Sydney Harbour Bridge

Yes, we finally made it - and two days early no less!

My first sighting of Oz was not exactly inspiring: a coastline shrouded in cloud and rainy mist, followed by a wet and windy landing at the airport, but then again it is 'winter' down here. The terminal looked good, probably due to its recent Olympic makeover, and it was sooo easy to get to the public transport out of there - we didn't have to walk miles!

Settling in
Our first destination was Glebe Village Backpackers, current home of a great friend of mine from the UK by the name of Jennie. It's spread through four houses, though one is still being painted and wired with speakers, with a large outdoor area of picnic tables and gas lamps (a blessing at night time) surrounding the main section. Beds cost $19-24 per night, including free cereal breakfast, but if you're in any block but D be prepared to hear music from dawn till dusk.

There's a decent range of shops, takeaways, pubs and internet cafés in this very chilled part of Sydney - not to mention Glebe Market at the weekend. There are also a range of tours available (including Olympic Park and Palm Beach), plus weekly table tennis and footie competitions, or Aussie Joe's BBQ if you prefer. On Wednesday nights most people head down to the Excelsior for Toss the Boss (flip the coin to see if you can win a free beer) and a great jam session, and Fridays it's off to the Nag's Head - more free beer if you send one of their postcards home. At the latter you can even get hold of a pint (yay!) - my liver was beginning to pine for a proper measure. Or if you fancy travelling further afield I heartily recommend the Coogee Bay Hotel - so huge that it has to be seen to be believed.

Landmarks
Well I haven't seen a great deal of the place yet, not even enough of Sydney and the surrounding region to be honest. Then again, this is early days! It's also winter so I'm planning to leave the Blue Mountains till the weather improves, though so far it's not been much different to a typical Brit summer.

Sydney Opera House and HMS Bounty

A few days after arriving we went down to Circular Quay to take a peek at the infamous Opera House and Harbour Bridge, then through the old Rocks and round to the lovely Darling Harbour with its yachts, shops and fountains. It was definitely a nice sight on a sunny day, but somehow I'd thought seeing the Opera House especially would convince me that I really was in Oz, but no such luck: I think having the sun in the wrong place and the Southern Cross in the night sky already did the trick! There was also the HMS Bounty replica, sporting a plaque that satisfied Rob's claim that this boat was indeed built in his home town of Whangarei, New Zealand.

Last weekend we headed across the harbour to Taronga Zoo, along with a few friends (including a lively five year old who must have covered three times the distance we did). I don't normally like zoos much, but try seeing a giraffe with Sydney in the background and not be amazed! Not only that, it was a gorgeous but windy day, making the ferry ride across the harbour pretty exhilarating. We've also visited Paddy's Market, a right laugh whether or not you fancy haggling for a bargain from one of the many stalls, and nearby Chinatown - home to wonderfully tasty meat buns.

Still on my list of things to do: the Botanical Gardens, a Bridge climb, the Blue Mountains... and anything else that looks like fun.

Getting down to business
I nearly forgot - I'm in Sydney to work, for the moment at least. In the first few days of arriving we did a great deal of wandering to get set up for this. Australia is just like any other country:

Something else which Brits are entitled to (and some others) is Medicare. It's not the full cover that residents get, and certainly not a substitute for health cover with your travel insurance, but good enough to provide free basic medical treatment - though you must register to make any claims.

Getting a job is the hard part though! At the last count each of us has registered with about six agencies, each of which tested for computer skills etc, but that's no guarantee of landing a decent job. More often than not it's a case of one day here and there until the agency knows you better, at which point anything for up to three months can come your way - unless of course you're a Kiwi who gets offered nice contracts straight off!

Here are a few decent ones in any case, with more in TNT and the Sydney Morning Herald:

Wheels!
Yes, we jumped into the car-buying market head first: our brand new lil donkey is a 1985 Subaru Leone which definitely goes broom-broom, but is undergoing extensive checks before our travels. We also got a fair bit of camping gear from a girl about to leave, so with any luck the main portion of our setting-up spending is now done. This gives the added advantage that we'll be able to travel as and when we feel like it, save on hostel fees, and split the cost between three (Jen being nutcase number 3).

Oh yes, and The Plan has changed once again - in fact it changed a few times, but we think we're settled on one for now. At the beginning of September we shall go forth and head across New South Wales toward South Australia, then up through central Aussie to Darwin, followed by a trip across northern Queensland and back down along the east coast. This, we hope, will take us about three months - depending on whether we need to stop off anywhere to rebuild our bank accounts...

For now though, our primary mode of transport has been the extensive train and bus network - which is much cleaner and more reliable than London's. If you're ever in Sydney and need to get around a fair bit get a Travel Red (currently $29 per week), entitling you to bus and rail travel throughout the city. Don't underestimate the cost of bus rides in and out of the city!

The final countdown
Three weeks and counting - that's the official word. Three weeks, and we're off!

Three weeks of being office dogsbody (me), playing with bits of metal (Rob) and answering phones (Jen), all trying our hardest to stay out of the pubs while we save save save... it should work... in principle. We've had a definite blessing in two of Rob's old friends who are renting out their spare room to us for cheap, though while being away from the backpacker hoards is good in one sense it does detract from the usual fun of such an experience. But there'll be plenty of time for that in the next few months.

Questions?
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