Where's my change?

After a week, which seemed to drag for an eternity (especially the Friday which saw me suffer with a hangover), the weekend seemed to fly by – don’t they always? Saturday was a day of relaxation – Lucy headed into the City, whilst I headed out for breakfast, had a bit of a walk & then chilled at home.

Sunday had more substance, with first a trip to the SCG to watch the Sydney Swans hammer Port Adelaide (AFL for those unfamiliar with the teams) on a day of bright sunshine. I’m not yet 100% familiar with the rules, but it’s an excellent sport to watch – much better live than on TV – and the fans are much more similar to footie fans than they are in other Aussie sports. For a start, a lot more people wear the team colours… then there’s the fat bloke at the front (not me) who leads everyone in the singing…and an old bloke who randomly shouts out “Come on the Swannies”. And just like with the Boro the Swans only have 1-2 different songs…in fact with the red & white scarves, the pies & the singing it could well have been a day at the Riverside (if it wasn’t for the sun!). Of course, there was also the women who appeared to be taking a day off from the cast of “Kath & Kim” - they seemed to say “Swannies” an awful lot & speak with the worst whine.

After the game, Lucy & I headed into the CBD to watch Dame Edna Everage. Stopped on the way for a hot dog at Harry’s Café de Wheels….went for the Hot Dog de Wheels which basically has everything – chilli, onions, cheese and peas! Tasted as good, if not better than the dogs in Copenhagen. Dame Edna was amusing if not spectacularly good, and the 2nd half of the show in which several audience members were dragged on stage was much the better half. In fact, the woman in front of us managed to fall asleep & start snoring during the 1st half! I wouldn’t go out of your way to watch the show, but anyone who is still going after 50 years on the stage has to have some quality.

Most amusing statement of the week came from Lucy. After going for some shopping at Harris Farms (local food place – bigger than a grocers store, smaller than a supermarket) Lucy arrived home in a bit of a fluster…. Having been annoyed with the service received from a member of staff (generally the service here is much, much better than the UK) Lucy got to the till and was charged $32.88 & was even more annoyed upon receiving just 10c change. Turns out, we’ve been here since September & Lucy had failed to realize that they don’t actually have 1c & 2c pieces! In fact, they haven’t had them since 1995! Very observant my wife! And rumour has it the coins were melted down to make the bronze medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Finally, last night (Monday), we watched a TV show called God On My Side. Presented by Andrew Denton, this followed the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in Dallas, Texas. It is amazing how blinded people can be by ‘faith’. One bloke tried to convince the presenter that perspiration on his fingers was in fact a message from God! Andrew Denton deserves credit for not bursting into laughter at some of the comments – and at one of the worst efforts of a wig I have ever seen (a brown ‘comb-back’ with brown sides – looked like a dead animal). If the show is on in the UK – or you can find the DVD – then it’s worth a watch, if only to show you that there is some damn crazy people out there, and one of them has got his hand on trigger of the largest atomic arsenal in history.

28 Weeks Later, Pink & The Science of Sleep

On Saturday evening, Lucy went into town to catch up with some colleagues, so I headed to the cinema to watch 28 Weeks Later. Despite having an interesting concept, I wasn’t a huge fan of the first movie – 28 Days Later – but some good reviews & the fact that the only other movie showing was Spiderman 3 meant that I gave it a go. Starring Bob Carlyle (aka Begbie), the movie is set 28 Weeks (no surprise there) after the outbreak of the Rage virus, and the population is just starting to return to a militarized zone (which happens to be Canary Wharf!). I won’t give away the storyline, but I will say it’s worth a viewing – another interesting concept, some decent acting, startling to see London depicted as empty, and a twist in the tail. Also spent much of the movie thinking where things where in London.

Sunday was a bit of a lazy day….. breakfast at the Diggers (good value, but not the same quality as most other places serving breakfast….starting to think I should write a ‘good food’ guide on breakfasts) and then a bit of reading & lazing about at home. Then on the evening we headed to the CBD to watch Pink! Now I’m not certain why I decided to get tickets for this, but it’s fair to say that I was very pleasantly surprised. The support band – The Androids – were not really anything to write home about, but Pink’s arrival on stage in a leather outfit (no doubt aimed very much at the lesbians in the audience!) made up for it. Unconventionally attractive, Pink strutted about the stage in tiny outfits, as the crowd went wild – it was probably the most noise that I have heard from an audience since I got here. The whole show was very well staged, and I was surprised at how many of the songs that I recognized – she even threw in a couple of cover versions (Bob Marley’s Redemption Song amongst them). Pink’s “big” voice, coupled with her amazingly toned body doing some cool acrobatic moves well above the stage (1st with a net & then with a couple of lengths of fabric) kept the audience riveted. If her voice ever goes, then I’m sure that she could get a job at Cirque d’Soleil! There was also an ‘acoustic’ part of the show – one of the songs was a political piece about George Bush & accompanied by some of the events which have occurred during his term in office (9/11, Katrina, Iraq)…..the last words were “Blair’s resigned, so why can’t you”….. could not agree more. Admittedly Pink is a commercial act, but she held the stage well, put on a great performance & if you get the chance to go along I don’t think you’ll regret it. Even Coyney…..

Tuesday (tonight) is “Tight-arse” Tuesday – the day when cinemas offer half price tickets to all. So I’m meeting Lucy after work to watch The Silence of Sleep – hopefully a bit of sushi beforehand.

Just back from the movie.... weird & wonderful would be the best way to describe it. Love the way that the lead character's brain is thought to be a TV studio with the walls made from egg boxes & the camera made from cardboard boxes. Favourite quote: "It's like you're dead & as you're getting cremated your friend tries to sleep with your girlfriend. Apart from I don't have a girlfriend.....and I'm not dead". Watch it if you get the chance.....

It's been a while.....

...a couple of weeks in fact since I last updated the Blog. It's not as if Lucy & I have been massively busy, but I just haven't got round to it. Since the clocks changed, it gets dark pretty damn early on an evening (in fact nearly always before I leave work) and with the majority of activities here been of an outdoor nature it's quite tricky to find things to do.

We've been to the cinema to see Shooter (an average 'thriller' starring Marky Mark & Danny Glover) & History Boys (not quite as amusing as I'd hoped - but it does have Richard Griffiths playing a very similar role to that he created in the classic Withnail & I). Thinking about it, the cinemas here are a bit weird...sometimes we get movies at the same time as the rest of the world, but more likely months behind. Some movies play for ages (The Queen was on for months) whilst some come & go after a week (Letters from Iwo Jima....very good). But the most annoying is when a movie review appears in the paper...you think to yourself "Hmmm...that looks good" and then it never shows!

The last weekend or two has been pretty relaxing - having friends around for dinner (I cooked lasagne & we made a good dent in our wine stash), walking around the local area & discovering beaches we didn't even know existed and watching some fantastic thunderstorms. Watched the de la Hoya v Mayweather fight in the Diggers last week - awesome fight and then a lovely roast dinner (although they don't have Yorkshire puds here which is a disappointment)

Wednesday was awful - woke up and it was still dark outside....really did not make me feel like getting out of bed! The bright starts really help one get on with the day, and I'm hoping the dark mornings do not become a regular feature of the forthcoming winter.

On Thursday we went for dinner with Raefer & his girl (definitely batting above his average - as some might say am I!) at Kingsley's CrabHouse in Woolloomooloo. Great food (I had a 'carpetbag' - steak cut open & stuffed with Oysters!), top wine & good chat... a really enjoyable evening and home before midnight - can't complain at that!
Fortunately, I managed to escape the hangover on the Friday - but it's fair to say that Lucy was not looking to hot on the bus into the CBD.

Yesterday (Friday), I left work a touch early and how nice was it that the sun was still up! A ferry trip over to Manly with Jamie, Doggie & others, a quick cab ride and we were at the Brookvale Oval - home of the Manly SeaEagles. Finding a perch on 'The Hill' we settled in for an evening of canned lager, shouting "get 'em onside" & admiring the cheerleaders (hot!). Thankfully Lucy had managed to recover enough from her hangover to come and collect me.

Today (Saturday) we had a bit of a sleep in & got to Angel for breakfast around 9am. The love of breakfast really is a fantastic Aussie trait, and it's so nice enjoying the view, eating nice food & chilling out to start the weekend properly. Something which we hope to continue when we get back to the UK. After brekkie we headed to Kuringai Chase National Park for a bit of a work - spotted some kangaroos, caught some rays & on the way home stopped off at Governor Phillips Lookout (see pic for the view). Tonight, Lucy is off to a bbq & then to meet work colleagues in Circular Quay. I'm taking the opportunity to catch up with some admin (including this) and then heading to the cinema later on... maybe even treat myself to some thai food.

Thinking of that, it's really not that long until we come back to the UK on vacation. Looking forward to seeing friends & family (Spot too of course) and spending time at home, at Glastonbury & in London. Hoping to be back by Saturday 16th and in London from Wednesday 27th (i.e. post Glastonbury).

Of course, we've also been thinking a lot about the future and what we're going to be doing over the next few months plus. We're loving the Sydney lifestyle, but as many of you know work is hardly going as planned...so there are definitely issues to be addressed. One thing we've ALWAYS wanted to do is travel & there are so many places to see and experience that we are thinking closely about how we can go about doing this. A whole bunch of things are going around our heads at the moment - but hopefully we'll have some resolution in the coming weeks.

Also have to admit that we've watched a few episodes of Big Brother over here...the housemates are as weird as the ones in the UK - but none of them over the age of 30 (I think) and it's interesting that all but one of the female contestants is blonde (not near as much diversity as the UK and I'm not sure the house is very representative of the population).

Oh - one final thing - we went to see the UK comedian Stephan K Amos a week or so ago. We'd seen him do a set at "Up the Creek" in Greenwich & he's been on the TV a few times here - very funny - so we thought we'd go along (the fact he was playing round the corner from work helped too!). Yet again he was very funny, helped along by some amusing audience members (at times he didn't have to make jokes given some of the audience answer!).... particularly noteworthy is his joke about glasses (Lucy loves that) & his comments on a brand of cheese called 'Coon' (unbelievable Aussies don't know about the connotations of that word - he's black btw) and somehow this led on to him talking about the Ku Klux Klan selling bedsheets....if you're in London pop along to the Comedy Store of Up the Creek to see him, it's worth it.

Swans Win, Tahs lose (again) & a friend leaves...

Another weekend with a sporty theme to it - Lucy & I are trying to fit in as many events & activities before our time here comes to an end. Friday, I went to see the Waratah's v Chiefs game....and again the 'Tahs lost. For a good period the NSW team were well & truly in the game, leading until 3 minutes from time...seeing the crowd really get behind the team it's such a shame that they have been so terrible this year - would have enjoyed going to the game's with a better atmosphere. As it is, an awful season for the 'Tahs is finally coming to an end - not a moment too soon for them. On the form of the Aussie teams in the Super 14 I wouldn't be backing Australia in the Rugby World Cup.

Saturday, we went to the Fish market & bought snapper to cook on the BBQ (also some good quality knives) & then did a bit of baking (new to both of us!) before heading to the SGC for our first AFL game. The Sydney Swans have got to the last 2 Grand Finals but so far this year have come in for a bit of stick....but they turned on the style this time out - running out winners by an impressive 49 pts. I have to admit that I'm fast becoming a fan of Aussie sports & AFL is one of the most enjoyable so far - a lively atmosphere (the fan's followed the UK example of sporting team colours much more than in other sports here) & an end to end game....shame it's never really taken off in the UK. And not sure about the vests....

Today, we had planned on going for a walk in a national park, but weather & a late night sat up chatting meant that this plan was abandoned. Instead, we had a spot of lunch in Palm Beach (home of Home & Away), surrounded by ducks..and then headed home for a quiet day & a bit of home-cooking (burning some cupcakes in the process...damn oven!). Bit of a relaxing day - but much needed.

Also found out that one of my colleagues is leaving the company - really top bloke & a shame he's going - however I'm sure that he'll be successful in whatever he turns his hand to & I'm sure we'll stay in touch....I just wonder if there is more such news to come. Hoping that I get the opportunity to do a bit of travelling soon.

Almost forget to mention that I'd watched the final of The Biggest Loser earlier in the week.... absolutely incredible to see some of that weight loss, although not sure how healthy it was. Many of the contestants lost 25% of their starting body weight - but the winner lost nearly 50%....and 3 of them lost 70kg+ (another 65kg)....incredible. Have signed up for the Great South Run....10miles....wonder if 7 months is enough time to get ready!

The Ultimate Donation

Watched a very moving TV show called 'The Ultimate Donation' - focused on hose who require organ transplants & the events surrounding it. Amazing to think that just 202 people donated organs in Australia last year - not many for a population of 20 million. Many of the stories were heartwarming, but most telling was a 38-yr old policeman who had waited years for a heart transplant - by the time it arrived he was so ill that he died in the operating theatre..... tragic.

Have resolved to donate any useful organs upon my death (so hopefully not for a while! And that's presuming that some of them are still useful) - as has Lucy. It's not as if you can take them with you....

ANZAC Day

Today, 25th April, is ANZAC Day - the day on which Austraian's & Kiwis remember their fallen soldiers & in particular those from the 1st World War. Lucy & I ended up attending the 'dawn' (more like pre-dawn) service, in a very wet Martin Place (Sydney CBD). The, ultimately failed, Gallipoli landing in 1915 commenced at 4.15am on 25 April - hence the date & timing of the service.

Despite the weather (now having rained in Sydney for 4 days non-stop) a very large turn-out was present & the very sombre occasion involved a laying of wreaths & a playing of the Last Post - always reminds me of my Grandad's funeral. A few people passed out in the audience - not sure whether that was as a result of alcohol or emotion (maybe a combination of both).

It was an interesting experience taking part in the service & seeing how revered the ANZACs are in modern Australia. It is a shame that such reverence is not seen at the UK's Rememberance Sunday in November.... maybe if gambling & alcohol was as intrinsic a part of the day then it would have the same success.

Lucy & I had intended on heading to the Harbord Diggers or local RSL for a game of 2-Up (basically betting on a coin toss) but having only gotten home from the night before at 9am we had a bit of a nap & by the time we woke up the queue at the Diggers was so long that we just couldn't be bothered (plus it was raining) so we headed elsewhere for lunch & then had a quiet day nursing our hangovers.

Beach, cooking at the fish market & the 'Tahs lose again....

Another action packed weekend behind us..... Friday, Lucy went out on the town with some former colleagues - a drag act in Newtown - whilst I stayed home & watched the ANZAC rugby league test (which the Aussies never looked like losing)... for the first time, Lucy managed to come home hammered & not wake me up for a chat.

Saturday, we were up relatively early and headed to Angel for breakfast....I may have mentioned this place before, but it's a lovely little place with views overlooking Freshwater Beach. Poached eggs on toast with salmon, washed down with a banana smoothie was an excellent way to start the day - and what a lovely day it was too. After breakfast, we decided to go to one of the Northern Beaches which we had not previously visited (there are 18 in total) and so headed to Bilgola. Nice little beach, complete with rockpool & almost empty. Spotted a fantastic looking house for sale & checked it out on the web....a cool $4.75mio.

In the evening we headed to Aussie Stadium to watch the Waratah's play against the Highlanders from Dunedin, NZ.....yet again they didn't fail to disappoint by losing...we left with about 10mins to go when they were down 14 points - they came back to within 1 point, but I was just pleased to beat the traffic. The highlight of the night was the accompanying highland band - complete with bagpipes & kilts....

Sunday, saw us hit Sydney Fish Market for a cookery course. Think this place would be Coyney's worst nightmare....and not sure Lushworthy would be fond of the prawns lying around! The course ran for 4 hours, 2 hours of tips (don't set yourself on fire when lighting the bbq, etc) & demonstration, 90 mins of cooking up the recipes we'd been shown & then some time to eat our creations (prawns, garfish, kingfish, squid & mussels) and drink some wine. Thought we did pretty well & certainly picked up some good tips with the food. Favourite part of the day would be preparing the squid - pulling it apart, pushing out the beak, etc. Not sure how many of the recipes we'll try at home, but certainly lots of helpful advice.

As we left the market, the rain started....and it gradually got heavier, until we were treated to a fantastic thunderstorm on Sunday evening - to be honest it hasn't really stopped raining since & it's Tuesday afternoon as I write this!

Tomorrow it's ANZAC Day - a public holiday to honour the Australians & Kiwis who have fallen in conflict....planning on heading to Martin Place for the Dawn Service (4.15am so not sure how likely that will be) & then a game or two of 2-Up (basically betting on coin tosses) in the afternoon....suspect it might be an early night!

Magic (?) Mushrooms, Gomez & the 'Easter' Show

Woke up on Friday morning to find that 6 mushrooms had grown in our bedroom overnight! Turns out that the heavy rain that we have experienced in the past couple of weeks has been a bit too much for our balcony doors & so has seeped through & into the carpet….the damp, humid conditions have been perfect for mould & fungi to grow. It took me a lot of effort to stop Lucy eating them, but despite magic mushrooms been illegal in Oz we are hoping to at least sample some when we take a trip up to Byron for my birthday (if we manage to stay here that long - unlikely).


On Saturday we spent a bit of time at Freshwater Beach & for the first time I experienced waves coming at me from both the ocean & the beach…peculiar. Lucy wasn’t a big fan of the large waves, or the cold water (thought it was mild myself).
Later, we headed into the CBD to see Gomez play a gig at the Metro Theatre. A really good, intimate venue with plenty of bars, staff to serve & toilets. The first act up was the Panda Band - pretty good apart from the poor 1st song - who reminded me of The Coral in their use of old-school instruments. Then came a huge, grizzly bear type Californian bloke called White Buffalo who treated us to a one-man show of upbeat country music. And finally, around 10.30pm Gomez hit the stage & they were much, much better than I thought they would be…..even though they didn’t play my favourite song of theirs – Whipping Piccadilly – the 2.5 hour set was superb….they do look like one of the geekiest bands alive though. My observation was that the front three (6 man band) looked like Vic Reeves, Chris Martin & Stato (from Fantasy Football)…. Whilst the bass player was the most laid back I have seen, hardly moving from his spot for the whole show….they probably have to nudge him from time to time to see if he’s still alive!


Sunday we headed to the Olympic Park for the Easter Show….basically a lot of ‘country folk’ coming to the city for a fortnight to show off their animals, arts & crafts….this too was a superb event, with everything very well organized – think the Aussies could teach the UK a thing or two about organizing events. The activities included, amongst others, a cattle market, dog & cat shows (made me miss Spot), variety of food stalls & a fair ground. However, the highlights of the day for me were the wood-chopping (not sure how they don’t have more serious injuries), the rodeo (one bloke was thrown off a bucking horse & you could see his arm snap, yet he still got up to celebrate) & the end of the show (motorbikes doing incredible tricks, Holden’s zooming around the ring, and a Lady Cannonball who managed to give the most unconvincing “That was really exciting” of all time). The electric storm in the distance also provided a wonderful backdrop to the show & the following firework display.

Would definitely avoid the tepid sausage on a stick dipped in tomato ketchup though….made me want to puke.

This is Sparta....

Went to see '300' on Thursday... not sure where they found so many people with six-packs...especially with Scottish accents....certainly not in my local! Anyway, the movie was an adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel, which in itself was based on the story of 300 Spartans fight against the Persian army of over one million soldiers. The movie is similar in style to Sin City (no surprise given the writer) and is gory in places. If you can get over the 'cheesiness' of some of the lines (and the 'love scene'), not hate yourself for watching the movie rather than working out, and eat beforehand, then it's an entertaining watch.

Jonah's

On Saturday, Lucy & I finally managed to enjoy one of our wedding gifts - a stay at Jonah's complete with dinner. As you can see from the view it's a pretty special place, overlooking Whale Beach...the room was lovely & came complete with large balcony & spa pool...whilst the food was excellent - we went for the seafood degustation menu. Lucy & I had a lovely time there - and if we can get a booking we'd try to have another stay before our time here comes to an end - thanks for all those who contributed.

The stay at Jonah's came after a very wet day at the races - Randwick's Easter Carnival. After thinking the day would be called off due to the weather (Sydney's tourism board does a good job keeping that a secret - 3times as much annual rainfall as London) we spent the day inside a marquee...drinking plenty of champagne, eating good food (I was a big fan of the cheese & even asked for a doggy bag!) and losing money on the horses (only had one winner, but fortunately missed the first 4 races!) ...a good time was had by all. I'm sure the talent on show would have raised a few eyebrows in London!

Sunday morning we awoke at dawn for the spectacular ocean view - those living there have it good! Had breakfast at Jonah's (again enjoying the fantastic view) & then went for a walk along the beach (why does heavy rain make the water warmer?) and a drive around the coastal region.... an early night was much needed too.... and I managed to fall asleep whilst watching Star Wars (missing the Sea Eagles 4th win on the trot in the process). Nothing much planned for this week... but Lucy starts her new job on Tuesday - she'll be just around the corner from Citi, so will be nice to meet up for the occasional lunch, etc. Please kill me if we start wearing matching outfits....