The Horses? I Think not. The Superbikes at Phillip Island of course. We had to get up meg early to catch a bus from Melburne city centre to phillp island. And guess what... it was a glorious day and there weren't actually that many people there so we got to stand right at the start finnish line. It ws my first bike meet.
I was a bit dissapointed at the lack of stalls selling things, and you could only buy merchandise with Australian riders on. Anyhow the sound and speed of the bikes did not dissappoint me one bit, nd by the end of the day ear drums were vibrating.
The best thing about the race was the fact that the Australians kept going on abot it being the battle of the two Troys (two Aussie riders with the same name) and the peron who ended up winning was James Toesland who is English!!! Great stuff. We got jump over the barriers and run accross the track in time to feel the spray of champagne from James.
We could have walked the track, but I couldn't be bothered!!!
We set off driving to Melbourne to see a family friend, Jill. It took two days of driving and when we got there, there was a drought in Melbourne so were lucky if we could get a shower. All water was being recycled. From the remnents of the washing machine to the dirty washing up water, was all saved to water the dyign flowers.
It made me chuckle how when we are short of water in England, we have a hose pipe ban. When they have a drought in Australia, they restrict to water so the population of melbourne can only use their hose pipes for two hours in the evening!!!! That's logic for you!!!
We spent a few days in Melbourne, went shopping and ate lots and got to catch up with Jill which was great. I have to say thanks to Jill for her hospitality and her patience with certain step grandfathers!!
I have kinda made up with my nan now and we are staying in their caravan, in their sons field... I feel like trailer park trash!!!! Ok, Mya has tried to change her tickets but can't so I have to stay here until Mya comes. I have no idea what I am going to do until she comes in April. Maybe find a job, some admin work. How hard could that be to find a job?
Well I went to the local employment agency who said they can't put me on their books becuase I am not an Australian Citizen (even though I have a wroking visa), so they sent me over to Moruya (the next town along), so I could sign up there.
So I sent my CV in and they asked me to come down. They basically told me there was no work in the bay whatsoever and I would be better off listening to the local radio for job vacancies.
And it is true. A population of 16,000 people in the bay and very few of them have a full time job. Everyone works part time. There really are no jobs here... what a strange place. I can't even get a job waitressing, as you need to get a special certificate if they serve alcohol on the premises... it is really frustrating.
So we are just trying to waste time at the moment... oh and it doesn't help that I have run Gary and Roses car into a pile of breeze blocks... that's not going to be cheap to repair!!!!
Well, I feel a million times better now and have sorted myself out a bit. One of the main problems I think was that most people go travelling when they have either split up with a partner, need a change or things just aren't going right. I had no reason to leave Huddersfield other than boredom. I loved my life. I had a great job, house, social life, I was really happy and then to take myself away from that and put myself into a situation where I didn't have all those things was just kinda crazy.
Anyway, so Tony has finnished working up in Sydney and has now come down to my gran's house, which was fine until my gran decided she really hated him (for no reason specifically) and threw him out... I followed.
This was the first argument I have ever had with my Gran, and i am very dissapointed in her. I have always looked up to my nan and tried to be like her, but now I realise how nasty she can be and I don't like it. Me and Tony went to stay at the youth hostel in town, and I tried phoning her to sort thiings out. She just started yelling to me over the phone and would not stop. She kept saying how he wasn't any good for me and how I was runing my life just being with him (without any concrete evidence of course). The yelling continued for a few days and I continued to get more and more upset. My nan used to be the most understanding woman I had ever known. You could talk to her about anything and she would never judge you. Now old age has turned her into a very very bitter person, and I am not sure I like what she has turned into.
After a week of arguments we sorted it out. I told my nan she had to accept Tony in my life if she wanted to see me. I told her how she used to be a really nice person and now she was really bitter, so she is trying to improve....
Well, me and Tony are fed up with Australia, we have had enough. We want to leave but the only problem is that Mya is coming over in April. She is going to try and change her flight so we can meet in Asia instead, we'll have to wait and see what happens...
Today I left Sydney and went back down the coast to my Gran's house. I cannot cope anymore. I have had a few job interviews and they went well, got more or less offered a job with massive, who are a big web design company in Sydney. I couldn't take it though. I hated Sydney.
The heat is getting to me more and more every day. I feel very depressed, constantly in tears and thinking and worrying about things that are not in my control. Thoughts such like, "What if we can't find somewhere to live?", "What if I don't find anyone here I can talk to?", "What am i going to do when I get back from England? I Have sold everything, I am going to have to start from scratch when I get back?" I started to panic and really freak out. I was in the middle of this big city, not knowing anyone or anything and that really scared me. I got to the point where I was having panic attacks all the time and couldn't even answer the phone or check my emails. I had to refuse the job offers. I was going to go mad if I stayed here any longer.
I was gutted to leave as this was not meant to happen in my plan. I have always planned to work in Sydney for a year and then come back to normal life in England, but It hasn't worked out that way and I am upset because it was my dream and it feels as though I have thrown it all away. But there is no way I could have stayed there, so I left for Bateman's Bay to stay with my Gran and get my head sorted out before I went totally mad...
Well, agencies have started to get back to me now with interviews (most of them have only just got back to work after New Years). We have spent our time this week flat hunting. Everyone we ring, the flat has already gone. They charge you more if you are a couple in a room (I don't know how that works), a lot of people won't take couples (which is fair enough). It is really hard work. Every place we have looked at is terrible. They are all no bigger than my living room, and that is including a bathroom and kitchen! One place we went to, all the skirting was rotting, the kitchen was in bits and it seemed as though a smack head was living there. Another place we went to visit, we got eaten by fleas and the list goes on. I am not long from being a student and I can put up dingy hovels, but I caouldn't stand these flats we were looking at. To get something acceptable (by the standard of a student) you needed to pay $300 plus, a week. All the nice places had about 50 people going to visit them on an open day (that is no exageration by the way), and most of those would apply to for flat. Then the agency would sift through the applications and chooses someone to live in the flat. Often though, because of the huge demand, they would refuse all the applications and then have another open day the next week and put the price up.
There must be somehere to live in Sydney, but the news keeps having articles on the ridiculous prices and how accomodation in Sydney is more expensive than London.
It is really stressful trying to find somewhere to live. We have been travelling for 4 months now, living out of a bag and I just want somewhere I can call home for a while, or even just unpack my stuff would be good. I am really starting to feel like a little ant in a city who is about to be trod upon any minute.
Well I have applied for lots of jobs on the internet but most companies are not back at work yet, after the new year. There are tons of jobs for C# developers here and they need people urgently. I did read an article in the paper though about there being loads of jobs in Sydney but no accomodation.. this is just media hype right?
We are out of the hostel now which was the size of a portaloo and have moved into a room above a gay pub, The Sly Fox and they are all gay and lesbians which live above the pub. It is really friendly here and everyone is great, although when I asked if there was any bike clubs around Sydney, I got directed to "Dykes on Bikes". Downstairs in the pub they have an womens night (where I got a few chat up lines) and have big glasses on the bar which are for tips. They have a big boob floating in it with a sign saying "Show us your Tips!!"
The owners of the pub, Paul and Arlene are lovely people and also own a pub down the road called the Imperial. For those of you who have watched Precilla Queen of the Desert, this is the pub where the coach sets off from. So we got to watch the origional Precilla show. I still don't know where those drag queens hide their bits!!
It is really hot here now and there is no fan in our room. It is too hot to sleep and the planes fly right past our window, so near that you can literally see the passengers. Well, it will be better when we find somewhere else to live... we are looking.
With all Tim's family over from England, he wanted to show them Sydney. What better way to do it than hire a big bus and drive us round Sydney... and thats he did. It was truely the brit bus. We went up to the Blue Mountains and then on to Genola caves (which we couldn't get into because there was too many of us and the tours were all full), so we sat in the sun drinking beer until it was time for the Brit bus(which I think we actually named Betty's Bus) and then went a a chinese feast.
The next day, still on the bus we saw all the Sydney sights including the cricket ground (as the ashes are on). We didn't go to watch the game but managed to go to the merchandise stalls and buy up the British Cricket merchandise as England had just about lost. We jumped back on the bus and headed to Palm Beach where Home and Away is filmed and sunned it up yet again.
Then everybody wnet home and there was just me and Tony in Sydney.
