Australia Day

26th January 2013

I've wondered what Australia Day would be like, whether or not the Aussies are all that bothered about it. It seems 50/50. A lot don't seem bothered about it but the ones that do celebrate it seem to put a lot of effort in.

Happy Australia Day

We went down to Glenelg beach for the day where they were trying to break a world record with thongs. Unfortunately it wasn't the type of thongs girls wear, it was an inflatable version of the ones you wear on your feet. The idea was to get as many people floating on the water as possible. It was $30 to enter so we didn't do it but Hollie and her cousins did.

Ready for the thong challenge

Pretending to be involved

It was a complete disaster. I stood watching as hundreds of people entered the water and attempt to stay on their thong. It was really windy so the waves were sizeable and every time someone fell off their thong would blew all the way back to shore. It was a cold wind as well so everyone was freezing,

We went back to the hostel before tea as me and Charlie had started working at the hostel doing various cleaning jobs for free accommodation. As it was a big day we had to work on the bar collecting glasses. The bar is on the balcony which looks out onto the main road and is open to the public. There was a big parade down the street below. As I was working I didn't get to see very much of it but from what I did see it was a bit naff. A bunch of people in various costumes just walking down the street in almost silence.

The parade on King William St

That night the balcony bar had a big party. A proper DJ and lots of people dancing around. I can't tell you the amount of glass I had to sweep up! I finished at 1am and was going to join in the fun with Ben, Mel and Hollie who were already on the balcony but a few minutes before I finished a licensing man came in and shut us down. The moron of a manager that runs this place hadn't looked into what he can and cannot do in the bar. He was only allowed 130 people on the balcony and there was way more than that.

I call him a moron coz he hates people! Well all guys anyway. Any attractive girls and he starts sleezing on to them shamelessly. The only good thing about him is that he isn't around all that much.

Drinks

I ended up having a lot of alcohol in a short space of time so ended up quite drunk and it was a good night.

More drinks

First Days in Adelaide

8th - 25th January 2013

Been in Adelaide over a month now. Its a nice city, really well planned out. Central CBD is surrounded by a ring of parks and fields before the suburbs of the city begin. I think they've left this area so they can build government type buildings when they need to as most of the north side has museums, art galleries and a university.

Our first few days we went wandering around the city to get our bearings and scouting out possible job opportunities. We spent a couple of hours by the River Torrens which has an interesting sign saying "Toxic Water. DO NOT TOUCH".

River Torrens

War Memorial

The city has over a million people but its nothing like anywhere else I've been in Australia. Its full of Australians for a start which feels unusual after being in Sydney and there's not that many backpackers. There is a much more laid back lifestyle here. No ones in a rush to get anywhere.

Flowers in Adelaide

Fountain

Its the driest state on the driest continent in the middle of summer so there's not a lot of rain around. I think it rained for about an hour one day but that's all I've seen really. I was told it was the second hottest city in Australia after Brisbane but it really hasn't been that hot. Mid to low 30s most days but we did have a day when it got to 43 and that was bloody hot! I spent most of it inside with the air-con. I ventured to the shop just to experience the heat and it was far too hot for my liking. I could feel it in my eyes, it was really weird. It felt like when you are at a bonfire or something and smoke gets in your eyes.

Yes the picture is the right way round

We went to the Art Gallery of South Australia on one day (wasn't my choice) It was mainly a bunch of picture in some rooms but there were cooler bits like this random green rhino stuck to the wall and this strange big foot type thing which was really lifelike.

Put some clothes on

Some scary statues

We explored the Botanic Gardens on another afternoon. Its quite big with lots of gardens and a couple of big greenhouses. We found an empty plinth which Charlie just had to go up and pose on.

Big greenhouse

Another greenhouse

Poser

Adelaide Crew

Another day we went to the Museum of South Australia where there was quite a lot to see. The bottom floor is dedicated to the animals from around the world. There was a room dedicated to sea life, another for dinosaurs and another room that live creatures in. It had a couple of spiders, some bees and a few stick insects.

Lion - if you didn't know

I think this was called an Elephant

Horrendous looking spider as big as my hand!

Me and Charlie found this game outside the museum with some stones. You had three stones and you had to get them into a straight line by only moving your stone into a space next to it. It sounded really easy but you have to be tactical about it. I beat Charlie 5-1!

Baffled

Street theatre is big here as it was in Cairns. I saw this guy do a few balancing tricks. He was quite good. He played in the same spot every day for a week and he always managed to draw a crowd.

Some free entertainment

We went to the Alma one evening. This is a bar about 30 minutes from the city where we went to meet Mels cousins. It was a cool place and really busy. The music was ridiculously cheesy for most of the night but we got drunk and enjoyed ourselves talking to Mels cousins and their friends. This remains the only time we have been out in Adelaide!

Does it look like we are having fun

Who's this joker

Gern!

Blimey

Glenelg beach is the nearest to the city. It takes 30 minutes on the tram which goes from right outside our hostel which is helpful. Whats not helpful is the absolutely ridiculous payment system they have here. You pay $3 for a ticket and you can go anywhere you want in Adelaide within 2 hours. But that's only if you buy it before 3pm. After that its $4.90. But you can still buy the $4.90 before 3pm and its described as the 'any time' ticket which we took to mean that it would last you the day but obviously not. Now you can buy a day ticket which will cost you $9 but chances are your not going to set off after 3pm so its cheaper to get 2 singles so who the fuck would buy that ticket!

Introducing the metro card its supposed to reduce the cost of your ticket but i dont think it works coz its still charging me full price. The whole fucking system is stupid and so in protest, and as no one is checking anything, we no longer pay.

Glenelg Beach

Rant over. Back at the beach there is a pier which you can jump off. When it was still school holidays there would be 50 or so kids jumping off it which is annoying when your clinging to the rail for dear life not wanting to let go and there's kids flying past you like its nothing. It may not look high from a distance but it is once you get up there.

Sunset at Glenelg

There is another popular beach further up the coast in Henley. Its a bit more awkward to get to but Hollie's cousins had taken her there so we went to meet here. Its much quieter than Glenelg. We spent the day and had a very salty chippy lunch before burying Charlie.

Enjoying the beach

Not enjoying the food

Ben and Mel have jobs now whilst Me, Charlie and Hollie are still looking for work. We are in our 5th week as I right this and its proving very difficult to get anything. Me and Charlie work at the hostel for accommodation which is saving us a lot but we need more. We even helped a guy move house for some extra cash which was cool. Hollie has left her cousins and joined us in the hostel so its been a bit more fun the past two weeks but we all can't wait to leave Adelaide

More of Sydney

5th - 8th Jan 2013

Back in the city it was a busy few days trying to squeeze things in before we moved on again. Me, Mel, Charlie, Hollie and Ben were to go to Adelaide in a few days. I wasn't even planning to go to Adelaide while in Australia but Hollie and Mel have family there so rather than go off on my own again I decided to stick with people I know. We all booked flights for the Tuesday which would give us a few days to sort stuff out and do stuff. Well, all of us apart from Charlie who accidentally booked a flight on Monday!

Money was a bit tight with most people didn't want to spend too much on tours but I managed to persuade Charlie to go up the Sky Tower in the middle of Sydney. Its the tallest building in Sydney at 309m and has a revolving restaurant but we went to the observation deck.

Sydney Tower

The view from the top

Before you go up the tower you go through a 4D cinema where they show you a 5 minute video of places around Sydney. Its in 3D and they have things like bubbles when you go under water and there was a bit on the video where a guy blew fire at you and the whole room flashed orange. That bit actually made me jump so it wasn't completely naff but I just wanted to go up the tower.

Sydney Cricket Ground

A concert in the park

You could see for miles around with these binocular things that were free. I mangaged to find the window of our hostel and I phoned Ben and told him to wave. I couldn't really see into the room but I could see the curtains moving.

Charlie looking peoples windows

Our hostel was the orange building

Chillin on top of the world

The Sydney festival had begun with a giant runner duck in Darling Harbour. And i mean giant, its the size of a house! There was also a fire works show at 9pm so we hung around to watch it from the tower. It had nothing on New Year but it was odd seeing fireworks from above.

Massive duck

Sunset

Sydney at night

On another day Angela and I went to see the Blue Mountains, something I'd been planning to do since I came to Sydney the first time around. The first stop was Flat Rock where you see for miles and miles. Its a fantastic view. The blueness of the Blue Mountains doesn't come from reflection from the sky which many people think, including me. It comes from a natural occurring oil on the Eucalyptus leaves which when viewed under a microscope is blue. There was no fence or anything there but I was still surprised to see two cars at the bottom of the cliff!

Blue Mountains

Driving fail

Rebel

We carried on down road to Wentworth falls where we had a bit of a trek all the way down to the bottom of the falls. On the way our guide told us a bit about the Aboriginals who used the coloured rock in the area for drawings and stuff. There was a place called Fletchers Lookout but unfortunately i didn't get to look out of that Lookout.

Wentworth falls

Our guide telling us about the colours and stuff

Im famous!

walking down to the falls

The bottom of the falls was awesome. It had a spectacular view of the valley and after the walk it was nice to cool your feet in the cold water ready for the hike back up. THERE WERE SO MANY STAIRS! It was a proper effort getting back to the top and Angela decided she couldn't carry her bag anymore and gave it to the guide to carry. He did not look impressed at all!

Bottom of the falls

After lunch we went to the main touristy bit in the Blue Mountains where the three sisters are. Its the most visited attraction in all of Australia which is surprising because they are a bit naff. I thought they'd be bigger. We got the chance to go down into the valley to explore the forest below for an extra cost. One of our group was really annoyed by this as it was an optional extra but the only other option would be to sit in the van and wait for the others.

Weird statues

Away man! I'm naked

Three Sisters

We got the skyrail down to the bottom where there was forest but not just any forest...oh wait, it could be any forest. There was nowt special down there apart from an old coal mine. The best part of the trip was the train back up to the top. Its the steepest railway in the world. It was used to carry the coal up to the top and people used to request a ride back up rather than walk and a tourist attraction was born. The train was pretty cool. The seats are at 45 degrees and the roof is really low so its a bit of an effort getting in and out

Coal

Our group

Train

On the way back into the city we got the chance to stop off at the Olympic Park from the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. We only had 10 minutes so we didn't get to see a right lot. Our driver was in a right huff because the girl from earlier said she was going to complain.

Olympic Stadium

On the whole it was a really nice day out and well worth doing. With that over, Sydney was done. I'd seen and done everything in Sydney that I had been planning to do. Charlie managed to get his flight changed and we all flew out on the Tuesday to Adelaide. I don't have plans to go back to Sydney but I'm sure I will at some point.

Massive Coca Cola sign in Kings Cross - famous apparently

Time for a sad story now.

Once we had finished at the Blue Mountains and were on our way back to Sydney our guide got a call from his boss. There had been a death at the very spot we had been just a few hours earlier at the top of Wentworth falls. A man, aged 20 was travelling with 8 friends at the time. He climbed over the safety barrier and slipped on the wet rock and went over the falls. I cannot begin to imagine the grief of his friends and family and I'd be lying if this hadn't made a lasting impression on me. It could so easily have been me. It sounds like the kind of thing I would do. Its such a shame for a life to be wasted in this way and my heart goes out to his friends and family. Especially those who were there to witness it. It must have been horrible.