FROM THE VAULT; Sydney New Year

It’s that time of the year again…this time it’s 2010 I’m
waving goodbye too – and epic year full of travels that started in
style with the fireworks over Sydney Harbour Bridge, something that
should be on everyones bucket list. So here’s another From The
Vault…my experience of one of Sydney’s top treats.

FROM THE VAULT: Welcome to Sydney!

It dawned on my today that this time 365 days ago I’d just reached another milestone in my Oz adventure…I landed from Darwin into Sydney International, the city that I would call home for Xmas and new year.
The city that would see me reunite with old friends.
And the city that would eventually lead me into a dramatic change of plans that resulted in my east coast road trip with Kerri….and we all know how that developed!

The Long Journey Home…

Yup, you read the title correctly.
I’m now back in the UK!

…and I ain’t happy about being here or how eventful my journey home was!

An Additional 24 Hours!

Turns out what I thought was my last 24 hours in Oz wasn’t destined to be so. Due to a whole heap of incidents I actually managed to spend an extra day in Australia…

Top Ten Tuesday – Sydney

It’s been a while since I’ve been in the iconic Australian city of Sidders, but I had a pretty dam good time there and it kept me well entertained over the Xmas and NY period. So this week I’m reminiscing and bringing you my Top Ten Things to Do in Sydney.

Top Ten Tuesday – Oz Tick List

Oz is a big place and there’s a hell of a list of things to do. I’ve done rather a lot on my trip so far – I’ve done east coast, west coast, towns, jungle, ocean….so here’s my Top 10 Things to do in Oz.

A few days at Bondi

Bondi Beach in my opinion is rather over rated.

But that didn’t really matter to me because after a few days inland I simply wanted to wake up and be either overlooking the surf or a short distance from the sea!

Back to Sidders

So after a few days chilling in the back gardens of Maz’s (@fillingtheages) mates (where muchos beer and goon was consumed on a regular basis!) the time came to say goodbye to the nations capital and head up the East Coast…a prospect I was rather excited about due to surf withdrawal symptoms!

Goodbye Sidders

Ok…so I’ve kept it schtum on the old Facebook and Twittering but the last few days of my Oz adventure have been rather eventful and stressful!

After deciding to leave Sydney a week ago I spent days tirelessly seraching the internet and hostel notice boards for a suitable campervan to be my home for the next year of my life!

The trials and tribulations of finding one deserve a blog of its very own (muchos advice will be shared!). But to cut a long story short it has been found!

Bondi Junction is the place, its been checked, test driven, muchos email bantering and phone calls to the father for second long distance opinions. But a deposit has been put down and Monday is the day that myself, Kerri and Kat finally leave Sydney.

I’ll be honest….I’m pretty glad to be leaving!haha!

Everyone knows that I’m a country boy at heart….so being stuck in a fairly large city was never really going to be that much of a joy for me. Don’t get me wrong, Sydney is a beautiful city (and my previous blogs prove that there’s alot to do and see), but I’ve been here over a month and it’s got to the point where I personally felt I was simply wasting my money looking for a job – I’d rather be by the beach and visiting new places :)

It’s been an experience, and the atmosphere over the festive period was amazing and I felt right at home (despite being further away from the beach than I would be in Devon!), the last few weeks everyone has seen alot of people depart for Melbourne or up the East Coast, and alot of that party vibe has gone with them, so the time has come to move on.

I am however sad to say goodbye to all the wonderful people I’ve met over the last month.

All the Wakeup crew from 702 (Joe, Jimmy, Georgie, Nick, Ian ect [21/12/09 – 5/1/10]) and 201 crew (pictured above! [5/1/10 – 18/1/10]) have made my stay really epic and I hope to see them along my travels.

In true goon related style my last few days were consumed with partying and general carnage!

Saturday I met up with an Aussie dude I met at Glasto last year who has kindly offered me a free bed in Sydney, something I’m sure I will take up at a later day!

Gary and his rather intoxicated friend Andy (who’s a legend!) met us in the evening after a team 201 day out at Bondi beach (where muchos sunbathing, Irish girl meeting, rip current battling, body surfing, beer drinking and sushi eating was had – followed by a $6 treat at sidebar!). An straight away the drinking was on….cue a box of goon and bloody marys in 201. Best it goes down the word blurb route me thinks!

bamboo tattoos, ladder clilmbing, tails of thailand, OMG sarah, OMG i cant do it, ring her, dont ring her, random chuckles, sculling beers, sculling goon, kez getting rather tipsy, train to kings cross, bunking through the barriers, andy trying to slide down the escalator, his crotch hitting the metal lumps, muchos laughing, him trying it on the bigger one, photographing him whilst gary saved him, trying to stand upright, security, burlesque masks, blagging the conductor, bunking through barriers at kings cross, kerri getting her leg squished, finding house parties, random aussies, tequile, more goon, beers, roof top banter, wandering into town, getting lost, shopping trollies, kerris circle of trust, andy passing out on the road, play fighting, tree hiding, mcdonalds 50cent ice creams, loosing everyone, bunking the train back home, suddenly realising its 3am, hungry jacks, crashing out.

EPIC!

Needless to say the whole of 201 was pretty out of action until 1pm the next day….we all shared the hungover pain, group bonding n all!hahaha!

The remainder of the day was taken up with strolls to the opera house, campervan shopping, $10 roast dinners, waynes world 2 and cheeky pints.

Then despite everyones better judgement, more pints, live bands, pizza and a session in scruffy murphys.

A great last weekend in a great city where I’ve made some great friends and had great fun.

HOSTEL REVIEW – Wakeup

Comes really close to Gilligans in terms of its all round goodness! The 10 bed dorm I had over the xmas period was MASSIVE (good room parties), although the 8 bed I had to get after was a lot smaller. It’s clean and tidy throughout, and everything pretty modern.