An awesome city with awesome people. - Bondi Beach, Australia
Bondi Beach, Australia
After a lovely couple of days in the wine region of Hunter Valley it was now time to live with city folk in Sydney where we were lucky enough to stay with my old housemate and friend from Guildford, Susie. She moved out here after travelling with her boyfriend Hugh and they live with a Scots man called Rab who is Hugh's friend from home. Fri 22nd Nov - After Garry had stocked up on yet more bottles of wine it was time to drive to Sydney. The beginning of the journey was nice and quiet with plenty of room on the roads and we sailed down making good time. Then we hit the outskirts of the city just as the kids were getting off school and we would now sit in Friday's rush hour traffic for the next two hours. We finally made it to the eastern suburb of Bondi Beach which Susie is now lucky enough to call home. We arrived at her address and she came out to let us in to the underground garage. We were bringing down the tone of the fine establishment with our "travellers" splattered estate car. It was so lovely to see Susie again and we chatted for an hour or so before Hugh got home. Us girls then went out and collected a Thai takeaway for dinner and a couple of bottles of wine whilst the boys got to know each other by conversing over travel pics! We all sat around the dining room table tucking in to cuisine from a country we had all visited on our travels. The food was good and the company even better. As much as Garry and I love spending time together it is great when we get to hang out with other people. Rab got home just after we had finished dinner and that gave way for the drinking games. I had mentioned Garry's nickname was Princess which he would now bear for another week and he got picked on in the games. Susie had been tired from a long and busy week at work so when she went to bed the boys took us out in to Bondi. The only place open in Bondi at one in the morning was a place called Bondi hotel. We carried on the drinking games which I always suck at and ended up being the drunkest person ... again. The boys were kind enough to get us poor backpackers the drinks in as when Hugh had been travelling a couple of guys did the same for him so now it's our turn to vow that we will shout drinks for poor backpackers when we are back in a job. It had been a really fun evening and although it was sad not to catch up with Susie much it was good to get to know Hugh and Rab who were a great laugh. Sat 23rd Nov - I woke up feeling a little worse for wear but it was nothing a nice hot shower wouldn't sort out. When everybody was ready we drove to Bondi Junction which is only a couple of kilometres up the road and is the main shopping complex. Here we stocked up for a BBQ. We had timed getting to Sydney just right as Susie and co were having a house warming pool party. I forgot to mention how nice an apartment they live in. It's a ground floor place with a large living room with open plan kitchen and large sliding patio doors onto a garden which is all theirs. From here is a path down to the block's shared swimming pool. The weather was pants and it was raining, grey and cold but thankfully the weather gods looked kindly upon us and the sun shone when it was party time. The first to arrive at the party was an oz girl called Jess. We had known she was coming from the Facebook invite and the weird thing was we knew this girl!!! We had met Jess along with her sister back in Brazil when we spent the day with them at the natural water slide in Paratay and now near the end of the trip we would see her again and although we were planning to meet anyway this was just so odd that she was invited to the same party, it's such a small world! It was great to see her again and it was fun to catch up. We all played beer pong together with Garry and Jess on one team and me and Rab on the other. Since Jess was driving Garry had to do all the drinking on their end! Loads of other people then arrived and it was party time. All the people were mainly expats and they were all really nice. Beer pong took precedence at the party doing well at getting everybody inebriated with the pool being ignored. The BBQ Rab cooked was amazing and was well needed. The afternoon soon turned into the evening where the party moved to the living room to keep the noise contained and the dancing commenced. Hugh is really in to his DJing so had all the stuff set up and was doing a great job but then us girls decided to give it a go with an animal themed playlist starting with a song that would annoy us for the rest of the week 'what does the fox say'. Not wanting to annoy the neighbours we all decided to go out and went in to Bondi where the only thing open again was the Bondi Hotel. It wasn't a very fun place but the drinking continued. Hugh and Garry left as they were tired and hungry whilst Susie and I stayed with the others for an hour or so more. When we eventually got home Hugh was passed out on the sofa and Garry had cooked a pizza - perfect timing! Sun 24th Nov - Waking up again feeling a little worse for wear there was only one thing for it - pool time. The weather was nice today so we all had a dip in the refreshing pool to try and sort ourselves out. The pool was really good and lots of fun with blow up inflatables where Garry and I had a dual on blow up bananas with foam floating devices as swords. We couldn't put off the inevitable any longer though and it was time for the big clean. With every good party comes the aftermath of the clear up. We all worked together as a team and it was looking back to normal in no time and so now it was time for hangover cure number two - McDonald's and so we walked down to Bondi Beach for lunch. Not wanting to waste such a nice day we decided to take a walk along the cliff side path which had great views over the famous Bondi beach which today was packed. It was really lovely here and a much nicer lifestyle than Guildford. On the way back along the high street Susie and I had a look around the shops whilst the boys tried a hair of the dog at a bar up the road. After an unsuccessful shop Susie and I met up with the boys and stayed in the bar until the sun went down. For dinner Hugh cooked us up some amazing tacos and they were so delicious I couldn't stop eating them. After dinner we had a quiet evening in and watched a film before bed. Mon 25th Nov - We were now living with three workers bound to the mon-fri 9-5pm grind and it made us realise how quickly a weekend flies when we bid them a good day on their way out. Eurgh that would be us soon enough and I was so not ready to give up my life! We got ourselves ready at our leisure before heading down to Bondi Beach. The weather wasn't as nice today and the beach was nearly empty. We did the Bondi to Coogee coastal walk which we had done a little of yesterday. This is a pretty walk which takes you through a few different coastal areas of Sydney and it is all so beautiful. At Coogee we had a rest for a while by laying on the beach. We soon moved on though when the wind forcibly threw sand at us and we walked back to Bondi. I had really wanted a good British fish and chip lunch with proper chips and good batter. We went to a fish shop Susie recommended but once again they were frozen chips! But we decided it would have to do and they actually weren't too bad. Whilst we were there an Asian girl came in, ordered and ate a battered Mars bar. I had always known of their existence but had never seen one and it looked horrible and way too sickly. We went back to get the car to drive up to Bondi Junction to get ingredients for tonight's dinner. Since Hugh had cooked last night we decided to return the favour and Garry cooked up a salmon dish with new potatoes and roasted veg. With everybody still trying to recover from the weekend it was an alcohol free night and an early one! Tues 26th Nov - Garry and I had a very lazy morning whilst the others went off to work. We managed to get ourselves together though and today we were off to the set of one of my favourite soaps - Home and Away. We had googled it in the morning and someone had said that the filming had finished for the summer break and although I was gutted I wouldn't get to see any of my favourite Australians it would still be cool to walk along the beach and around 'Summer Bay'. The beach where home and away is filmed is in real life called Palm Brach and is on the northern most peninsula of the Sydney region. Garry decided he wanted to drive there and so we got to drive over the Harbour bridge which was so cool. Although still technically Sydney we were driving about an hour until we got there and the sun was beginning to make an appearance. As we were trying to find somewhere to park we noticed a film crew and commotion on the grass area I instantly recognised from the soap. They were filming!!! We quickly parked up and headed back to the green to watch them film the scene, it was so cool. Both the actors backs were towards us so it wasn't until they finished filming that I recognised one of them as the half Braxton brother. He stopped and had photos with the fans before being ushered off. Not knowing his character that well Garry and I had a walk around summer bay. It was so cool and I couldn't believe I was here, I think I even said 'this is the coolest thing we have done', probably an over reaction but I was very excited, Garry just rolled his eyes! We walked down the beach to the end where we sat for a while watching all the surfers, this looked like the best surf we had seen in oz. All around us were massive ocean view homes on the hill and is where all the Sydney high flyers live. I bet the houses are in the tens of millions category. Oh how I would love to live here. We then walked back to the surf club where they were filming again and I couldn't believe my eyes as I saw my two favourite characters Brax and Heath! Wow this was the best day ever. We watched them do the same 20 second scene with a new born baby about five times from different angles. When they finished I expected them to come over to the fans as well but there were more scenes to do when the last Braxton brother, Casey, came out, full house!! They were filming this scene again for ages and so Garry and I decided to go for a walk to look for Alfs bait shop. We found a bait shop but not Alfs but walked the other beach on home and away. It really was so beautiful here and in real life it was so much better. The big headland with the lighthouse was all burnt down from the recent bush fires and so not so pretty. We walked back to the surf club where they were still filming that scene and we couldn't wait around much longer as we needed to head back to Sydney. Unfortunately I didn't get to meet any of the characters but just seeing them and the location was more than I could have asked for and I left one happy girl! We met up with Susie and Hugh, and another couple we had met at the party at a Mexican restaurant in Bondi Junction. We ate amazing burritos before grabbing some snacks at Woolworths for our cinema evening. Tonight we were going to watch the new Hunger Games film Catching Fire at the cinema. I realised Garry and I had been on a travel budget too long when something as normal as going to the cinema felt like a real treat. The film was amazing and it was a nice feeling being normal. Weds 27th Nov - Today the sun was shining and the sky was a beautiful colour blue so we caught the bus in to the city to do the two main tourist attractions, Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera house. First we checked out the harbour bridge and we climbed the south east pylon which gave us views over the wonderful harbour and of course of the iconic opera house. We got discounted tickets with our student cards making it only $8.60 each to climb the 200 and so steps to the top of the pylon. It was done out really well with a semi museum inside giving details of how it was built with pictures and models. We got to the top and the views were awesome. We could look out over the bridge at the people climbing the actual bridge at a cost of over $200 with no cameras allowed. We happily snapped away and enjoyed it for about an hour before descending and crossing the bridge to the other side. We enjoyed the views of the Sydney skyline from across the harbour with the bridge in the foreground and the opera house in the background. The skies were blue which always makes me happy. We spent a bit of time just walking alongside the water taking it all in before walking back to the other side where we passed circular quays to the opera house. We had loved the views of the Sydney opera house from afar but the closer we got the more we began to see it for what it was - a big concrete building. Up close it was a mismatch of tall irregular buildings and when we walked inside the concrete followed us giving it the feeling of inside a football stadium, cheap and unpleasant. It was a shame because it was so beautiful and we'd never heard a bad thing about it but this of course is just our opinion. There was so much more we had planned to do today but it was getting late in the day and the guys would soon be leaving work and we were having steak night. We picked up the ingredients from the supermarket at Bondi junction and walked back. Hugh cooked the steaks on the barbie and they tasted soooo good accompanied with chips, garlic bread, salad and barbecued corn. Yummy in my tummy. We then watched a comedy movie called The Heat which was very funny. Thurs 28th Nov - Today we were meeting one of Garry's old school friends, Shane for lunch so we got in to the city centre for 12:30. We found a nice looking pub and went upstairs to the small outside garden terrace. It was nice to meet Garry's friend and he enjoyed the catch up but unfortunately it was brief as Shane was only on his lunch hour and had to go back to work. Today Garry and I planned to get the ferry to Manly which is a beach town in northern Sydney. The ferry ride is supposed to be incredible but we only had a few hours before we had planned to meet Hugh for drinks so instead we had a lazy afternoon lazing in Hyde park and then the royal botanical gardens. We got in a few sights though and checked out St. Mary's cathedral, the largest in Australia which had the Christmas nativity scene outside. In the botanical gardens we walked to the end to Mrs MacQuarie's Seat which gave great views over the harbour where we also got to witness a helicopter land on the navel ship. We walked to circular quays and found a bar with a happy hour with great views over the water to a humongous cruise liner which we worked out was longer than four airbus A380 airplanes which are the biggest passenger planes in the world. Here we waited for Hugh to finish work and we got in a few drinks before we went to meet Susie for dinner. I had drank a lot of wine quite quickly and was feeling the effects. We rushed to the restaurant we were meeting Susie in who was already there waiting. We ordered our food when I checked my head for my sunnies which weren't there. Now when was the last time I'd seen them?! Oh yeah sat next to the camera. Where's the camera? On the table back at the bar - s**t. Garry ran all the way back to the quays and in my inebriated state I thought it would still be there, but the longer he took the more I began to worry. A lot of photos were stored on that camera and I would be in a lot of trouble, mainly with myself. Garry returned camera in hand and we were so lucky. Circular quays is heaving and our table was on the walkway, anybody could have swooped it but today was our lucky day and to top it off the food was delicious. Tonight the Christmas lights were being turned on in the centres main square so we went to check the lights and tree on our way back. They were very pretty but it felt so weird and like Christmas was still six months away because we had spent the afternoon sunning ourselves. Fri 29th Nov - Today we were up and ready bright and early as Susie had a half day so we wanted to do the rest of our sightseeing before she finished work. The one main thing left I wanted to do was the Manly ferry but today we were not granted with the same fine weather we had had over the past two days. It was grey and cold but we got the bus into town and by then the rain had joined us. We decided it would be a waste of money getting the ferry to Manly where we wouldn't want to do the walks or go on the beach and the harbour views would be dampened so we decided to aimlessly walk around trying to duck out of the rain as and when we could. We randomly ended up at observation point which had been on my list so we went to check it out where we also found the Sydney observatory which was a free museum. This would keep us out of the rain nicely. The observatory's main job had been to signal the time everyday at 1pm by the dropping of a ball signalling to the ships to calibrate their clocks. The museum was mainly about stars and planets though and it was all quite interesting. We then sought shelter in a bandstand on observatory hill to whale away the time before we would meet Susie. Garry had a check on Facebook where Hugh had suggested a place to meet for lunch. Garry googled it and it was literally at the bottom of the road so when a class load of school girls came and took over the bandstand we decided to check the pub out and wait for the others to join us. The pub was Sydney's oldest hotel and was also a brewery with a viewing window trough to the large containers brewing the fine beer. The place was empty when we got there and we took a seat at the bar and ordered some drinks. Garry really enjoyed his dark ale and my wine went down nicely too. We were moved to a table by the brewery as the bar was now heaving. It was just after twelve on a Friday afternoon on payday and all of Sydney seemed to be lunching here. Hugh arrived with his work colleague and boss who were both cool and got the drinks in. The food was also really nice and Susie arrived as Hugh and Jen were heading back to work. We spent the afternoon with Susie mainly eating strawberry lances and shopping. We got the train to Bondi junction where Susie and I checked out clothes and shoe shops and Garry went in to the apple store. It was Black Friday which resulted in a $75 voucher with any purchase. Garry has been banging on about buying an iPad for ages and when we went to pick him up he was at the checkout choosing a cover for his new iPad Air purchase. Not doing much for our poor travellers look but it was £140 cheaper to buy it here! We headed back to Susie's and what we had planned to be a beach avo was rained off so we watched a trashy film and ate crisps whilst Garry completed a job application form before he awarded himself with a play on his new toy. He has gotten more blogs written in the last week on it than all of oz! When Hugh got back he cooked us up a deliciously beautiful dinner of chicken in a white wine sauce and it was incredible. It was a quiet night in comparison to last Friday and we watched comedy all night whilst sophistically drinking wine. Sat 30th Nov - Today Susie and Hugh were off to a music festival. We had been invited along but we really had to move on as we now wanted to be in Melbourne by next weekend. We packed up and had one last nice hot shower and we said our farewells. It had been such a lovely week and I love the life they have here and so wanted to be a part of it. It was sad to say goodbye to Susie but she was coming home for a holiday in February and we have already made arrangements to meet up and as it turns out now Hugh would now be our new landlord come February when we rent his house in Surrey! So that was our week in Sydney. It was only meant to be a three night stop over but we found it very hard to leave. It was great to socialise for a week and have other company rather than just each other. We had left feeling done with travelling as the last week had offered us a life again and we enjoyed having keys to a home, sitting on a sofa and doing normal things like the cinema. We were now ready to go home and if somebody had offered to change our flights to today to leave from Sydney we probably would have taken it. K x x x