Sydney

last time I wrote I was in hong kong on a 12 hour stopover. The flight to Sydney was uneventful but surprisingly I was sat next to the same lady that was on my London - Hong Kong flight. After a speedy transit through Australian customs I got the bus and then walked to Alex Syme's place only a stone's throw from the University of New South Wales (UNSW). The weather was grey sticky and Alex had yet to leave for work. I promptly showered and caught the bus in to town to do some sightseeing. The grey day didn't make for great views of the harbour bridge and the opera house and the walk back to central station where I was to meet Alex for lunch was tiring (i had been travelling for 32 hours with little sleep) and I think it was the jet lag that made me dizzy. In the afternoon I tried to sleep before meeting Alex's two other housemates Paul (Stevo) and Danny. In the evening Alex, Danny and I went into town to explore the various backpacker-filled bars that Sydney has to offer. Alex carried with him and old style landline phone which was a prompt for many a good gag or three. Saturday morning brought sunny almost cloud free skies and after going and watching a bit of cricket at the ground neighbouring Alex's house we went to the famed Bondi beach to go surfing. Me being the surfing virgin I was given a quick lesson by Danny and Alex, but I had problems even staying on the board whilst sitting and catching the wave proved to be too hard for me. Bondi beach was cool though and I liked the atmosphere and the constant presence of the lifeguards. We we shopping for cheese and wine before going to a park in central sydney in the evening to listen to free live Jazz as a part of Sydney Festival 2005. The park was heaving with people and we were lucky that Alex's friend Dave's parents had a big area that they'd bagsied. The three bands all from New Orleans were great and got us all on our feet dancing. I talked to an englishman there who had been resident in Sydney for 26 years and who had triple nationality. Today we had lunch at Alex mum's place together with Alex's 4 yr old neice Chantel and her mum as well as another friend of Alex's mum. This evening we are to meet with Kevin an irishman who we both met in Lund and who played rugby at Lugi at the same time as us. Talk about a coincidence. Then we are going to listen to Alex's freind's gig. All in all, I am liking Sydney a lot and am looking forward to a week's sightseeing here.