Sydney - Part 1

My transition to Sydney from Melbourne didn't go without a few hitches and some major stress. Firstly the bus I had booked to pick me up from where I was staying (as by now I had accumulated too much stuff to make it to the station) to take me to the airport turned up at 4.15pm even though I was told it would come at 4.50pm - after receiving a phone call alerting me to that fact I had to run from the city center in the 28 degree heat. The plane was going from Avalon airport which is over 50km's outside the city and no other way of getting there but by bus or car. Sweating and about to spew I just managed to make it before the coach gave up on me. Once aboard the driver shortly after ran straight into the back of a land rover at some lights, went mental and more time was wasted. It was even looking tight to make it to the airport on time as the bus company had not allowed any time for these delays... fortunately we just did. When we arrived I knew my baggage far exceeded the permitted 20 kg allowance, so trying to be creative with my packing I put all the heavy stuff in my backpack hand luggage, but they twigged that and what was meant to be a 7kg maximum carry-on weight was actually 14kg! So I had to loose some weight from it. My main bag was 7kg over as it was too. So I went round the corner piled all my heavy things into my shorts and pockets. Books, chargers, camera, ipod and a wetsuit stuffed down my jumper. I still had to pay a $70 excess baggage charge (the price of the ticket to get there!) and as I waddled towards the departures area my shorts literally began to fall at the weight they were carrying! I tried to pretend I had just lost alot of weight recently as I went through the security gates, but it rung like a high school bell 4 times before I got through.

After all of that, tired and fed up with being stuck in a city and knowing that I was probably going to be spending the next 3 days in dirty garages looking for cars - I was really looking forward to Sydney (life couldn't have been better in fact. hmmm.). Getting into Sydney wasn't the spectacular arrival I expected either. I had booked a hostel in the Kings Cross area, which is renowned for being well... a shithole. But I knew all the cars were close by so decided I will have to survive it for a few days. The hostel advertises itself as delux which I reckon the manager made himself laugh at when he looked at the advert proofs, this was the view from the window of the first room I stayed in. But hey it could be worse. Kings Cross is a total hell hole though. It is basically 24 hour neon signs, kebab shops, sex shops, strip joints, prostitutes, chavs, drug addicts, general freaks and bums - and thats at 9am in the morning, the real freaks come out in the evening. You'll walk down the street and have what must be a 80 year old fat woman offering herself for $10 next to some druggie who is trying to smoke the left over fag ends off the floor. Sounds just the place you want to spend your holidays hey! My first day here and not wanting to spend any longer than strictly necessary I went straight for the car dealers, who aim themselves towards travelers, which basically means they sell heaps of shit that have been round Australia more times than the moon. One in particular (Travellers Auto Barn) I found out was particularly dodgy after disgruntled travelers distributed leaflets to warn others of their experiences. Then there is the Kings Cross Car Market which is a dark, smelly underground car park with a load of knackered motors from people who are about to leave and would, quite understandably, spin any story to get out of this hell hole they had spent the past week in. I discovered that people were finding it hard to sell their cars and that the management who were meant to be checking cars over, offering free impartial advice, were dodgy too telling potential buyers there was something wrong with the car when there wasn't. The place was decorated in graffiti from people who had spent the last 2-3 weeks of their travels in Oz just sitting there, spending money on accommodation in the process, getting screwed over and not having any fun. I thought sod this, and decided to go to another dealer close by who offered was seems a sound warranty and a buyback agreement - so although I get a bit less I just turn up and sell it back to him. I spent the day with the sales guy Dave, who came from Bristol, and gave him a bloody good grilling. In the end he came up with a Ford Falcon GL Sedan. It was a 4.0 liter beast, an automatic and had done far too many miles but I decided it was the way to go after alot of thought. It cost more than I wanted to spend but I'd had more than enough of all the hassle and with the warranty (including towing cover) and buyback - if it didn't break down it should be all right (fingers crossed!!!!). Its a surprisingly stressful decision to make when there is only literally yourself to make it (but thanks for the help Dad!), truth is all the cars for this money are crap, this is one time where traveling with someone else and to have the value of their opinion (and some of their money) would have been very helpful. So, the next day I went and put down the deposit and it should be ready to go in the next day or so. With that weight on my mind over, and impending freedom, I decided to take in a couple of Sydney's tourist spots. I made my way down into the City and onto Sydney Harbour. Yep, here is the expected Opera house picture and Harbour Bridge photo. Pretty boring but had a walk round the Opera House and past the Bridge. Look how nice the view from the train station platform is - not bad hey!

The sun was shining this morning so spent today at Bondi Beach, which is surprisingly nice considering that its Australia's most famous tourist beach. Especially when compared to the beaches in the bay of Melbourne. My plans for the next few days depend on when my car is ready but I will head north and check out the small towns of Manly, Avalon, Narrabeen and Palm Beach (where Home and Away is filmed apparently) - and hopefully start getting some serious surfing done after too long of a gap!