January

04.01.11

My big year starts here! This is the first day of my week with OzIntro. I have been very excited about this but also quite nervous, which is to be expected really – getting into a situation where I don’t know anyone and starting the living out of a suitcase experience!

I left Scarborough at 5am for my flight from Brisbane at 7.25am – wanted to give myself enough time and you never know what the traffic will be like! Arrived in Sydney just after 10am and finally met Andy from OzIntro, there were already five other girls in the bus – Abi and Abby who have travelled together, Kate and Charlotte who also have travelled together and Faye – also going solo! Lovely girls and we managed to get into conversation after a few minutes awkward silence!

Andy gave us a quick tour through the area on the way to the hostel at Coogee. Arrived, all pretty tired, left our bags while we wait for check-in and went to the OzIntro office. Lugging my suitcase/rucksack up a million stairs was certainly a workout! At first I was put in a room away from the OzIntro group but later saw there were two free beds so it all worked out – weird but oh well, I ended up being with my group anyway.

Got ready to start our day – jet boating around the harbour and a city orientation tour. Pretty excited about seeing everything. Great fun – jet boating was amazing and Sydney is beautiful. We walked through the botanical gardens and fed some Cockatoos – I got one on my arm but missed a photo opportunity!

We went for a meal at a restaurant above the hostel called Five O’s - $10 for a meal and a drink, sorted! Then we went for a few drinks at a bar in the city called the Gaff. Relatively early night as some people had literally landed in Australia from the UK that morning and we were all tired.

05.01.11

Very excited about today! We all had a surfing lesson. We went to a secluded beach about 45 minutes away from Coogee, just outside Sydney. Awesome day lying on the board through the waves, I had seriously run out of energy to even push myself up on the board which was a shame, but I had fun all the same. I will definitely get surfing again! We also had the stereotypically fit surfer instructors! Chilled in the evening with the rest of the group as we were all so tired!

06.01.11

‘Fun day’ getting all the bank, Medicare and traveller’s at work talk stuff done. Then we went to Darling Harbour for lunch and the Sydney Aquarium – not a bad day but the Aquarium wasn’t all that amazing. Went for some drinks in the evening to Coogee Bay Hotel, or CBH for short.

07.01.11

In the morning we had a travel and work talk which gave us all quite a buzz about travelling. All sorts of advice, showing us photos and went through a map with us. Obviously the work side wasn’t so fun but it was useful.

Then we drove to Bondi, the weather wasn’t too great at this stage so we went to Watson’s Bay where there was a beautiful view of Sydney – could see the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. The weather cleared so we headed back to Bondi to chill on the beach for a while. We all decided we wanted a photo with the lifeguard so we all crowded into the lifeguard tower! Unfortunately it wasn’t one of the lifeguards from Bondi Rescue… damn! Went by the Bondi Icebergs swimming pool, then drove to another beach for a barbecue – yum! Lovely food too. Played on the beach – Faye, Pip, Charlotte and myself swam some lengths! We went as far as we could to the end to where the waves started to get rough. Had some drinks at the Palace in the evening, good end to a good day.

08.01.11

I had an appointment with Beata at 10am with Pip and Faye to discuss our travel plans. We all wanted to do the same or similar trip going up the East Coast so Beata gave us advice and individual lists of preferred activities. Faye and mine’s list were most similar as she was skipping the scuba dive course and wanted to do the sky dive over Mission Beach (apparently the highest in Australia at 14,000ft). I obviously don’t need to do a course, I’ve paid to do some scuba diving and I really want to do a sky dive! Pip wanted to do that too but decided to wait until she knew she could afford it, she decided to do her dive course at Magnetic Island. Faye and myself bought the Oz Experience bus pass too (Pip already had one) so we could hop on and hop off along the way. Some stops are compulsory and some are optional.

I want to go to Byron Bay (and Nimbin for the day from there), Surfers Paradise, Noosa, Rainbow Beach, Hervey Bay, 1770, Cattle Station, Airlie Beach, Townsville and I’ve already booked a Fraser and Whitsundays Island tour. I will also be stopping off at Mission Beach to do my sky dive. Then finally up to Cairns. This will probably take me 4-6 weeks depending on money and how long I want to stay in places. I’m hoping to stay in Cairns and try to find a job at a dive centre for a while.

I felt so excited after booking everything, knowing it is really going to happen. I can’t wait to do the sky dive – one thing I have been most excited about coming to Australia for!

We also booked our Melbourne trip for two nights and three days from the 13-15^th January. We also booked our Great Ocean Road trip on Friday the 14^th and I booked Pip and me to do the ‘ultimate’ Neighbours tour on Saturday the 15^th.

This evening was the Oz Party bar crawl, one free drink in each of the five bars. Wallaby-something-or-other at Darling Harbour, Scary Canary, Sidebar, Scubar and finally the Gaff. Our theme for the night was geeks! I haven’t dressed up as a geek before so I knew it’d be fun. We bought tacky plastic glasses, knee high socks and a tie.

The Oz Party bus was really fun – dancing on the bus, jumping around and banging on the roof! Good night!

09.01.11

A much needed chill day. Hung out at Coogee beach all afternoon then headed to the OzIntro office to catch up online. Pip, Charlotte and myself had a roast dinner for tea. Yum! We bought mash with gravy, carrots and peas, and a whole chicken from Woolworths for $5.45 down from $10.90 – bargain! Probably the cheapest roast dinner ever but it was tasty!

10.01.11

Day trip to the Blue Mountains. I’ve been looking forward to this for a while. Started as a rainy day! Boo! We stopped off to see some kangaroos on the way; one had a joey poking out of her pouch, which was very cute.

When we got to the first lookout at the mountains, due to the weather it was looking very dull! Couldn’t see anything over the trees, it was like the end of the world! The advantage of all the rain meant the waterfall was very full rather than looking like it had teardrops. It was an amazing place to walk with beautiful scenery. We went into Katoomba for some lunch at the YHA, as we were able to shelter there. YHA looked really clean and well kept – very different to our hostel in Coogee! Though sometimes I feel the cleaner hostels are too formal, Surfside is very chilled. After this we made our way back into the mountains to start our walk down 1,000 steps! The weather started to clear up by then and I caught my first glimpse of the Three Sisters and blueness of the mountains. Our tour guide, Jason told the story of the Three Sisters – look up on Google if you’re interested, I’m sure it will be online! We carried on with the walk, went under a curved rock face which they called the telegraph telephone. We all stood in a line and shouted ‘koowee!’ like Crocodile Dundee. Still walking further through the trees we reached the Katoomba railway, the steepest in the world. Looked a little daunting but I was looking forward to it! Jason told us to be careful going through the cave, keep our hands in the carriage, as there are spiders in there, eek! I wouldn’t stick my hands out for fear of falling out of it anyway!

Soon it ended and we were on our way back into Sydney to get ready for our farewell dinner up the Sydney Tower in the revolving restaurant. We all dressed up in our glad rags and got ready to have one last meal all together. The revolving restaurant was really good, amazing views from over the city and all you can eat food was lovely. Treated myself to a glass of champagne cocktail at the end. When we got back to Coogee, some of us weren’t ready for the night to end yet so we went to the CBH and learnt more of each other playing ‘I Have Never’, that was good fun. Great end to a great day!

11.01.11

Two of the girls – Kate and Charlotte – were leaving today as they have an apartment sorted for a week. Realised OzIntro has officially come to an end, can’t believe how quick it went! I’m definitely glad I did this as I had some great opportunities and met some brilliant people!

Vikki, Pete and I decided to go to Palm Beach today, where Home & Away is filmed. It took forever to get there; we didn’t anticipate the long journey that’s for sure! I thought it was worth it though; I’ve wanted to come here for as long as I can remember. Such a weird thing, seeing a place I’ve watched on TV back at home! I knew there wasn’t much in the way of the buildings used in the show – but the Bait Shop is an actual shop and the diner used is a café inside. Walked along the pier they use! Tried to take it all in that I was actually there, very weird. Once we saw everything and took as many photos as possible, we were all ready to head back to Coogee – starving as we were. Faye, Pete, Vikki and myself decided a Dominos was the best plan and ate that on Coogee beach, it was perfect!

12.01.11

Faye and myself decided we’d go to Manly today. We caught the bus into the city and then the ferry over to Manly. Manly turned into one of my favourite little towns – there’s the beach you see as you arrive on the ferry, then fantastic shopping and a huge beach on the other side. I can certainly see myself living somewhere like Manly! Loved Manly.

That night we went out to Bondi, starting off at a cool bar called Bunga Bar and all shared one of their special cocktails. Then onto the Beach hotel as there were some bands on that night, I started getting very tired though and wasn’t too keen on the Beach hotel bar, so Abi, Abby and I all headed back to Coogee for some chips and sleep! I also needed to be up at 4am to get ready for our trip to Melbourne.

13.01.11

Faye, Pip, Charlotte and I were ready to leave at 4.45am for our trip to Melbourne! We caught a bus into Sydney and left our main luggage at the Base hostel and as we found ourselves short on time we caught the train to the airport.

We arrived in Melbourne at 8.45am, caught the coach into the CBD and found the Nomads hostel we were staying at for the next two nights. Check in wasn’t until 2pm so we made our way to the Victorian markets, walked all around town (with bags, very heavy and it was chucking it down with rain!) and went to Federation Square. We had a look around the ACMI gallery. By then we were ready to head back to the hostel, all soaked and exhausted. We had also just found out the Oz Experience bus wasn’t running so we got a little bothered by that and wanted to see what we could do about it once we got to the hostel.

I got worried and upset about it wondering what to do next, but as luckily I have family here, I phoned my cousin Alison and asked if I could come back to stay with them for a while and get myself sorted, so she booked me onto the bus from Sydney to Belmont on Sunday at 1.20pm. Felt some relief then but wasn’t sure what to do about my vouchers. Emailed friends out of worry and upset then went back to my room for a lie down. After I calmed down, I decided to talk to the lady behind the travel desk at the hostel and she recommended I don’t be so hasty and cancel anything. Being that I still want to do the East Coast trip and my vouchers are open dated there’s really no need to cancel them and do it another time. I felt much better after this and glad I hadn’t rushed into anything, it’s not like I’m on a tight schedule like Pip and Faye. This time of year isn’t the best to head north anyway and with all the floods and poor families trying to piece their lives back together, the last thing they’ll want are backpackers trekking through their towns. Rockhampton is one of the stops and is one of the worst affected.

After being left a bit disappointed, wet and tired, we decided a girly night was much needed. We went to China Town for a meal at a place called Shanghai Dumplings, then onto the cinema to see the Little Fockers. Can’t believe the cost of the cinema there, $18 for a ticket! Rip off. Oh well, it was worth it. Just what I needed! Couldn’t wait to get to bed to sleep after such a long day. The hostel was really clean, big and had a fan so I knew I’d get at least one good nights sleep!

14.01.11

Day trip on the Great Ocean Road. It was still raining in the morning, how miserable! Felt much better after sleep and having a plan for when I get back to Sydney.

Ash was our tour guide for the day. We stopped off at a few places, annoyingly forgetting some of the names. One of them was Bell’s Beach, which would have looked nicer in the sun! Then one of Australia’s best surf beaches or something, a few more places before stopping for a tea break where the lighthouse from Round the Twist and Mad Max was filmed. I was excited to see that, as I loved Round the Twist! I also very much needed a cup of tea. Then headed off again for a little walk around a rainforest, lunch at a place called Lorne (here the weather perked and the sun came out, woohoo!), though we had to take a detour due to one of the roads being closed because of the weather. Then it was time to see the Twelve Apostles – or what was left of them! I enjoyed seeing them as I’ve heard a lot about the area already. We had a good look around then moved onto another area and went down to a beach in a gorge, which was beautiful. Nearing the end of the day, our last stop was a rock formation called the ‘London Bridge’. The story Ash told us was that when the bridge to the island started breaking, there was a couple on the island. Luckily they were rescued and weren’t on the part that started breaking. Though he also told us they were having an affair, so what a way to be caught out! I don’t know how true that is though and haven’t bothered to look into it so I’m not too convinced!

All of us still tired getting back to the hostel; we just chilled at the bar and had a glass of free goon – lovely, though I can’t complain when it’s free!

15.01.11

Neighbours tour! Yay! One of the things I have most been looking forward to about Melbourne. We went to the hotel we were told to meet at and met a guy on his own waiting to do it. For some reason it surprised me a guy was so interested in doing it too and seemed as excited as me about it.

We watched some old episodes on the bus on the way and the lovely guide told us some spoilers that ruined the illusions in a way. For example, they make things appear bigger or smaller depending on what situation they’re filming, if it’s raining (as it does a lot in Melbourne), they use lights to simulate the sun and only stop filming when they can see raindrops on the actors clothing. The houses are numbered 2-6, but in the show they change them to 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 etc. The real residents must close their curtains and blinds so we can’t see inside that the furniture isn’t the characters’ and remove all vehicles to the bottom of the street when they’re filming. We saw Erinsborough High to start with (which isn’t used anymore as law states you can’t film under 16s, the parents took too long to decide and wanted money whereas they are allowed to film at TAFE for free). Then up to Ramsay Street itself! It looks so much smaller in real life compared to how it looks on TV (probably due to one of their filming tricks). It was such a surreal and amazing feeling being there – yet it didn’t feel quite real! Took plenty of photos outside the houses with and without the Ramsay Street sign! After photo-ing myself out, we headed to the TV studio. Saw Grease Monkeys, Carpenters’ Mechanics, Erinsborough Motors and the bus stop that goes anywhere! Then we went into the Lassiter’s Complex – again that was quite small. Saw the little gazebo, the uni, the matinee Paul was pushed off, Toadie’s office, Harold’s Store, Charlie’s, the police station and Harold’s veggie patch. After we’d seen everything and taken a million photos we made our way back to the Neighbours centre where we would meet a ‘Neighbours star’. I had a feeling I knew who it would be and I was right! We met Janelle Timmins, the mother of one of the best families ever in Neighbours! She was a lovely lady.

The morning soon ended, so Pip and I were dropped off back at the hostel to grab our stuff. Pip found a 2-4-1 voucher for the pancake place we’d seen so we went there – how unhealthy! After lunch we went to St. Kilda to meet Faye and Charlotte to chill out there for the rest of the afternoon before our flight back to Sydney.

We had booked into Nomads as we were impressed with the one in Melbourne and Base (where we left our bags) had no room left. When we got there we picked our bags up from Base and made our way to Nomads. The reception area looked promising but the room… what a shithole! The room was too small, smelly with barely any ventilation. Disgusting ‘en suite’ (which is why you need a pair of flip flops to shower in when you come across showers like that!), but it was only one night so we coped. I remember being woken up at 4am and everyone was awake. It was very weird! I just remember saying; ‘Faye, why is everyone awake!?’

I had arranged with Pete and Vikki to meet in the morning for a drink before I head back to Belmont. Pete kindly offered for me to leave my stuff in his room as he was staying at Wakeup, just by Eddy Avenue where I need to get my bus.

I had the BEST hot chocolate from Charlie Lovett (thanks Pete!) and some unhealthy snacks. Faye and Pip met up with us once they’d ditched their bags at Base. We saw Vikki’s new digs, then it was time to say goodbye! The girls were heading to Bondi, so a hungover Pete helped me with my stuff and waited with me until the bus arrived. I hope to see the OzIntro lot again but who knows where people are going to be!

So back on my way to Belmont! Alison planned to meet me at the stop just in town, which was nice. We had steak, chicken, salad and chips for tea – yum! Went online next door to catch up online and sort my photos out – then slept with Maya on my bed again, bliss!

17.01.11 (Happy birthday Taid!)

Sorting through my stuff today, really need to repack and decide what I only need to take as I want as little as possible to travel with. Managed to get on Skype to say happy birthday to Taid. I also booked onto the RSA, RCG and bar course for the 24^th and 25^th January – just before Australia Day on the 26^th so I can celebrate!

19.01.11

I met Alison’s baby niece for the first time today! A beautiful girl named Sophia Rose born on the 10^th January.

21.01.11

We went for a swim at Blacksmiths today but Alison got stung by a bluebottle, so we cut that one short! We arranged to have a meal with Mel, Loz, Katrina and Karen at the bowling club in the evening then onto the Gunyah for some drinks.

23.01.11

There were a load of bands playing at the Yacht Club so we went down there for lunch with a group of people. Was a good day and met some lovely people, ending with a few drinks on a nice boat.

24.01.11

I decided to re-arrange the RSA course for Saturday as it was starting at 9.15am and finishing at 10.45pm with the bar course, and after yesterday I don’t think my brain would function for so long! So I went along in the afternoon to do the bar course which turned out to be great fun. I met some lovely girls, Angela, Leah and Jasmin. We were told all about bar work – learnt how to pour a beer properly, wine, shots and mixers. We learnt our spirits from darks to lights – Bourbon, Scotch, Rum, Vodka, Bacardi, Tequila and Gin. We practiced for a practical exam, which we’d be doing after the theory. Relieved it turned out to be such a great evening!

25.01.11

Today I was doing the RCG course, which stands for Responsible Conduct of Gambling. Most pubs and clubs have poker, Keno and TAB machines so if you want to work in a bar; it’s a bonus to have the RCG certificate on top of the RSA. Overall it was pretty boring, luckily Ange and Jasmin were there to take the course too so I had company! Though it was quite interesting and a little difficult at times as we all have much less knowledge on gambling than alcohol… I never knew gambling could be such a problem for people. I was relieved when it ended as it was quite intense trying to take everything in being I know so little about gambling so I had a very much needed swim in the afternoon and we looked after next doors girls, Amanda and Emma, in the evening!

26.01.11

Happy Australia Day!

I’ve very much been looking forward to Australia Day, as it’ll be my first, and probably my last here. Up early at 8.15am so we could get to the sand islands in plenty of time and park the boat. I went with Dave, Lene, the girls and Dave’s aunt Wendy, as we were going out on the big boat. Al and Pete took the little tinny. A good old bacon and egg butty for breakfast then spend the rest of the day with a few ciders in the sea. Emma went out on a boat by herself, but the current was really strong that day so we nearly lost her! Dave got her back on the tinny thankfully. I went with Al and Pete on the tinny about 1.30pm so we could make a head start on the BBQ. Quite intense to spend all day in the sun anyway so I was ready for it! As we finished getting ready and preparing the food, Alison’s friends Nat and Ben arrived with their little girl Lola Blue. Lene, Dave, the girls, Kaz, Dan, Kylie and Sophia arrived later on. So now I have experienced Australia Day and wish Saint David’s Day was similar!

29.01.11

I had my re-scheduled RSA course this morning. Much like the RCG, you need to have your Responsible Service of Alcohol certificate to work at a bar in Australia so it was definitely necessary if I am to work in a bar. Pretty easy going, a lot of it using common sense and it’s an open book test so you have the answers anyway. Still trying to get used to the equivalent of a pint and half pint – schooner and a midi!

Al, Kaz and Al’s friend Stacey and I decided to go to the Exchange in Hamilton for a girls night out. It’s a very odd place and can’t say I’ll go again – at least on a Saturday night! I had fun with the girls though but I was ready to get the taxi back when we did.

30.01.11

Nothing better than a good BBQ on a Sunday afternoon after the night before! Robyn and Barry had arranged a family BBQ so Kylie, Dan and Sophia will be there too.