It's Christmas eve and it's mine and Loz's 7 month travel-anniversary! I can't believe we've been away and out of England for 7 months, I also can't believe it's December 24th, it's still May isn't it? Doesn't time stop still when you go travelling??
A lot has happened in the last week, 2 have become 4 with Michelle (my mate from the uk) and Damien (Loz's mate from Paris) joining us in the Sydney flat and 4 will soon become 6 when Damo (Loz's brother) and his girlfriend Jess arrive on the 29th.
Something at the forefront of our minds has been preparing for Christmas in our own special way, we've been trying to work out what we want to eat, when we want to eat it and where all this eating will take place!
The original plan had always been to head down to Bondi Beach on Christmas Day and drink away with the other Brits sunning themselves on the sand until the weatherman put a stop to that and predicted glorious temperatures of 22 degrees and rain. RAIN!
For the relatively long 25 years that has made up my life there has not been one white Christmas and then the one bloody year I up and leave to travel a world renound hot country...it rains.
Anyway, life goes on and change forces adaptation so we've decided to do the Bondi thing today as it's hot and dry. Michelle, Loz, Damien and I have bought and prepared an extravagant picnic to lug down to the coast and delve into, and tonight, for the first and probably last time ever I am going out to the clubs on Christmas Eve. Normally I would be laying the presents under the tree in Brighton with Nicola, watching festive films round a real log fire and strolling up to midnight mass but tonight we're hitting the Sydney nightlife.
The past week we've been really busy exploring Sydney to the max and have walked some insane distances without quite meaning to. Last Tuesday Michelle arrived into Australia and it was my duty to head down to the airport at 6am and collect her. I was slightly unnerved by how quiet the families were in the arrivals area when greeting their loved ones, a gentle hug here, a tear of joy there...the tension in me mounting as flight BA15 emptied its passengers into the luggage lounge.
Finally I saw her walking towards me and let out an involuntarily high pitched half-scream in the word 'TINAAAAA!'.
After some coffees and a catch up at a little local place in Surry Hills we spent the day walking around the CBD and getting acquainted with the city in more detail, we actually ended walking 7 miles and needed a big cup of tea and multiple tim tams when we got back!
Tuesday we headed down to Coogee beach which looked very different in the summer sun, the last time I was there was in the Winter months when Loz and I first arrived into Sydney and although the skies were crisp and blue back then the beaches were empty of sun worshippers and only the brave adorned their wetsuits to catch a wave.
Tuesday however was very different, the sand looked like a multi-coloured patchwork quilt of bikinis and the sun's rays heated the sand up like hot coals.
Wednesday was another epic day of walking with the route beginning at the flat in Surry Hills, going down Oxford Street (a fashionable road lined with high end boutiques and vintage shops), moving through Kings Cross (backpacker and hostel central), around Wooloomooroo (the only suburb with 8 o's), round the Botanic Gardens, pass the Sydney Opera House and over the Harbour Bridge! This time our 8 mile walk landed us a little lost in a North Sydney suburb and we were forced to take the train back to our starting point.
On the Thursday the heavens opened and we had our first significant downpour since being here, it was a good thing really as there were a number of large scary bushfires raging in South Sydney and the fire fighters needed all the help they could get.
Tina (Michelle's nickname) and I utilised the grotty weather by going to Max Brenner for their INFAMOUS chocolate brownie with vanilla ice-cream and then walked up to King's Cross to buy some of the tours we'll be doing on this trip.
3 hours later...we walked out of 'Wicked Travel' having spent over $2,300 dollars on a number of very exciting and hopefully fun experiences! Some of the things we've booked onto include the Kiwi Experience tour bus for our time in New Zealand, a 3 day Melbourne to Adelaide coach trip along the Great Ocean Road, a 3 day/3 night camping trip in the middle of the desert to see sunrise and sunset at Aires Rock, 3 days hiring a 4x4 to drive around Fraser Island and 2 days/2 nights on a trimaran sailing boat cruising around the Whitsundays! We're also going to do a sky dive further up the coast but nothing's booked for that just yet :/!
I think we finished the day with some fajitas and a couple of beers, what could be better.
The weekend was fairly chilled with Saturday spent perusing around Paddington Market, a very artsy crafty type of place. I think I ate the best cupcake of my entire life on that day, it was banana, pecan and butter icing and was simply AMAZING. Infact, I would go back to that market just to find that stall and eat it all over again.
On Sunday I donned the old running trainers and attempted a little jog around a local park. However when I got there I realised that most of the park was sealed off by construction fencing for building work so I ended up running up and down the same path and then round and round in a circle 6 times.
I had aimed to do it 10 times and then jog home but a tramp appeared on his little bicycle and set up camp right by the path on lap 6 which really put me off and I headed back early.
I was also aware that the passing pedestrians had no idea I was running round and round in a circle as they were coming and going all the time but the tramp...well he would soon discover my little secret.
I also looked particularly orange compared to the other city dwellers that day...
That afternoon Tina and I hired the movie 'Into the Wild'. If you haven't seen it, see it. It's truly one of the best films
i've seen, defo in my top 3. You'll really appreciate it if you're either a deep thinker, like travelling, appreciate there's more to life than work, the concept of breaking free from society etc. etc.
So that brings me to Monday when Damien (who arrived on Sunday), Michelle, Loz and I trekked down to Bondi Beach for the day. Bondi is a nice beach, a crescent shape with houses built into the rocks around it and a line of shops backing onto the promenade. When the clouds started to move over in the afternoon we packed up and began the 5km walk from Bondi to Coogee over the cliff path which I would highly recommend. It was very scenic and reminded me of the drive up route 1 from LA to San Francisco.
We were knackered by the time we got back to the apartment but missioned it round the supermarket and bought all our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day food.
Tuesday was one of those unexpected lovely days, Mary (my relative in Sydney) drove into the city with her sons Hugo and James to meet the 4 of us for lunch. We ended up piling in the car and going over to Darling Harbour to a gorgeous restaurant called Yots where we sat round a large wooden bench type table with a Christmassy centrepiece and white floaty drapes to protecting us from the sun's heat. I sipped chilled white wine and ate a barramundi and mango salad while watching powerboats cruise past a replica of Captain Cooks Endeavour ship and was very, very happy.
After lunch we all played about in the water fountains, pretty much drying instantly afterwards, and then after Mary left began walking up to The Rocks by the Harbour Bridge to scope out the perfect viewing spot for NYE.
So that brings me up to date with yesterday! We ended up going down to Coogee again for some sun bathing, I got to meet Michelle's friend from the UK and some others girls and then in the afternoon we caught a bus up to the Botanic Gardens to try and get our faces on GMTV! They had asked Brits abroad to come down and send messages to their families etc and I had hoped to get on but there were too many people and in typical British fashion when the camera started rolling the crowds started heaving towards the lens crushing everyone.
I took to taking off my sequinned santa hat and swinging it manically above my head while yelling 'Brightonnnn' to get their attention!!!
Apparently you can see me very briefly, job done. :)
Right, so better go, we've got to put this picnic together...I can't believe it's Christmas Eve!
xxx
Wednesday, 23 December 2009
Sunday, 13 December 2009
Going...going...gone?
Well it's now Sunday December 13th, we've moved on from Surfers, tied up the loose ends, shifted routines and moved into the new once again. It's meant saying goodbye to friends, jobs, the Gold Coast and all familarity while embarking on a new adventure in a new city.
I really had that itchy feet feeling where there's a million things to think about but you're not sure what to sort out first,
I find it hard to believe that we'd been in Surfers Paradise the same amount of time as LA and Maui combined but it just goes to show that when you stay in one place and routines start forming, time speeds up.
What i'm noticing and really love about Australia is the constant joy people get from being out in their natural environment. They're so so lucky, the locals here have grown up with dramatic cliff drops at Mount Tambourine, forests in the Hinterland, Waterfalls at Springbrook, neverending waves up and down the coast and over 300 days of sun every single year.
Jealous? Me? YES. And that's just in a small area of Queensland.
For someone who thrives on exercise, nature, sports, sun and generally feeling happy and productive I'm very aware that England just can't compete with Australia, America or pretty much any country with a good climate and a passion for the outdoors, and it's bloody depressing. I'll tell you what's brought this on, I was watching an Aussie show called 'Getaway' in which a selection of presenters travel to different areas of Oz and review towns, campsites, things to do, hidden gems etc and it really is unfair. There are white sands, coral coves, red deserts, lush jungles and the Great Barrier Reef on the doorstep for gods sake!!! The attitude is different here, kayaking, climbing, skydiving, surfing and hiking the norm. I don't really know what i'm getting at, do I want to move countries, emigrate? Well yes, maybe I do. I've always felt instantly home in the heat and the positivity it brings to the population.
So a couple of weeks back Jules, Martin and I hired a car for the day and drove over to Nimbin, known only for one thing (it's green and you smoke it!) but still on all the sight-seeing tour circuits and an interesting place. It's pretty much just a high street with a few shops and cafes which can be 'seen and done' in 10 minutes but I guess the charm begins to flow when you allow yourself to sit in a cafe for a while and watch the 'unique' locals stumble by. So just to sum it up, Nimbin is a real time warp town with the majority of people in it being dreadlocked, long wavy haired, weed smoking, pipe puffing wrinky weirdos.
After some exploration inland we drove to the most Easterly point on the east coast and spent the late Afternoon sipping a strawberry ice-cream smoothie in the beautiful Byron Bay. We only had a couple of hours to soak it in before having to head back north to Surfers but I very quickly felt that if i'd discovered Byron before Surfers I would never have left it.
On one Sunday night Jules and I had another really nice chilled night at Swinging Safari, the random place I mentioned in the last post. We had some wine and listened to a Bob Marley tribute band play reggae while the crickets hissed and palms swayed in the warm breeze, it really took me back to my holidays in Antigua. It's a real shame we didn't get to hang out there more but i'm sure there will be plenty more little gems dotted around the coast to discover.
The following Monday Amanda, Loz and I went for trip number 4 to Max brenner which was to be my last up on the Gold Coast :(! I had the most incredible, obscenely amazing, indescribely delicious chocolate brownie though, the best i've EVER tasted and will be 100% going back for another in Sydney.
Unfortunately the last couple of weeks did not provide much in the way of work, the dreaded 'schoolies' kept away
tourists and the shifts at Bear were slashed. This meant our last couple of weeks wasn't as fruitful as hoped and
after leaving both Bear and the Club last weekend it's back to outgoings only, argh!
Something else Jules, Martin and I did to end things was visit Perle one last time...though to our shock horror the $6 tapas menu and $9 cocktail menu had been removed! Noooooooooooooooooooooooo. After much deliberation we decided to buy a drink there anyway and soak in the vibe, I asked for an Amaretto coffee (my usual treat) and the waitress came back with the most unusual version of one i've ever seen. Basically a shot of espresso, shot of Amaretto and brandy glass full of vanilla ice-cream. I guess it was more of a dessert than a drink but still pretty good.
Our last night out was in Broadbeach for the Bear Christmas work party and it was a great way to end our time on the Gold Coast. The crew decended upon Aztec's Mexican Restaurant like a pack of drunken Hyena's and didn't leave until we'd drunk the magarita reserves dry 3 hours later. The secret santa presents went down well and I didn't have to sit next to the douchbag of the group (we all know who that is!) so all in all a great night.
So eventually the day came to pick up our hire car and begin road trip 3, Surfers Paradise down to Sydney. At 8am sharp we walked over to Hertz and were presented with our little red Yaris beast, opened the map (thanks Amanda) and popped on our John Farhnam mix cd (thanks Zach). We knew it was gonna be a tight squeeze to do this trip in 2 days so set off towards the half way point in Port Macquarie straight away.
Our first stop was Byron Bay where I managed to blag the best bargain EVER! A perfect dress for NYE reduced from $170 to $34..amazinggggg! We walked around the town and ate some boiled eggs on the beach, as you do, before setting off again towards the tarmac.
A few hours later we passed through Coffs Harbour which to be honest we wern't all that impressed with, we didn't even see the big banana which I was looking out for. The weather had taken a turn for the worst, all grey and cloudy and the sea looked dark and a bit menacing, definetely not ideal for a swim. We drove to the jetty and stretched our legs before I took over the wheel to take us down to Port Macquarie.
As this point Loz fell asleep for over an hour and left me alone to sing my heart out to some Backstreet Boys and N' Sync until he convieniently woke up as we approached the stop over.
The tiredness must have been starting to kick in as we both used up 2 more of our 9 lives that night. I must have been so keen to get to the campsite that I unintentionally drove staright through a stop sign intersection and missed a full on collision by maybe 3 or 4 seconds. When I realised what had happened the shock sent me into a trance and I grabbed onto Loz's shoulder for a full 60 seconds before loosening the claw like grip and letting go. Later on that night it was Loz's turn to tempt fate as he started driving THE WRONG WAY down a dual carrageway towards an oncoming car. There was quite a bit of yelling and more gripping of body parts before we decided enough is enough, our brain's are fried and need to switch off!
Day 2 wasn't supposed to be as hardcore because we'd covered more than halfway on day 1 but we ended up taking some slow roads in the hope that they were more scenic..but they weren't. We kicked ourselves into gear with coffees and a cinnimon pastry and then hit the road again stopping off at a nice beach at Pacific Palms for a quick swim.
It was 7pm by the time we found ourselves driving over the Sydney Harbour Bridge and heading towards our new apartment in Surry Hills and when we stepped out of the car both felt the strangest sensation of being plonked in the middle of cosmopolitan city vibe without being ready for it. There we were in flip flops, swim wear and beachy caps while young professionals power walked past in their trendy suits staring in disbelief at the colour of my skin.
A few days has passed now and we've had the chance to adjust to the new climate and explore the area, and we LOVE it. Surry Hills really reminds me of Islington in London, endless boutique shops, quirky cafes and quaint restaurants. Everywhere you look there's a nook or cranny with some tiny secret thing hidden away for you to find and multi-coloured terraced houses brighten up what should be an average road. The city is so clean and fresh, new
modern architechture blends in with the older historical sights and the bright blue skies make everything look great. The other thing i've noticed is the amount of greenery around, every road, pavement, park and garden is bursting with vegetation and makes the city feel so summery and natural!
On Friday Loz and I took the bus down to Coogee Beach which was bursting with people, slightly worrying considering it was a week day. Apparently there's normally around 50,000 people down on Bondi on an average summer Saturday, god knows how many will be there for Christmas day! We're hoping it'll have the July 4th Independance Day vibe to it, not sure that day can be beaten though.
...and on Saturday morning we took the city rail train to Turramurra to visit my relatives the Dobree's! We stayed with them for our first week in Australia and it was so good to return to that family atmosphere and be welcomed into the fold like one of their own. Mary produces the most amazing meals and we've been treated to some of the best food i've had all year in the last two days. Fresh prawns, oysters, sundried tomato and cheese breads, amazing salads full of red and yellow peppers, avocado, celery, cucumber, carrots, rocket, onion and juicy tomatoes. Then there's the mangoes, cherries, apricots, peaches, feta and spinach dips, hommus and cous cous. We've even been treated to date scones with double cream and raspberry jam with cups of tea by the pool. YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.
We thought we'd only be here for a day but we've been asked to join the family to a Christmas carol concert and fireworks display tonight and can't wait, maybe it'll get those Christmas feelings flowing a bit more!
Tomorrow (being Monday) we're heading over to Bondi for the day, Loz is checking out a possible new apartment for once i've left Sydney and then it's more beach time for the two of us.
Bring. It. On.
I really had that itchy feet feeling where there's a million things to think about but you're not sure what to sort out first,
I find it hard to believe that we'd been in Surfers Paradise the same amount of time as LA and Maui combined but it just goes to show that when you stay in one place and routines start forming, time speeds up.
What i'm noticing and really love about Australia is the constant joy people get from being out in their natural environment. They're so so lucky, the locals here have grown up with dramatic cliff drops at Mount Tambourine, forests in the Hinterland, Waterfalls at Springbrook, neverending waves up and down the coast and over 300 days of sun every single year.
Jealous? Me? YES. And that's just in a small area of Queensland.
For someone who thrives on exercise, nature, sports, sun and generally feeling happy and productive I'm very aware that England just can't compete with Australia, America or pretty much any country with a good climate and a passion for the outdoors, and it's bloody depressing. I'll tell you what's brought this on, I was watching an Aussie show called 'Getaway' in which a selection of presenters travel to different areas of Oz and review towns, campsites, things to do, hidden gems etc and it really is unfair. There are white sands, coral coves, red deserts, lush jungles and the Great Barrier Reef on the doorstep for gods sake!!! The attitude is different here, kayaking, climbing, skydiving, surfing and hiking the norm. I don't really know what i'm getting at, do I want to move countries, emigrate? Well yes, maybe I do. I've always felt instantly home in the heat and the positivity it brings to the population.
So a couple of weeks back Jules, Martin and I hired a car for the day and drove over to Nimbin, known only for one thing (it's green and you smoke it!) but still on all the sight-seeing tour circuits and an interesting place. It's pretty much just a high street with a few shops and cafes which can be 'seen and done' in 10 minutes but I guess the charm begins to flow when you allow yourself to sit in a cafe for a while and watch the 'unique' locals stumble by. So just to sum it up, Nimbin is a real time warp town with the majority of people in it being dreadlocked, long wavy haired, weed smoking, pipe puffing wrinky weirdos.
After some exploration inland we drove to the most Easterly point on the east coast and spent the late Afternoon sipping a strawberry ice-cream smoothie in the beautiful Byron Bay. We only had a couple of hours to soak it in before having to head back north to Surfers but I very quickly felt that if i'd discovered Byron before Surfers I would never have left it.
On one Sunday night Jules and I had another really nice chilled night at Swinging Safari, the random place I mentioned in the last post. We had some wine and listened to a Bob Marley tribute band play reggae while the crickets hissed and palms swayed in the warm breeze, it really took me back to my holidays in Antigua. It's a real shame we didn't get to hang out there more but i'm sure there will be plenty more little gems dotted around the coast to discover.
The following Monday Amanda, Loz and I went for trip number 4 to Max brenner which was to be my last up on the Gold Coast :(! I had the most incredible, obscenely amazing, indescribely delicious chocolate brownie though, the best i've EVER tasted and will be 100% going back for another in Sydney.
Unfortunately the last couple of weeks did not provide much in the way of work, the dreaded 'schoolies' kept away
tourists and the shifts at Bear were slashed. This meant our last couple of weeks wasn't as fruitful as hoped and
after leaving both Bear and the Club last weekend it's back to outgoings only, argh!
Something else Jules, Martin and I did to end things was visit Perle one last time...though to our shock horror the $6 tapas menu and $9 cocktail menu had been removed! Noooooooooooooooooooooooo. After much deliberation we decided to buy a drink there anyway and soak in the vibe, I asked for an Amaretto coffee (my usual treat) and the waitress came back with the most unusual version of one i've ever seen. Basically a shot of espresso, shot of Amaretto and brandy glass full of vanilla ice-cream. I guess it was more of a dessert than a drink but still pretty good.
Our last night out was in Broadbeach for the Bear Christmas work party and it was a great way to end our time on the Gold Coast. The crew decended upon Aztec's Mexican Restaurant like a pack of drunken Hyena's and didn't leave until we'd drunk the magarita reserves dry 3 hours later. The secret santa presents went down well and I didn't have to sit next to the douchbag of the group (we all know who that is!) so all in all a great night.
So eventually the day came to pick up our hire car and begin road trip 3, Surfers Paradise down to Sydney. At 8am sharp we walked over to Hertz and were presented with our little red Yaris beast, opened the map (thanks Amanda) and popped on our John Farhnam mix cd (thanks Zach). We knew it was gonna be a tight squeeze to do this trip in 2 days so set off towards the half way point in Port Macquarie straight away.
Our first stop was Byron Bay where I managed to blag the best bargain EVER! A perfect dress for NYE reduced from $170 to $34..amazinggggg! We walked around the town and ate some boiled eggs on the beach, as you do, before setting off again towards the tarmac.
A few hours later we passed through Coffs Harbour which to be honest we wern't all that impressed with, we didn't even see the big banana which I was looking out for. The weather had taken a turn for the worst, all grey and cloudy and the sea looked dark and a bit menacing, definetely not ideal for a swim. We drove to the jetty and stretched our legs before I took over the wheel to take us down to Port Macquarie.
As this point Loz fell asleep for over an hour and left me alone to sing my heart out to some Backstreet Boys and N' Sync until he convieniently woke up as we approached the stop over.
The tiredness must have been starting to kick in as we both used up 2 more of our 9 lives that night. I must have been so keen to get to the campsite that I unintentionally drove staright through a stop sign intersection and missed a full on collision by maybe 3 or 4 seconds. When I realised what had happened the shock sent me into a trance and I grabbed onto Loz's shoulder for a full 60 seconds before loosening the claw like grip and letting go. Later on that night it was Loz's turn to tempt fate as he started driving THE WRONG WAY down a dual carrageway towards an oncoming car. There was quite a bit of yelling and more gripping of body parts before we decided enough is enough, our brain's are fried and need to switch off!
Day 2 wasn't supposed to be as hardcore because we'd covered more than halfway on day 1 but we ended up taking some slow roads in the hope that they were more scenic..but they weren't. We kicked ourselves into gear with coffees and a cinnimon pastry and then hit the road again stopping off at a nice beach at Pacific Palms for a quick swim.
It was 7pm by the time we found ourselves driving over the Sydney Harbour Bridge and heading towards our new apartment in Surry Hills and when we stepped out of the car both felt the strangest sensation of being plonked in the middle of cosmopolitan city vibe without being ready for it. There we were in flip flops, swim wear and beachy caps while young professionals power walked past in their trendy suits staring in disbelief at the colour of my skin.
A few days has passed now and we've had the chance to adjust to the new climate and explore the area, and we LOVE it. Surry Hills really reminds me of Islington in London, endless boutique shops, quirky cafes and quaint restaurants. Everywhere you look there's a nook or cranny with some tiny secret thing hidden away for you to find and multi-coloured terraced houses brighten up what should be an average road. The city is so clean and fresh, new
modern architechture blends in with the older historical sights and the bright blue skies make everything look great. The other thing i've noticed is the amount of greenery around, every road, pavement, park and garden is bursting with vegetation and makes the city feel so summery and natural!
On Friday Loz and I took the bus down to Coogee Beach which was bursting with people, slightly worrying considering it was a week day. Apparently there's normally around 50,000 people down on Bondi on an average summer Saturday, god knows how many will be there for Christmas day! We're hoping it'll have the July 4th Independance Day vibe to it, not sure that day can be beaten though.
...and on Saturday morning we took the city rail train to Turramurra to visit my relatives the Dobree's! We stayed with them for our first week in Australia and it was so good to return to that family atmosphere and be welcomed into the fold like one of their own. Mary produces the most amazing meals and we've been treated to some of the best food i've had all year in the last two days. Fresh prawns, oysters, sundried tomato and cheese breads, amazing salads full of red and yellow peppers, avocado, celery, cucumber, carrots, rocket, onion and juicy tomatoes. Then there's the mangoes, cherries, apricots, peaches, feta and spinach dips, hommus and cous cous. We've even been treated to date scones with double cream and raspberry jam with cups of tea by the pool. YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.
We thought we'd only be here for a day but we've been asked to join the family to a Christmas carol concert and fireworks display tonight and can't wait, maybe it'll get those Christmas feelings flowing a bit more!
Tomorrow (being Monday) we're heading over to Bondi for the day, Loz is checking out a possible new apartment for once i've left Sydney and then it's more beach time for the two of us.
Bring. It. On.
Thursday, 26 November 2009
Summer's Approaching
So wow it's been ages since I last posted, just when I think i'm on top of the blog I realise just how quickly the weeks are flying by and how much more i've done. Infact, im sure time is speeding up...it's definately faster than when I was at school, definately.
How can this be possible? The best solution I could come up with was that the earth, sun, moon, the whole solar system is moving perpetually faster and so we're not feeling it. If everything's speeding up at the same time then it'd be easy not to notice losing an hour here and there right??
Anyway, i'm rambling so what's been going on over here in Oz? Back at the end of October the amazing Amanda (who was gutted at not being given a blog entry sooner lol!) took Loz and I on a whirlwind drive down along the local coastline ending in a tasty finale watching the Michael Jackson cinema documentary 'This is it' and dipping marshmmallows, strawberries and banana bread into the most incredible chocolate fondue at Max Brenner. Max.B is an insanely gorgeous chocolate restaurant and since that day has become a delicious addition to the diary, you can't go wrong and i'm very pleased there are more branches in Sydney!
A couple of Tuesdays ago we were lounging in Perle with some Mojitos and randomly decided to go out to the classily named 'Sin City' nightclub. I still remember Loz and I walking down Orchid Avenue (The strip) on our first night in Surfers and seeing Sin City and its very dubious clientell waiting in line outside and from that moment it became a sort of joke that we had go in at least once.
The persuading factor was it being Ladies Night which meant free entry and free drinks all night so within half an hour we'd gone from the maturity of cocktail smoozing to plastic champagne flutes and lycra mini skirts. Highlight of the night was having photos with the two guys from 'Man Power', their rippling abs were a nice shade of mahogany.
I've managed to do some more kitesurfing which is cool, it's now obvious that when we arrived here it really was still
winter for Australia and with that, non-existent winter winds. But now it's a different story, as summer has subtley crept in the days have got gradually lighter for longer, the heat hangs about later and the sea breezes are getting stronger daily. It's a shame that once we get to Sydney i'll be putting the kiting to bed untill i'm back in the uk but i'm not really progressing up here anyway because of the waves so not tooooo much is lost. The problem is the man made sand bars that have been put in place to create artificial waves. It means the sea becomes a turbulent vast mass of scary dark water, riding and falling in huge chunky mountains and to be honest, makes me so uncomfortable i'm not able to try any tricks or jumps for fear of landing badly and being crushed by a wave! Oh well, hopefully i'll rip it up back in england (surfer talk for get better)...
What else...well, work at the club is going ok but i'll be more than glad to say my goodbyes! 6 weeks of night work and having to chat to wasted idiots is kinda doing my head in. There are a few regulars who come back week after week and obviously recognise me, even approcaching like olds friends but I just have no idea who they are! I just smile and use the old line 'Ah how you going? Back again eh?' while thinking...."Who the hell are you?". It's alright money though and tops up the funds for Sydney and NZ so can't complain.
On Monday the 9th of Nov Amanda and I took Jules to sample some more Max Brenner at Marina Mirage, home to the world's first and only fashion hotel by Versace (I also just found out this is the hotel they take the celebs too before and after the jungle on I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!) We also had a little browse around some stores including a trendy furniture shop and picked out what we would buy if we were rich. I chose a cow hide and chrome chair for $3,500, nice.
The next day Jules, Martin and I jumped on the bus down the coast to visit Sam at Nobby's Beach. Sam works next door to the bear shop and kindly sald we could borrow his surf boards for the day and teach us the basics. We started early and after a couple of hours had built up enough of an appetite to indulge in some local fish and chips, it's been ages since i'd had such a uk dish!
My fish burger was made with a type of fish called Dori which made me think I was eating Dori from Finding Nemo with every bite.
Between working and organising our trip I found myself down amongst the sand dunes one late afternoon. It was one of those days where you find yourself somewhere, not really sure how but are just glad you did. I spent a couple of hours watching the wind blow the sand into a constantly changing landscape of mini mountains and crevices while listening to the calming but contradictory tones of my Winter Chill album. I guess I just had one of those deep moments which I love to dwell in as the afternoon sun set behind the buildings and the shadows crept further and further up the beach.
Last Wednesday Jules, Martin and I spent the evening at an awesomeeeee little bar (actually a converted old house) called Swinging Safari. It was the kind of place i'd love to set up and own myself, nothing in there the same, everything random, a kind of delapidated Alice in Wonderland film set. We sipped our drinks while listening to the echoey tones of French music and a life drawing class drew burlesque dancers behind us.
Then it was time for the long awaited trip to Wet n' Wild and I wore my most robust bikini in preparation for any waterslide wedgies coming my way! Loz and I managed to get in for a discount by pretending to be Jules and Martin which was good but truth be told it was a bit overrated, smaller than we thought and quite kiddy. There was one very steep one which I overcame my fear of and managed to do but it just feels so wrong to launch yourself down a near vertical piece of plastic so many meters up. It definietely gave me a chance to stretch those vocal chords by screaming at all the drops.
That evening I caught up with Michelle on Skype as there's lots of planning to be done as December approaches, I can't believe i'll be meeting her at the airport in under 3 weeks, it's pretty exciting! It really feels like a transitional stage is about to begin and then the backpacking part of the trip begins in the new year.
That weekend I worked as usual but Loz and I found time to grab a drink at The Secret Garden. It's a tiny inconspicious alleyway that leads from the pavement into an overgrown jungle like garden patio which has been converted into a mini restaurant/cafe, such a cute idea! If it was in LA i'm sure all the celebs would go there to remain all hidden away...infact there probably are these types of places in LA. The couple that run it even have a big wild iguana living there called Dan who sat by our table and posed for a photo.
On the Sunday afternoon I went for a quick kitesurf to stretch the legs and watched the Australian Idol final...sorry this is getting really boring i'll move on!...
...So that brings us to Monday just gone where Amanda, Loz and I went to Max Brenner yet again(!) and to see the new Twilight movie at the cinema which was awesome...and then yesterday when Jules, Martin and I all hired a car for a little road trip to Nimbin and Byron Bay. Nimbin was home to the 1972 Aquarius Festival and not much has changed since, it's home to almost 100% long haired, wrinkly hippies smoking joints and seriously chilling out. The buildings are painted multi-coloured and emblazoned with murals of peace, love and harmony, defo an interesting place to visit!
As Nimbin only consists of one road we were ready to move on pretty quickly so we drove on to the beautiful Byron Bay for the late afternoon. It's a lovely little surfer town with a great vibe so i'll be very keen on staying in it longer when Michelle and I pass back through on the way up through Queensland next year.
So there's lots coming up...tomorrow i'm going to be filmed making a bear for a travel program! They're trying to show that the Gold Coast can be family friendly as well as a party town so that'll be fun. On Sunday i'm heading back to Swinging Safari with Jules and Martin for another abstract drink, next Tues we're doing our final tapas and cocktail evening, Saturday i've got the Build-a-Bear Christmas/leaving do party and next Sunday is the Stereosonic music festival in Brisbane ...so much to look forward to.
As my time in Surfers Paradise comes to an end it's easy to start planning the next sections of this adventure...Sydney for Christmas and New Year, camper vans around New Zealand in January, then March onwards...Adelaide, the Great Ocean Road, Melbourne, Byron Bay, Noosa, Fraser Island, The Whitsundays, Cairns, Cape Tribulation and maybe Perth..,
...wow, it's exhausting even thinking about it!
P&H (peace and hugs.....yes, we have a peace and hugs bear in the shop) xxx
How can this be possible? The best solution I could come up with was that the earth, sun, moon, the whole solar system is moving perpetually faster and so we're not feeling it. If everything's speeding up at the same time then it'd be easy not to notice losing an hour here and there right??
Anyway, i'm rambling so what's been going on over here in Oz? Back at the end of October the amazing Amanda (who was gutted at not being given a blog entry sooner lol!) took Loz and I on a whirlwind drive down along the local coastline ending in a tasty finale watching the Michael Jackson cinema documentary 'This is it' and dipping marshmmallows, strawberries and banana bread into the most incredible chocolate fondue at Max Brenner. Max.B is an insanely gorgeous chocolate restaurant and since that day has become a delicious addition to the diary, you can't go wrong and i'm very pleased there are more branches in Sydney!
A couple of Tuesdays ago we were lounging in Perle with some Mojitos and randomly decided to go out to the classily named 'Sin City' nightclub. I still remember Loz and I walking down Orchid Avenue (The strip) on our first night in Surfers and seeing Sin City and its very dubious clientell waiting in line outside and from that moment it became a sort of joke that we had go in at least once.
The persuading factor was it being Ladies Night which meant free entry and free drinks all night so within half an hour we'd gone from the maturity of cocktail smoozing to plastic champagne flutes and lycra mini skirts. Highlight of the night was having photos with the two guys from 'Man Power', their rippling abs were a nice shade of mahogany.
I've managed to do some more kitesurfing which is cool, it's now obvious that when we arrived here it really was still
winter for Australia and with that, non-existent winter winds. But now it's a different story, as summer has subtley crept in the days have got gradually lighter for longer, the heat hangs about later and the sea breezes are getting stronger daily. It's a shame that once we get to Sydney i'll be putting the kiting to bed untill i'm back in the uk but i'm not really progressing up here anyway because of the waves so not tooooo much is lost. The problem is the man made sand bars that have been put in place to create artificial waves. It means the sea becomes a turbulent vast mass of scary dark water, riding and falling in huge chunky mountains and to be honest, makes me so uncomfortable i'm not able to try any tricks or jumps for fear of landing badly and being crushed by a wave! Oh well, hopefully i'll rip it up back in england (surfer talk for get better)...
What else...well, work at the club is going ok but i'll be more than glad to say my goodbyes! 6 weeks of night work and having to chat to wasted idiots is kinda doing my head in. There are a few regulars who come back week after week and obviously recognise me, even approcaching like olds friends but I just have no idea who they are! I just smile and use the old line 'Ah how you going? Back again eh?' while thinking...."Who the hell are you?". It's alright money though and tops up the funds for Sydney and NZ so can't complain.
On Monday the 9th of Nov Amanda and I took Jules to sample some more Max Brenner at Marina Mirage, home to the world's first and only fashion hotel by Versace (I also just found out this is the hotel they take the celebs too before and after the jungle on I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!) We also had a little browse around some stores including a trendy furniture shop and picked out what we would buy if we were rich. I chose a cow hide and chrome chair for $3,500, nice.
The next day Jules, Martin and I jumped on the bus down the coast to visit Sam at Nobby's Beach. Sam works next door to the bear shop and kindly sald we could borrow his surf boards for the day and teach us the basics. We started early and after a couple of hours had built up enough of an appetite to indulge in some local fish and chips, it's been ages since i'd had such a uk dish!
My fish burger was made with a type of fish called Dori which made me think I was eating Dori from Finding Nemo with every bite.
Between working and organising our trip I found myself down amongst the sand dunes one late afternoon. It was one of those days where you find yourself somewhere, not really sure how but are just glad you did. I spent a couple of hours watching the wind blow the sand into a constantly changing landscape of mini mountains and crevices while listening to the calming but contradictory tones of my Winter Chill album. I guess I just had one of those deep moments which I love to dwell in as the afternoon sun set behind the buildings and the shadows crept further and further up the beach.
Last Wednesday Jules, Martin and I spent the evening at an awesomeeeee little bar (actually a converted old house) called Swinging Safari. It was the kind of place i'd love to set up and own myself, nothing in there the same, everything random, a kind of delapidated Alice in Wonderland film set. We sipped our drinks while listening to the echoey tones of French music and a life drawing class drew burlesque dancers behind us.
Then it was time for the long awaited trip to Wet n' Wild and I wore my most robust bikini in preparation for any waterslide wedgies coming my way! Loz and I managed to get in for a discount by pretending to be Jules and Martin which was good but truth be told it was a bit overrated, smaller than we thought and quite kiddy. There was one very steep one which I overcame my fear of and managed to do but it just feels so wrong to launch yourself down a near vertical piece of plastic so many meters up. It definietely gave me a chance to stretch those vocal chords by screaming at all the drops.
That evening I caught up with Michelle on Skype as there's lots of planning to be done as December approaches, I can't believe i'll be meeting her at the airport in under 3 weeks, it's pretty exciting! It really feels like a transitional stage is about to begin and then the backpacking part of the trip begins in the new year.
That weekend I worked as usual but Loz and I found time to grab a drink at The Secret Garden. It's a tiny inconspicious alleyway that leads from the pavement into an overgrown jungle like garden patio which has been converted into a mini restaurant/cafe, such a cute idea! If it was in LA i'm sure all the celebs would go there to remain all hidden away...infact there probably are these types of places in LA. The couple that run it even have a big wild iguana living there called Dan who sat by our table and posed for a photo.
On the Sunday afternoon I went for a quick kitesurf to stretch the legs and watched the Australian Idol final...sorry this is getting really boring i'll move on!...
...So that brings us to Monday just gone where Amanda, Loz and I went to Max Brenner yet again(!) and to see the new Twilight movie at the cinema which was awesome...and then yesterday when Jules, Martin and I all hired a car for a little road trip to Nimbin and Byron Bay. Nimbin was home to the 1972 Aquarius Festival and not much has changed since, it's home to almost 100% long haired, wrinkly hippies smoking joints and seriously chilling out. The buildings are painted multi-coloured and emblazoned with murals of peace, love and harmony, defo an interesting place to visit!
As Nimbin only consists of one road we were ready to move on pretty quickly so we drove on to the beautiful Byron Bay for the late afternoon. It's a lovely little surfer town with a great vibe so i'll be very keen on staying in it longer when Michelle and I pass back through on the way up through Queensland next year.
So there's lots coming up...tomorrow i'm going to be filmed making a bear for a travel program! They're trying to show that the Gold Coast can be family friendly as well as a party town so that'll be fun. On Sunday i'm heading back to Swinging Safari with Jules and Martin for another abstract drink, next Tues we're doing our final tapas and cocktail evening, Saturday i've got the Build-a-Bear Christmas/leaving do party and next Sunday is the Stereosonic music festival in Brisbane ...so much to look forward to.
As my time in Surfers Paradise comes to an end it's easy to start planning the next sections of this adventure...Sydney for Christmas and New Year, camper vans around New Zealand in January, then March onwards...Adelaide, the Great Ocean Road, Melbourne, Byron Bay, Noosa, Fraser Island, The Whitsundays, Cairns, Cape Tribulation and maybe Perth..,
...wow, it's exhausting even thinking about it!
P&H (peace and hugs.....yes, we have a peace and hugs bear in the shop) xxx
Wednesday, 28 October 2009
8 Weeks in on the Gold Coast
Hey, hey, hey...
Things are really on a roll now and the Surfers Paradise calendar is gradually filling up. This week has seen me check out a house music fashion show, Tapas Tuesday, lots of free drinks, losing spectacularly at bowls and enjoying the simple things in life like beers on the balcony with Jules in the afternoon sun.
The 2009 Gold Coast GP has got to be the biggest anti-climax of the moment with town feeling very empty during the day and bizarrely the night also. We'd been warned for weeks about how it was going to morph the area into a battle ground (which it normally is on a Saturday night anyway) but the only real change was an influx of promo girls in chequered hot pants and exposed bum cheeks.
A highlight of the last 7 days was discovering that the Aussies have Iced Magic, the hard topped chocolate sauce for ice cream. I've got an unhealthy but enjoyable routine going on of buying 4 litre vanilla ice cream tubs and devouring the lot with sugar strands and the special sauce within a worryingly short amount of time.
*Being on a budget i’ve had to downgrade to the supermarket's own brand ice cream and hard topped sauce but it's still great*
So last Sunday I managed to blag myself, Jules, Martin, Loz and a new guy called Richard who we nicknamed 'Tasmania' because that's where he was from into the trendy Elsewhere club for free, bonus! We wanted to check out a fashion show that was supposed to be happening so just chilled in a booth waiting for that to materialise (no pun intended).
After a couple of hours listening to some very enjoyable deep house, the fashion part of the night was still a mystery to us and it all turned into a bit of a joke as there were only another 20 people in the club including the bar staff and dj!
Finally at half midnight the show began...and oh my god, it was the worst thing i've ever seen, pretty much primary school standard clothing and models pulled in from the street. Still, it made us all laugh and Tasmania bought me some drinks which went down well.
On Tuesday evening Jules, Martin and I went to Pearl for Tapas night which is a real find here in Surfers. My $9 mojito wasn't made to perfection like last week (new bartender) but it was still tasty and the tapas were absolutely delicious, only $6 a plate too. I asked to doggy bag a lonely unfinished meatball but was met with a look of puzzlement and warned about possible food poisoning if left out of refrigeration...I guess i'm still used to the American way of dining out!?
Weds and Thurs were great as I had no work and managed to get some kite surfing in. The wind forecast is good this week and as long as the swell remains small I can keep kiting out on the sea. After some beach front lunch on Thursday J, M and I headed back to the Azzura to top up the tan by the pool. As the heat eased off, the sunbathing session quickly turned into a white wine and spritzer session and then into a cocktail and shots session. All this for free though as we've become friendly with the bar staff at the hotel and they seem to like treating us :).
At work on Friday I realised how all the kids coming into the bear shop were born in the 2000's and I got a strange feeling of age creeping through my bones, suddenly the 80's seems a very long time ago.
Also every week we have a competition where the person who puts the biggest sale through the till wins a bar of chocolate and now I try and guess who the rich are as they walk through the door. It's never who you think it's going to be though and it's beyond me how people can spend over $600 on bear clothing!
The period of time between 4pm and 7pm I call dead time as the sun has set and there's nothing to do but on Friday Mike, his mate James and I filled it by playing lawn bowls. To be honest I was concentrating more on the conversation than the game and that's my excuse for losing...the conversation and the beers.
Last night Jules and I went out to a great little club called Ruby Tramp, randomly I actually managed to come home with a job starting on the door there next weekend, how does this stuff happen??...probably because I hunted down the manager and asked him for a job so there we go. It'll be a couple of shifts a week which is cool as Loz is out working then anyway too.
We also had some unexpected guests join us out last night including the owner of one of the hotels here in Surfers and we were very spoilt the whole night. Anything to drink for free all night, doesn't get much better than that!
Today was supposed to be a relaxed affair but Jules and I were invited out with the same guys from last night who insisted on buying platters of seafood and antipasti for us so we weren’t complaining there either.
I think next week's going to be a busy one with 5 shifts at Build a Bear, new work at the club and our now infamous Sweet Chilli Blue Thursdays. Sweet Chilli Blue is the name given to a recipe Loz created in LA out of all the leftovers in Chris's fridge, and it's possibly the best dish i've ever had. J, M, L and I get together at the flat, cook it up and devour it fast.
...Reading back over this post for spelling errors is really surreal...is this life i'm writing about mine? It's so completely random and different from anything I was doing 5 months ago. I guess that's why people travel and what they hope to experience when away from the norm. I mentally pinch myself regularly as a reminder of where I am on the globe and how far from home I am and I never take the hot sun and clear blue skies for granted. I have to admit I miss home, family and friends more and more each day but it's likely i'll never get this much continual sun ever again so am trying to appreciate and take advantage of it!
xxx
Things are really on a roll now and the Surfers Paradise calendar is gradually filling up. This week has seen me check out a house music fashion show, Tapas Tuesday, lots of free drinks, losing spectacularly at bowls and enjoying the simple things in life like beers on the balcony with Jules in the afternoon sun.
The 2009 Gold Coast GP has got to be the biggest anti-climax of the moment with town feeling very empty during the day and bizarrely the night also. We'd been warned for weeks about how it was going to morph the area into a battle ground (which it normally is on a Saturday night anyway) but the only real change was an influx of promo girls in chequered hot pants and exposed bum cheeks.
A highlight of the last 7 days was discovering that the Aussies have Iced Magic, the hard topped chocolate sauce for ice cream. I've got an unhealthy but enjoyable routine going on of buying 4 litre vanilla ice cream tubs and devouring the lot with sugar strands and the special sauce within a worryingly short amount of time.
*Being on a budget i’ve had to downgrade to the supermarket's own brand ice cream and hard topped sauce but it's still great*
So last Sunday I managed to blag myself, Jules, Martin, Loz and a new guy called Richard who we nicknamed 'Tasmania' because that's where he was from into the trendy Elsewhere club for free, bonus! We wanted to check out a fashion show that was supposed to be happening so just chilled in a booth waiting for that to materialise (no pun intended).
After a couple of hours listening to some very enjoyable deep house, the fashion part of the night was still a mystery to us and it all turned into a bit of a joke as there were only another 20 people in the club including the bar staff and dj!
Finally at half midnight the show began...and oh my god, it was the worst thing i've ever seen, pretty much primary school standard clothing and models pulled in from the street. Still, it made us all laugh and Tasmania bought me some drinks which went down well.
On Tuesday evening Jules, Martin and I went to Pearl for Tapas night which is a real find here in Surfers. My $9 mojito wasn't made to perfection like last week (new bartender) but it was still tasty and the tapas were absolutely delicious, only $6 a plate too. I asked to doggy bag a lonely unfinished meatball but was met with a look of puzzlement and warned about possible food poisoning if left out of refrigeration...I guess i'm still used to the American way of dining out!?
Weds and Thurs were great as I had no work and managed to get some kite surfing in. The wind forecast is good this week and as long as the swell remains small I can keep kiting out on the sea. After some beach front lunch on Thursday J, M and I headed back to the Azzura to top up the tan by the pool. As the heat eased off, the sunbathing session quickly turned into a white wine and spritzer session and then into a cocktail and shots session. All this for free though as we've become friendly with the bar staff at the hotel and they seem to like treating us :).
At work on Friday I realised how all the kids coming into the bear shop were born in the 2000's and I got a strange feeling of age creeping through my bones, suddenly the 80's seems a very long time ago.
Also every week we have a competition where the person who puts the biggest sale through the till wins a bar of chocolate and now I try and guess who the rich are as they walk through the door. It's never who you think it's going to be though and it's beyond me how people can spend over $600 on bear clothing!
The period of time between 4pm and 7pm I call dead time as the sun has set and there's nothing to do but on Friday Mike, his mate James and I filled it by playing lawn bowls. To be honest I was concentrating more on the conversation than the game and that's my excuse for losing...the conversation and the beers.
Last night Jules and I went out to a great little club called Ruby Tramp, randomly I actually managed to come home with a job starting on the door there next weekend, how does this stuff happen??...probably because I hunted down the manager and asked him for a job so there we go. It'll be a couple of shifts a week which is cool as Loz is out working then anyway too.
We also had some unexpected guests join us out last night including the owner of one of the hotels here in Surfers and we were very spoilt the whole night. Anything to drink for free all night, doesn't get much better than that!
Today was supposed to be a relaxed affair but Jules and I were invited out with the same guys from last night who insisted on buying platters of seafood and antipasti for us so we weren’t complaining there either.
I think next week's going to be a busy one with 5 shifts at Build a Bear, new work at the club and our now infamous Sweet Chilli Blue Thursdays. Sweet Chilli Blue is the name given to a recipe Loz created in LA out of all the leftovers in Chris's fridge, and it's possibly the best dish i've ever had. J, M, L and I get together at the flat, cook it up and devour it fast.
...Reading back over this post for spelling errors is really surreal...is this life i'm writing about mine? It's so completely random and different from anything I was doing 5 months ago. I guess that's why people travel and what they hope to experience when away from the norm. I mentally pinch myself regularly as a reminder of where I am on the globe and how far from home I am and I never take the hot sun and clear blue skies for granted. I have to admit I miss home, family and friends more and more each day but it's likely i'll never get this much continual sun ever again so am trying to appreciate and take advantage of it!
xxx
Sunday, 18 October 2009
Back in the Loop
6 weeks on and finally some kind of routine has formed...granted it consists of bbq's, monday night tv sessions and work at the bear shop which is hardly crazzzzyyyy behaviour but it's nice to have some consistency for a few months before things get shaken up again in December.
We've come a fair way since that first week of work at the holiday company...actually it was only three days before we got as far away from that fraudulent group of people as possible. Only one good thing came of our brief stint there and that was meeting Jules and Martin, a cool couple from the Midlands who i've latched myself onto! We're totally on the same wavelength and have begun planning lots of exciting plans and things to look forward to so thats cool. They also have an awesome jacuzzi and grill area in their building which is great to chill in after a day stuffing bears.
At first I only had 3 shifts a week at Build-a-bear and it really wasn't enough but we've had some scandalous things going on recently and 2 people have just resigned so I was the first to stick my hand up for more work which is cool.
So what else has been going on here on the Gold Coast? Well Jules, Martin and I go out clubbing every couple of weeks just to mix it up, the majority of people and clubs here are 100% chav havens but i've done some digging and found a few hidden gold mines which are worth going to. I'm not sure how i do it but i've also managed to get friendly with the girls running the doors too and that means free entry for everyone which is always good :)
Last Tuesday Jules, Martin and I went to a classy establishment called Pearl for the cocktail deal they were doing and honestly, it was the best classic mojito I have EVER had. Really, really good. We're soooo going back next Tues to take full advantage of the tapas as well. I guess that's the good thing about earning some money while we're here, I don't feel too bad treating myself to a drink or ice-cream here or there....well, quite freqently actually lol.
The four of us have also taken to holding little dinner parties for each other... how middle aged of us haha! Loz and I have just got back from The Azzura (J+M's building) where they'd made homemade sangria and got some awesome dips on the go, they've really stepped up their game this week lol.
This Wednesday just gone J, M and I went whale watching which was an amazing experience, Martin works for the local tour company and managed to get a good discount for the three of us which was a benefit. We got to cruise round the canals looking at the Aussie homes of the rich and famous and then out into the open sea to look for the humpback whales making their migratory cruise south back to Antartica. We saw quite a few in the 2 hours we were out and one even jumped right out of the water which was a very 'Free Willy' moment.
My building is attatched to the local grass bowls club which is quite amusing and yesterday J, M and I had a quick game or two after work. It was funny to see Martin get so competitive over the sedate game but the true master won (me obviously) and now i'm really going to focus on that 'kneel and roll' technique, you never know when it'll come in use.
The other highlight of the week is our Monday tv night - 'Flash Forward' followed by 'The Apprentice' (Australian version) and then a pretty bad American reality tv show called 'Momma's Boys', all washed down with a bowl of ice-cream, chocolate sauce and sugar strands of course.
It's the Motor GP car racing event next week which completely takes over the Gold Coast and will no doubt bring in big crowds so we'll have to see how that goes. Other things in the pipeline are a trip to Wet n' Wild in November (a waterpark) which'll be so fun with Loz's underwater camera and the Stereosonic festival in Brisbane which i'm going to just before returning to Sydney.
The one thing that's really thrown me and I have to admit really don't like is how the sun is weak by 3pm and sets around 5pm....WAY too early! It makes the evenings feel so dark and long and the days too short...and after the 9pm sunsets of Maui it is not cool.
Aside from the above we're regulars in the jacuzzi, try to chill with beers on the beach and cook alot of meat on the bbq. I can't get enough of the avocado and helumi burgers we've been making, defo more of them to come. Delicious...xxx
We've come a fair way since that first week of work at the holiday company...actually it was only three days before we got as far away from that fraudulent group of people as possible. Only one good thing came of our brief stint there and that was meeting Jules and Martin, a cool couple from the Midlands who i've latched myself onto! We're totally on the same wavelength and have begun planning lots of exciting plans and things to look forward to so thats cool. They also have an awesome jacuzzi and grill area in their building which is great to chill in after a day stuffing bears.
At first I only had 3 shifts a week at Build-a-bear and it really wasn't enough but we've had some scandalous things going on recently and 2 people have just resigned so I was the first to stick my hand up for more work which is cool.
So what else has been going on here on the Gold Coast? Well Jules, Martin and I go out clubbing every couple of weeks just to mix it up, the majority of people and clubs here are 100% chav havens but i've done some digging and found a few hidden gold mines which are worth going to. I'm not sure how i do it but i've also managed to get friendly with the girls running the doors too and that means free entry for everyone which is always good :)
Last Tuesday Jules, Martin and I went to a classy establishment called Pearl for the cocktail deal they were doing and honestly, it was the best classic mojito I have EVER had. Really, really good. We're soooo going back next Tues to take full advantage of the tapas as well. I guess that's the good thing about earning some money while we're here, I don't feel too bad treating myself to a drink or ice-cream here or there....well, quite freqently actually lol.
The four of us have also taken to holding little dinner parties for each other... how middle aged of us haha! Loz and I have just got back from The Azzura (J+M's building) where they'd made homemade sangria and got some awesome dips on the go, they've really stepped up their game this week lol.
This Wednesday just gone J, M and I went whale watching which was an amazing experience, Martin works for the local tour company and managed to get a good discount for the three of us which was a benefit. We got to cruise round the canals looking at the Aussie homes of the rich and famous and then out into the open sea to look for the humpback whales making their migratory cruise south back to Antartica. We saw quite a few in the 2 hours we were out and one even jumped right out of the water which was a very 'Free Willy' moment.
My building is attatched to the local grass bowls club which is quite amusing and yesterday J, M and I had a quick game or two after work. It was funny to see Martin get so competitive over the sedate game but the true master won (me obviously) and now i'm really going to focus on that 'kneel and roll' technique, you never know when it'll come in use.
The other highlight of the week is our Monday tv night - 'Flash Forward' followed by 'The Apprentice' (Australian version) and then a pretty bad American reality tv show called 'Momma's Boys', all washed down with a bowl of ice-cream, chocolate sauce and sugar strands of course.
It's the Motor GP car racing event next week which completely takes over the Gold Coast and will no doubt bring in big crowds so we'll have to see how that goes. Other things in the pipeline are a trip to Wet n' Wild in November (a waterpark) which'll be so fun with Loz's underwater camera and the Stereosonic festival in Brisbane which i'm going to just before returning to Sydney.
The one thing that's really thrown me and I have to admit really don't like is how the sun is weak by 3pm and sets around 5pm....WAY too early! It makes the evenings feel so dark and long and the days too short...and after the 9pm sunsets of Maui it is not cool.
Aside from the above we're regulars in the jacuzzi, try to chill with beers on the beach and cook alot of meat on the bbq. I can't get enough of the avocado and helumi burgers we've been making, defo more of them to come. Delicious...xxx
Monday, 14 September 2009
Ticking the Boxes
Sooooooo,
Loz and I arrived at Coolengatta airport last Saturday night and have had a hectic time
trying to settle down and sort everything out asap. We're pretty much there with everything
now though and for the first time have found ourselves with too much free and time and not
much to fill it with!
We'd planned to catch a local bus to Surfers once we landed but didn't know where or when
to catch it from and I was more concerned about how I was going to carry my 80lbs of baggage.
It's fair to say we're NOT travelling light and everytime we're about to move is accompanied
by a feeling of dread at the pain i'm about to put myself through. In the end We did manage
to find a trolly on the loose and we gladly piled the bags onto it.
After wheeling ourselves around for a while we found the coach depot and a jolly aussie
told us the next bus was in about 11 hours at 7.30am, really helpful! I'm pretty sure he
was wrong but the stop was a 10 minute walk away and I couldn't really be bothered to find
out as he offered to drop us at the hostel for $21...with the weight of the bags on my mind
it was an easy sell for him!
So then we arrived in Surfers and at our hostel, The Sleeping Inn. It wasn't much like a
hostel as we had a privte room but the vibe was cool and i'm looking forward to staying in
them and being more social with the other travellers when i'm backpacking with Michelle.
Our first morning we went straight to the local accommodation place and luckily they had a
suitable flat on the books, we arranged a viewing, liked it and accepted the 3 month lease
from Herman, our new landlord! It's a nice big clean apartment with everything we need and
works out cheaper than the hostel so that's all good. There's even a sauna and jacuzzi to
chill out in :)
Next up was the job hunt, seeing as we're going to be chilling here till December it makes
sense to get some cash and keep busy. We're both starting shifts in a sales job on Sunday
which i'm not reallllly looking forward to but will hopefully bring in good money. To
make things a bit cooler we're also both going to interviews for a surf shop next Thursday,
it'll be good to top up the bank account again, i'm aiming to get it back to what it was
when I left.
Ummm, yeah so that's it really...there's not much going on at the mo! Will write more when
there's more fun things to write about....
Loz and I arrived at Coolengatta airport last Saturday night and have had a hectic time
trying to settle down and sort everything out asap. We're pretty much there with everything
now though and for the first time have found ourselves with too much free and time and not
much to fill it with!
We'd planned to catch a local bus to Surfers once we landed but didn't know where or when
to catch it from and I was more concerned about how I was going to carry my 80lbs of baggage.
It's fair to say we're NOT travelling light and everytime we're about to move is accompanied
by a feeling of dread at the pain i'm about to put myself through. In the end We did manage
to find a trolly on the loose and we gladly piled the bags onto it.
After wheeling ourselves around for a while we found the coach depot and a jolly aussie
told us the next bus was in about 11 hours at 7.30am, really helpful! I'm pretty sure he
was wrong but the stop was a 10 minute walk away and I couldn't really be bothered to find
out as he offered to drop us at the hostel for $21...with the weight of the bags on my mind
it was an easy sell for him!
So then we arrived in Surfers and at our hostel, The Sleeping Inn. It wasn't much like a
hostel as we had a privte room but the vibe was cool and i'm looking forward to staying in
them and being more social with the other travellers when i'm backpacking with Michelle.
Our first morning we went straight to the local accommodation place and luckily they had a
suitable flat on the books, we arranged a viewing, liked it and accepted the 3 month lease
from Herman, our new landlord! It's a nice big clean apartment with everything we need and
works out cheaper than the hostel so that's all good. There's even a sauna and jacuzzi to
chill out in :)
Next up was the job hunt, seeing as we're going to be chilling here till December it makes
sense to get some cash and keep busy. We're both starting shifts in a sales job on Sunday
which i'm not reallllly looking forward to but will hopefully bring in good money. To
make things a bit cooler we're also both going to interviews for a surf shop next Thursday,
it'll be good to top up the bank account again, i'm aiming to get it back to what it was
when I left.
Ummm, yeah so that's it really...there's not much going on at the mo! Will write more when
there's more fun things to write about....
Wednesday, 2 September 2009
Into the Unknown
Yo,
Plans are slowly and surely progressing during the time we've spent here in the suburbs of Sydney, our flight to the Gold Coast is today, Saturday September 5th (we'll try not to miss this one!) and we're ready to embrace the exctingly named Surfers Paradise for 3 months and all it has to offer.
We're booked into a hostel for the first couple of nights as we won't have any long term accomodation but hope to find somewhere cool quickly and then the jobs and routine will follow. I'm also planning to buy a trusty bicycle to carry me and my kitesurfng gear down to the beach whenever I feel like a sesh, that'll be everyday then! Apparently the distances are manageable there and not like the sprawling mass of cityscape that was LA.
So for now it's all about doing some sight-seeing with the Dobrees. Yesterday Mary took Loz and I up to the famous Blue Mountains which are situated a couple of hours drive out of Sydney and are home to The Three Sisters (a rock formation on the edge of the gauge). They're called the Blue Mountains because of all the eucalyptus gum trees in the gauge that give off a blue glow in the light, at least I think that's what Mary said!
Right, time to pack the bag...
Plans are slowly and surely progressing during the time we've spent here in the suburbs of Sydney, our flight to the Gold Coast is today, Saturday September 5th (we'll try not to miss this one!) and we're ready to embrace the exctingly named Surfers Paradise for 3 months and all it has to offer.
We're booked into a hostel for the first couple of nights as we won't have any long term accomodation but hope to find somewhere cool quickly and then the jobs and routine will follow. I'm also planning to buy a trusty bicycle to carry me and my kitesurfng gear down to the beach whenever I feel like a sesh, that'll be everyday then! Apparently the distances are manageable there and not like the sprawling mass of cityscape that was LA.
So for now it's all about doing some sight-seeing with the Dobrees. Yesterday Mary took Loz and I up to the famous Blue Mountains which are situated a couple of hours drive out of Sydney and are home to The Three Sisters (a rock formation on the edge of the gauge). They're called the Blue Mountains because of all the eucalyptus gum trees in the gauge that give off a blue glow in the light, at least I think that's what Mary said!
Right, time to pack the bag...
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