Halloween in Sydney

Our first Halloween in Sydney. I say "first", coz I'm starting to entertain the possibility of staying longer than the initial 1 year visa. This will involve 3 months working in the outback pickign fruit or working on a farm, so its not nice work, but its compulsory so....

Anyway, it was halloween last night. Australians love dressing up so everyone around town was up for it and dressed up in all sorts of cool and funky costumes. AnneMarie was dressed up as a bumble bee, and I was dressed up as a musketeer. AnneMarie bought her costume in a costume shop in Newtown, but I just got random bits around Woolworths and K-Mart and when I put them together, I closely resembled a musketerr, so I figured "Hey, I may as well go with it!".

Everyone in the terraces was dressed up. We started off at a house party in one of the houses and went out into Sydney City afterwards. I met up with an old friend of mine from school and his little brother. It was good fun. The rest of the Terraces ended up in there too so there was a lot of us there.

Ater,we went home and had a few beers in the house. Waing up this morning was a killer. I dunno what it is about Austalia, but the hangovers are a LOT worse than Ireland!!! :D

I got a job!

I finally got a job!

I went for an interview with Transfield for the HelpDesk role, but didn't think it went that well, so the girl from the agency arranged to meet with me face to face and work on my interview skills after my other interview for Rabobank. So after the Rabo interview, I came down the lift, walked out of the building, walked up the street towards the agency and 2 minutes later I got a call offering me the Rabobank job that I had just interviewed for!

Apparently, straight after the interview my new boss phoned the other agency and said straight away that I have the job. They tried calling me back to tell me but couldn't get through to me. I later figured out this was because there was no phone coverage in the lift! So then he phoned me back 2 minutes later when I was outside informing me of my new job! Brilliant!

I start next Wednesday (15th) :D

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs...not!

So, I still haven't got a job yet.

I've had a few rejections and some people saying they won't hire me because I'm a backpacker and only on a holiday visa, and they're looking for someone more long term. Pain in the ass.

I have a couple of more interviews coming up this week so hopefully something comes up.

The first one is with Transfield in Sydney for a HelpDesk role, and the 2nd is for RaboBank in Darling Park for a desktop role. I'm hoping for that one. Its more money, and basically a better job. I've done enough of sitting on my ass answering phones so at least in that job I wont be confined to my chair.

Lets see how things go...

Getting a job in Sydney

We're starting to get really low on cash at the moment. I would have been broke a couple of weeks ago if it wasn't for Anne-Marie coming over with her life savigns to blow on me! :D

So, to remedy this lack of disposable cash, we've been forced to get one of those "job" things. You know them things that force you to get up early and pay attention and exert effort into what you'r edoing? Yeah, well we've all had to try get one of those.

I've been applying online to a number of job websites here in Sydney. I've applied mainly to IT jopbs, but if I can't get an IT job, I may be forced to look elsewhere, like in a pub or restaurant or supermarket. Hopefully I'll get an IT role though. If not, I'll then also need to get an RSA (Responsible Supply of Alcohol) card. These cost about 60 dollars and you've to sit through 4 hours of powerpoint presentations to get it, and nobody will hire you without one. Not officially anyway! :p

First week in Sydney

So we've settled into our new house. Myself and Anne-Marie are in number 25 on the street, Ciara and Donna are in number 24, and Dave and Nikki are in 25. Christy is still floating about somewhere. There was no more free rooms on the street so he's staying the hostel down the street, which is owned by the same people. When I say he' staying there, I mean he was told he has a room there, but he's still actually sleeping out of the back of the van! We still have them for another 2 weeks so he's fine. Although, the guys in the office told us that another room in number 24 will be empty next week, and the other room will also have 1 bed so myself and Anne-Marie will move into the room with 2 beds, and Christy can share with the guy thats in the other room. Sorted! :D

I'm starting to get used to this place now. We live right beside the bus stop where we can get a bus right into the centre of the city. We went in to see the Opera House. I felt like such a tourist! But it was good. After seeing the opera house on Tv from the opposite side of the world, it was good to finally be here in person! From the opera house, you had agreat view across the river and of the harbour bridge. Yuo can actually do a walk across the harbour bridge, but it takes 3 hours and theres no toilet break! Haha, that might put us off doing it, but it'd still be fun to do it! We'll see how we get on in the future.

So, now we're settled, we need to figure out how to get ourselves a job! To the jobsites I go....

Brisbane - The Return

After returning to Brisbane, I was staying in my brothers apartment beside The Ekka. I had my own room, with an inflatable bed to sleep on. Slight improvement on the camper van, I must admit.

The reason I was back in Brisbane was because Anne-Marie was finally arriving in Australia. She was travelling direct from Dublin to Brisbane. Well, not direct, there was a few stopovers. She was flying from Dublin to London, London to Singapore, and then Singapore to Brisbane. She was sick with a cold so it was gonna be a long flight for her. The worst part probably being stuck beside Ronan Keating and his missus on the plane to London while her face was all puffy and with a runny nose. Bad for most people, but worse when you're sick!! :D

So over she came, nearly a full whole days travelling. It was early Wednesday moning Brisbane time when she landed, and I was waiting there at the arrivals hall. I had been excited about her coming over. I had not seen here since June 25th, when I left Ireland. 3 months is a long time in this situation! So when she didn't show after nearly an hour, I began to worry! The last contact I had with her was in Singapore....when she got mysteriously cut off. I hoped it was her credit, but when she didn't show, my mind began to wonder if something else had happened. After another few minutes, she finally popped her head out into arrivals. Apparently she was looking for her bag, and the guy sitting beside her on the plane had unknowingly left his bag in Singapore! Bad luck, but he got it eventually.

So out she came, with about 400 bags in tow :p. 3 months of talking on the phone, and online about how we can't wait to each other, and here we are. I gave her a great big hug and kiss and I took he bags and brought her to the taxi, and back to my brothers. We had booked a hotel for the few days we would be here, instead of sleeping on my brothers inflatable single bed. The hotel was right in the city. We went exploring around the valley, the mall, and the city for a few days. She seemed to like it, but after 4 days, we had to get our flight to Sydney to join back up with the rest of them, who had gone ahead and secured accomodation for us.

Coffs Harbour

The next stop long the line was a small little town called Coffs Harbour. It is situated halfway between Brisbane and Sydney. Its a nice place, with a small enough population.We arrived here out of a need for somewhere to stay. It was getting late so we needed to set up camp at the next place we came to on the highway. What we found was a pleasant surprise! Its these small towns that are the highlight of travelling the east coast.

Theres pretty much one main road in Coffs Harbour. Everything stems from this road. We drove in on this road and went looking for a caravan park. We asked directions in a garage and we got given 2 options. We could pay for the nice caravan park down by the water, or we could park up by the forest up the hill for free. Needless to say, as we are free and easy backpackers, we chose....the caravan park with its nice electricity, TV room and all mod cons!! Haha, you'd hardly expect us to live without electricity for a night???

So we checked into the caravan park anyway. Got settled, and went to explore the place. As it turned out, we ended up exactly where the guy in the garage said we could stay for free. It was up in a kind of viewing area that you can park in, then walk through the forest only to come out the far side at a really nice secluded beach. We went into the forest and thought we were lost, until we met an old woman walking through the forest alone. She told us the beach was only a few minutes walk further down through the forest. She was right. A few minutes later, the forest opened up onto this gorgeous private beach. There was only maybe 10 people on it, including the 6 of us, and it stretched for about a kilometre. We had a dip, got a bit of sun, and headed back through the forest to our vans, still parked back up the far side of the hill.

It was getting late and the light was starting to fade. Throughout our journey, we have always kept an ear out for any dangerous wild animals lurking in the bushes beside our vans. A few times we've heard things, including up in Port Douglas when we had the infamous Crocodile incident, mistaking water for a crocodile, only to see Christy dive into the van, pushing the girls out of the way to get there! So Coffs Harbour was no different. As we were finishing up, we heard some rustling in the bushes. Not big enough to be human, but still big enough to be dangerous. We listened on as it got louder and louder, closer and closer. Noises sound a lot scarier when you're in a strange country, where nearly everything is either poisonous, or dangerous to humans, and you haven't a clue how to tell the difference.

The noise got closer. We still had no clue what it was, only that it was big! We got the torches out. We even tried throwing stuff into the trees to either scare it off, or flush it out so we could see what it was. Everything went quiet. Did we scare it away? Did we kill it with out leftover ham sandwiches? Neither! The noise returned, this time only a few metres away in the bushes. After a few more seconds everthing became clear. As the noise veered towards an opening in the bushes, we saw a figure. It was about6 foot tall, and definately not human. As it came out behind the bushes, we saw standing in front of us, a 6 foot odd tall......bird!! Yes, it was an emu or an ostrich, or cassaworie or something like that. It was cool to see such a creature in the wild, but still an anti-climax that it wasn't a vicious croc, or massive snake or something cool and dangerous that could have killed us!! Ah well, maybe next time!

We returned for the night to the caravan park, and the next morning, we would go our separate ways. AnneMaries flight landed in a few days, and I needed to get back to Brisbane to meet her at the airport. About midday, I was dropped off at the train station, and they all headed on to Sydney.

The train didn't actually leave until after 3pm, so I had a few hours to kill. I decided to explore the town, and I found a nice nature reserve over by the sea. It was a steep climb with my bag on my back, but I made it. Theres a viewing area on the far side that I sat for a while. I managed to spot several schools of dolphins, which was amazing, as well as seeing a hump back whale off in the distance. I had seen both dolphins and whales before, but never from such a vantage point. Definately one of the highlights of my trip!

I went for a bit more exploring, had some food, then caught the train to Brisbane. My brother said he'd meet me off it so I had a point of contact once I got to Brisbane.

Nimbin

Nimbin - what can I say. If there was ever a strong argument against legalising cannabis....this is it!

I've been to Amsterdam and I have seen first hand the marijuana culture over there. Nimbin is similar. As far as I know, its not legal here, but the police just turn a blind eye. The place is full of stoners and hippys who's lives seem to revolve around smoking weed, weed history, and uhh....I forget....wait....what?


The town itself is one street, fairly run down. It is way out in the middle of the mountains about 2 hours drive from anywhere remotely recognised as civilisation. People flock to the place based purely on its reputation for good weed. The visitors stand out like a bar of soap in a pile of cow dung, owing to the lack of "Free the Weed" or "Dont drink and drive, smoke weed and fly" t-shirts. Walking along the street, I saw a man sitting on a stool outside the marijuana museum (a thinly disguised hash shop with a few "the history of..." posters, and Jimi Hendrix pictures) who was smoking a pipe. He must have been pushing 70. The mans arms were stick thin, his flesh loosely hanging, his hands shaking, and in between coughing he would take another smoke of his pipe. I got the impression that this guy had been sitting there since his younger days, and had probably been stoned ever since! These people grow their own product, and make money from selling to the tourists. I didn't like the place. It was populated with the people I hate the most....that is, people who overly promote hash as this wonderous substance that is completely harmless, and wear "Weedboy" t-shirts made from hemp! I was surrounded by them. It was nasty. Of the few locals I spoke to, the only ones that were nice to you, were selling some form of hash brownie, or cheap weed. The ones that werent selling simply came across as idiots.

We bought a sampling of the local produce anyway, and tried it out later back in the camper vans. Dave rolled a pure weed joint for Donna, and she was on the floor after about 5 minutes. The rest of them smoked regular joints with tobacco mixed in, after seing what happened to our guinea pig!

After the 1 night there, we all agreed that was enough, and made our way out of the town. Onwards to Byron Bay. Hopefully it will be a better experience...

Goodbye Brisbane

So, its time to leave Brisbane.

I had a good time here, seen the sights, met the people, and eh....did some shopping.

We checked out at 10am from Newmarket Gardens. I had been out the night before and got home at 7am. Christy woke me at 9am and I was still drunk but my hangover had also kicked in with great vengeance and force, due to lack of sleep! I hopped in the van and hoped for a bit of sleep along the Bruce Highway on our way to Surfers Paradise.

Unfortunately, our plan of staying here a month and working had not come to fruition, so we left before Anne-Marie had arrived. I had promised I'd meet her there so she wasn't happy when I told her we'd left!

I was going to have to return to Brisbane, most likely alone.....but I didn't mind, as I knew it'd be a bit of fun.

Ayway, it was goodbye to Brisbane (for the moment) and Hello Surfers Paradise!!

Brisbane

After experiencing a couple of nights out in both the city and the valley, I felt I'd seen all I could see of Brisbane.

Coincidentally enough, my parents arrived in Brisbane 2 days after us, and were staying with my brother, who works and lives here. I went to see some sights with my parents, such as the koala sanctuary, and well....thats it. All there is to do is go shopping in Queen st mall, or go drinking...

Contrary to this, we decided to stay here for a month or so, and get jobs. This also suited me as Anne-Marie decided to come over to Australia and come travelling with us, and this would mean we would be in Brisbane when she arrived here so I could pick her up at the airport.

I applied for some jobs, as did the others, but Dave was the only person to get a job. He went out for one day...and then didn't go back! Haha.

While here I also bought a bicycle. I did some cycling at home and craved a bike so had it in my mind I wanted one. I went looking around town and bought a Giant Rock in a Giant store for 450AUD, but then had to buy a helmet, lights and lock, which put the price up to 600AUD. Hmmm, not a very wise decision, considering we were getting low on cash!

The plan was to lock it up outside the van at night, and then put it in the back while we were driving, which actually worked out fine. Funnily enough, it was the same bike as I had back home, except a newer model. I liked it. I also went for a few cycles on it around Brisbane. Firstly, I had to cycle it home, which was fun, especially considering I didn't actually know the way so kinda had to wing it. I then went on a few cycles around the caravan park and surrounding areas. I got adventourous one day and went a way I'd never been before....big mistake!! I got lost and was cycling around for a long time before I found a postman who gave me directions! I arrived home covered in sweat, probably after losing around a kilo. That place is full of hills!

I had a bit of fun anyway in Brisbane. The casino was cool, the Brisbane lookout was cool, and the bars were cool. My brother also brought me to a few restaurants around so I'd say I seen enough of Brisbane.....for now!