From a Land Down Under

The Opera House.
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We arrived in Sydney and made our way to the infamous Kings Cross area. Dodging the strip clubs, hookers and drug dealers that led to our hostel, we attempted to join in with the very young group of largely British ex-pats who were staying at the Blue Parrot Hostel. We'd arrived just in time for the (hilarious) manageress' leaving party. The drinking went on into the early hours until, in events that mirrored a school disco, a girl started crying in the kitchen (there's always one isn't there) and two teenagers vehemently swapping saliva like Pokemon cards.

If Charlotte kept her eyes closed long enough she could imagine she was still in the campervan.
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All of this hot-teen-action led us (rapidly) from the hostel into the city centre where we stumbled upon Hotel Criterion. With private rooms on offer for less money that a dorm in a hostel we moved in the following day. It was central (but not in the red light area). There was a pub underneath. With the aid of floodlights it even changed colour! And those were the good points. No TV. No heater/air con (it's spring). No plaster on parts of the wall. No toilet roll in the communal toilets. Hotel Criterion made Fawlty Towers look like the Ritz. But still, it was cheap! (check out the photos!).

Our luxurious reception
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Whilst in Sydney, we decided (on the basis that the natives speak English) that we'd use our time here to apply for any visas we needed for the rest of our trip. So, two days in, we braved the queues at the Chinese Embassy, handed over our passports in exchange for a piece of paper with Chinese writing on it (BBQ Pork anyone?) and.... waited for 4 days to hopefully get our visas and passports back.

In between, we walked across the Sydney Harbour Bridge for spectacular views of the famous Opera House and the rest of the city. On the way back we booked tickets for the Opera House. Not for the Opera thought (we both think Opera 'sucks ass' as some Aussies would say and plus it was a tad expensive). So we opted for an "experimental pop" band called Gauche (it's French for 'left' yersee).

The Opera House. At night.
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How can anything 'experimental' be classes as 'popular'? Maybe the unmade bed at the side of the stage and the trapeze artist is a clue? Granted, a double bass player who, for the want of better words, raps whilst playing bass is, indeed, experimental. But so is North Korean Nuclear proliferation - but shouldn't be encouraged. Nor indeed should it be popular.

Do you remember the kid at school that was into really obscure but crappy bands? Well, I reckon going to a Gauche concert will have them reeling in jealousy. So original that they're cool? the often repeated lyrics that "the whale is drowning" were so cool they made us leave half way through. Gauche suck arse. IDST.

View from the Harbour Bridge
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Picking up our passports and visa from the Chinese Embassy was easy. Join the mile long queue and dodge the Falung Gong activists (seriously, if you have a minute, read about the alleged atrocities committed against this group) and waltz through and collect your visa (and passport). However, within an hour we'd surrenderer our passports again - this time to the Vietnamese Consulate. Vietnam is apparently renowned for it's bureaucracy - and the visa application process (along with the stroppy clerk behind the glass screen) lived up to it's reputation. We were both genuinely shocked when we collected our visas nearly a week later.

Sydney Harbour Bridge
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later on during our stay we caught up with Lisa, Renee and Vanessa who Kieren knew from when they used to live in Brum. The Aussies took us on a bit of a pub crawl and showed us some great Aussie Hospitality - by getting more that their fare share of drinks in (cheers!).

And finally, on our penultimate night we went to a bar to watch a fast growing Australian sport - Cockroach Racing. Each 'racer' has to hand pick (literally) their own roach and the winner is the one that gets down a short (but thankfully covered) track.

Under the Bridge
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Sydney's been great.

Off now on our 4th continent and 9th country - Bali.