Future sailors (reprise)

It's been another hot weekend in Sydney, with wall to wall sunshine. Do I have to go home? Oh hang on, yes I do, and I get to spend four weeks in India on the way. Hurrah!

As well as the fab weather, the weekend was good because Mal and Krellis came to visit and helped me 'tick off' several things from my to-do list. So here's a brief account of what went on.

The boys arrived late Thursday and after probably a few too many quiet beers at my apartment we got up early to make the pick-up for our day tour of wineries in the Hunter Valley. It's a little over two hours' drive north so we needed to be up early to make the day worthwhile, including a stop for lunch where we devoured not only fish & chips but also an awesome lump of cheese...

There were only seven of us on this tour and we only visited small out-of-the-way places, so we all felt like we'd learnt something. Although we'd drunk so many different wines by the end of the day that I'm not sure any of us could tell you what that was. You might be able to tell from the facial expressions in the photo below...

Driving back towards the city, clearly at least one of us felt that a nap was in order...

In the evening, after a mini pub crawl around The Rocks, we met up with an old friend of Mal's (Dan) who's been living in Sydney for two years. Then ended up at a rather surprisingly upmarket bar in Kings Cross with Dan and Dan's girlfriend and her mates, drinking expensive table-service cocktails until 2:30. This was a surprise given all the wine consumed earlier in the day! The evening ended well with pies, stacked up with mash, mushy peas and gravy all precariously balanced on top, eaten standing up, at the infamous Harry's Cafe de Wheels in Woolloomooloo, something of a Sydney institution. Two things ticked off the to-do-list already!

Hangovers successfully acquired, we set off mid-morning on Saturday for Middle Harbour Yacht Club, as Krellis had organised with a friend of his to get us out on the harbour sailing for the afternoon. Now, Mal and I were initially a little apprehensive, as being total novices we didn't want to look like fools or be a hindrance... we were actually going to be racing, after all. However our fears were allayed by the news that we were in no way integral to the crew. In fact there were probably even a few too many of us on the boat, so Mal and I performed a job essentially of ballast, flinging ourselves from one side of the boat to the other every time we tacked, so keeping our feet out of the water and trying to avoid having our heads knocked off by the boom!

'Crewing' for yacht owners / skippers is quite a popular pastime in Sydney, as these people generally need some extra pairs of hands to help them do everything there is to do on a boat, and as it's free this is obviously the cheapest way to get out on the water. Everyone's a winner, and the scene is nowhere near as snobbish as the sailing fraternity in the UK... there are just so many boats in the harbour, it's too accessible to be that snobbish.

You can see in these pictures that I'm wearing a hat... it lasted about three hours before a gust of wind caught it and flung it into the harbour. Mal said that was his highlight of the day, if not the weekend. Ha ha indeed.

After the sailing we joined Krellis' mate Anna (who'd hooked us up with the sailing for the day) for an impromptu barbie at her place in Manly, overlooking the ferry dock. Absolutely stunning. It was there that Anna received a text from the skipper informing us that we'd actually won the race we had competed in! Not quite what I had expected from my first proper taste of sailing!

Sunday morning came and we got up too late to see the Sydney marathon going past my window. The bridge was closed but was open again by the time we wandered up to the south-east pylon... from where there is a great viewing platform at the top. At $9.50 it's much better value than the bridge climb, and you get pretty much the same view. Great for Mal, who wanted pictures of himself in front of lots of landmarks to send to his nan for her birthday. To be fair Krellis and I indulged a little in this too.

After that we got back on the water, taking the ferry over to Watson's Bay to eat fish & chips from Doyles and drink some beer in the sunshine. Which was great. Plus there were lots more 'tourist in front of landmark' photo opportunities for Mal.

And that was the weekend over, in what seemed like a matter of minutes! So now it's Monday and this time in a fortnight I will be in Mumbai... seems kind of surreal but really looking forward to it. Just need to get around to doing some research!

Robin

Spring has sprung!

Just a quick post to say that spring has definitely sprung in Sydney, so much so that on Saturday it felt more like summer! Out in the western suburbs the temperature got up to about 30 degrees, so I headed out to Bondi Beach... as did half of the city it seems. The last time I'd walked along the beach, just three weeks ago after golf up the road, it was freezing (OK it was getting dark). So I was amazed by the number of people on the beach...

I got my feet wet at the water's edge but that was it... freezing! All the surfers were wearing wetsuits, after all. It wasn't quite so warm as in the city down on the beach with a chilly sea breeze but what the hey, couldn't really complain.

Sunday's weather was rubbish in comparison, but it made for a nice shot of a rainbow behind the city towers illuminated by the setting sun...

Getting quite excited now by the fact that my mates Mal (living in Melbourne) and Krellis (Perth) are coming to Sydney from Thursday night for a long weekend... going up to the Hunter Valley to do wine tasting i.e. drinking on Friday, then hopefully back to Bondi on Saturday... forecast is for 28 degrees!

Robin

Funny Business. Canberra.

OK so it's half six on a Wednesday night, and apart from washing some shirts (woo!) I don't have any exciting plans for the evening, so I've finally got time to update the blog...

As an aside, Hannah has much more exciting news than I do, being back in India as she is... I keep trying to get her to post something!

As I've slipped more and more into the life of a 'young professional' Sydneysider (I have to keep reminding myself that this was supposed to be a backpacking trip!) I've done some cool stuff over the last few weeks. Two weeks ago I went to a stand-up comedy night above a pub in Glebe, featuring amongst (funny) others a bizarre rant from some guy from the western suburbs about Emmanuel Kant sitting on a ceiling fan in a mixed business (corner shop) in Mount Druitt. Don't ask! And a week ago I went with some folks from work to a cabaret night at Sydney Uni, put on by a colleague who, when she's not delivering our post, runs a theatre company. The best act was probably 'depression - the musical'. Very funny.

On the last Saturday of August I saw the Sydney Swans (NSW's only AFL team) last game of the season at the Sydney Cricket Ground, universally known as the SCG. I was very keen to get to a game at the SCG as just recently I've been lucky enough at work to do a scheme design for their new stand, to be built in time for the start of the cricket season at the end of 2009. I was lucky too because I got the tickets from a colleague, who overheard that I was keen to go, and gave me four members' passes that he couldn't use for that game for free. Sweet! The members' pavilion itself was interesting in an old school sort of way, and the whole experience was a bit bizarre because of the strict dress code... I turned up looking like I was going to the office.

Then last weekend I ticked off something on my 'to do' list by hiring a car and driving down to Canberra. I mean, when else would I ever do this? Bill Bryson described Canberra as 'exceedingly dull' so to satisfy my curiosity I just had to see the place. Besides the weather forecast for Sydney looked crap (lots of rain) and it hardly ever rains in Canberra. So I picked up a car and headed off down the Hume Highway.

The drive was quick, about 3 hours if you don't stop. An unexpected highlight was driving alongside the curious 'Lake George' about half an hour outside of Canberra. I say curious because it was completely dry. Stopping at a lookout, a sign explained that the lake has no outlet to the sea, so its level goes up and down depending on how much rain falls and how much evaporates or infiltrates into the ground. The press keep saying how Australia is basically in drought conditions, and here was definite evidence of it.

Canberra is often derided as being too spread out and so difficult to walk around. This it may be but I didn't really care because I had a car! It's supposed to be a great place for cycling too, at least compared to the murderous streets and drivers of Sydney. In fact driving in Sydney is a pain in the butt too, with loads of confusing one way streets and expensive parking, even out in the suburbs. So it was with no small amusement that after I checked into my hostel, the first thing I did was drive up to the Parliament Building and park right underneath it for free. I mean, where else could you do that?

I did the tour and had a bit of a wander, including up on the grass-covered roof, which is a nice touch. The whole parliamentary system mirrors the British system so much it's weird, for example the colour scheme of the lower house matches the green of the House of Commons, and that of the upper house matches the red of the House of Lords. They even have maces and despatch boxes. In a building only completed in 1988. Odd. Anyway I got a few nice piccies including the obligatory giant stainless steel flagpole...

After that I went to the very entertaining National Museum of Australia, with an exterior that is actually more fun than the inside. I only mention this here because I wanted to post this photo:

There are lots of worthy sights and cultural things to do in Canberra, but most things shut at 5pm. So I spent the last hour or so of daylight enjoying the view from the telecoms tower at the top of Black Mountain, which is pretty much the only 'sight' open late. From here I could appreciate that Canberra's setting is actually quite beautiful, surrounded as it is by mountains, with the Snowy Mountains (home to Australia's only skiing region) just over the horizon to the south.

The Australian Capital Territory is also notorious for having very relaxed (by Australian standards) laws on porn and fireworks. I thought it would be funny to put together a little postcard-montage of some of the shopfronts that Canberra is slightly notorious for...

Part of the reason I stayed at a hostel in Canberra was to start easing myself back into the backpacker way of doing things, before I head off to India in (gulp) less than four weeks' time! I must admit I didn't do too well on this score, forgetting as I did that you don't get a towel at these places. And I forget my shower gel. Doh.

Anyway Sunday was spent moseying about the Old Parliament House, and especially the small Aboriginal 'Tent Embassy' incongruously camped across the road. This started as a protest against the 'occupation' of their land and has been semi-tolerated by the bureaucrats for decades. Kind of reminds you of some of the dirty past around here (mainly the fault of the Brits, of course...)

Back on the road again in the late afternoon, after buying some nice food from the 'old bus depot markets' and making a stop for some wine tasting at a winery by Lake George, I pulled off the highway into Goulburn, for one reason,and one reason only, The Big Merino. I hadn't seen any of the famous 'big things' since I'd last driven past The Big Banana in Coffs Harbour on the way to Sydney, just before I started back at work in April.

I wasn't disappointed... look at the size of it! Much bigger and better than The Big Banana, let alone the Giant South-West Gippsland Earthworm in Victoria.

I think I can safely leave Oz without seeing another 'big thing' now.

Robin

High culture and golf... really?

I can't believe that two weeks have passed since I last posted anything on this blog so here's a quick update on the last two weeks... amazingly there's only six weeks left until I'm due to fly to India... and Hannah will be back there even quicker (but I'll let her write about that).

Since I got back from the UK I've been hanging out with a bunch of (mainly Irish) ex-pats (although there are some Brits thrown in for good measure) which has meant many opportunities to try out the many very cool pubs and restaurants found in Sydney's eastern suburbs. And do some cultural stuff. But mainly go out a lot.

It was thus that I found myself doing a pub crawl through the back streets of Paddington last Saturday... not a backpacker in sight and there are some really interesting places to get a drink. And attempting to eat a rack of ribs bigger than my head in Bondi on the Thursday before that. And finding what could be my favourite pub in Sydney, the Cricketers Arms in Surry Hills. Basically all this goes to show that, like London, a lot of the more exciting stuff in Sydney happens away from the city centre. So lots of scope to explore. I have a feeling that if I were to stay on, I could spend years getting to know the city and not get bored.

I spent some time this weekend seeing some more of the Biennale of Sydney exhibition (i.e. what I went to Cockatoo Island for back at the start of July) at the Art Gallery of NSW and the Museum of Contemporary Art. Typically the art varied from the pointless to the interesting to the funny to the frankly quite horrible. Fitting into the last bracket would be a real stuffed horse hanging from the ceiling at the MCA. But at the same venue there was an 'installation' by Helio Oiticica (famous Brazilian artist from the 60s) which consisted of a room full of hammocks, lit psychedelically, with Jimi Hendrix blaring out of a stereo. This was very cool, but I probably would have enjoyed it more if the hammocks were hung a bit higher: I couldn't really swing and 'chill' with my butt touching the floor.

And today I did something I haven't done for a very long time... play golf. Kind of inadvertently. I was invited to play 'pitch & putt' but on arriving at the Bondi Golf Club it was clear that it was a bit more serious... although not much! And of the six of us playing, I got round with the 3rd best score, so despite not touching a golf stick in probably nine years I did OK. The Bondi Golf Club is a fun little place... it only has nine holes, most of which are Par 3, and sits atop the cliffs north of Bondi Beach. So basically there are no poseurs, and the views of the beach and ocean are amazing. You can even (just) see the Harbour Bridge. Once again, I really should have taken my camera!

Robin

Manly Fishos and Surfing Dolphins

Yes, yes, I'm quite sure that the title of this post makes no sense to anyone who hasn't spent some time in Sydney. The Fishos in Manly (aka the Manly Fishing and Sporting Association) is a true Aussie working man's club, offering amongst other attractions the delightful sounding 'meat raffle' - not the normal kind of place I would choose to hang out - but it is also one of the city's more interesting small venues for live music. So having found a friend to go to some gigs with, I found myself out in the 'burbs at the Fishos watching a band called British India... who coming from Melbourne, are neither British nor Indian. But who are very short and very young. And quite good for a Friday night rock out. Thankfully the gig finished in time to (just) make the last ferry back to the city...

I had an interesting week at work. Work on the Brisbane Airport job is tailing off and the number of staff working on it is being scaled back. I've been given a week's work to do on the SCG (Sydney Cricket Ground), scheming up a design for the roof of a new stand. This is interesting stuff and more up my street than the work I've been doing on the airport, but for a moment I thought there was a risk of being sent home early! This would be a tad inconvenient, seeing as Mal and Krellis are visiting me in late September and have already booked flights. And I've got a list of things I want to do before I move on. But I think I've convinced the powers that be to keep me on until October 3rd. This would tie up nicely with my London superiors' expressed preference for me to return to work there in early November, and still allow me a month to travel in India in between!

After a very welcome eggs benedict for Saturday breakfast (it's not the weekend unless I get at least one cooked brekky, if you ask me) I headed over to Bondi to do the famed Bondi to Coogee coastal walk. This is an easy 3 mile / 5km walk over cliffs and past beaches and beautiful seaside homes. It also takes you past several awesome seawater swimming pools, literally perched on the rocks by the water, with waves crashing over the side... I really should have taken my camera along. Especially when, only about 20 minutes into the walk, a pod of about twenty dolphins could be seen playing in the surf of Tamarama Bay. They were literally surfing - using the waves to propel them along, just under the surface of the water. And then one even jumped clean out of the water, seemingly just to please the sizeable crowd of onlookers that had now gathered. Amazing.

So even though I'm looking forward to India, it's hard to contemplate leaving Sydney with stuff like this on your doorstep and summer just around the corner...!

Robin

Jetlag schmetlag

Just a quick post to say I made it back to Sydney in one piece. I didn't really sleep on the night flight from London to Tokyo, and so was pretty disappointed when I found that the 'day rooms' at Narita airport that I was hoping to use for a couple of hours' kip were all occupied. But I could at least get a shower room so managed to get over some of the skank of a 12-hour overnight flight!

The flight from Tokyo to Sydney was more comfortable - I managed to get an exit row seat - but again I didn't really sleep. Landing at 6:40am, I was back at my apartment shortly after 8am. I felt ridiculously tired but decided that I should go into the office (well, it is only a couple of doors down the road!) and to my surprise managed a whole day. I even got dragged out for a couple of beers and pizza after work. But shortly after 7pm, having gone about 50 hours without any decent sleep, I hit the sack and slept for 12 hours. Jetlag? What jetlag?!

It's Sunday night now and apart from two nights out on the sauce I have achieved not much this weekend. Must try harder... I may have as few as nine weekends left in Sydney so I'm going to start making some to-do lists to make sure I actually do everything I want to do before I move on again! Already looking forward to India...

Robin

Back to backpacking... back home!

So a quick recap of what I've been up to in the UK is in order, before I start thinking about getting back to Oz... where curiously I will no longer be living like the virtual gypsy that I am right now!

First: Southampton. Now don't get me wrong, I can say whatever I like here because my Dad and his wife Barbara live in Southampton, and yet frequently articulate their dislike for the place. My dad's theory is that whatever the Luftwaffe didn't destroy during WWII, Southampton City Council must have set about destroying immediately afterwards.

Now, I'd always sort of forgiven Southampton its lack of looks because as a teenager it often made for a more exciting day / night out than Winchester could ever provide. And of course there is the awesome Saints FC. However as I walked around the city centre on a Monday afternoon (for the first time in years) the overwhelming feeling I got was one of "Christ, this place is down on its heels". Too many empty shops and tons of chavs hanging around. Haven't they got anywhere better to go? Probably not.

Despite offering to help my Dad out with funeral-related tasks, it transpired that there really wasn't much for me to do in Southampton. So on Tuesday I caught the train over to Bath for a rendezvous with Hannah, the first time we'd seen each other since early May! I don't think I'm giving too much away publicly if I say that we had a lot to talk about, so we stayed overnight. Having the best part of two days to wander around Bath, drinking coffee and beer in the sun, eating out, and generally behaving as tourists (yes we even went round the roman baths!) was great.

On Wednesday I headed back to Southampton, where I met my brother at his office (i.e. Arup Southampton) and we drove back to his flat in Winchester, from where we were driving to Lincoln the next day for the funeral. But not before I helped him and his mates win the pub quiz at the Fulflood Arms, for the first time. My knowledge of Australian deserts proved surprisingly useful, and I particularly enjoyed the 'cheese round', which involved each team being given a plate of cheese and attempting to identify which was Double Gloucester (easy - it's orange), Wensleydale, Caerphilly, Cheshire, or Lancashire (a bit harder - they all look/taste the same)! Could I come every week? Not likely, sorry.

Granddad Bill's funeral on Friday went well. The words spoken by the vicar in between the two hymns were exactly appropriate for an 88-year old and there was a decent turn-out of remaining family members, neighbours and a smattering of other people who knew him. My Dad coped well and has been doing a great job of sorting out all the details as well as preparing to have the bungalow cleared. As I headed back towards London in my brother's car in the late afternoon, I couldn't help but think how there was nothing like returning home for a funeral to bring the carefree traveler (yeah right that's me) back down to earth with a bump!

After the funeral I went to London and, apart from a day trip to Chelmsford to catch up with my 10-month old nephew Adam and his parents, stayed there until Wednesday. Catching up with mates, and Hannah, on the weekend was welcome relief, as was Paddy's roast lamb and going round the shops. Why is it that I can find stuff I like much more easily in London than Sydney? (don't answer that...)

I also spent some time wandering around Holloway with the intent of taking some ironic photos to show the peeps back in Sydney what a beautiful part of London I call home. But then I thought some of the photos weren't that unattractive. Anyway see which of the following are the 'ironic' and the 'actually Holloway isn't that bad' photos...

On Wednesday, after visiting my office to discuss the what, the when, and the how of when I might return to work in London, I found myself on a train down to Devon, where I stayed at my mum's place in the small village of Bradninch for a few days. It's a pretty part of the world, but it also means I've been able to reunite myself with my record collection! (when my bag was stolen in Argentina, I didn't just lose my passport and camera, but all my music too)
So I spent probably too much time indoors ripping CDs. Hence why I found time to start writing this blog post.

Anyway here's a few pictures of Bradninch to make up for all this drivel...! (I think they complement the Holloway ones, don't you?)

So after returning to London on Sunday morning and spending the whole afternoon picnicking in Hampstead Heath on the hottest day of the year so far (31 degrees C in London, and humid with it, phew) I'm now sitting at Paddy's flat in Holloway on Monday morning. I fly back to Sydney tonight. I'm very grateful to Paddy for letting me crash at his place, having spent six nights here now... it's made the stop in London a lot easier than it might otherwise have been. And although I returned to the UK for sad reasons, I've definitely enjoyed catching up with family and friends. It had been a while!

Robin