Random Sightings - a VERY random one.

OK, so I can't decide if this is on a par with, beats or is beaten by my bumping into Gemma in Auckland though it is clear that I was happier with the Gemma random sighting than this, which is purely bizarre.

Every day that I come into the CBD, I walk the same way.  I go down onto Darling Harbour, walk along Cockle Bay Wharf and then I go up the steps/escalator onto Market Street and past Sussex and York Streets onto George Street (the main street running through Sydney CBD).  Well, today, just as I was walking over the ramp from Darling Harbour onto Market Street, I walked past none other than David bloody Blunkett.  Seriously.  And he was in a full suit, even though it's about 27 degrees here.

He didn't have a dog with him, just some woman guiding him along and that was it.  What he's doing in Sydney, I have no idea but that has got to be the most bizarre person to see on a Monday afternoon at Darling Harbour ever.

I may be in Sydney, but you sure can tell it's Melbourne Gold Cup day.

It's really bizarre but I've been in central Sydney for about the last three hours and oh my gosh, there are SO many women in these dresses with fascinators in their hair and whatnot.  We're not even in Melbourne and yet people seem to think they have to dress up as though they're actually there.  I do so hope that there's some sort of screening event somewhere that I don't know about or they're just idiots.

Also it's uber, uber hot today and really dry heat as well so my eyes are hurting.  Luckily it's only for one day but as it goes I pretty much have to get used to this anyway because it's not even summer yet.  Tomorrow it will rain.  Ah well.

Also a random sighting - walking down George St a few minutes ago and these two ostensibly straight guys walked past me and Guy 1 said to Guy 2, "OK, I'm going back to work, bi-atch.  Be good."  Really?!  Who talks like that outside of the Valley in California?!  Weird.

Oh, another thing about this hotness thing is the fact that I've daily been buying a 1.5 litre bottle of water from either Coles or Woolworths and burning straight through over the course of the day.  This increases my water intake from 0 litres a day to 1.5 litres and I don't even notice when I'm nearly at the end of a bottle.  I don't even like water!  I also want to contend the theory about being hungry and drinking water instead.  Drinking so much water MAKES me hungry and I've been having biggest breakfasts ever and massive meals at all times and wanting to snack on an almost permanent basis, though I've restrained myself and have been going for muesli bars and the like.

I think it's also important to note that I've realised I can't emigrate here permanently.  The reason?  Books are too expensive.  So in England a paperback averages at about 8 pounds, whereas here they're like $25 at least so that, with the weak pound, makes them about 15 pounds each.  So that's that; I'll move back to England.  Eventually.  For now, though, there are loads of secondhand book stores to keep me entertained.  Yay.

Right, I'm off to find me a place to watch the Melbourne Gold Cup from with a nice cold beverage.

The most awesome, wicked super cool story ever.

I got up this morning and basically managed to drag myself downstairs to the big communal area of the hostel.  Well, I was still bleary eyed and as I walked in there was a girl drinking tea, reading a magazine and she had long dark hair.  I couldn't really see her face apart from the bleary eyed-ness but when I blinked again I was like, 'Oh my god, is that Gemma*?' and so I blinked again and it was definitely her.  So I just blurted out, 'Oh.  My.  God.'  And she looked up and said, 'Oh.  My.  God.'  I repeated this, then she did, then I did, then she did, then there were a few seconds of silence, then I repeated it again, then she said, 'I don't know what else to say.  Oh.  My.  God.'

Well, I knew that Gemma was travelling but as far as I knew she was like up in the east coast of Australia and she didn't know that I was in Auckland at all, I don't know where she thought I was but anyway I sat down and we started talking and I was telling her about the hostel and stuff and then we sat and talked for like five hours and I introduced her to the crew and invited her to join us for dinner.  The funniest thing was every so often just stopping the conversation and repeating our disbelief that we had bumped into each other here in Auckland.

It really makes me believe that things happen for a reason and bumping into her is absolute proof of this.  Of course I had to tell everyone that this was my friend from Bristol and that it was complete coincidence, blah, blah, blah.  It's really very, very bizarre to have bumped into her but it's also very, very cool.  Cos she's ace and because it's wonderful to see somebody you know, regardless of how bizarre the circumstances are.

*OK, for those of you who don't know (most people), Gemma is a girl I worked with for a really short while not long after I first moved to Bristol and we always got on really well and saw each other sporadically for dinner etc because she's really good company and so she was going travelling but going through America first and my plans hadn't been firmly settled when I left and what with not having been in Australia I hadn't yet emailed her to get her geographical location and possibly meet up with her but anyway, moot point, because I've now met up with her anyway.  Awesome.

I should still be in bed

I have finally hit a wall of like exhaustion or something.  Last night, after an epic dinner cooked by the South Americans (it truly was epic), a bunch of us went to a bar that has a special backpackers night on a Tuesday and gives away free beer and pizza.  Anyway, so 15 of us went down there, got our drinks and about a third of the way through my pint I started to burn up a bit so I went outside when I realised it was proper burny uppy and so I just left without telling anybody and went to the internet cafe for a little while and then went to bed.

Well, this morning the fire alarm at the hostel went off.  Being as laissez-faire as I generally am, I actually just stayed in bed because I figured it'd be nothing as in there would be no fire.  The fire alarm just kept on going and going, though, and I could hear it over my iPod so I eventually got up and strolled downstairs and outside.

I'm not kidding, four fire engines arrived.  Four.  And a cherry picker.  What makes it even more surprising is that they didn't just talk to the guys at the hostel, they actually got their hoses out and they had those metal clipping things that aren't called wenches but they look like massive screwdrivers and they wedge things open.  One of them opened a drain in the road and put a pipe thing on it so they could get water.  Basically it all just seemed to be too much effort for no fire.  In England they'd send an old man on a bike with a garden hose attached to the back of it.

So, now I am awake even though I really, really don't feel very well.  But the fire engine thing was sufficiently random to warrant a blog on the subject.  I am also eating Pineapple Lumps.  They taste weird but the advert for them is pretty good.

Random Sightings

Two Aboriginal guys, separately, playing the digeridoo to dance music down at Darling Harbour.

Random Sighting

A Buddhist monk listening to his iPod.  I bet he was rocking out to Marilyn Manson.