose Bay. Great views of the city but far enough away to be nice and peaceful!!
Manly Scenic walkway - a 10km ish walk from the Spit to Manly, mainly by the sea. Is a really lovely walk in the sun, not too taxing and Manly is a really lovely place. 
Blue Mountains - caught a bus to Katoomba and spent about 5 hours walking in the National Park there. Was stunning scenery and it was a nice day so really enjoyed walking around the park (once I found it as got a bit lost as I was wandering about!). It was really touristy when you got to the Three Sisters as that is the famous bit but the rest of it was quite quiet so was really nice!
Palm Beach - where they film Home & Away! Took a 2 hour bus
ride to get there and by this time it was overcast and really windy, so not really like H&A at all!!! But it was still quite a nice beach, but couldn't see any filming or anything!! On the way home there were power lines which had fallen in the road and so we had to wait for another bus and it took me nearly 4 hours to get home, which was nice...!!
Darling Harbour Latin American Fiesta - lots of Salsa and loads of different bands playing so was really cool - felt like I was back in Mexico for a while, made me realise that I miss S America and need to practice my Spanish so I don't forget it all this time!! 
Manly Jazz festival - excellent festival! There were 4 or 5 different stages with lots of different groups and bands playing, and all in different styles which was really interesting to listen to. In the evening Manly were playing a Melbourne team in the ARL final so we stayed to watch that in a pub which was a really good night, although Manly lost...
Hard-Fi concert- even though this band is from Staines I really love them so was really excited that they were coming to Sydney! Couldn't find anyone over here who had heard of them though, although there must've been some people as the concert was sold out!!! It was to promote their new album and it was a really good night! They played at The Metro which was a great venue too!
the Cat Empire concert - saw them on their last night and I think they had broken the record for most sold out gigs in a row, or something like that...! Their music is great, lots of different styles and the lead singer is gorgeous!! They played for hours and it was an excellent night!
Legs Eleven (concert in the Domain for Breast Cancer with Missy Higgins and The Waifs) - there were thunderstorms and a lot of rain the day before and on the day so was half expecting to have to stand there in the rain for a few hours at this, but fortunately it stopped raining and there was a beautiful full moon out. There were about half a dozen or so bands playing, some of which I'd heard of but didn't know their music, so was really good to listen to some new bands. Was a really good evening.
ARIA Awards (a bit like the MTV/Brit awards) - saw a bit of the red carpet action - just missed Nicole Kidman I think but saw Natalie Bassingthwaighte (used to be Izzy from Neighbours, now in Rogue Traders), Delta Goodrem, some Australian Idol people, and Hamish and Andy. I think
I had missed Rove which I was a bit gutted about but nevermind! Was a really good night - Silverchair won loads of awards and I really like their music! Was quite a bit of hanging around whilst they changed sets and stuff and even though it wasn't live we kept having to made loads of noise every time we came back from a 'break' which was interesting!!! Could see all the celebs eating at their tables in front of the stage whilst us plebs were up in the rafters!!! Was good fun though!!
Bit of a random selection there but there you go!
Canberra
I went to Canberra for a weekend with some friends. There was supposed to be 5 of us and as Mel has a car she was going to drive us! But she had been ill all week and decided on Fri not to come but she was going to give us her car anyway! So I ended up driving to Canberra and back! So we all met up after work and caught the train to Summer Hill where Mel lives. We packed up the car (her and Sarah donated some jackets for us as apparently it was a lot colder in Canberra than Sydney and we were all under prepared!!). Then off we set. Although there was a slight problem to start with as none of us had any idea of how to get out of Sydney!! But after asking at a garage we managed to find the way out! It was quite simple actually - we got on a long road, pretty much stayed on it and three hours later we were in Canberra!!!
We got to the hostel some time after 10pm and even though we were a bit knackered we thought we'd better see what Canberra has to offer us...! We'd heard lots of bad things about the place and loads of people had told us not to bother going but we figured it couldn't be that bad... However, after being out for a very short amount of time we thought perhaps they were right...
The atmosphere in the city was a bit weird - it was a Friday night and there was no buzz, it was all quite quiet, even though we were right in the centre (Edel kept asking people 'is this it?' just to make sure!!)! We went to a couple of bars (and even finding them was quite hard!) and there was a bit of a strange mix of people around and some very bizarre goings on!! Olivia and Edel weren't impressed but Ash and I had high hopes for the following day and was sure that Canberra would deliver...
So as usual I was up at 7am so left the others sleeping and went off to explore. I wandered around for a bit and walked down Anzac Parade which was quite impressive as there's the huge War Memorial at one end and the river and the Parliament House at the other. The road is made up of red stones and along the side was lots of memorials for various wars. I wanted to climb a little hill that was behind the memorial but couldn't find how to get to it so I gave up!
When the others got up we all went off in search of a cafe for breakfast - was really surprised to
find everyone was so friendly and chatty, it was really nice. After this we thought we'd check out Floriade - some big flower festival that is really famous (although I had never heard of it!). It was the last weekend so some of the flowers were starting to droop slightly but apart from that it was pretty incredible as there were thousands of flowers there!! It had an Aussie Myths and Legends theme so lots of different displays, including a gnome painting competition!!
Next stop was the New Parliament House (The old one was down the road, but this one has been used since 1988). We got on the wrong bus to get there though so the bus decided to stop in the middle of a main road and we had to jump off and walk down the road until we found the back of the place and then walked round to the front so we could get in! Phew! I found it a bit strange that we walked around the place and nobody took any notice of us and then were allowed inside and to have a tour around - you could go into the House of Representatives and the Sentate and all over the place. It was really interesting to be shown around and told all about the history of the city and the building. There is some similarities with the House of Commons which is probably not that surprising but I found it all quite interesting!
For the evening activities we decided to venture out of the town and over to Kingston which was supposed to be slightly more happening. So we jumped in a taxi and the guy dropped us off by a square which is where everything was apparently... Everything being 2 restaurants and a couple of pubs!! We ended up have dinner in one of the pubs at a table on the dance floor, and it wasn't the best! Olivia tried the Kangaroo but it wasn't very nice and smelt a bit funny! So after this we went to the local Irish bar as it seems that where ever you go the Irish bars are always packed... Except this place - due to the weather apparently according to the girl behind the bar!! Anyway, after a few drinks it somehow livened up and lots of people turned up so it did get pretty packed! Then we moved next door as there was a live band and people dancing etc - there were some girls out on a hen night and they told us to go there so we figured we might aswell check it out! And it was good fun! So it all turned out OK in the end!!
The next day we went to check out some more sights. We went to the Australia War Memorial
which was amazing. It was a huge building and we got a guided tour which again was really interesting. There was a wall of remembrance for both the First and Second World Wars which listed ever person that fought and died. There was also the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier which represented the tens of thousands of soldiers who were never identified. There was so much information there, it was all really interesting, even though we couldn't spend as much time as we wanted there.
Then we went onto the National Gallery which was pretty huge and had a massive variety of work in there so had a walk round there, and then after that Ash and I popped into the Old Parliament House. It was just about to shut so we couldn't get a tour but we went into the National Portrait Gallery to see the picture of Steve Irwin, and then had a look around the Parliament and the Prime Minister's office!
After this it was time for the long drive back to Sydney. At least this time most of the drive was done in the daylight so we got to see the scenery this time which was quite nice! I figured it was going to be as easy as going the other way but I was wrong and we got slightly lost!! So we ended up driving round the inner west suburbs of Sydney for a good half an hour until we finally found our way back to Summer Hill!! And then it was home to bed as I was exhausted!!! It was a great weekend though, am really glad I went there as it was nice to get out of Sydney and see somewhere else. It is an interesting place and there was lots more things to see and do that we didn't have time to, but it was just the evening entertainment that was lacking slightly. But then we still managed to have a good night out so I guess it's just what you make it!
I can't believe how quickly time has gone, but three months is up and I'm off on the road again! Packing up all my stuff has been slightly traumatic but at least I've been able to leave some stuff here with a mate so I don't have it carry it all...! So I left work, said goodbye too all my housemates and set off at 6am for a flight up to Byron Bay with Olivia for the start of my next adventures...!!
Manly Jazz festival - excellent festival! There were 4 or 5 different stages with lots of different groups and bands playing, and all in different styles which was really interesting to listen to. In the evening Manly were playing a Melbourne team in the ARL final so we stayed to watch that in a pub which was a really good night, although Manly lost...
Hard-Fi concert- even though this band is from Staines I really love them so was really excited that they were coming to Sydney! Couldn't find anyone over here who had heard of them though, although there must've been some people as the concert was sold out!!! It was to promote their new album and it was a really good night! They played at The Metro which was a great venue too!
the Cat Empire concert - saw them on their last night and I think they had broken the record for most sold out gigs in a row, or something like that...! Their music is great, lots of different styles and the lead singer is gorgeous!! They played for hours and it was an excellent night!
Legs Eleven (concert in the Domain for Breast Cancer with Missy Higgins and The Waifs) - there were thunderstorms and a lot of rain the day before and on the day so was half expecting to have to stand there in the rain for a few hours at this, but fortunately it stopped raining and there was a beautiful full moon out. There were about half a dozen or so bands playing, some of which I'd heard of but didn't know their music, so was really good to listen to some new bands. Was a really good evening.
ARIA Awards (a bit like the MTV/Brit awards) - saw a bit of the red carpet action - just missed Nicole Kidman I think but saw Natalie Bassingthwaighte (used to be Izzy from Neighbours, now in Rogue Traders), Delta Goodrem, some Australian Idol people, and Hamish and Andy. I think
I had missed Rove which I was a bit gutted about but nevermind! Was a really good night - Silverchair won loads of awards and I really like their music! Was quite a bit of hanging around whilst they changed sets and stuff and even though it wasn't live we kept having to made loads of noise every time we came back from a 'break' which was interesting!!! Could see all the celebs eating at their tables in front of the stage whilst us plebs were up in the rafters!!! Was good fun though!!Bit of a random selection there but there you go!
Canberra
I went to Canberra for a weekend with some friends. There was supposed to be 5 of us and as Mel has a car she was going to drive us! But she had been ill all week and decided on Fri not to come but she was going to give us her car anyway! So I ended up driving to Canberra and back! So we all met up after work and caught the train to Summer Hill where Mel lives. We packed up the car (her and Sarah donated some jackets for us as apparently it was a lot colder in Canberra than Sydney and we were all under prepared!!). Then off we set. Although there was a slight problem to start with as none of us had any idea of how to get out of Sydney!! But after asking at a garage we managed to find the way out! It was quite simple actually - we got on a long road, pretty much stayed on it and three hours later we were in Canberra!!!
We got to the hostel some time after 10pm and even though we were a bit knackered we thought we'd better see what Canberra has to offer us...! We'd heard lots of bad things about the place and loads of people had told us not to bother going but we figured it couldn't be that bad... However, after being out for a very short amount of time we thought perhaps they were right...
The atmosphere in the city was a bit weird - it was a Friday night and there was no buzz, it was all quite quiet, even though we were right in the centre (Edel kept asking people 'is this it?' just to make sure!!)! We went to a couple of bars (and even finding them was quite hard!) and there was a bit of a strange mix of people around and some very bizarre goings on!! Olivia and Edel weren't impressed but Ash and I had high hopes for the following day and was sure that Canberra would deliver...
So as usual I was up at 7am so left the others sleeping and went off to explore. I wandered around for a bit and walked down Anzac Parade which was quite impressive as there's the huge War Memorial at one end and the river and the Parliament House at the other. The road is made up of red stones and along the side was lots of memorials for various wars. I wanted to climb a little hill that was behind the memorial but couldn't find how to get to it so I gave up!
When the others got up we all went off in search of a cafe for breakfast - was really surprised to
find everyone was so friendly and chatty, it was really nice. After this we thought we'd check out Floriade - some big flower festival that is really famous (although I had never heard of it!). It was the last weekend so some of the flowers were starting to droop slightly but apart from that it was pretty incredible as there were thousands of flowers there!! It had an Aussie Myths and Legends theme so lots of different displays, including a gnome painting competition!!Next stop was the New Parliament House (The old one was down the road, but this one has been used since 1988). We got on the wrong bus to get there though so the bus decided to stop in the middle of a main road and we had to jump off and walk down the road until we found the back of the place and then walked round to the front so we could get in! Phew! I found it a bit strange that we walked around the place and nobody took any notice of us and then were allowed inside and to have a tour around - you could go into the House of Representatives and the Sentate and all over the place. It was really interesting to be shown around and told all about the history of the city and the building. There is some similarities with the House of Commons which is probably not that surprising but I found it all quite interesting!
For the evening activities we decided to venture out of the town and over to Kingston which was supposed to be slightly more happening. So we jumped in a taxi and the guy dropped us off by a square which is where everything was apparently... Everything being 2 restaurants and a couple of pubs!! We ended up have dinner in one of the pubs at a table on the dance floor, and it wasn't the best! Olivia tried the Kangaroo but it wasn't very nice and smelt a bit funny! So after this we went to the local Irish bar as it seems that where ever you go the Irish bars are always packed... Except this place - due to the weather apparently according to the girl behind the bar!! Anyway, after a few drinks it somehow livened up and lots of people turned up so it did get pretty packed! Then we moved next door as there was a live band and people dancing etc - there were some girls out on a hen night and they told us to go there so we figured we might aswell check it out! And it was good fun! So it all turned out OK in the end!!
The next day we went to check out some more sights. We went to the Australia War Memorial
which was amazing. It was a huge building and we got a guided tour which again was really interesting. There was a wall of remembrance for both the First and Second World Wars which listed ever person that fought and died. There was also the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier which represented the tens of thousands of soldiers who were never identified. There was so much information there, it was all really interesting, even though we couldn't spend as much time as we wanted there.Then we went onto the National Gallery which was pretty huge and had a massive variety of work in there so had a walk round there, and then after that Ash and I popped into the Old Parliament House. It was just about to shut so we couldn't get a tour but we went into the National Portrait Gallery to see the picture of Steve Irwin, and then had a look around the Parliament and the Prime Minister's office!
After this it was time for the long drive back to Sydney. At least this time most of the drive was done in the daylight so we got to see the scenery this time which was quite nice! I figured it was going to be as easy as going the other way but I was wrong and we got slightly lost!! So we ended up driving round the inner west suburbs of Sydney for a good half an hour until we finally found our way back to Summer Hill!! And then it was home to bed as I was exhausted!!! It was a great weekend though, am really glad I went there as it was nice to get out of Sydney and see somewhere else. It is an interesting place and there was lots more things to see and do that we didn't have time to, but it was just the evening entertainment that was lacking slightly. But then we still managed to have a good night out so I guess it's just what you make it!
I can't believe how quickly time has gone, but three months is up and I'm off on the road again! Packing up all my stuff has been slightly traumatic but at least I've been able to leave some stuff here with a mate so I don't have it carry it all...! So I left work, said goodbye too all my housemates and set off at 6am for a flight up to Byron Bay with Olivia for the start of my next adventures...!!
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