First Week In Oz

G'day everybody. My first week in Australia has been kind of crazy, especially weather wise. It started at the airport when we actually had the easiest immigration experience ever. The lady just stamped my passport (annoyingly on the same page as my Hong Kong stamp!) and told me to move along. No questions, no visa check, nothing! My landing card had been marked with a Q for Quarantine because I'd been near a lake in the last month but the security guy glanced at the card, glanced at me and just told me to go straight through. Okay, but if I've brought any Lake District diseases into the country don't blame me.

The skies outside the airport were clear blue and the lack of humidity in comparison to Hong Kong was amazing. It felt like I was breathing properly for the first time in days. We took a shuttle over to our hostel, YHA Central which is so clean and clinical that it's practically a hotel. Bree, the lady looking after us, got us all checked in and handed out our room assignments. A lot of people had been split up but I was with two of the other girls, Amy and Vicki, so I was fine.

After a quick shower and freshen up we met down in the lobby to go explore. Central is right on George Street which is a big ass street running through the centre of Sydney. Circular Quay is at the other end of said street. On the way through town Martin, Steve and I decided we were hungry and stopped in Hungry Jacks to grab something to eat on the way. What I didn't realise until it was too late is that Hungry Jacks is Australian for Burger King. VOM! In fairness, their chicken nuggets were quite edible so it wasn't a major disaster, just a mistake I'll be avoiding again in the future. After we'd ordered food the other girls then decided they were hungry too and stopped to go into a pub. If they'd said something five minutes earlier we could've all gone together but seeing as we already had food we decided to go on to the harbour without them. Martin, Steve and Johnny were proper power-walking all the way there. I'm a fast walker but it was all my little legs could do to keep up with them. Poor Ben and Amy kept getting left behind.

The Opera House and the Harbour Bridge were exactly how they looked on postcards. We watched little ant-people climbing the Harbour Bridge and then watched the sun go down behind it. I have to say; I know Sydneysiders are proud of their bridge but I don't understand why. It's a pretty ugly bridge if you ask me. I personally prefer the Anzac bridge further down the bay. (Just an opinion)

After that we went to the Star Bar for tea. It's an old abandoned Planet Hollywood which still has all the fixtures and fittings but much more run down and all the logos have been replaced. There I had my first chicken schnitzel. *Sings schnitzel song from Hoodwinked* It's pretty much a giant chicken goujon and it was very tasty. Everyone was pretty shattered after that so we called it an early night and went back to the hostel.

The next day we spent mostly in the office, sorting out résumés, tax file numbers, bank accounts etc so not a very eventful day really. It was also to be our last night in the hostel so I had to organise somewhere else to stay for the next few days as well.

The next morning Vicki and I moved to separate hostels in King's Cross. I much prefer King's Cross to Central; even if it is Sydney's red light district! It is a lot more accommodating to travellers though, lots of hostels, cheap places to go out and eat, Internet cafes etc. In Central everything is more expensive and you're surrounded by tourists and professionals going about their daily business. In King's Cross it's mainly travellers so there's a sense of solidarity or something! My room at the D*Lux wasn't ready yet so I left my suitcase in the luggage room and went out to explore. I walked all through King's Cross and Potts point to the harbour where the Navy boats live, which lead me to the Royal Botanical gardens and a really stunning view of the Opera House. I bummed around the Rocks area for a bit before heading down to meet Heather to go sort out our bank accounts. We'd been told all we had to do was show our passports to prove it was us and our bank cards would be sent out. Sounds like a simple 10 minute jobby right? Wrong! We were in there for an hour and a half! It was mental! After that I walked back to King's Cross and finally checked into my room. Honestly, it was much better than expected. Granted the place needed a few things doing to it but everything was clean which is the most important thing and I met my German roommate Sofia who seemed okay. I had a bit of a nap and then walked over to hang out at Vicki's hostel on the next street. I have to say, mine was better than hers! She was paying less but I think it was worth the extra money to have a lift and a locker.

The day after that was freezing! Rain and cold winds are not what you expect from Australia. I've never seen it rain on Neighbours yet. I ventured on my first trip on the underground (it's not very big so it was really simple) and went to Paddy's Market in Haymarket where I bought a coat from the outlet shop. Then I killed time looking around and window shopping until it was time to meet the others. Bree had set up a group night out for us...all the way back in King's Cross! They took us to the World Bar where they serve cocktails in teapots and after ten it turns into a rock club. It was quite a strange mishmash of things but it worked and I think everyone had a good time.

Heather and I went to Taronga zoo the next day which was really cool. To get there you have to go on a catamaran, followed by a cable car to the entrance. We got to see kangaroos and rock wallabies and koalas and my very first Tasmanian devil. It was so cute, but not at all like Taz! Right towards the end it started really hammering it down so we had to make a break for the boat. I went home and planned on having an early night when Vicki called and asked to meet up. We went for a walk round the supermarket to stay out of the rain and then chilled inside the shopping centre for a few hours, just chatting and giggling and having a good time. What a random way to spend a Friday night!

On Saturday I went to Darling Harbour, which was where I discovered Sydney now has a Hard Rock Cafe!! I love the Hard Rock Cafe so much! I tried to get hold of people to see who wanted to go there for tea but I phone was misbehaving so in the end I just went by myself. It's probably a good thing I did because the waiter, Harley, probably felt sorry for me and so he kept coming over and chatting with me and he gave me a free ice cream sundae for dessert! I think if I'd been with the others I wouldn't have got any free perks so yay for solo dining!

On Sunday, everything was kind of dead. It was cold and rainy so Heather and I went to the Maritime Museum (because it's inside and free) and Paddy's Market (same again) It was quite uneventful but an okay day. They have some amazing photos of this bright red American cargo ship in the museum which I really wanted a copy of but they didn't seem to be selling prints or replicas in the gift shop...plenty of mermaid snow globes and pirate eye patches though!

Today I've moved hostels again, this time to Woolloomooloo (best word ever!). I like King's Cross better but it seemed a waste of money to keep going between there and Central on the underground whilst I'm looking for a job. Once I've got everything sorted then I'll figure out where's best to stay but for the moment halfway between Central and King's Cross is probably the wisest moneywise. Surprisingly it's been quite sunny today, actually walked around without a coat on and nobody was staring at me. Let's hope it stays that way so I can finally go to Bondi and find some surfers.

(Oops, I almost forgot to say, Kylie was playing in the terminal when we landed! Do you think they do that just to enchant the tourists?)