up up and away

So we have finally waved farewell to Sydney. It was a hard wrench after four months of fun and frolics... but it was time.

We had a crazy time of partying away our last few days and of intentions to do all the things we'd never found time for.

After work on Friday we went for a few drinks with Noah, Andrew and the new temps Kirsten and Rich at Pier 26 at Darling Harbour.

Then it was back to Manly and the hostel where everyone was gearing up for a party in the courtyard. Dani grabbed my camera and ran around taking snaps of everyone as they downed the goon.

On Saturday we had planned to go to Watsons Bay and watch the sun set but it was a cloudy and grey day so Dani, Danielle and I grabbed coffees in Candys, a great little book-lined, game-filled coffee shop, and quizzed each other with Australian Trivial Pursuit. Who knew it was easier than the UK version?! Then we wandered along Manly beach at dusk playing stupid word association games and giggling like school girls.

That evening was another awesome night out. The hostel were holding a man auction - a pretty horrendouse idea which involved girls 'bidding' for the man by offering to down a certain number of glasses of goon. The highest number won and the girl and the guy then drank that many glasses and were tied to the boy. Whoever stayed tied the longest to their girl won a few free nights accommodation.

It was as hideous as it sounds but all in good fun and there were many matey bondings in the end. Danielle and I ended up bidding jointly for a cute German guy who was one of the last to go (there were far fewer girls than guys) and Karim turned out to be a real laugh.

It was hilarious as he tried to contain his modesty going to the toilet... we ended up winning for him.

Then it was off to the Steyne one last evening for a bit of boogie-time.

Sunday was a huge write-off. I ended up talking to two crazy crazy amazing Canadian girls - Jackie and Tessa - who were fab, fun and drinking at 11am. Yes dad, I know my poor liver will come back to haunt me - but I actually drank very little all day -just topped up the night before every so often...

It was a very entertaining day - just sat around laughing and entertaining these lovely gals who I apparently reminded them of a girl back home they knew and loved.

On Monday, Dani, Danielle and I attempted to meet at 5.30am for a sunrise walk to Spit. Hilariously, this consisted of about 30 texts between Dani and myself saying "Shall we go? I will if you want to...", me trying to raise Danielle from the dead and once she was finally up, Dani realising she couldn't leave the house as she had no keys. After all this dillydallying, D and I decided to go and watch sunrise on the beach anyway. It was a bit too cloudy but pleasant enough...

It brightened up in the afternoon for a short walk around the lake reserve with Dani (I'd never made it there before - pathetic) before another evening of fun...

This involved a huge party in room 17 (the room we first started to party in when we got to Manly) with everyone in a happy, fun mood. It also consisted of someone thinking it would be a good idea to tie a bag of goon to the ceiling fan (don't ask) and people chasing said bag around...




Many people had thought it was Danielle and my last night so on Tuesday they were in for a bit of a shock when they realised we were, in fact, leaving on Wednesday and that there was supposed to be another night of celebratory leaving...

We packed a bit and chatted to people we were leaving behind and then I went on a 'date' with Tessa (the Canadian) oh and Jackie, Walsey, Matt, and Tyler to my favourite Thai place at the wharf. We sat on the steps eating our yummy food and then Dani and Taz joined me when the others left and we watched the sun set.

It was then an unwilling night of partying again - me drinking my Hunter Valley sparkling wine - unwilling because I had partied enough for a lifetime by this point.




But it was great fun and, after a beachside walk with Russ and Danielle, mostly consisted of me passing around my journal for people to write drunken farewell notes (a lot of "to Michelle.."'s and "I'm too drunk to say anything meaningful.."'s) before inevitably moving to room 17.

The next morning was a bit of a blur as we made our final packing arrangements, hauled our stuff to storage by 10am and then met some of our closest friends for brunch - Klara and Emilie the Swedes we lived with, Dani, Russ, Paul and Michelle. We sat on the grass by the beach and tried not to be sad. Dani handed me a lovely painting she crafted for me. It was a stunning day - Manly at its best with a breeze coming off the ocean but the sky scorchingly blue above. It was fitting end to our stay there.

There was a hairy moment when we were almost denied our $600 bond back off bad lads Max and MJ but a swift call to their dad sorted that out.

It was hard to hug everyone goodbye but we had to rush off for the ferry and luckily we left it til the last minute and I hardly had time to kiss Dani farwell at the gate. It was only on the ferry when we chucked down our backpacks, daypacks, handbags, bottles of water... that I truly realised I was leaving. It was over.

On the bus, we sat and read our notes from our friends - some funny, some heartfelt, some brief, the odd crude and rude ones.

But we were on an adventure. It started to rain as we left to head south - to sunnier skies....

(to be continued....)

Bondi, films and sunshine...

Dawn at North Head near Manly this morning






Our time in Sydney is drawing to a close - and we are trying to make the most of it.

The past week has been fun-filled and busy as Danielle and I try to fit in all our 'must-do's' before we head to Melbourne next week.

The Sunday before last we went to In Situ, a funky little cocktail bar in Manly, where I had awesome virgin (!) cocktails as we listened to a wicked band and chatted to the rather lovely barmen we had met the week before.

It was a nice and calm way to end the week before heading into the madness of Monday... where our new temps met us. It has fallen to Danielle and I to train them up and, to be honest, it's a bit of a drag. Not that Kirsten and Richard aren't lovely - it's just hard to get on with your job with someone peering over your shoulder and trying to instruct them when time is tight and they have no idea what they are doing...

So meeting up on Tuesday with Dani at the Opera Bar for sun-downers was a lovely stress reliever. She and I watched the sun set behind Harbour Bridge as we sipped red wine and caught up on everything and anything. We later caught the ferry back to Manly, standing at the front of the boat and watching the fairy lit skyline around the harbour. Back in Manly, we met Danielle at the Bavarian Beer Cafe for another drink and gossip. Great to catch up with such wonderful, life-affirming friends.

The following evening, Valentine's Day of course, a large group of us hit The Steyne pub. It was supposed to be Paul and Michelle's final night but the previous evening Michelle, rather intoxicated with goon, had lept onto the beach from the walkway above. Not smart. She has smashed two bones in her ankle and calf and needs surgery - and metal plates. So much for them travelling up the coast...

So they were notably absent from their leaving-do/Jimbo's birthday...

On Thursday we spent a lovely evening round at our old pad - well more accurately, thats

On Friday, our boss Oirish Mark sent around an email to the team: "As your all aware, our brilliant backpackers are leaving us very soon. To thank Danielle and Charlotte for all their hard work Phil has kindly offered to pay for dinner at Chinta Ria. I hope you can find time to see the girls off on their travels and watch them enjoy a meal that doesn’t include 2 minute noodles..." Bless. They are taking us to Chinta Ria for lovely Chinese food. I can't wait.

The weekend has been lovely and chilled out. Danielle and I made the trip to Bondi. It was a bit of a mission by ferry and bus (Manly is north of the centre, Bondi is south east) but we got there on Saturday afternoon - a real scorcher of a day.

We clambered off the bus on a hill south of the beach and saw the fat golden crescent of sand below. It was unsurprisingly pretty packed but the water was a stunning greeny-blue. Dozens of surfers dotted the waves. A green stretch of land lay behind the sun worshippers and the buildings on the cliffs at the other end of the beach winked in the sunlight.

Here it was. Australia's most famous beach.

And my first thought was, "Oh. That's it?"

Bondi is, sad to say, a bit tacky. A bit cheesy. A little bit like a crumbling English seaside. Except it was boiling. And there were hot, tanned, buff surfers and tiny, trim, bikini-clad women. Everywhere.

Bondi is far shorter than Manly but the sweep of sand is much thicker and softer. But the bars and cafes which line a lot of the beach in the North are set a long way back from the sand (for the most part). The wall alongside the walkway has graffiti art with messages about safe sex and RIP messages. Instead of being funky, it looks tacky. Everything from the pavilion to the cheap tack shops look worn and dated and, except for a few modern eateries, the whole place looks tired.

Nonetheless, we had a lovely time. We strolled to the cliffs north of the beach and ate foccacia sandwiches on the small nature reserve on the hill overlooking the beach. We sat in the shade and read. We wandered along the shops and eateries and then went home to Manly. A far nicer, more upmarket, less tacky, more tasteful place to live.




On Sunday - another scorcher of a day - I spoke to four of my best friends in the whole world - Sally, Lizzie, Hannah and Beth - all gathered at Salsa's house. It was great to catch up with old friends and it felt like I was there with them. Great to speak to you guys.

Then it was off to the city to meet up with Dani and Taz. We walked to Chinatown and saw some of the New Year celebrations. A dragon danced in what looked like the doorway to an adult lounge while men from a Kung-fu troop banged drums and clanged bells. Then the loudest fireworks went off while people crammed onto the pavements opposite to watch - a rather dangerous position given that cars were still whizzing across this intersection.

We squeezed through the pedestrianised streets of Chinatown - full of market stalls and absolutely rammed with Asian people. It felt like China. It smelled like China. The weather was like China. Well, what we imagined anyway.

Then we went to Tropfest - the world's largest short film festival. There must have been at least 25,000 people in the park, under the stars, surrounded by lit up skyscrapers, watching fantastic short films after an afternoon lazing with picnics and beers. It was all free, all peaceful, all fun. Australia really knows how to do this outdoor thing.

This morning, Tuesday morning, Danielle and I woke up at 5.20am, dressed, and hauled ass to meet Steve and John (the chaps I met on the plane) to walk to North Head and see the world's largest ocean liner - Queen Mary II - enter Sydney harbour.

But near the top of the hill - about a 20 minute walk from Manly wharf - we saw a steady stream of people coming towards us and a line of cars crawling back down the hill. The bloody thing had arrived 35 minutes early - at 5.45am and by the time we reached the viewpoint had already docked.


We weren't the only ones going in the wrong direction but undeterred, we walked to the viewpoints anyway. It was stunning in the early dawn light. It couldn't have been a more beautiful morning for the Mary to enter. It was dark when she came through the heads and she sailed through the harbour as the sun rose. Wonderful.

As D and I caught the ferry to work, a plane wrote her name in the sky (the ship - not Danielle's - that would be weird) and dozens of people milled at the side of the ferry to photograph her docked at the naval base - she's too large to dock at Circular Quay.


So we were rather pissed off to miss her arrival so went for eggs florentine and coffee before work. But we'll hopefully see the QE2 as she docks at Circular Quay this evening and then, after a nap, climb North Head again with blankets, champagne and snacks and wave farewell to QM2 as she departs at 11pm.



Pictures taken by onlookers this morning... what we SHOULD have seen...

Sydney's best party...

Australia Day cocktails with Dani



Well another week has flown by in a haze of work, drinks, dancing, dvds and sunshine.

To be honest the days are rolling into one another right now. I'm enjoying being in a work routine but it is tiring. But who can complain when they catch a ferry to and from work in the sunshine everyday?

The last week has included a party at the hostel, a night out dancing at The Steyne (has to have been a Wednesday), a barbecue (where else but Shelley Beach) and delicious Thai food which made me homesick, would you believe, for that crazy country. Or as my buddy Paul calls it, the land of thighs.

Friday was Australia Day - a national holiday to celebrate everything good about the country. There were parties everywhere, barbecue breakfasts on the beach and crazy activities such as thong throwing (that's flip flops to us) contests,a record attempt to get the most people on inflatables in a line (inflatable thongs no less) and all sorts of other crazy stuff.

Being a rare day off, we spent the morning in bed and then wandered to meet Steve, who was patrolling the beach on life saving duty, before lunch at Emily's cafe. As it was her boss's birthday the employees and friends were having a sing song in the courtyard outside. A chap with a keyboard, another with a guitar, some awesome singers and songs from Crowded House to The Beatles to Norah Jones and Counting Crows - it was a lot of fun.

Dani and I then went for summer cocktails at a funky new bar a couple of doors away - lychees, elderflower and gin - yum!





The real peak of the week was Sunday - my housemate Emily's 20th. She's Swedish and it is their equivalent of our 21st birthday.

We woke up and bought fresh croissants and french bread from the bakery and ate them with cream cheese and sweet chilli sauce, drinking lattes and bellinis, wearing paper hats made by Danielle and having a dance in the sunny living room.

Then Dani arrived, followed shortly by the Kiwis - Kylie, Anneka and Chrissy, who had brought a penis-shaped chocolate cake. It was complete with licorice public hair, a piercing and sweets in the shape of lips and teeth!

After a few more drinks, we piled into cabs to take us to Greenwood Hotel where Sounds on Sunday is held. We went to a party here on Boxing Day and this was another massive event - Ministry of Sounds tour and Kid Kenobi playing a live set.





We arrived massively early (just after 2pm) as we didn't have tickets, met a load of other friends from the hostel and sat in the sun listening to wicked music, chatting and drinking wine.

Later it picked up and we danced the afternoon away in a courtyard surrounded by skyscrapers of North Sydney. Man they looked amazing all lit up against the night sky (when rather intoxicated of course). It was an awesome night that ended way too soon so we hopped in a ca back to Manly and made a (short-lived) trip to Ceruti's bar. Work was pretty hard on Monday!







Norway and France do the Blue Brothers at Sounds on Sunday