Tag Archives: sydney

The latest from our traveller in the Antipodes

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Ok so its been 3 weeks without writing or blogging. I admit I’ve been lazy or maybe I’ve just been having too much fun. I should have made notes or written a little everyday as now I have to think back over the last 3 weeks and attempt to put all that’s happened into words. Here we go…

 

Sydney is probably my favourite city I’ve ever been to. While our accommodation in Surrey Hills was small and expensive, the hostel was very central and had free wifi. Christmas Eve and Day is pretty much a drunken haze. We went to Bondi Beach on the Eve for drinks then onto Kings Cross for a few more. On xmas day we went to marouba beach with an old friend of Tommys who now works in Sydney. A lot of drink! A lot of sun! A lot of bbq! It did surprise me though that the group we were with were all English and Scottish. It seems british abroad hang out with british. I met some Australians yesterday actually who said the same thing about travelling in England. The Australian’s hang out with Australian’s. By the end of my 10 days in Sydney I figured out why this was the case. There are no Australian’s in Sydney, it’s full of English, Irish and Scottish. Sit in any bar in Sydney and those are the accents you will hear. Sydney is full of British, London full of Australian’s. Go figure. The Ozzies we met yesterday couldn’t understand why we loved Sydney so much. I guess if you grow up there you don’t appreciate it as much. Sydney is big but not too big. You can walk around the whole city centre and its suburbs very easily. It is busy but never seems crowded (except for Bondi on New Year’s Day). You can get to most beaches within 30 mins. The harbour and surrounding area has an abundance of great bars, restaurants and nightlife. Football and cricket stadiums are all within walking distance of the city centre. There is plenty to see and do. From tourist attractions like the zoo, aquarium and such like to parks, swimming pools and gyms. Ferry’s travel frequently around the harbour and across to neighbouring Manly beach. The atmosphere is very relaxed and chilled out. Not once did I feel uncomfortable or troubled wondering the streets at night. Chinatown which borders Surrey Hills had fantastic cheap restaurants. Bondi was a beautiful beach though a little too busy over Xmas. Marouba was just as nice and much quieter. There are just so many things to do. Our best night out was probably on Oxford Street which until late on in the night we didn’t realise was the gay district. We wondered why there were so many men in tight vests. The Gypsy club had great music and cheap beer and I couldn’t believe after being on the dancefloor for over an hour nobody tried to chat me up. Maybe they don’t do fist pumping in Sydney either. New Years Eve we spent on Bondi Beach at an event called Shore Thing. A mini festival with Snoop Dogg, Calvin Harris and Pendulum. We got there around 10pm sober and discovered firstly that the drinks were ridiculously expensive, secondly they had next to no alcohol in them and thirdly you were not allowed to leave and come back. With queues around half hour long it dawned on us that we would be spending this New Year’s Eve depressingly sober. Now I don’t necessarily need alcohol to have a good time but its New Years Eve and we wanted a few drinks, to kick back and have a good time. This whole situation started to get me down. I was getting angry. I attempted to persuade people on the other side of the fence to buy us some alcohol but to no avail. I was getting desperate. After four 12 dollar vodka red bulls with half a shot of vodka and a whole can of red bull in each I sparked to life. I looked at the bar staff. I studied their form. I picked my target. The guy I had my eye on served the person next to me so I asked the girl who served me if she would put in more vodka for an extra 20 dollars. “Sorry sir we are not allowed to do that”. I let her serve someone else and waited for my target. Bouncing around, sweating, smiling, gurning. This was the man. Ill give you 20 dollars for a cup of vodka and a dash of red bull “no problem, just tell me when to stop”. Two drinks later and I’ve lost the hours between 12 and 3. Apparently we were right at the front of the stage during Pendulum and had a really good night. Although I can’t remember most of it, I think the lesson here is that they shouldn’t weaken their drinks at a New Year’s Eve party. If they served proper strength alcohol I would have got drunk slowly and steadily and would probably remember midnight. Although, the real lesson perhaps is that if you run a bar make sure you don’t hire someone who is chewing his face off. New Years Day we spent hungover on bondi beach which was far too crowded. Just check out the pictures. That evening we had a bbq with Tommy’s old babysitter who now lives in Sydney. Check out the other picture of me putting another shrimp on the barbie. Good times. The next day we were sad to leave Sydney but Byron beckoned and Byron was another wonderful place.

The latest from our traveller in the Antipodes

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Arrived into Hamilton Island on Monday 19th Dec where we took a $50 half hour ferry one way to Airlie Beach on the mainland. To travel to any other Whitsunday island costs half the price but to and from the only island with an airport they sting you for every penny. After hearing so much about the beauty of the Whitsundays it was a little disappointing that Airlie Beach reminded me of Faliraki. A typical holiday resort full of tourists drinking from 10 in the morning. Don’t get me wrong I love Faliraki, so much so that I worked four summers there in my early twenties. I love Ibiza too which I visited for the first time this summer only to go back 5 weeks later because I loved it so much. It’s not that I don’t like these places it’s just that I was expecting something else. I expected to be stunned by its beauty, by white sands and clear blue waters. Palm trees and an eternal sunset. Not a row of dilapidated bars and a swimming pool by the ocean because you can’t swim in the sea due to all the ‘stingers’, or jellyfish as we know them. They do leave bottles of vinegar for you on the shore of the beach though if you do decide to go for a swim and get stung… Or you can just rely on a drunk backpacker to stumble past and piss on you if needs be.

 

Anyway we stayed at Base hostel for one night. Rooms and facilities were nice enough and we were due to stay again on Friday but the staff were so unhelpful and unfriendly we cancelled the booking. It’s the first place I’ve been to in Australia where you feel like a burden to those that are serving you. Now it feels like England! We went out for a meal that night to a restaurant called Sorrento, overlooking the harbour. Tommy asked the waiter whether the prawns in the pasta came whole as he was considering ordering it. “I don’t know mate, they’re just f*****g prawns” The service in this town is outstanding. Backpackers serving backpackers. I want to leave. They are worse than students. All stoned with no common sense. The worst is the eternal backpacker who believes his way of life is far better than everyones elses and never wants ‘roots’. You can guarantee he will have a small chin beard, will be attempting to grow dreadlocks, have a white cotton long sleeve shirt undone to the chest and carry a guitar on which he will play Guns ‘n’ Roses Sweet Child Of Mine long into the night! Three things you can 100% guarantee you will see in any town abroad; an Irish bar, someone in a Celtic top and a w****r with a guitar.

 

Tuesday morning I woke to find Tommy had been up all night with food poisoning. Bloody prawns! After a trip to the pharmacy we headed back down to the harbour, gave a cursed look in the direction of Sorrento restaurant and waited to board our boat. We were joining the Emperors Wings sailing boat for a 3 day 3 night scuba diving trip around the Whitsunday islands and out to the outer barrier reef. Initially I was dubious. The twin room we had booked turned out to be a small double top bunk bed in a shared cabin with 3 ‘cheery’ swiss. Did I mind sharing a bed with a sweaty Scotsman with the runs? Well you don’t really have much choice. Then why ask the question?!

 

The trip was actually really great. On the way to the outer reef we did a small stop off at Whitehaven beach which is renowned as the most beautiful of all the 72 islands. It was very pretty but not amazing, nor the best beach I’ve ever been on. I think Ibiza has comparatively beautiful beaches and water. The way the beach curves out into the bay at low tide creating a shallow lagoon filled with baby sharks however was quite special. Over the 3 days Tommy and I did 8 dives each, just beginner dives but up to 12 metres in depth where we saw turtles, huge shoals of giant parrot fish (my highlight), nemo’s, cuttlefish and an array of other fish and coral and starfish and sea stuff. Swimming along the outer edges of the ‘stepping stones’ which lay on the very edge of the outer reef was spectacular. The strong currents swept you along the reef and the coral cliffs disappeared below you into the dark blue depths. The weather on the surface was incredibly choppy and unstable but the feeling of serenity and calm under the water was wonderful. I have always been afraid of staring into the depths of the ocean if I have ever been unable to see the bottom. Here I felt no fear. Steady breathing, a sense of calm. On the final dive of the second day as I stood on the back deck in my wetsuit, tanks strapped to my back, flippers and mask in hand about to board the small diving boat to carry us further into the reef our instructor asked “Is anyone afraid of sharks?” Any answer to this question was irrelevant at this stage but instead of fear I felt a nervous excitement. The small boat took us out to another part of the reef and we somersaulted back into the water. Quickly we deflated our jackets and descended to the ocean floor equalising every metre or so. We sat on the bottom, 12 metres down, instructed to stay as still as we could while our instructor tried to attract sharks by bashing a small inflated bag. Slow steady breathing. Boom boom boom. Don’t move. Boom boom boom. I could hear the jaws theme in my head. Boom boom boom. Quiet. Really was amazing seeing a white tip reef shark emerge from the darkness, investigate from a distance then swim back into the dark. Even more amazing how calm and natural it felt down there. Brilliant. I have decided that before I go home I will obtain my Padi diving qualification. Is something I could and will do a lot more of. The 3 hour journey back from the outer reef to the islands was probably the choppiest I’ve ever experienced on a boat. The captain loved it. The half a dozen people at the back being sick didn’t. You could sit on the front of the catamaran as we sailed rising and falling into the huge waves splashing over the boat. It was like an extreme rollercoater ride. Great fun for those with good sea legs. So overall it was a great trip, the food was good, accommodation tight but what can you expect on a boat. Perhaps it just shouldn’t be advertised as a twin room. The crew were helpful and enthusiastic. And it didn’t surprise me one bit when on the 2nd night one of the diving instructors pulled out a guitar! I was however surprised not to find an Irish bar embedded in the outer reef or a turtle in a Celtic top. A trip I can highly recommend if you ever visit this side of Australia. www.whitsundaydive.com.au

 

On Friday we returned to Airlie Beach where got a ferry to Long Island resort. The only island with a hostel on it. We stayed here for one night and was great value for the price. It is a resort right on the beach with relatively good facilities, a couple of pools, a spa, tennis courts, an awful gym. Why have a room full of broken machines and call it a gym? Stupid. It is a 3 star resort but could be much nicer with a little care and attention. Although for $76 you can’t really complain. And with wallabies freely roaming the island as you lay in a hammock overlooking the beach its quite a nice experience. In the morning after a good night’s sleep and a quick check of my fantasy football teams and Facebook, we boarded the ferry back to Hamilton Island airport, $60 this time bastards! Now I’m sitting on the flight to Sydney where I will spend 9 nights over Christmas and New Year. So tomorrow we will be enjoying a bbq on bondi beach. Life is tough… Big love

 

Our traveller in the Antipodes…

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Herrrroooooo!
Journey was not too bad. Got upgraded to premium economy for flight to sydney so had hot towels and metal cutlery. How the other half live. Bonza! No though I’m sitting in in Denny’s, Christchurch, having breakfast. Never has a picture on a menu looked so different to what you got on the plate. Eggs benedict. A third of the size, eggs hard boiled. I don’t recommend. Still, fills a hole. Doesn’t feel like I’m on the other side of the world though, feels like I’m in florida. Went off on a little wonder of Christchurch yesterday evening once I’d showered and put on some clean pants. Had a beer in every pub I passed. 5 hours walked, 6 beers drank! Earthquake demolished the city centre and with it the nightlife and bars. The liveliest place I saw was a private function in the United Croquet Club in the centre of Hagley Park. And despite my best efforts I wasn’t allowed into the kids party. Hagley park however is HUGE and beautiful, so nice walking in the sunshine with its lakes, river and botanical gardens. It even has a golf course, which I discovered when I nearly got knocked out by a golf ball! Anyway I finished the evening with 12 ‘mama dais’ dumplings in Westfield Shopping Mall and a bk whopper on the walk home… Then passed out around 10pm. Slept ok but woke up at 4am and couldn’t get back to sleep. Still seems incredibly bizarre that I’m 13 hours ahead. Weird! Going for a drive today to see what’s out there, maybe try and visit some wineries, see the coast. They drive on the left here and I’ve got an automatic so happy days. Hostel seems to be full of old hippy types that won’t share their milk. I did try to strike up a conversation but didn’t get much of a response. Just told me I have to buy my own coffee. Generally people seem to be pretty friendly and happy despite the lack of drinking establishments. I tried to talk to some kid on the pool table when I got in last night but the words that came out of my mouth were indecipherable (is that a word…? It is now) and he ran off pretty sharpish.

Laurie and a man in Christchurch

Laurie getting to know the locals!

Just waking up on Sunday morning now, it’s around 8.30am. I woke up at 6am unable to get back to sleep for some time but managed another hour I think. My head is pounding and I’m fairly well sunburnt! After Dennys yesterday I took a drive through Port Hills just south of the city then east along the coast. Summit Road is outstanding. It is closed someway along due to loose rocks from the Earthquake but the views are absolutely stunning. Surrounded by green hills and dense forests look North and you have the city of Christchurch with the backdrop in the distance of the mountains. To the East you have the coast. South you have the Lakes. When I get on a computer ill send pictures. It is breathtaking. The drive is a little hairy in places and at times I found myself unable to look at the sheer drop to my left. Once I had doubled back along Summit Road I drove South over Port Hills and down to the lakes. Passed through several glorious small fishing villages before the harbour town of Lytlleton where I saw the biggest cargo ship I think I’ve ever seen on its way to or from Panama. Onwards through the tunnel under Port Hills into Sumner beach. Again a lovely little place with a fantastic wide beach and free wifi! A lot of people swimming and surfing but it looked a little too cold for me. Continuing my drive I came to South Brighton beach, New Brighton beach and Waikiki beach. Walked along the pier, through a little market in New Brighton with buskers singing Oasis and Christmas songs. Seems very strange hearing Christmas music in the sunshine. As I was driving I heard on the radio about a Wine and Food festival in Hagley Park. Dropped the car off and walked over around 4pm. 28 dollars (£14) to get in and I got 5 free wine tastings plus a voucher to try a variety of gourmet foods and the correct wine along with them. There were 50+ wineries showcasing their talents and for an extra 2 dollars (£1) per half glass you could try them. By 5pm I was drunk. By 7pm I was on my way to a house party with my new best friends carrying a fantastic 2009 Sauvignon Blanc from Keitani vineyard or something. Ill have to look it up! Anyway the festival was fantastic, so many great wines from so many different vineyards. Pinot Gris, Reisling, Savis, Pinot Noir. Meats and cheeses. Music. Awesome atmosphere! I think with the damage in the city centre these gatherings are hugely important to the locals. This became even more apparent as we walked to the bus station through the city centre and saw the devastation up close. One woman was in tears telling me how she used to visit these places regularly and she seemed angry at herself when she could not remember what building should have been standing in the crater in front of us. It was humbling. The sense of shock creeping through the deathly silence as we stood in awe at the ferocity of mother nature. Lying in my bed now I am instead in awe at the friendliness and hospitality of the people I met last night. I was invited into their homes. I met their kids. I was offered a bed to sleep in. And once the wine got the better of me, around 10pm tsk tsk, and decided I should return to my hostel it was insisted upon that I have a lift home. Christchurch is a city that looks more at home in the states but surrounded by wonderful scenery. I can’t begin to imagine how it felt and still feels for everyone living in the city during and since the earthquake. It will take many many years they say before their city centre is restored. But the community spirit, the friendliness, the hospitality of the people still stands tall. Top place!