My last post was Tuesday, 8th October and since there was a law school reading week it meant no classes until the following Monday, however on Wednesday there was an optional revision lecture in my IP class. There was strong internal conflict of whether to attend it or not, but eventually I got the preparation work done and went along; I was quite happy that I did since it turned out to be quite useful in covering some of the more difficult issues of the course. I hope that my eventual decision to put a bit of effort in even where none was required might pay off when it comes to exam time! After class I headed to the Post Office on campus to enquire about the cost of posting my football boots back to Sports Direct in the UK because they had burst open around the front seam on the right boot after only three months of use! I sent a firmly worded email to the customer service department and they suggested that I post the boots back for inspection - clearly, they didn't read my email properly and missed that part where I said I was currently in Australia since they provided me with a free-post address which only works within the United Kingdom. It turns out that the cost to ship the boots home would have been around £50, which seemed crazy since the boots were only worth a little over £50 themselves. I emailed Sports Direct once more and suggested that a refund may be more appropriate, which was then sorted out for me. I'm now looking forward to going to find myself a new pair of boots. I also spotted these Harley Davidson motorcycles, parked just outside the Quadrangle at uni - very cool!
On Thursday the weather was supposed to be excellent - as warm as it had been since I arrived in Australia - so Jordan, Jessica, Alex and I decided to head to Manly Beach. Although they had each been previously, it was my first time venturing over to the other side of the harbour and I enjoyed the short ferry ride from Circular Quay, taking in views of some truly amazing houses on the waterfront. The temperature was around 35 celsius for most of the day, but the water provided a welcome cool down; it was actually the first time I had been swimming in the sea in Australia - taken me long enough! We headed to a little burger place for lunch which did a deal on Tuesday and Thursday where you can get a burger, fries and a drink for $10 - the burgers are great and the portion of chips is almost too large to finish comfortably, but of course I managed them. After another hour or two at the beach, we got changed and headed back towards the ferry terminal, although we stopped at the Four Pines Micro Brewery before catching the boat back to Sydney. The beer sold in the pub is brewed at Manly and they have a range of different beer types as well as some ciders - they do offer a taster selection, however I opted for a pint of Pale Ale which was fantastic! Might just have to make time and go back to try the taster menu I think! We headed back on the ferry and then caught the free bus from Circular Quay to Central Station; Jordan headed off to go and meet his friends from the airport who were arriving from Brisbane whilst Alex and I went to the Prince Alfred Park to relax at the swimming pool for the rest of the afternoon.
It's a hard life!
Here is a picture outside the brewery and then one of Alex and Jordan enjoying a beer at the Four Pines Brewery, in Manly.
On Friday, I spent most of the day just chilling out in the flat after having a long lie. I've started watching Orange is the New Black on Netflix, which is alright but it isn't great - I really need to find another good TV show to watch. The plan on Friday night was potentially to go to Jordan and Connor's place for a party, but Alex, Jessica and I met up for a drink before we headed there. We went to Bar Broadway, just near my flat, then went to a liquor store to pick up some wine for the night - I also spotted a bottle of the Four Pines Brewery Stout which Jordan enjoys so I bought him a bottle. Unfortunately, they didn't have the Pale Ale which I prefer, which was a shame. Jordan's friends, Joe and Tiffany, from back home in America were there since they were visiting from Brisbane for the weekend and Connor also had three friends over who he also knew from back home - Alex and Mike also joined us too. The night was really good and I think everyone had an enjoyable night - I was a bit worse for wear the next morning, so it must have been a big night. Moving on.
The plan for Saturday was to go to Coogee and spend the day at the beach - another place which I was yet to visit. Most of the people who had been at the party the night before came along and it was another scorching day. It was great to just chill out and relax on the beach; although I did go in the water and have a swim for a bit, I spent most of the day half-asleep on my beach towel with my iPod playing. Afterwards, we caught the bus back to Central, although we ended up on a bus which took us to Newtown, where the driver informed us that it would be the last stop. We got off and headed towards the train station to take the short journey to Central using an alternative mode of transport, only to find that the trains were not running due to track works - some orientation work was required but we soon found the correct temporary bus stop to take us back towards home. Whilst waiting on the bus, an Australian bloke approached us to ask for directions, to which we did our best but pointed out that we were not locals and should really have been asking him for the directions. He said he was from Tasmania and asked where we all came from - which was a bit odd since Mike was wearing an 'I Am Canadian' t-shirt. Seriously. The conversation went something like this;
Tasmanian bloke: "Ahhh where you all from?!"
Connor: "Some of us are from the United States..."
Mike: "I'm from Canada, as you can see." (pointing towards his t-shirt)
Tasmanian bloke: "Woah! How's that going?"
Connor: "It's alright."
This was followed by 30 seconds of total silence as we looked at the guy and he looked at Connor, each waiting for someone to say something. Mike and I just gutted ourselves laughing and the guy walked off; it was such a strange experience and the guy had such a weird, uneasy manner about him. In hindsight, it won't seem very funny to anyone reading this, but I'll always look back and remember the total awkwardness of the entire situation - it still makes me laugh now, just replaying it in my head.
Anyway, here is a picture from Coogee.
On Saturday night we headed to Darling Harbour to watch the fireworks again, which was actually quite enjoyable. I think when there is less expectation with fireworks the better they are - realistically, firework displays are all a bit too similar really. Afterwards, we headed to the Noodle Festival in Hyde Park, near the city centre, where there is currently lots of market stalls set up with hundreds of tables and chairs set up, under fantastic lights as well as a DJ playing chilled house music. It's all very cool and we were all starving after rushing out after returning from the beach without any dinner, so the noodles were very much appreciated. Once we had eaten, we walked to a bar called Shady Pines which Mike had been to before and highly recommended - it was on Oxford Street, where most of the gay bars are in Sydney, but I took his word for it. On the way, we walked through some 'modern art' in Hyde Park - essentially a whole load of mirrored columns with lights on them, which make for a very strange experience, especially at night! It turned out that the bar was excellent and we decided we would definitely return another time. Later on, a different place was suggested which had a stage where a live band was playing, as well as a dance floor where the DJ had some awesome song selections - including the Bee Gees, which proved to be popular! However, far and away the strangest thing about this place - which I cannot remember the name of - was the glass room which separated the two halves of the building and contained a large, bald headed man dressed up in stockings and twirling feather boas. People were queuing to have photos taken with him and every now and then he would come up to the glass which looked into the dance floor and make scary faces in the darkness. It was all very weird and certainly not anything like I had ever seen in a bar or a club before. I also wasn't brave enough to snap a picture of him, so imagination will have to do the work.
On Sunday I just chilled out and watched TV really - totally lazy day which was well needed after a busy weekend. I also had the exciting prospect of having to go back to classes on Monday, which meant I had to get some work done for those as well. Mum text me some pictures of the illuminations at Blackpool - I'm not really sure why they have chosen to spend a few days of the October holidays in Blackpool because I'm quite sure they hate the place, but there you go. I was delighted to hear that they had spotted a convoy of Focus RS's driving along the promenade but when I asked to see some photos my excitement turned to disappointment upon learning that between mum, dad and Kerry, they hadn't managed to get on single photo which wasn't fuzzy. Some photography classes could be in order for that lot!
Monday brought around the harsh reality of classes once again; the day dragged on and I was very pleased to get home and chill out. The weather had also taken a cold turn and I realised that I am now totally acclimatised to Sydney temperatures when I was wishing I had brought my parka from home and it was only 14 degrees celsius. How times have changed. On Tuesday I spent most of the day writing my Competition Law essay which was due on Friday, as well as doing some more work for Wednesday's classes. I was really looking forward to getting this essay done since it was the last piece of submitted work which I had to hand in before the exams, and it also meant the last deadline which had to be met before our trip to Cairns! On Tuesday afternoon I went to Victoria Park to play football with the Soccer Society lads and got some promising news on the employment front - my friend, Ash, from football works in Harvey Norman at Bondi Junction and he had said to his manager that I was looking for a job. It turns out that the manager is looking for some temporary Christmas staff and I've since passed my CV on to him - so fingers crossed I will soon be earning some pocket money!
The next day was another long day full of classes, although the pain was subsided somewhat by the news that Still Game is coming back! Fantastic to hear that we are going to be treated to some more of the best comedy on TV! Afterwards, I headed home, made dinner and watched some more of Orange is the New Black before heading to bed - almost finished it already, so needing another thing to watch once more. Thursday meant that I had one full day to get my essay done before the deadline on Friday, so I spent most of the day indoors working behind my laptop screen - always a chore. There were some quite serious bush fires around New South Wales on Thursday, which caused the sky over the city to be filled with smoke, which had an eerie orange glow as the sun shone through behind it - very apocolyptic-like. I didn't manage to go out to get some good photos myself, since I was inside doing my essay all day, but I got this one from the window in the flat, and my iPhone weather app told me there was "smoke" which was quite cool! Also heard the news that mum and dad have been looking at a new motorhome - which is a fairly regular activity, to be fair - but it seems like this time it might actually be happening and the current RV may be going after 7 years. We'll wait and see, I guess!
Most of the smoke had dispersed from the skies by Friday morning, but we kept the windows in the flat closed regardless, to save the place getting all dusty - although the fires raged on and even made the news back home in the UK. Must be serious! I headed to my Commercial Dispute Resolution class, then to the library to print off my essay before handing it in to the Law building. It was a fantastic relief to have it handed in, so I went and had some lunch before heading back out to play football in the afternoon.
I was planning on probably having a quiet night after the football, however Mike and Jordan texted me to find out if I wanted to go out to Shady Pines - the pub on Oxford Street - again, along with Connor. I didn't take a lot of convincing and said they should head over to mines to meet up and have a drink before we headed out. We caught the train from Central to Town Hall and made the short walk across Hyde Park to Oxford Street. We had a strange experience in the line whilst waiting to get in, as a random girl approached us and asked us to keep an eye out for her Asian friend called Peter, who was very drunk, and asked us if we saw him to shout him over and take him into the bar with us. We were quite confused and asked her why she wasn't going to look for her friend herself, to which she responded that she was going back inside and didn't want to stand around waiting. Fairly poor friend, I thought; we never did see Peter either. Again, we had a great night in the Shady Pines - I'm not quite sure why I enjoy the place so much, but it is a great little pub. It's in a strange location and you would never even know it was there if you simply walked by; when you venture inside, you are immediately struck by how dark it is and your eyes take a second to adjust to the dim light. The whole place is quite small and lit simply by candle light, whilst you can't help but notice the enormous moose head and sets of antlers which adorn the walls - the place has character, certainly. There is also a beer menu which would put most wine lists to shame, as well as a fine collection of whiskeys and bourbons. The music is also very appropriate and we enjoyed some Bruce Springsteen tracks - although the highlight was the entire place singing along to 'Sweet Caroline'. What a great bar!
Here is a picture of Jordan with potentially the most feminine drink on the menu, in the Shady Pines! Haha!
After a long night, which ended up in the Abercrombie, I headed home and got to bed. I will admit that the Abercrombie was really good, even though I have previously slated it and called it a sticky-carpet joint. I had a long lie on Saturday morning and spent the whole day eating and watching TV - I have started watching the West Wing on the recommendation of dad, who says I'll love it. It has a hefty seven seasons and it has been excellent so far, so I'm hoping I can really get into it like I did with Breaking Bad or Lost beforehand. On Saturday evening, a few of us in the flat headed downstairs to play table tennis for a while before dinner - I was totally shattered and could barely concentrate on the game, so got myself some Solo - which is like Fanta Lemon - and a Snickers out the vending machine and chilled out for a bit. I tried to get to bed early seeing as I was really tired and wanted to watch the Man Utd game at 1am, but literally could not sleep; the result of which was that I could hardly keep my eyes open during most of the second half of the football. I was soon wide awake and alert when Southampton netted a late equaliser though and willed the team on to get a winning goal, but it wasn't to be and we trudged to another home draw. It has been a tough start to the season.
Me and Khurram battling it out at table tennis.
Today I have had another quiet day after sleeping in until after noon this morning - must have needed it! I spent the afternoon getting some washing done and then cooking some pasta for dinner. It's also taken me the best part of an hour to write this blog post because it was so long since I last updated it - I seriously need to start doing it more regularly.
Anyway, only two more weeks of classes until we go to Cairns and I celebrate my birthday - exciting times! Goodnight!
