Living in Sydney

Hello readers!

So... we arrived in Sydney on 15^th October and went straight to kings cross. Kings cross is…. Erm…. Different! It has cool people, bars, cafes, and clubs but all mixed in with homeless, strip clubs and druggy’s . It’s a bit weird to be honest, but the hostel was nice and tucked out of the way of the bad bits.

Lots of people start here as it has loads going on – 24hours a day. Jen and I arrived 1 day before Amie, so we didn’t really get up to much – just mooched around the area and into the city! When Amie arrived we did the tourist things! This involved checking out the opera house and Harbour Bridge, Darling Harbour (an area with trendy bars and restaurants surrounding a harbour), Aquarium and the shopping streets that seem to never end! We were pretty tired after that day I can tell ya!

So once we had spent a few nights getting used to Sydney is was time to look for a place to live. It’s at this point that I think I should mention that Jen and I have split! Even though you all must know by now, it does need to be mentioned in my journal because it is all part of the trip. And, it explains why Jen isn’t in any of my pictures anymore - just my ugly mug! I am not going to go into any detail, because it is not what this blog is for, but we basically wanted different things and it made total sense to go our separate ways!

There, now that’s covered!

So… back to finding somewhere to live! It just so happened that I meet a guy in my hostel that is in pretty much the same situation as me. Both looking to stay in Sydney for a few months and both needing to work and save. Sydney is pretty expensive, so the majority of travellers share a room with at least 1 other person, to split the rent. We watched each other closely for potential ‘Crazy Man’ symptoms, and upon a good result, decided the next day to search for somewhere together!

We checked out a couple of places and one really stood out. Huge kitchen and living room, lots of bathrooms and the best bit – a roof terrace! Awesome! It is decked out, with a BBQ and loads of seats and tables. Many BBQ’s have been had, and I am sure many more! I have included some pics of the house and the housemates! From our roof terrace you can see the city… and you would be able to see it soooo much better if there wasn’t a blooming tree in the way! Honestly, it covers the whole view… and is the only tree around! We are planning to cut it down in the middle of the night!

So this is where we live. From early November (forgotten the date) to February 23^rd its my home! It’s in an area called Surry Hills which is great. Lots of cool bars, cafes and shops. A HUGH park that is pretty much across the road, which has lots of events (I am going to see Beastie boys + Jurassic 5 and many more in feb) an outdoor cinema and a running track that I jog round few times a week, and its all about 20 min for the city centre. It could not be better! I love city life, and it has definitely confirmed that I will be moving to London when I get back. Get ready Nick and Saz…and more recently Jonny I!

Shortly after moving in I got a job working in the accounts department of a wholesale company. They buy and sell fruit and veg, with offices all over Australia. I think I am working at the head office, but no one has confirmed that! It’s a little bit out of Sydney so I get a bus, train, bus combination that takes me about an hour. I don’t mind doing the journey really, as I have had worse commutes! I have been here almost 3 months now, with just 1 more to go before I head up the coast! Whoop!

I am jumping ahead of myself a bit – more on that later.

The guys in the office are really nice, especially Daisy who I am helping out with accounts payable. She is trying to set me up with her daughter! Who has a fiancé and lives in America! So it’s definitely a challenge! She is very sweet to me and even gave me a Christmas present! AHH bless! I was very touched! Thanks Daisy!

So between arriving in Sydney and Christmas I have pretty much been doing a 9 – 5 routine and living for the weekend! I am not going to talk about every time I have been out because that would take ages and be a little boring! But I will highlight a couple of prominent moments below:

My Birthday

I am sure you have all realised that I haven’t spoke about my birthday yet! But actually, I am not going to say much as it wasn’t very good! I thought “Sydney for my birthday!! YEY! It will be awesome!” but when it came around, I had caught a bug that was flying around the hostel and I couldn’t be too far from a toilet if you know what I mean?! Jen, Amie and I went for a Chinese which I struggled with and then I went back to the hostel and to bed! Jen and Amie however drank my bottle of Jim Bean and had a good night for me! And if you are reading this Jennyfur – you never did replace it did ya?!

So that was my birthday, pretty rubbish! Anyway – I did have 8 months of Australia to look forward to so it wasn’t all bad!

Adam & Karen’s Birthday

Now this was a proper birthday. 2^nd December all the housemates and friends (about 25 people) gathered at our gaff. (Karen by the way is a housemate). It was raining so we the roof terrace and BBQ were out of action. Instead we made a Mexican in the kitchen. It was damn nice! We all went out after and had a laugh. It was one of those nights where you know everybody a lot better the next day! I think it was the first time everyone one in the house has been out together – lots of bonding! Oh also, Caroline came out with us that night. She is a friend from Uni who is randomly in Sydney at the same time! Crazy hey! And she only lives down the road…. Well kind of! We see a lot of each other – pretty cool to have a familiar face on the other side of the world. I know her well so it has been really cool catching up and hearing all about her trip and plans – and now we have the Sydney thing in common, so when we are both back in the UK we can do the “Remember When We Were In Sydney…..blar blar” thing!ACE!

The Dutch Legends

These guys need a little introduction as you will be seeing a lot more of them!

I live with 2 Dutch guys (Daan and Rens) who are in Sydney completing an internship through Uni. Very Very funny guys, both about 6’ 4” gentle giants! They are pretty much fluent in English and have cool Dutch accents – very like Martin Jol of Tottenham hotspur the greatest football team in the world! Daan was actually on Holland idle! how bloomin cool - travelling with a star!

They finish their placement in Feb and I have organised to travel up the coast with them. Its going to be a cracking trip – we get on really well and all want to do the same things on route, plus, they are always up for a laugh! excellent!

We have rented a campervan (with aircon) and are going to buy a tent and all that Jazz, then basically Zip up the coast and enjoy whatever it brings. Canny wait man!! I have been learning some Dutch and fully expect to be fluent by the time we get to cairns. At the moment though I only know rude words…. Got to start with the basics!

So guys and girls. That’s the introduction to Sydney. The next thing to talk about is Christmas. Which I spent in Melbourne. So I shall add another entry about that, and then come back and chat about New Year and the beginning of 2007 in another Sydney entry. Meet you there

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