Travel Sweets

Does anyone remember these? Tins of hard-boiled sweets covered in a huge drift of dusty looking icing sugar. I think you can still buy them in some forgotten shops in eerie backwaters of the country. They were so hard that when you managed to eventually break them (rather than your teeth) they shattered into vicious shards that would slice and tear at the insides of your mouth.

Hmmm…

Anyway. Travel sweets may well be required. I’ll need something substantial to suck on in a few days, as I’ll be idle for 22 hours from Wednesday evening.

I have a good book, I have an iPod, I have lots of thinky stuff to do. There may be films and there will hopefully be booze to keep me occupied. With any luck there will also be some attractive gentlemen to look at whilst they service me, however in past experience there are usually lots of sturdy, older ladies with formidable bosoms and mouths like dog’s bum’s smeared in lippy instead. I am, of course, referring to my flight to Sydney!! Yay! At last it’s within sight. I’m beside myself with excitement. The fact that it’s been raining and grey there for the past week or so hasn’t dampened my spirits. The friends that we’re staying with are a little disappointed on our behalf with the forecast, but I don’t care. It’ll be great to be in Sydney again and to spend time with them as they are just brilliant and I can’t wait. I can’t wait. Did I mention I can’t wait?!

This will probably be my last post before departure. I’m not sure I’ll get to post again until I return. I’ll do my best but can’t promise.
Just in case I don’t get to do post again until 2008…

Merry Christmas and a Happy & peaceful New Year to you all.

To those who read or comment often, thank you, I feel honoured that you take the time to read my ramblings and make the effort to comment from places all over the globe, I can guarantee that each and every one of you has made me smile at some point this year. To those who may have happened here by accident or by chance, season’s greetings to you, please call in again and leave me a message so I can return the visit.

Tagged

Ooh! Completely new to me - I've been tagged to do this by T$ - why thanks!

Here goes...

1. When you were born, how much did you weigh? Not very much at all. I was tiny and jaundiced, so at least I looked like I had a tan. For a while, when I returned to the hospital for checks etc I was mistaken for a new born baby all of the time and only given smaller amounts of food - which even then made me a wee bit cranky!

2. What's you're sugar poison? Obvious innit?! Cake

3. If you had to choose between meat and cheese for the rest of your life, which would you choose? Then be specific. Hmmm... I'm really not a fan of cheese. It's pants. Especially if it's got lots of blue veins in it. urgh. Meat? Well, has to be sausages. I think they are divine and the 3 Kings should have arrived manger-side armed with a string of Lincolnshires instead of myrrh.

4. What, is your opinion, is the worst song ever? Not sure if they're the worst songs ever but... I just don't get Mika's stuff. They're such irritating prattle.

5. Who was your favorite teacher growing up and why? Miss Barker from 6th form English Lit. She was great, behaved like she was our friend, invited us all over to her house for dinner just before Christmas and was generally cool. How could 17 year olds not love that? Even gay ones!

6. What personal activity, when performed in public, bothers you the most? I can't bear spitting. It's just so deeply unpleasant and antisocial.

7. Ok, there's a $50 bill lying on the ground. You pick it up. Dumbfounded by your incredible luck, what do you selfishly purchase? See answer #2. I'd probably have my ill-gotten cake with booze. Or sausage butties. With HP sauce. Hunger crisis....!

8. Do you have a recurring nightmare? It's not a nightmare but I used to have it often when in my 20's and lately it's returned. I dream that I am, or I'm turning into, a vampire. It's not scary, I don't get upset by it as it's fascinating at the time - I can feel my teeth straining through my gums and my throat getting dry. A dream dictionary advises seeking help or counselling... outrageous cheek!

9. Name one place on Earth you've never been, but vow to visit at least once. South America. Anywhere there that's historic or of particular importance - Galapagos Islands, Machu Picchu, The Amazon Basin... ooh so much stuff there to see.

10. You notice that question #9 wasn't really a question. You feel smart for catching such a small detail. What else can you do really well that reminds you how smart you are? Hmmm... doesn't remind me how smart I am but my memory spooks me sometimes. My friends say I have a freakish memory. I can remember what we had for dinner in Key West in 2003, What TOH was wearing when I met him, the names of my whole class alphabetically from when I was 7, those kinds of things.

What do I do with this now? Am I supposed to pass it on?

Advent Calendar (with chocolate)

I'm having my own kind of advent calendar this year. Days until departure for Sydney. I now have 2 weeks left. 14 days. In fact, less than that now, this time in two weeks I shall be on a plane heading to the other side of the world. I can't wait.

It's been about five years since I was last in Sydney. When I was last there, I really felt that I'd missed it from when I was backpacking and living there. At that time I still really wanted to live in Sydney and TOH was also keen, meeting up with companies in the hopes of securing employment. Time has moved on, so have I and I don't think I want to live there now - it's so far away from my friends and now ageing family. However, I'm not sure I'll feel the same when I land and remember, truly remember how much I love it.

As my travelling diaries had some success a few months ago, I'm going to post my diary entry from the day I arrived in Sydney for the very first time 14 years ago.

Here goes...

"I've had a mixed day. It has swung from excitement to complete disappointment and then elation. I'm so bloody tired!

I didn't get much sleep on the bus as it was cold and stopped everywhere. Some of the places we stopped in, I had really wanted to visit but since Jane and I left the others, our main aim has been to get to Sydney to find work. My money has run really low thanks to Surfer's and Byron Bay and I'll need work pretty quick in order to stay for any length of time. No word from Steve or Nick since we left them. I'm not upset or bothered. That confuses me a bit as we were all such good friends and I feel nothing about not speaking to them again. I thought I would.

I was wide awake for most of the night but at the time I didn't mind as I was so eager to see Sydney. As we drove I got more and more excited, I woke Jane up when I started to see the signs indicating Sydney was close (by close, I mean close in Australian standards i.e. less than one light year away). As the day broke we were very near, by 7am we were crossing the harbour bridge on a grey, dull and wet morning. Jane and I looked out of the window and I felt cheated. It wasn't what I expected. It wasn't beautiful, it wasn't breathtaking, everything just gunmetal grey, the water looked grey, the sky looked grey, the city looked grey, even the Opera House looked grey and was made even worse by cheery coloured sections that had been added for the now successful Olympic bid.

We got off the bus and headed to a hostel that Neil from Byron Bay had recommended. At the time I wished we'd stayed in Byron. We were so tired that we went to sleep, we didn't speak a great deal, it turned out that Jane was feeling much the same as me.

I woke up at about 11.30am. I was so thirsty. I got up and roused Jane. I met her in the bar of our hostel - it's a bit rough around the edges but everyone is friendly and welcoming which lifted my spirits a little. We decided we'd walk into the city for a look around - we both felt determined to find something that would make us happier. We walked from the hostel past Central Station, I was surprised to see a Liverpool Street here - I felt the name should have made me perkier but, as the rain was still falling, I was having trouble with my soggy mood. It was a decent walk and as we reached the centre the rain eased off, giving us some relief and then the sun came out so we started to get hot. We agreed to press on to the harbour so that we could say that at least we'd given it a try, despite our earlier impressions. As we neared the harbour we could see the sun shining on the water, then the street opened out and we were there. The sun was blazing down, the water an amazing green and the Opera House terrifyingly white, harsh but still astonishingly beautiful. I actually laughed out loud. I couldn't believe it. I was here in Sydney gazing at the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. It's astounding. I don't understand how I could have been so mistaken. It's only been one day and already I don't think I want to leave. I HAVE GOT to find a job here so I can use my working visa to stay as long as possible.

Jane and I celebrated with beers at a bar on the harbour and then walked back to our hostel in much higher spirits. We then celebrated again in the bar this evening and made some new friends, Jane even managed to secure herself a job as a barwoman here - I don't know how she bloody manages it. I reckon it's because of her enormous yet impressive chest. It seems to have magical properties and charms all males within a mile radius. Still, at least one of us has a job and we can sub each other if needs be. The couple that are running the hostel have recommended a few agencies which they say were great at putting work their way so I'll give them a go tomorrow. If not, I'll see what I can do to get a cleavage like Jane's to boost my job possibilities.

I'm now in my bunk writing this. My dorm has 2 sets of bunk beds and I'm on the bottom of one set. Above me is a guy from Warwick - he seems nice enough, his nickname is Sharky as he's a bit of a ladies' man apparently. Opposite is Barry, an older guy who used to be a jockey. He's been here ages and the folks in the bar say he's great when you need a tip for the bookies. He scares me a bit tho. Above opposite is a Canadian called Matt who arrived later today. He seems really nice, quiet but friendly.

It's quiet in here and I'm feeling so happy. It's a bit like Christmas. I really want to sleep so I can get up tomorrow and explore but I'm too excited about being here to sleep."

I had such a great time at that hostel before moving out to Coogee Beach. Matt became a good friend and we're still in touch. I had an enormous crush on him whilst in Sydney, pleasingly that's faded away now and he lives in Chicago. God, I hope he never chances across this blog!

I got a job a couple of days later in Bondi Junction working for Westpac card services which paid me so well I was even able to save some cash! Jane and I stayed together for ages until she left Sydney for New Zealand. I still couldn't bear to leave so I stayed with my new found friends, one of whom I'll be staying with in Sydney this Christmas.

2 weeks. And counting...

p.s. The pic is from my last trip to Australia - this was Boxing Day 2002 and 3 kookaburras were all wet and fluffed up on our friends' deck. So cute - this one is eating some fruit - it took it from my hand - so jolly friendly!