Wednesday, 23 October 2013

G'day Mate- Sydney

Sydney, Australia: 

We got a cheap airline to take us to Sydney , which was the equivalent of being on Easy Jet for 8 or so hours. When we landed we had no trouble going through it was very easy, unlike them TV shows you see back home. We walked off the plane, got our luggage and decided what was the best way ( or cheapest) to get to our hostel. We decided to get the local bus for only around 7 dollars each, In Sydney this is very cheap as we would soon find out. The journey to the hotel was easier than I had imagined, maybe this was because I was excited to finally make it to Australia. Last time we run out of money and couldn't go, so I
Beautiful View at Blue Mountains
was eager more than ever to make it here! We booked a bed each in a 6 bed dorm was something ridiculous, we were still use to paying ten dollars for a luxury room in SE Asia. We paid a little more to be central and to have a good hostel, when we arrived they upgraded us to a 4 bed dorm, which made me pleased. The two boys in our dorm were very quiet and worked during the day, so it was like having our own room to ourselves most of the time. The first thing we did was put our bags in the room, have a mooch around the hostel and decided that we were
hungry and KFC was definitely calling. Now we are use to eating gourmet meals for 3 dollars each, we were about to get kfc with no thrills for a mere 10 dollars each, it soon became apparent that I would be chef George for the foreseeable future. Anyway after using kfcs free wifi and eating their delicious hot wings, we decided to go for a walk. We were very jet lagged and ended up walking around 4 miles or so to see the Famous Sydney Harbour and Bridge, before we knew it, it was 1 am and we were roaming the streets in Sydney , we weren't even drunk , which makes a change.  We decided to eventually go back and try to sleep. We tried and almost failed, finally getting some shut eye at a silly time.
James at Sydney Harbour

The next day we had to go to the bank, get a bank card in Australia for when we start working out here, we also managed to sort out of tax file numbers ( national insurance for all of you wondering, keeping it legit and all that), and last but no means least a Aussie Number. Once all that was sorted we decided to go food shopping, our hostel had a huge kitchen and we defo needed to make the most of it, saving up our dollar. We was shocked a packet of mushrooms is literally 3.50 English pounds, how is that even possible? More interestingly meat was so so cheap. A huge piece of steak for 6 dollars, so it soon became apparent that we was becoming raging meat eaters because we couldn't afford the veg. we saved some much money by cooking, When I say 'we cooked' that means I cook, James watches and don't offer to wash up at the end of it. He needs whipping into shape. James's reply to him not helping out is usually along the lines of  'When your my wife in a couple of years time, you'll be a good one with all the practice I'm giving you now' , speechless. Thinking about it, I don't think anyone eats out in Sydney when they are backpacking it literally is far too expensive and I personally ain't paying 6 dollars for a bit of garlic bread that I could make better ( rant over haha).  After shopping we got some lunch 3 slices of pizza for 10 dollars, so one and half each, I'm definitely going to be loosing weight out here haha. We headed back to the hostel feeling accomplished because we had sorted out most things in an afternoon, good team work! 
Sydney Harbour

We were still so jet lagged, I ended up making us dinner, as always I have no control on portion sizes and James get fed a feast enough for two men haha. The night our hostel held a trivia Tuesday Night, we teamed up with 5 of us from the UK and one Canadian boy, who was overly excited, but a laugh. We came a impressive third in total and won lots of free drink vouchers , so we didn't spend hardly anything having a few beverages or two in the evening. Our hostel ran a free walking coastal beach tour the next day, so we had a relatively early night and got up to do the Beach tour. 

The beach tour saw us all take a bus to Coggee Beach and walk along stopping at a few beaches on the way and finally ending up in Bondi Beach. The walk was really nice and I enjoyed the walk, the weather was a nice temperature and the beaches were some of the best I have seen. This took up most of our day, a girl we met on a quiz team suggested we do the Sydney Walking Tour the next day, we was definitely going to do that. The next day we turned up to the tour, its a free tour but you pay a tip if your enjoyed it or not. The tour saw us go to all the historic sights in Sydney and explained the Aussies History of their convict past. We got to see so much of Sydney and got to
Three Sisters Rock
understand how Sydney became the city as we know it. On our tour we even got to pass the local news room and see a lady presenting the news and when it cut to a break, she got her make up done. I'm sure she appreciates the Tourists all waving at her, while she's presenting some news. The tour ended up at Darling Harbour and we finally got to see it in the light. We got told a story that if you wish to climb the Bridge you can't be under the influence of alcohol , George Clooney ,obviously had too many drinks the night before and was refused entry to climb. They take this seriously and breathalise everyone that wants to do it. The harbour has some cool cafe's, eateries and bars, all of which look beautiful, but Cinderella here had to go home to cook for her hubby haha.  We headed back to the hostel, full of facts from our tour. We were so tired as we still weren't sleeping that well since we landed in Australia, so we got an early night.

That famous huge steak
The next day we got a ferry over to a place called Manley ,which was good. The ferry was the best way to see the sights in Sydney . Manley itself is very good and relaxed a typical beach town. All you ever see in Australia is Beaches, and look another beach. So we decided to go back on the ferry. On the ferry the sky was orange , as if the sky was on fire. Unbeknown to us we didn't know there was bush fires close by and this was the reason why the skies were such a bright orange. You can see a theme through this blog :we aren't drinking or eating too much haha, maybe this is why we are doing so many excursions. We read up about a place called 'The Blue Mountains' , and decided that we was going to go there the next morning. The bush fires were still ongoing and it was very close to the Blue
The effect of the bush fires from the years before
Mountains, but we decided to risk it and go anyway. The train ride to the mountains was around 2 hours, so we left for the 9.30  am train and made our way to the mountains. The blue mountains are for those who want to go on scenic walks and visit the national parks. You can purchase a ticket for 35 dollars , which allows you to go on the worlds steepest train, cable car, sky car and another one that I can't seem to remember. After going on all four we decided to go on a walk around the National Park , and we got to see the famous three sisters. The three sisters are a set of rocks that look like you guessed it...Triplet Sisters. The walk was so scenic, I'm starting to like this trekking stuff! On our way round we got to see how the bush fires affected the national park some two years before, the trees were all black, but luckily nobody died or got injured this time. On the way back we walked through the town called 'Katoomba', it was such a peaceful, serene town and definitely looked like what Australia should be.
Blue Mountains

We made our way back and decided to check out. A few days previous we had tried to extend our stay but because it was the weekend everywhere was full, so we had to settle on a 14 bed dorm in Bondi Beach. We got a confirmation that said we were being placed in the resort down the other beach. I gave them a ring and they said that because its the weekend , everywhere was full and we had no choice but to go to their other hostel that was down the other beach. Being annoyed already, we didn't have much expectations , we just thought its only two nights, what's the worse that could happen!? We made our way on Friday night to the hostel, checked in and had to pay 3 dollars for dirty stained sheets, so you can imagine we was not impressed.The hostel was full of long term people, who basically live there so was really clicky and people weren't so friendly. We got two top bunk beds that had no ladders to on to the top, so annoying and full of people's clothes and stuff everywhere, One of the worse place I have ever been to. That night was 'oktoberfest' and the hostel gave our free entry tickets, they had however ran out by the time we had arrived. We asked a man if he had a spare ticket, seeing as he wasn't going, he said 'yes' and he went to get us it, upon his return he decided to act like the knob he was and said he will give it to us if we pay him. This made no sense, I told him no. He said if you really want it, then you will beg me for it. I literally didn't know whether to laugh or slap him haha. I decided to laugh and told him,. I'd rather pay 100 dollars
Steepest Train
than give you him any of my money, he got the hint and did one. Anyway we finally made it to the bar with a another little hick up on the way. It wasn't worth it, full of stupid drunk Australians who were generally acting like idiots. They had a rap group up on stage, now I'm found of the music myself, but really? It's meant to be Oktoberfest for god sake haha. We stayed for a while and enjoyed ourselves, then it was time to go back to the dorm. The next day we just decided to get up and go to the beach all day. The beach itself was beautiful and really relaxing. Coggee Beach is a lovely place, its just a shame we had to be surrounded with such idiots. We spent the day and the beach at at night ate our for the first time in what seemed like ages ( no cooking for me ) . I ordered a steak and no lie it was the hugest piece of meat, I have ever eaten. Well James had a good third of it lol. And all of this for only 15 dollars, I couldn't believe it.  We then took a walk for a few miles to a place called ' Randick' . it had a old fashioned cinema called the Ritz and was just generally a really good town. Our time was coming to a end, we headed back to the hostel to get some sleep as we were leaving in the morning to head to a place called Newcastle and then Onto another town called Port Macquarie.
Beach

Note to anybody who wants to stay in Sydney avoid 'Cogge beach surfside backpackers'  it is filthy, dirty, a cold showers and the staff literally do not know what they are doing. 
Our time in Sydney had come to a end, and what a busy few days we had. Sydney is such a good place and we definitely want to come back sometime soon :))

Until Next Time...

Georgia and James. 
Katoomba








No comments:

Post a Comment