Canberra
Blue Mountains
The will be updated album of Sydney photos
16 March 2010
9 March 2010
Excellent, excellent times.
OK, so I am being quite tragic but I can't wait until I get back to Sydney to write about my time in Canberra because I'm beyond happy right now, for lots and lots of reasons. Partly, Canberra is soooooooo tranquil and very, very green. Yes, the architecture is not exactly very pretty but equally it kind of works because it's all from the same era rather but mainly because there is so much green!!! There are gardens, lawns, parks all over and it's location is such that you can basically always see hills and trees on the periphery of the city. Whilst Civic (the shopping centre) is not exactly pretty owing to the concrete and 1960s architecture, the city is cut basically in half by Lake Burley Griffin and you can walk along the side of it surrounded by greenery. On the south side of the lake is the Parliament Zone, which contains most of the galleries and museums as well, and where I have spent the best part of the last two days.
Yesterday was the Masterpieces from Paris exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia and it was absolutely awesome even if I am slightly worried that I've become one of those arses that I never wanted to be and am now someone who looks at art and 'consides; it. This particularly struck me when I was looking at this painting with a man, a sail and a wave in it and I was like, 'Hm, there has got to be a reason that wave was drawn to be there rather than anywhere else.' I'm so worried that I've become even more wanky. I didn't help matters by going to buy myself a really lovely glass of wine (I'll confess it was $18) but being ever so slightly overly picky about which wine I would have - in the end a 2005 Cabernet Merlot from WA. Even though it was a wine bar their choice of wines by the glass wasn't great, if I'm honest. See?! Wanky!!! Anyway, veering back onto topic from quite a drastic tangent, even regardless of the exhibition the whole museum is absolutely amazing, with permanent works from Monet, Cézanne, Lichtenstein, Warhol (his portraits of Chairman Mao), Francis Bacon - a whole range which unfortunately did include the expected rubbish modern art. There was honestly a massive white plastic grid frame. That was it. That is not art. Not even one per cent. But there was one amazing modern art piece - models of motorbikes that had been molded to resemble stags fighting, with loads of rear view mirrors stuck on to resemble the antlers. I kind of wish I'd taken a photo, but I didn't.
Yesterday afternoon I went to the Old Parliament house, which was quite nice. All old and then you go to the government offices and they're 1960s monstrosities. I've got photos of that which I'll post at some point in the next few days. It was pretty cool and also they have a room about all the Prime Ministers of Australia. I noticed that the first PM didn't have an Australian accent. Neither did the guy who was Prime Minister during most of WWII. I couldn't be bothered to listen to every single PM to establish when the accent came to be but so far as I can conclude it was somewhere between 1940 and 1970. That's really quite a new accent but then listening to recordings of Prime Ministers is hardly representative.
Today was even better, I've had a bloody awesome time - I went to Parliament house and even though they had run out of tickets for listening to Question Time in the House of Representatives, I was told to go to the ticket desk and see what the crack was. Anyway, I flirted my way into getting a ticket. Into the central gallery. SCORE!! Question Time was hilarious as they were all behaving like unruly children and the Speaker of the House had to give warnings to sooooooooooo many MPs. It was crazy but actually pretty interesting. Kevin Rudd et al just kept pointing out what the Howard government had failed to do for 12 years and the Opposition... didn't do very much, really, actually. Except two female MPs basically asked the exact same question and made the exact same point. MP1 got up and said something like, 'Can the Prime Minister please explain to me why a female chef, earning $68,000, would earn only $9,770 for the 18 weeks during which she is entitled to paid parental leave, when under our plans the same woman would earn $26,000 over 26 weeks to give her the opportunity to spend time with her young child.' PM's response was actually pretty funny - $10k is $10k more than she'd have received under the Howard government, who had not established a parental leave scheme at all.
Then, though, MP2, gets up and says, 'Can the Prime Minister please explain why a female sales account manager, earning $55,000, would only earn $9,770 for the 18 weeks during which she is entitled to paid parental leave, when under our plans the same woman would earn $19,000 over 26 weeks to give her the opportunity to spend time with her young child. Is the PM favouring his friends in big business over families???' What?! It was funny, though. Rudd repeated his point, of course, and made mention of actually giving parental leave when he could have retained the status quo disproved her point. Yeah, the Coalition got their asses kicked, basically.
Man, I'm such a geek. Mainly, though, the peace and quiet is a great relief. I can actually hear birds and the wind and water and not just cars and people and loud bangs all the time. Also, I must say, people here are absolutely lovely. I've literally not come across a single horrible or rude person; they're all friendly and everybody I've walked past has smiled at me. It's awesome. Yeah, I reckon I could live here.
Tomorrow, then, before I get back to Sydney, I'm going to the War Memorial. I don't want Carly to be annoyed with me.
Yesterday was the Masterpieces from Paris exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia and it was absolutely awesome even if I am slightly worried that I've become one of those arses that I never wanted to be and am now someone who looks at art and 'consides; it. This particularly struck me when I was looking at this painting with a man, a sail and a wave in it and I was like, 'Hm, there has got to be a reason that wave was drawn to be there rather than anywhere else.' I'm so worried that I've become even more wanky. I didn't help matters by going to buy myself a really lovely glass of wine (I'll confess it was $18) but being ever so slightly overly picky about which wine I would have - in the end a 2005 Cabernet Merlot from WA. Even though it was a wine bar their choice of wines by the glass wasn't great, if I'm honest. See?! Wanky!!! Anyway, veering back onto topic from quite a drastic tangent, even regardless of the exhibition the whole museum is absolutely amazing, with permanent works from Monet, Cézanne, Lichtenstein, Warhol (his portraits of Chairman Mao), Francis Bacon - a whole range which unfortunately did include the expected rubbish modern art. There was honestly a massive white plastic grid frame. That was it. That is not art. Not even one per cent. But there was one amazing modern art piece - models of motorbikes that had been molded to resemble stags fighting, with loads of rear view mirrors stuck on to resemble the antlers. I kind of wish I'd taken a photo, but I didn't.
Yesterday afternoon I went to the Old Parliament house, which was quite nice. All old and then you go to the government offices and they're 1960s monstrosities. I've got photos of that which I'll post at some point in the next few days. It was pretty cool and also they have a room about all the Prime Ministers of Australia. I noticed that the first PM didn't have an Australian accent. Neither did the guy who was Prime Minister during most of WWII. I couldn't be bothered to listen to every single PM to establish when the accent came to be but so far as I can conclude it was somewhere between 1940 and 1970. That's really quite a new accent but then listening to recordings of Prime Ministers is hardly representative.
Today was even better, I've had a bloody awesome time - I went to Parliament house and even though they had run out of tickets for listening to Question Time in the House of Representatives, I was told to go to the ticket desk and see what the crack was. Anyway, I flirted my way into getting a ticket. Into the central gallery. SCORE!! Question Time was hilarious as they were all behaving like unruly children and the Speaker of the House had to give warnings to sooooooooooo many MPs. It was crazy but actually pretty interesting. Kevin Rudd et al just kept pointing out what the Howard government had failed to do for 12 years and the Opposition... didn't do very much, really, actually. Except two female MPs basically asked the exact same question and made the exact same point. MP1 got up and said something like, 'Can the Prime Minister please explain to me why a female chef, earning $68,000, would earn only $9,770 for the 18 weeks during which she is entitled to paid parental leave, when under our plans the same woman would earn $26,000 over 26 weeks to give her the opportunity to spend time with her young child.' PM's response was actually pretty funny - $10k is $10k more than she'd have received under the Howard government, who had not established a parental leave scheme at all.
Then, though, MP2, gets up and says, 'Can the Prime Minister please explain why a female sales account manager, earning $55,000, would only earn $9,770 for the 18 weeks during which she is entitled to paid parental leave, when under our plans the same woman would earn $19,000 over 26 weeks to give her the opportunity to spend time with her young child. Is the PM favouring his friends in big business over families???' What?! It was funny, though. Rudd repeated his point, of course, and made mention of actually giving parental leave when he could have retained the status quo disproved her point. Yeah, the Coalition got their asses kicked, basically.
Man, I'm such a geek. Mainly, though, the peace and quiet is a great relief. I can actually hear birds and the wind and water and not just cars and people and loud bangs all the time. Also, I must say, people here are absolutely lovely. I've literally not come across a single horrible or rude person; they're all friendly and everybody I've walked past has smiled at me. It's awesome. Yeah, I reckon I could live here.
Tomorrow, then, before I get back to Sydney, I'm going to the War Memorial. I don't want Carly to be annoyed with me.
Just putting this out there, kids...
Flights to Sydney in September for £700 return with Malaysian Airlines.
Flights to Perth for £830 in January again with Malaysian.
And, oooooooooh, that's via Kuala Lumpur!!!
Flights to Perth for £830 in January again with Malaysian.
And, oooooooooh, that's via Kuala Lumpur!!!
7 March 2010
Moving out via Canberra
So, in about three hours I'm moving out of my place and moving back into my hostel for a couple of weeks but before that I'm off to Canberra baby, yeah! I'm muchly looking forward to getting out of Sydney for a few days and just chilling out and having a normal time regime. My coach to Canberra is at 5pm so I won't get there until 8.30pm, which means food, a bit of chillout and an early night - I have to get to the gallery at about 9.30 tomorrow morning for the Masters of Paris exhibition - it's gonna be awesome! Other than that I'm not 100% sure what I'm going to do but I have my Rough Guide to look at and decide.
I'm also actually quite looking forward to getting back to my hostel, if I'm honest! But Melbourne in a couple of weeks is a truly exciting prospect - especially with the Grand Prix! WOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!
Anyway, I actually don't have much else to write about, but when I get back from Canberra I'll update with how I found it.
I'm also actually quite looking forward to getting back to my hostel, if I'm honest! But Melbourne in a couple of weeks is a truly exciting prospect - especially with the Grand Prix! WOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!
Anyway, I actually don't have much else to write about, but when I get back from Canberra I'll update with how I found it.
1 March 2010
Oh gosh, one week, one new update
Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!!!
Right, I've decided I'm leaving Sydney at the end of the month. Why? Because I can. Yep, I'm moving to Melbourne for a couple of months because everyone tells me that Melbourne is far more my cup of tea and so we'll see about that. Even if I don't love it, at least I'll know that rather than having spent all this time in a city I'm not in love with and then face the possibility of getting to Melbourne, loving it and then not really having any time to spend there owing to the stupid fruit picking requirements of the Australian government.
So, other than that, well I have Canberra this weekend. VERY excited about that. Also I have had a lovely few days with an awesome wine tasting on Thursday, which was about 100 wineries and about 400 wines from New Zealand. I actually didn't get drunk, I just got really sluggish. Then after that a few of us from work went to dinner at this awesome Italian restaurant and then to a gig at a bar/nightclub place called Trademark in The Cross. On Saturday I went with Beatrice (a girl from Bath who I met at work here) to the Mardi Gras parade which started off as a total nightmare but ended up being really good thanks to both of us being quite small and also two milk crates. I'm very glad I've done the Mardi Gras thing, and that's a big TICK off my list of stuff that I should do.
Last night was Bea's last night in Australia so we went for a few drinks and then I was really jealous that she was going back to England but also she's awesome and lovely and I'm really going to miss her so I kept hugging her and I cried a little bit. Mainly because I'm a princess but partly because I'm a loser.
Today it's raining and cold so I'm wearing my lovely yellow hoodie of fun and goodness and I'm going to work soon.
Actually, yes, I do quite like blogging so I will definitely be carrying on with this update malarkey. I also have some photos to upload and will do so some time this week for DEFINITE. I also plan to go around Sydney and take absolutely tonnes of photos of everywhere before I leave but there is a lot of Sydney to see so I might have to finish work quite soon just so I have a chance to organise myself and all that jazz.
Right, I've decided I'm leaving Sydney at the end of the month. Why? Because I can. Yep, I'm moving to Melbourne for a couple of months because everyone tells me that Melbourne is far more my cup of tea and so we'll see about that. Even if I don't love it, at least I'll know that rather than having spent all this time in a city I'm not in love with and then face the possibility of getting to Melbourne, loving it and then not really having any time to spend there owing to the stupid fruit picking requirements of the Australian government.
So, other than that, well I have Canberra this weekend. VERY excited about that. Also I have had a lovely few days with an awesome wine tasting on Thursday, which was about 100 wineries and about 400 wines from New Zealand. I actually didn't get drunk, I just got really sluggish. Then after that a few of us from work went to dinner at this awesome Italian restaurant and then to a gig at a bar/nightclub place called Trademark in The Cross. On Saturday I went with Beatrice (a girl from Bath who I met at work here) to the Mardi Gras parade which started off as a total nightmare but ended up being really good thanks to both of us being quite small and also two milk crates. I'm very glad I've done the Mardi Gras thing, and that's a big TICK off my list of stuff that I should do.
Last night was Bea's last night in Australia so we went for a few drinks and then I was really jealous that she was going back to England but also she's awesome and lovely and I'm really going to miss her so I kept hugging her and I cried a little bit. Mainly because I'm a princess but partly because I'm a loser.
Today it's raining and cold so I'm wearing my lovely yellow hoodie of fun and goodness and I'm going to work soon.
Actually, yes, I do quite like blogging so I will definitely be carrying on with this update malarkey. I also have some photos to upload and will do so some time this week for DEFINITE. I also plan to go around Sydney and take absolutely tonnes of photos of everywhere before I leave but there is a lot of Sydney to see so I might have to finish work quite soon just so I have a chance to organise myself and all that jazz.
Strange new habits
Mainly these are word related, which is a little irritating...
- I know longer say, 'How are you?' Instead, I say, 'How you going?'
- I CONSTANTLY say 'no worries'. For everything. All the time.
- The most irritating one is that I've literally started saying in the last few days and that's saying 'sweet' to everything. English people say 'cool', they do not say 'sweet'. It's stupid and annoying.
Also I suppose my wine snobbery counts as a strange new habit. Like talking about wine: 'This smells like wild berries, a little bit smokey, blah, blah, blah...'
- I know longer say, 'How are you?' Instead, I say, 'How you going?'
- I CONSTANTLY say 'no worries'. For everything. All the time.
- The most irritating one is that I've literally started saying in the last few days and that's saying 'sweet' to everything. English people say 'cool', they do not say 'sweet'. It's stupid and annoying.
Also I suppose my wine snobbery counts as a strange new habit. Like talking about wine: 'This smells like wild berries, a little bit smokey, blah, blah, blah...'
22 February 2010
FINALLY I AM UPDATING!!!
OK, I actually have to be at work pretty soon, but I am going to try and use my ace typing speed to let you know what has been going on for the last three months and also what Sydney is like through the eyes of a snobbish true Brit...
Right, so since December I have been living in a houseshare in Surry Hills/Redfern and whilst it's fine, I really miss the inner west. Anyway, I live really quite close to work and I have to walk all the way along a street called Crown Street to get to work and past an abundance of lovely little cafes, although none are as lovely as my local cafe, which is called Dinky-Dis and does the best pies ever and which is where I go with the weekend papers and while away about three hours over coffee, the Sydney Morning Herald (despite its terrible spelling errors and bad grammar) and if I'm totally honest usually a gossipy vapid magazine or two.
I have also been working a LOT at The Winery, which has generally been fun but has also had its downs, however I am pretty realistic about the whole thing; I'm leaving Sydney at the very beginning of May and so that only means I've got like nine weeks there or something. I just really have to SAVE, SAVE, SAVE!!! I will get on to what I am doing after that shortly...
The weather in Sydney was really bad on Christmas Day so whilst I went to Bondi (which, by the way, is not that great of a beach) I only actually looked at it before finding shelter in a pub. I was with an awesome cool German girl I met called Lisa, who I basically spent Christmas week with so it was fine but if I'm honest also an anti climax owing to no family dinner, Christmas Day TV OR sun and beach fun.
For New Year, Greta (a friend I met in Auckland) and Gemma were here and so we went to a park near Taronga Zoo with beer and LOADS of food and chilled out all afternoon and saw what are quite frankly probably the most amazing fireworks I have ever seen. I was like a smalled child and I would go so far as to say that they were magical and if you ever get a chance, you should definitely spend a new year in Sydney. The city is electric on NYE and because they have really good organisational skills on NYD afternoon it's almost like NYE never happened, which is pretty cool.
Mariko, who is another friend from Auckland was also in Sydney with some other friends but came for dinner with me on my actual birthday with Greta and Gemma. Being totally unoriginal, we went to The Winery and oh my gosh, I've got to be honest, it was one of my favouritist birthdays ever. Not quite on a par with my 21st but still, it was 100% awesome. We had great food, great wine, great conversation and rolled home at about midnight. So, so good and considering I was not at home for the first time in my life, it was a huge saviour to have had such a lovely time.
That week, Mariko and I also went to the Blue Mountains and that was so, so good. The Blue Mountains are lovely and I can't believe I think this but I very tangibly felt that it was nice to get away from the city. Sydney is really quite frenetic and the peace and quite was very, very welcome. A nice four hour walk through the mountains, up to the Three Sisters, blew the cobwebs away well and truly.
Since then, I have basically been working and not getting up to much other than being at work and going and drinking copious amounts of caffeine and occasionally going out with people from work and partying far too much and far too hard. But it's been fun. All this culminated in the staff party a couple of weeks ago, which was absolutely wild but also very fun. A couple of people I know have said it was the best day of their life. I wouldn't go that far, but it was definitely a good time. Even if the theme was not my bag at all. At least I got some nice new jewellery out of it.
This brings me on rather nicely to how I'm finding Sydney to live in. I should probably start with the positives.
It's definitely nice to be in a city that is truly a 24 hour city. Things are open at all hours, you can always find something to do, there is a lot of action here in a very different way to even London, where you sort of have to look for the action. On the flip side, I have yet to find a spot in Sydney which gives me a feeling of tranquility like you can in England by going to a park or a country pub or whatever. I also love the culinary culture over here; even food courts in shopping centres are out of this world, where you can get noodles, or sushi, or great coffee, or Indian food or whatever and there are Chinese and Japanese food places on every street corner. Equally, there are lovely quirky cafes everywhere that do awesome food and obviously the variety is greater because of a) the climate and b) massive international influence. I think the charm of Sydney lies in the suburbs, rather than the centre. The centre is not that great; you don't have things like Covent Garden or Westminster where there are great places to go or things to see.
So, the flip side. Well, I do miss old buildings. Like, really, really. I know I've always loved places like Cambridge for all the architecture but I suppose that's quite extreme. Anywhere in say Bristol or London you can find plenty of beautiful or quirky old buildings and all the history. One thing I've found quite bizarre is that Sydneysiders think that Sydney's this massive city and that it's really metropolitan because of the 5 million people who live here but to be honest I do find it a little bit parochial. They're very insular and it can be like being in a timewarp over here in lots of small ways that are quite significant. Random things are also very expensive, like groceries and actually Coles and Woolworths (the main supermarkets) are rubbish. Just like in New Zealand!!! Also, people in Sydney are rude. Australia is a really young country, and I totally get that, but there is a lack of real culture here, which would be fine if there were not therefore attempts to affect European or even American culture. I just don't get it but equally I think it's all very well to say that when I come from a country that has a legal system that's basically 800 years old and traditions that stretch back centuries and a long history that has helped shape its identity.
One thing that hugely bothers me is the very casual racism. Oh my gosh, it's crazy. People think nothing of, say, referring to Abos or Lebs or whatever. I literally can't understand how a country that is formed by immigrants can have this attitude. Why do Caucasians have more right to be here than, say, Chinese people or Lebanese people? Oh, right, they don't. Also government over here is HUGE. People say in Britain that we have too much government but we have absolutely nothing on Australia. There are government departments for absolutely everything, let alone the quangos. Yes, you can tell I read the newspaper over here even. Oh, I miss British journalism but the expat edition of the Telegraph has somewhat saved me on the front. As well as, of course, the internet.
So, what's next? Well, I'm going to Canberra in about ten days, which is really quite exciting. I know it's not the most exciting place in the world but I'm a geek and I want to do geeky things and there is an abundance of geeky things to do in Canberra. Then it's the Grand Prix in Melbourne at the end of March, so I've got an exciting few weeks ahead.
I'm leaving Sydney at the beginning of May and going to Melbourne for a few weeks and then to Adelaide and up through South Australia to the Alice and Uluru, which is very exciting. I then have to find some time to do my farm work for three months before I hit the East Coast. Gemma is staying out here and will be in Brisbane from September when it's also her birthday so I might do some work in Brisbane, celebrate her birthday with her, and then go up to Cairns/Port Douglas. That's not firmly settled but my timeline has got good shaping to it!!!
I actually think that's a pretty full update for now and anyway I'm actually running out of time. From hereonin, I promise, I will update regularly. Also I am going to try and get some photos of Sydney to post (as in more than just the Rocks and the Opera House) and post them but my digicam died so I have to buy a new one and I'm not too excited about spending $300, if I'm honest.
Oh, and the wisdom tooth that definitely needed not to come through but which that dentist guy said was going to come through is now starting to come through. I have had no pain so far, though, so I'm not going to do anything until it starts to hurt. I figure no pain means that everything is OK.
I am going to sign off, now. I just want to say that I have had a really hard time with how much I have missed everything back home and I am always thinking of you all and hoping that you're well and I get far too excited every time I get an email or message or phone call for what is healthy. I think if I come home early it will be because of missing you all too, too much and also missing England, which I've decided is pretty cool. As was my life in general, if I'm honest.
Love and hugs to you all and I'll post again very, very soon. Maybe I'll get a bit obsessed with blogging again, now!
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Right, so since December I have been living in a houseshare in Surry Hills/Redfern and whilst it's fine, I really miss the inner west. Anyway, I live really quite close to work and I have to walk all the way along a street called Crown Street to get to work and past an abundance of lovely little cafes, although none are as lovely as my local cafe, which is called Dinky-Dis and does the best pies ever and which is where I go with the weekend papers and while away about three hours over coffee, the Sydney Morning Herald (despite its terrible spelling errors and bad grammar) and if I'm totally honest usually a gossipy vapid magazine or two.
I have also been working a LOT at The Winery, which has generally been fun but has also had its downs, however I am pretty realistic about the whole thing; I'm leaving Sydney at the very beginning of May and so that only means I've got like nine weeks there or something. I just really have to SAVE, SAVE, SAVE!!! I will get on to what I am doing after that shortly...
The weather in Sydney was really bad on Christmas Day so whilst I went to Bondi (which, by the way, is not that great of a beach) I only actually looked at it before finding shelter in a pub. I was with an awesome cool German girl I met called Lisa, who I basically spent Christmas week with so it was fine but if I'm honest also an anti climax owing to no family dinner, Christmas Day TV OR sun and beach fun.
For New Year, Greta (a friend I met in Auckland) and Gemma were here and so we went to a park near Taronga Zoo with beer and LOADS of food and chilled out all afternoon and saw what are quite frankly probably the most amazing fireworks I have ever seen. I was like a smalled child and I would go so far as to say that they were magical and if you ever get a chance, you should definitely spend a new year in Sydney. The city is electric on NYE and because they have really good organisational skills on NYD afternoon it's almost like NYE never happened, which is pretty cool.
Mariko, who is another friend from Auckland was also in Sydney with some other friends but came for dinner with me on my actual birthday with Greta and Gemma. Being totally unoriginal, we went to The Winery and oh my gosh, I've got to be honest, it was one of my favouritist birthdays ever. Not quite on a par with my 21st but still, it was 100% awesome. We had great food, great wine, great conversation and rolled home at about midnight. So, so good and considering I was not at home for the first time in my life, it was a huge saviour to have had such a lovely time.
That week, Mariko and I also went to the Blue Mountains and that was so, so good. The Blue Mountains are lovely and I can't believe I think this but I very tangibly felt that it was nice to get away from the city. Sydney is really quite frenetic and the peace and quite was very, very welcome. A nice four hour walk through the mountains, up to the Three Sisters, blew the cobwebs away well and truly.
Since then, I have basically been working and not getting up to much other than being at work and going and drinking copious amounts of caffeine and occasionally going out with people from work and partying far too much and far too hard. But it's been fun. All this culminated in the staff party a couple of weeks ago, which was absolutely wild but also very fun. A couple of people I know have said it was the best day of their life. I wouldn't go that far, but it was definitely a good time. Even if the theme was not my bag at all. At least I got some nice new jewellery out of it.
This brings me on rather nicely to how I'm finding Sydney to live in. I should probably start with the positives.
It's definitely nice to be in a city that is truly a 24 hour city. Things are open at all hours, you can always find something to do, there is a lot of action here in a very different way to even London, where you sort of have to look for the action. On the flip side, I have yet to find a spot in Sydney which gives me a feeling of tranquility like you can in England by going to a park or a country pub or whatever. I also love the culinary culture over here; even food courts in shopping centres are out of this world, where you can get noodles, or sushi, or great coffee, or Indian food or whatever and there are Chinese and Japanese food places on every street corner. Equally, there are lovely quirky cafes everywhere that do awesome food and obviously the variety is greater because of a) the climate and b) massive international influence. I think the charm of Sydney lies in the suburbs, rather than the centre. The centre is not that great; you don't have things like Covent Garden or Westminster where there are great places to go or things to see.
So, the flip side. Well, I do miss old buildings. Like, really, really. I know I've always loved places like Cambridge for all the architecture but I suppose that's quite extreme. Anywhere in say Bristol or London you can find plenty of beautiful or quirky old buildings and all the history. One thing I've found quite bizarre is that Sydneysiders think that Sydney's this massive city and that it's really metropolitan because of the 5 million people who live here but to be honest I do find it a little bit parochial. They're very insular and it can be like being in a timewarp over here in lots of small ways that are quite significant. Random things are also very expensive, like groceries and actually Coles and Woolworths (the main supermarkets) are rubbish. Just like in New Zealand!!! Also, people in Sydney are rude. Australia is a really young country, and I totally get that, but there is a lack of real culture here, which would be fine if there were not therefore attempts to affect European or even American culture. I just don't get it but equally I think it's all very well to say that when I come from a country that has a legal system that's basically 800 years old and traditions that stretch back centuries and a long history that has helped shape its identity.
One thing that hugely bothers me is the very casual racism. Oh my gosh, it's crazy. People think nothing of, say, referring to Abos or Lebs or whatever. I literally can't understand how a country that is formed by immigrants can have this attitude. Why do Caucasians have more right to be here than, say, Chinese people or Lebanese people? Oh, right, they don't. Also government over here is HUGE. People say in Britain that we have too much government but we have absolutely nothing on Australia. There are government departments for absolutely everything, let alone the quangos. Yes, you can tell I read the newspaper over here even. Oh, I miss British journalism but the expat edition of the Telegraph has somewhat saved me on the front. As well as, of course, the internet.
So, what's next? Well, I'm going to Canberra in about ten days, which is really quite exciting. I know it's not the most exciting place in the world but I'm a geek and I want to do geeky things and there is an abundance of geeky things to do in Canberra. Then it's the Grand Prix in Melbourne at the end of March, so I've got an exciting few weeks ahead.
I'm leaving Sydney at the beginning of May and going to Melbourne for a few weeks and then to Adelaide and up through South Australia to the Alice and Uluru, which is very exciting. I then have to find some time to do my farm work for three months before I hit the East Coast. Gemma is staying out here and will be in Brisbane from September when it's also her birthday so I might do some work in Brisbane, celebrate her birthday with her, and then go up to Cairns/Port Douglas. That's not firmly settled but my timeline has got good shaping to it!!!
I actually think that's a pretty full update for now and anyway I'm actually running out of time. From hereonin, I promise, I will update regularly. Also I am going to try and get some photos of Sydney to post (as in more than just the Rocks and the Opera House) and post them but my digicam died so I have to buy a new one and I'm not too excited about spending $300, if I'm honest.
Oh, and the wisdom tooth that definitely needed not to come through but which that dentist guy said was going to come through is now starting to come through. I have had no pain so far, though, so I'm not going to do anything until it starts to hurt. I figure no pain means that everything is OK.
I am going to sign off, now. I just want to say that I have had a really hard time with how much I have missed everything back home and I am always thinking of you all and hoping that you're well and I get far too excited every time I get an email or message or phone call for what is healthy. I think if I come home early it will be because of missing you all too, too much and also missing England, which I've decided is pretty cool. As was my life in general, if I'm honest.
Love and hugs to you all and I'll post again very, very soon. Maybe I'll get a bit obsessed with blogging again, now!
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