Tom the Pom

When I arrived at Sydney airport there was lots of signs detailing what flora and fauna you're not allowed to bring in to the country (pretty much anything), for some reason in the pics of banned items there's also Steve Irwin with his arms oustretched towards the camera as tho he's about to pounce...doesn't sound amusing here but it tickled me. The aussies have a great sense of humour.

They're also such a social bunch, all the main sports they are into (Aussie Rules,
Rugby, Cricket etc.) are really social sports which you need a big group to play, you don't get anything like that sort of social interaction in England and it's really good.

I've made a few observations but typically I've managed to forget them all, i'll have to make notes or something.

Anyway, on the first friday we got here I went to a techno night, met some cool peeps and got pretty trashed, music wasn't really my sort of thing but still had a good laugh.

Last Sunday we went to see an Aussie Rules fotball match, Sydney Swans beat Melbourne (maybe?) Roos by some ridiculous amount. It was good as we got to have a few beers during the game, they have 30 minute quarters tho so it went on for well over 2 hours. It's good tho as the home and away fans aren't seperated and sit in the same areas, if they had that in England (plus beers) there'd be fights every game.

Last Monday I got a train with Dan, Karl and Lucy up to Katoomba to see the Blue Mountains. We got a guided bus tour thing where you can hop on and off at different points so you can choose where to go, we had a good wander through the bush to see waterfalls and huage drops. The views from the different lookout points were amazing, i'll try and get some pics up soon.

On Tuesday the 4 of us hired out a car and Dan drove us up to Byron Bay (about 800Km away, but still in the State of New South Wales - mental!) We were on the road from about 9AM till 8PM, dunno how Dan managed it. Stayed in the nicest hostel ever tho which was called The Arts Factory, it was like a hippy commune with a heated pool, didge and poi lessons daily and everything was very arty. There was a talent show on when we arrived and the people playing were really good. In the morning little komodo type lizards were swimming round in the pond...top stuff. Definitely going to try and make it back there on my travels. The town of Byron is pretty nice too, had some REALLy good food and chilled out on the beach for a bit. The nightlife wasn't brilliant as it seems to be purely backpackers out to get as pissed as possible, not really my cup of tea.

On Thursday we drove for about 6 hours back down the coast and stayed at Port Macquarie overnight. It's a pretty nice town with a water break made from rocks which people have painted on...some of it was quite arty but a lot was just stupid graffiti, bit of a waste. Seems like it's a bit of an old people town so not a great deal going on, we needed a bit of a night off tho as the beers have been flowing very freely.

Friday we drove back to Sydney and had a fairly quiet night watching the cricket.

On Saturday we went to a BBQ with Kristen (Karl's girlfriend) and her family, it was nice to see a proper aussie BBQ take place (the grill is massive) although i'm sad to report there was no shrimp on the barby and not a sign of a cork hat! Met some thoroughly nice people tho and ate far too much. Saturday night we went to a club in Sydney called Chinese Laundry, tasty clientele and wicked funky house music. I was in such a god mood and couldn't stop smiling for most of the night. Met some top people from Melbourne and danced like a loon to Alan Thompson, there was a top local DJ on before him aswell, funktastic! I'll definitely be going back there if I come back to Syndey.

Yesterday we went down to Bondi Beach and chilled out there for a while, had a few drinks at the Iceberg Bar which overlooks the beach and then went to Darling Harbour for some dinner. After that it was time to say goodbye to Dan, Karl and Kristen as they all flew back to England last night. Lucy has moved in to her new place so I spent my first night on my own in the hostel (on own, on own!)

I'm going to look at buying a car today (or doing a buy with the option to sell it back type thing) in order to drive up the coast...if I don't find anything which I like (and is cheap enough) then i'll fly up to Cairns (probably tomorrow) and sort myself out from there. Don't have much of a clue what i'm going to be doing yet but that all part of the excitement. I've got to head up to Port Douglas at some point but aside from that i'm easy.

I've spent far too much money in the past 2 weeks...I think the going out every night and eating out phase is definitely over. I'll try and get some sort of job in Cairns although i'm not too fussed about it.

Shibby

Oh my god I can't believe it, I've never been this far away from home!

So here I am in Sydney, been here 3 days now and it's going well. Been to see the Opera house and the Botty (Botanical) Gardens. Sleep has been a bit broken as i'm still adjusting to the timezone I think.

We had a nice dinner at the top of some huage tower last night, it rotated so we could see the whole city. Very nice.

I've managed to somehow spend 300 quid already, definitely need to curb my spending.

Going to the gym in a bit ($15 for a sesh) and going to a techno club night tonight that a guy I know from over the interweb (Jon) is running. Looking forward to it.

Just checked flights and I can get a one-way to Cairns for 130 pounds...not too shabby. I think i'll head up there in a couple of weeks after Dan and Karl have gone.

We are looking at hiring a car next week and driving up the coast, I'm looking forward to some antipodean driving!

Going to try and sort out a bank account today so that I can change up my travellers cheques for free...

Anyway not sure what else to say.

Bonjour!

Singapore Airport

I'm writing from the airport on a free Internet terminal - result!

Not really done much the last few days to be honest; went to the tallest hotel in Singapore yesterday for a drink on the 72nd floor and then had a meal at the restaurant underneath my hotel - pretty nice.

Today I had a meal at the restaurant beneath my hotel (notice a pattern, i've been living on curry) before going on this weird road/river trip thing around Singapore on a vehicle which can drive or float - a nice novelty. Went to a gym this afternoon, cost me $35 for one session! Was worth it tho as I felt pretty awful after not working out for a while, feel good now :)

Aside from that i've just been chilling out/sleeping in my hotel room. Watched Die Hard 2 and half of Die Hard 3. Not really worth noting.

My plane leaves in 2 hours for Sydney, getting quite excited now.

Cya

Flight

Oh yeah forgot to say, would you believe that on the flight over I sat next to a Kiwi couple who have just spent the last year living in Purton!?! They will be on the same flight as me on Monday night aswell. Mental.

Singapore

Just a quick one to say i've arrived. I'm in a gaming cafe place at the mo surrounded by loads of kids shooting each other. Knackered after the flight (Nytol is crap!). Off to see what else is going on in this city.

My last day

I've just sorted out some pictures in the pictures section. Not as many as i'd have liked but I can't be arsed to put more up. I need to pack!
I've now said goodbye to all of my friends so feel a bit down...but excited at the same time.
The final pack has started. Pack pack pack!

Last weekend

I'm going to have to try and get into the habit of writing bits in here so I though i'd write about my last weekend in the UK for a while.

Friday night was my leaving do at Lava Lounge. Real good crowd turned up; people from FJ, Iraq, loads of mine and Chris's mates, bumped into some people I haven't seen in ages and my folks even put in a camio apearance. Afterwards came back the house and wolfed down pizza and more beer. Top night with top people. Thanks to all that turned up!
Saturday was Jon and Darrens party. It started off a bit slow but soon got going, got pretty wasted and had a great time (despite all the arguments about music). Met some top people and saw some old faces. The night ended with too many shots of vodka which resulted in a big gash in my forehead (right in the centre, weird) and me and Darren getting up on his roof (why?!).
Sunday and Monday I spent in Bournemouth (or making my way down there), had a good time and met a lovely young lady - seems I picked a great time to be leaving the country!

I've now got 2 days to say goodbye to everyone, pack my things, record some mixes, and vacate my room in order for the boy to move in. I'm going to be busy!