Wednesday, 9 January 2013
Thursday 17th March - Sydney Australia
I clearly had way to much to drink the previous night, because I woke up with a major hangover.. I joined the boys for a bit of breakfast and we went for a walk through Sydney. I kept noticing everyone seemed to be wearing green and a dwarf dressed as a leprechaun ran past me with boxing gloves on.. I was wondering if all the drinking from the night before had broken my eyes/brain.. But then I realised.. It's St Patrick's day! It seemed that everyone in Sydney really get into the spirit of st paddys day unlike the UK that go crazy for Christmas and thats about it.
Me and Tom decided to go and get a hair cut because I especially was in desperate need of one! They were fully booked and It was our last day in Sydney so it looked like I'd have to keep the mop until we touched down in New Zealand. So instead of spending money on a hair cut I decided to buy a boomerang.. well it would be rude not to after spending 6 weeks in the country that invented them!
We got back to our hostel and our room mate Dan asked if he could join in on our dinner (he was clearly impressed with our cheffing skills) he even volunteered to do all the washing up for us!
After dinner the three of us decided to go for one last night time walk down to the Opra house and took some nice photos of the buildings covered in lights. As we arrived back at our hostel room one of the woman we were sharing the room with had clearly pulled herself a fella and taken him back to her bunk bed.. (yeah I laughed whilst writing that) So my last night in Australia was spent trying to drown out the noises coming from the bed next to me...
Me and Tom decided to go and get a hair cut because I especially was in desperate need of one! They were fully booked and It was our last day in Sydney so it looked like I'd have to keep the mop until we touched down in New Zealand. So instead of spending money on a hair cut I decided to buy a boomerang.. well it would be rude not to after spending 6 weeks in the country that invented them!
We got back to our hostel and our room mate Dan asked if he could join in on our dinner (he was clearly impressed with our cheffing skills) he even volunteered to do all the washing up for us!
After dinner the three of us decided to go for one last night time walk down to the Opra house and took some nice photos of the buildings covered in lights. As we arrived back at our hostel room one of the woman we were sharing the room with had clearly pulled herself a fella and taken him back to her bunk bed.. (yeah I laughed whilst writing that) So my last night in Australia was spent trying to drown out the noises coming from the bed next to me...
Wednesday 16th March - Sydney Australia
So today we decided to go visit 'Manly beach' We were told it was a lot nicer than Bondi Beach and we were running out of things to see and do in Sydney so thought hey why not. You have to get a ferry to get there, Well I'm not sure if thats the only way of getting there, but thats how we got there.. It was clear skys as we arrived and all was looking good. We had a look around some surf shops and by the time we left the shops it was overcast.... great. we got to the beach and Tom bet Lewis a dollar that he couldn't swim out past the furthest away breaking wave.. Lewis accepted this challenge and I'm pretty sure Tom bet this because he wanted Lewis to get swept out to sea and rescued by a coastguard.. Annoyingly for Tom, he made it back alive and with a smerk on his face and an outstreched palm waiting for a dollar.
We managed to get to the last ferry back just in time! I did like Manly beach but it was overcast the whole time we were there which means that Bondi won the battle of the beaches for me. We got back to Base hostel and had dinner. We then went back to our room and met up with the girls I was talking to the previous night. We decided to have a few drinks in our hostel room before going out to the bars and clubs of Sydney.. One slight problem.. the three of us didn't have any drink and we thought it would be rude to share the remainder of the girls half bottle of southern comfort. So we decided to do a quick bottleshop run.. It took longer than expected and we had to ask for directions from a blatent drug addict which was a bit scary.. But we made it back with what would be our last box of goon (wine) We played a load of drinking games with the girls (Nicola and Megan) We then left for a bar called 'scubar' which is a well known backpacker bar by all accounts. In there we met our old friends Nick and Chloe who we had met right back at the start of our adventures in Australia in Cairns. It was soo nice to catch up with them again after 5 weeks! After the lovely catch up we said goodbye to Nick and Cloe and carried on our night with the girls we went to a few more bars and clubs and after that we all headed back to the hostel.
We managed to get to the last ferry back just in time! I did like Manly beach but it was overcast the whole time we were there which means that Bondi won the battle of the beaches for me. We got back to Base hostel and had dinner. We then went back to our room and met up with the girls I was talking to the previous night. We decided to have a few drinks in our hostel room before going out to the bars and clubs of Sydney.. One slight problem.. the three of us didn't have any drink and we thought it would be rude to share the remainder of the girls half bottle of southern comfort. So we decided to do a quick bottleshop run.. It took longer than expected and we had to ask for directions from a blatent drug addict which was a bit scary.. But we made it back with what would be our last box of goon (wine) We played a load of drinking games with the girls (Nicola and Megan) We then left for a bar called 'scubar' which is a well known backpacker bar by all accounts. In there we met our old friends Nick and Chloe who we had met right back at the start of our adventures in Australia in Cairns. It was soo nice to catch up with them again after 5 weeks! After the lovely catch up we said goodbye to Nick and Cloe and carried on our night with the girls we went to a few more bars and clubs and after that we all headed back to the hostel.
Tuesday 15th March - Sydney Australia
Today we decided to re-visit Bondi... But this time it wasn't to spend the day on the beach. Instead we were headed to Bondi to play lawn bowls.. Yep I know what you're all thinking.. "that's an old mans sport Joe!" Well apparently it's really big in Aus and we were told through out our travels that you HAVE to play lawn bowls whilst in Aus. So we walked all over Bondi looking for this 'legendary bowls green' and we walked past some guy who I recognised.. Lewis, Tom and myself all looked at eachother, then it clicked... PSYCHO SAM! he wasn't dressed as a robot so maybe thats why we struggled to recognise him. We finally found the bowls green and I gave a look like 'Is this seriously one of the must do's of Australia?!' I think the guy who owned the place was pretty shocked 3 young English backpackers had turned up to play lawn bowls but hey..
We started playing and had a little match between the three of us and I won! (of course) but It was a good laugh and we did enjoy it.. Don't think we're quite at a professional standard yet though.. We went back to the bowls 'clubhouse' and got a few beers in and watched the super 15 rugby highlights.
We then got the bus back to Hyde park. It rained while we were on the bus but stopped as we got off and we were treated to a great sunset over the city! We got back to the hostel and Tom and Lew went off to prepair dinner for us while I sorted some photos out on my camera in our dorm. Two new girls arrived and I had the general backpacker chat with them and they seemed like a good laugh So we arranged to all go out for drinks the following night.
We started playing and had a little match between the three of us and I won! (of course) but It was a good laugh and we did enjoy it.. Don't think we're quite at a professional standard yet though.. We went back to the bowls 'clubhouse' and got a few beers in and watched the super 15 rugby highlights.
We then got the bus back to Hyde park. It rained while we were on the bus but stopped as we got off and we were treated to a great sunset over the city! We got back to the hostel and Tom and Lew went off to prepair dinner for us while I sorted some photos out on my camera in our dorm. Two new girls arrived and I had the general backpacker chat with them and they seemed like a good laugh So we arranged to all go out for drinks the following night.
Monday 14th March - Sydney, Australia
Today was a really chilled, relaxed day.. In other words.. We over slept and so didn't have enough time to do anything exciting. We checked out an art museum because It said it was free, We arrived there to find out only a tiny bit of it was free and you had to pay to see the rest so we didn't stay there long as we weren't going to break into the backbackers budget just to see some art! So we then walked to darling harbour and decided to check out this huge aquarium they have there. I really like aquariums, I wish I could have my own at home but I can't see it happening some how.. We spent ages walking around and looking at all the amazing marine life they had on show and then headed back to the hostel. We cooked dinner and then we decided to go to a bar next to our hostel called 'scary canarys' and it was full of people and the atmosphere was decent. We had a few beers and a few games of pool and then noticed a crown gathering at back of the dancefloor. We went over to find out what it was and to our delight, it was another jelly wrestling contest. This time the girls wrestling were wearing a lot less clothing than the Cairns girls!
Sunday 13th March
Today we got up early because we were finally leaving the horrible hostel! HALLELUJAH! we aren't a fussy bunch by no means (I'm happy sleeping on the ground) but we couldn't put up with another night with the other 300 people in our room (not literally) So we checked in to a new hostel called BASE which was brilliant! clean and surrounded by friendly backpackers! So we dumped our stuff and decided to go check out the legendary 'Bondi Beach'.
On the way there we stopped of at Hyde park (not the one in London..) and had a bite to eat then got the bus to Bondi. The weather was perfect, not a single cloud in the sky and a gentle breeze so you weren't too hot! There was a surfing competition going on so as you can imagine, the beach was rammed full of people. I had heard a lot about this beach before setting off on this trip because there's a show about it on sky called Bondi rescue which I was told to watch before going there. The sea at Bondi beach is notorious for being a bit dodgy.. and when I say dodgy, I mean swimming along in what you think is shallow water and going to put your feet down and the ground has literaly dissapeared.. yeh that sort of dodgy. If you've watched the show you will know how dangerous it can be to try swimming outside of the coastguard flags.. I'm not the best swimmer anyway so I made sure I could always touch the ground and was keeping an eye out for sharks..
Just as we were leaving we noticed a camera crew on the beach. It was the camera crew for Bondi rescue! they were actually filming an episode right next to where we were stood!
We got the bus back to our hostel and Me and Lew decided to stay up really late to watch a rugby match in a nearby bar. All in all it was a great day!
On the way there we stopped of at Hyde park (not the one in London..) and had a bite to eat then got the bus to Bondi. The weather was perfect, not a single cloud in the sky and a gentle breeze so you weren't too hot! There was a surfing competition going on so as you can imagine, the beach was rammed full of people. I had heard a lot about this beach before setting off on this trip because there's a show about it on sky called Bondi rescue which I was told to watch before going there. The sea at Bondi beach is notorious for being a bit dodgy.. and when I say dodgy, I mean swimming along in what you think is shallow water and going to put your feet down and the ground has literaly dissapeared.. yeh that sort of dodgy. If you've watched the show you will know how dangerous it can be to try swimming outside of the coastguard flags.. I'm not the best swimmer anyway so I made sure I could always touch the ground and was keeping an eye out for sharks..
Just as we were leaving we noticed a camera crew on the beach. It was the camera crew for Bondi rescue! they were actually filming an episode right next to where we were stood!
We got the bus back to our hostel and Me and Lew decided to stay up really late to watch a rugby match in a nearby bar. All in all it was a great day!
Saturday 12th March
Had a massive lie in today (can't really blame us after the horrific coach journey) It was a nice day in Sydney, so we decided to get the bus from our hostel and visit the world famous Sydney opra house and harbour bridge!
When we arrived we got a bit distracted by a street preformer who went by the name of 'psycho Sam' who did crazy things like do a robot dance and eat balloons.. To be fair he was really entertaining, But the three of us couldn't help but wonder what it must be like to pass the balloon out the other end (If you know what i mean..) After we finished watching this crazy nutter, it had clouded over.... Thanks Psycho Sam! We took loads of photos regardless of the weather. We walked to the nearby botanical gardens to chill on the grass and would you believe it the sun came out! So we got ice creams and spent the afternoon getting great photos of the sun setting over the opra house/harbour bridge.
We missed the last bus so had to walk all the way back to the dreaded hostel (Sydney Backpackers) so we decided to find the nearest mcdonalds and stock up on snack wraps and 50 cent ice cream cones for the journey. I may have already said this previously in this blog, and I'll probably say it way more times throughout.. But I wish they had 50 cent ice cream cones in the UK.
So we made it back to our horrible hostel and thank goodness we had some normal people that had joined our room. We got chatting to them and they were two girls from Devon who had just arrived from New Zealand (they were doing our trip but the other way round) We spent ages chatting and telling eachother what to see while your in Aus/Nz. We went out for a few drinks and came back to the hostel room to find that there was one person who didn't have a bed.. This was because one of the guys who had been at the hostel for ages had his friend staying in our room for about a month and the workers didn't even realise... just about sums this hostel up.
When we arrived we got a bit distracted by a street preformer who went by the name of 'psycho Sam' who did crazy things like do a robot dance and eat balloons.. To be fair he was really entertaining, But the three of us couldn't help but wonder what it must be like to pass the balloon out the other end (If you know what i mean..) After we finished watching this crazy nutter, it had clouded over.... Thanks Psycho Sam! We took loads of photos regardless of the weather. We walked to the nearby botanical gardens to chill on the grass and would you believe it the sun came out! So we got ice creams and spent the afternoon getting great photos of the sun setting over the opra house/harbour bridge.
We missed the last bus so had to walk all the way back to the dreaded hostel (Sydney Backpackers) so we decided to find the nearest mcdonalds and stock up on snack wraps and 50 cent ice cream cones for the journey. I may have already said this previously in this blog, and I'll probably say it way more times throughout.. But I wish they had 50 cent ice cream cones in the UK.
So we made it back to our horrible hostel and thank goodness we had some normal people that had joined our room. We got chatting to them and they were two girls from Devon who had just arrived from New Zealand (they were doing our trip but the other way round) We spent ages chatting and telling eachother what to see while your in Aus/Nz. We went out for a few drinks and came back to the hostel room to find that there was one person who didn't have a bed.. This was because one of the guys who had been at the hostel for ages had his friend staying in our room for about a month and the workers didn't even realise... just about sums this hostel up. 
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