Some nice walks, Scottish food and Vivid Sydney!

After my weekend in Brisbane, it was back to uni on Monday morning. This stage in semester is always tough as you approach the end, seemingly just rolling from one deadline to the next and generally always having something which needs done. It's not much fun. The week passed by without event really, though I did receive the result from my Private International Law exam; I got 73% which I was fairly pleased with. Most of my time in between classes was spent reading and researching for my Criminology essay which was due the following week and had - at the beginning of the week - not yet been started.

On Friday, Jessica and I visited Parliament House near the Botanic Gardens in the city. It is the building where the Parliament of New South Wales is found; the state government being entirely separate from the national-level government which is found in Canberra. In truth, the building itself was a little underwhelming and whilst it is 'open' to the public, many of the interesting parts were closed. In fact, if it weren't for a large gallery of photographs which were being displayed as part of a competition, there wouldn't have been much to see at all. There was an extremely cool water-feature in the centre of the main lobby though.

The aforementioned water-feature and some of the photographs which were on display.

The Legislative Council Chamber, inside the Parliament building.

The Vice Regal Chair, in the Legislative Council Chamber. This is where the representative of the Australian monarch, Queen Elizabeth, sits. The position is currently held by Professor Marie Bashir and she lives in Government House - which we visited next.

We walked through the Botanic Gardens on our way towards the Opera House, which sits just in front of Government House.

This is the huge glass, pyramid greenhouse which sits in the Botanic Gardens. Unfortunately, it was also closed on the day.

Government House is located within the Botanic Gardens and feels totally secluded from the city itself. It's clearly an old building, but also has some modern touches and the garden has a swimming pool. They conduct tours of the building on Friday each week and I'm planning to go back and see inside before I go home, since it looks amazing through the windows!

This is essentially the view from the gardens of Government House. Not a bad place to live, by any means. The Opera House is just behind the trees to the right of this picture. 

Afterwards, we headed to the Cafe on the Rocks and had cake and coffee. The lemon meringue pie was majestic again. Feeling suitably stuffed, we caught the bus back to Railway Square and headed home to book our flights to Melbourne and Tasmania. The plan is to fly from Sydney to Melbourne after my exam on the 21st June, then a few days later we'll fly over to Tasmania from Melbourne. After another few days in Tasmania, we'll catch a final flight back to Sydney, before Kerry arrives in Sydney the next morning. After sorting all of that out, we headed out for dinner in Chinatown. I had honey chicken, which was excellent, but Jessica managed to top that with prawns in black bean sauce, which was even better. We moved on to the Hotel CBD for a drink after dinner before Jessica caught the train home.

The next day, we planned to walk to Manly Head. Jessica arrived in the morning and we headed to Woolworths to get some food and grab a coffee for breakfast. Fed and watered, we took the ferry from Circular Quay over to Manly. It was a stunning day and we began our walk from near Manly beach, which was as nearly busy as I have ever seen it, even though it is now technically winter.

Yeah, winter...

Not long after we started the walk, we spotted this little penguin perched on a rock. Very cool!

At first, the path was dusty and rocky, as it wound through bush and scrub. There wasn't much to see and it was so hot and sticky. Every once in a while, there was a little break, affording pretty brilliant views from the cliff tops. We also came across some old army bunkers and gun turrets, which were quite cool.

Horizon as far as the eye can see.

In truth, the walking was getting a bit tiresome without much to see and I was starting to wonder what the fuss was all about in regard to walking to Manly Head. However, we eventually reached the other side of the peninsula and suddenly the whole walk had been more than worth it. I really feel that the pictures won't do the views justice, but I'll do my best.

We stopped and had lunch here, before snapping some more photos. Apparently, it has been noted that I do the same pose every time I have my photo taken in a nice place, but I don't care.

In contrast, here is Jessica acting like Carol Vorderman on Countdown!

We continued our walk around the cliffs before circling back and heading towards Manly again. Feeling suitably exhausted, we went and had ice cream and chilled at the beach for a while before catching the ferry back to the city. Jessica caught the train back home and I headed back to Iglu, eagerly anticipating the FA Cup Final and La Liga conclusions later that night.

Since it was International Whisky Day, Jack insisted that he and I head out for a drink. I agreed to one, so that I could get some sleep before the football started. We went to Freda's and enjoyed a really nice 11 year old Oban single malt. After Jack took his obligatory Instagram photo, we walked back to Iglu and I got off to bed for a power nap. The football was kicking off around 2am and I seriously considered rolling back over and returning to my sleep when my alarm went off to get me up. It's always much easier to get up when it's United who are playing; I was far less motivated by the prospect of getting up to watch Arsenal potentially win a trophy. However, the potential that they might lose was too good to miss, so I dragged myself out of bed.

Here is Jack in high spirits shortly before kick off. Needless to say, he was less enthusiastic when Hull City took an early two-goal lead. Oh, how we laughed!

Unfortunately, Arsenal got back into the game and eventually took the match to extra time, when Aaron Ramsey scored a winner. Over in Spain, Atletico Madrid managed a draw at the Nou Camp against Barcelona to win their first title since 1996 and disrupt the Real Madrid-Barcelona duopoly for the first time since 2004. An incredible achievement. After the football finished, I was faced with the prospect of staying up for another two hours to watch the German Cup Final between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund or getting to bed to get some sleep. The next morning, when I discovered that the German game had finished 0-0 at full-time, I was pleased with my decision to go to bed. Sunday was spent doing uni work - the joys.

On Monday I had a bit of a headache, so I decided to stay at home and do some work on my Criminology essay rather than going in to class. There isn't an awful lot of incentive to go to class at this point in semester, especially when I have essays instead of exams in a couple of them. In other news, Man Utd finally had a new manager after Louis van Gaal was finally announced officially, although it was coupled with the bittersweet news that Ryan Giggs would be retiring from playing to become the assistant manager. I don't think his achievements will ever be beaten in the modern game. The ultimate professional and the ultimate legend of our club. I'm very glad he'll still be around though. I took another step towards the conclusion of my university life on Wednesday, as I finalised my dissertation subject. After much consideration, I decided to enquire about the possibility of building a question focused on contract law, specifically looking at footballers contracts, movement of labour and transfer markets. I was informed that it was a much more original idea than my original criminal law proposal and that it would be far easier to make this new topic stand out from the crowd. That's that decided then. After uni on Thursday, I spent a while (admittedly with the help of Jessica, which was very much appreciated!) cleaning my flat, ready for our inspection the next day. I have to say, I keep the place clean and tidy anyway, but the inspections are meticulous, so everything needs to be spotless.

Jessica and I had plans to tick another few things from our respective to-do lists on Friday. We caught the train and bus out to Bondi beach where we went for breakfast, before beginning the walk from Bondi to Coogee. I'd done the walk before, in the opposite direction, but was looking forward to doing it again, hopeful that it might be less busy than the previous occasion. It was another brilliant day and I snapped some great photos.

Breakfast by the beach.

Bondi beach in the morning.

Surfers making the most of fairly calm conditions in a bay just around the corner from Tamarama beach.

Here's me not far from the part of the walk which goes by a cemetery on the cliffs. Very strange.

When we got to Coogee, I jumped into the rock pool baths for a swim, which I had planned on doing for a while. It was rather chilly, so I didn't stay in for long, although it is winter. Try doing that in Scotland in winter.

After some time was spent relaxing on the beach at Coogee, we caught the first of two buses out towards Maroubra, where we were going to visit the Scottish butcher. After some solid navigating, we reached our destination and struggled not to go over the top on food from back home. Eventually, we settled on a steak pie, some black pudding and tattie scones. Superb! We caught the bus back to Central, eagerly anticipating dinner! We stuck the steak pie in the oven and made mash potatoes, carrots and gravy to go with it - all topped off with a couple of cans of Irn Bru! Amazing!

Needless to say, dinner was immense. Breakfast the next morning was pretty good too, as we enjoyed black pudding, scrambled eggs and tattie scones.

Saturday was spent in the library, writing my Criminology essay, ready to be handed in on Tuesday. After a good day of work, I headed home and had dinner, followed by some FIFA with Jack in the evening. I got an early night because I was getting back up early to watch the Champions League Final. Typically, given that I was hoping to get back to bed at a decent time so I could get on with my essay again on Sunday, the match went to extra time, after a late Sergio Ramos header levelled the scores. Eventually, Real Madrid banged in three goals in the additional time to win their tenth European Cup. I was pleased for Ronaldo and happy that Diego Simeone didn't get his hands on the trophy given his history with David Beckham and Manchester United. It was back to the grind on Sunday, after a long lie; more essay writing.

I was back to classes on Monday morning, although since some of them had now finished, I only had one each day. That meant I had IP and then it was off to the library again to complete my essay before the next morning. Gladly, it was all but finished by the early evening, leaving me just needing to read over my work for typos and spelling errors. I submitted it online the next morning and also received my grade for the presentation which I had made a few weeks previously in Criminology class; I got 8 out of 10, so I was pleased with that. In the afternoon, I had my penultimate Evidence class, after which I played football in Victoria Park, followed by some FIFA back home at night.

On Tuesday night, Jack and I were going to play FIFA but found one of the controllers was sticking. We took the brave decision to unscrew the back of it, open up the insides and attempt to fix the sticking button.

Incredibly, we managed to fix it somewhat, without it being as good as new and put all the pieces back together and it still works. If I were to apply for some sort of engineering job, I'd be putting that achievement down on my CV!

On Wednesday night, Jessica and I decided to finally go and see the Vivid Sydney festival lights. The festival has a huge array of lights, lasers and interactive zones throughout the city centre for a number of weeks each year. This building was illuminated to look like a large tree, with birds and animals living in it.

This is the Museum of Contemporary Art, near the harbour and it was lit up with an amazing set of projections, set in time to music. I thought the people with the cubed heads were quite Daft Punk-inspired!

Finally, the highlight of the festival for everyone - the Opera House!

Unfortunately, my photos of the Opera House aren't particularly good. After seeing the lights, we went for a drink at Opera Bar, though it was pretty cold, so we didn't stay long.

I woke up on Thursday morning to the news that Malcolm Glazer, the former owner and general parasite of Manchester United has passed away. The less said about Glazer and his legacy the better, I think. After getting up and having some breakfast, I began writing this post, since I didn't have any classes. There was supposed to be one more Evidence class in the afternoon, but I went to play football instead, which meant that classes had now finished in Sydney. The next time I'll sit in a lecture or tutorial will be back in Glasgow! The football started around 2pm in Wentworth Park and it was to be a full 11-a-side game against the Korean Society from uni. I started the game with a goal inside the first minute and doubled our lead with a second goal shortly before half time. We finished the half leading two-nil through my two goals and we were playing well. Some changes were made at half time and the second half descended into a bit of a shambles, with the score finishing something like 6-5 or 6-6. I'm really not sure since I lost count, amidst overriding fury at the incompetence of our defensive efforts.

I headed home after the game and went straight in the shower. Whilst you don't get muddy from making tackles here, you do get covered in a sort of dusty dirt instead. You end up looking like a coal miner, which is pretty horrible. Jessica had been in uni and headed over to my place afterwards; I cooked fish and chips and made apple crumble too, which was again finished within 24 hours! It must be good! We had a lazy day yesterday, spending most of the day doing nothing, except watching Deja Vu which is a brilliant film! Jessica headed home in the afternoon and I played FIFA with Jack for a while. Later on, there was a party on in Iglu and we played beer pong, which I won, for the first time ever!

Today has been spent in the library. Not how I would spend my ideal Saturday, admittedly, but needs must since I have a take home exam that needs to be completed by Wednesday. That'll be taking up the majority of my weekend.

Until next time,
Jamie

It's beginning to feel a lot like...summer!

There is a bit of an overlap from the last post which I need to catch up on...

On Sunday night, after returning from Stereosonic and stopping by McDonalds for some food, I battled to stay awake through the Man Utd game as we drew away 2-2 away to Spurs. I was so tired from the weekend and it was bedtime for me as soon as the final whistle blew; my head had barely hit the pillow before I was asleep. Monday morning brought a well needed long lie, after which I got up and did absolutely nothing all day except watch Netflix and eat. The most productive part of my day was sorting out the various photos and videos from the weekend and compiling some of the better clips together to make a YouTube video. Here is the link to it, if anyone would like to see it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH5W26lISxs&feature=c4-overview&list=UUYFev9KKJGt7jKnRlQlJEuQ

On Tuesday, I started picking my classes for next semester. Although we won't have them confirmed for quite some time yet, we are still required to submit the list of classes we want to take just now - in fact, it was supposed to be done before the end of the semester, mines was late. After strategically picking through the timetable and reading some of the class descriptions, a final selection was settled and I headed into uni to hand the form into the International Office on campus. In the afternoon, I decided to update and add to my list of things which I want to see and do in Sydney whilst I'm here - given that it is summer and I'm not at uni at the moment, now seems the best time to see some of the sights. After drawing up my list of sights and places to visit, I finally got my last blog post finished off and posted online.

Inevitably, when you first finish a semester at uni after an exam period, or back in the school days as well, you seem to spend a lot of time doing nothing at all with your time. It is sort of enjoyable at first to just be free from any obligation to study although it does get boring quite quickly. On Wednesday however, I was still happily procrastinating my days away and spent most of the morning after breakfast watching the Sound City documentary, on the recommendation of Andy. It turned out to be a very strong choice and I really enjoyed it - well worth watching if you're into music at all. Later in the day, the first headliner for the Reading and Leeds Festivals in 2014 had been announced as Blink-182 and it looks as though there may be a few of us going to it next summer after I arrive back home. After cooking dinner and catching up with home on FaceTime, I got an early night since the football was on early on Thursday morning again. It was another poor result as United lost 1-0 at home to Everton, so I was happy to go back to bed and get some more sleep when the match finished.

The sport continued after I got up again the next morning, as the second Ashes test began on Thursday morning in Adelaide. I'm starting to quite enjoy cricket, even though I've always taken a slight interest in the Ashes when they've been contested over the past few years and I found myself watching most of the play up until lunchtime. Since food supplies were running a little low in the flat, I headed out to the supermarket in the afternoon before returning to watch some more of the cricket. One of the best things about watching cricket is that you can do other things whilst it is on, unlike most other sports - I guess that is why many people find it so boring really. Whilst the match was going on, I sat and downloaded some new music, particularly the back catalogues of Paramore, You Me At Six and Nine Inch Nails in anticipation of seeing them next year. In the evening, Claire, Jess, Khurram and I went to Pancakes on the Rocks, the 24-hour restaurant near Circular Quay, famous for their awesome pancakes. I had chilli beef nachos and a chocolate pancake which was to die for, but so incredibly heavy that none of us managed to clear our plates. Later that night I watched 'The Usual Suspects' on Netflix; I had never seen it before but it was really excellent and I'll probably watch it again sometime soon, which is unusual for me. The big news event of Thursday, 5th December however was the passing of Nelson Mandela, the influential and brilliant former President of South Africa. Tributes poured in from across the world and the television was dedicated to stories of his life and achievements. What an incredible individual.

We saw this tall ship sailing into Circular Quay when we were trying to find Pancakes on the Rocks. I still haven't got tired of going down there and seeing the Opera House and Harbour Bridge.

On Friday night, we were planning to have an early Christmas dinner of sorts, before Lian left to travel around New Zealand, after which she was heading home to Singapore where she would be getting married. We had divided up various parts which we would be responsible for, so on Friday morning I headed down to Woolworths to get potatoes and some wine from the liquor store nearby. I was also tasked with picking up a bottle of champagne to go with the Vera Weng glasses which the girls had already got as part of a wedding present. I ended up buying two bottles of Promised Land Moscato - which turned out to be lovely and we've since bought more - as well as a nice Australian champagne on the advice of the shop assistant. I returned to the flat to peel and prepare the potatoes since I had a shift at work from 4 until 7 in the evening. After getting my part of the dinner ready, I had some lunch, got ready for work and headed to Broadway for my shift. Work went by fairly quickly and when I returned home the dinner was almost ready to go - always welcome immediately after work! When I checked my phone though, I discovered that our exam results were out and the inevitable nerves sunk in; it doesn't matter how good or badly you think you may have done, the moment of actually getting the results is always pretty horrible. Gladly, the three results which were available were all decent enough and I was relieved to have safely negotiated another semester of exams. One more result to come still, but it was good to have the majority out of the way and I was looking forward to our evening of food and wine as a small celebration. We enjoyed some roast chicken, potatoes, carrots, baked fish and a takeaway pizza followed by a brilliant chocolate cake. Lian really appreciated her gifts and card too, which was great! We ended up staying up until around 2am before calling it quits; I was totally stuffed and ready for bed, especially with work again the next day.

I was starting work at 12, so at least I had time for a decent sleep before needing to get up, having some breakfast and a shower and getting ready to leave. Once again, my 6 hour shift went by fairly quickly and it even included a break long enough to go and get a sandwich from Subway. I had found out the previous day that Alex was back in Sydney for a few days after his trip to New Zealand, so we planned on having a night out on Saturday before he flew back to the USA on Monday. After work, I headed home and made myself some dinner and chilled out for a while before we were due to head out. Jessica came over to mines for a drink and we were then going to head out to Kings Cross. Although, Alex didn't get into the club where we were meant to be going, so Jessica and I ended up finishing our drinks and not going out. I ended up going to McDonalds around midnight and watching the football on my laptop; unfortunately United lost at home for the second time in a week.

On Sunday morning, I had a long lie and woke up to check the rest of the football scores from through the night. Rather fortunately, both Chelsea and Man City had dropped points too which meant the United result wasn't nearly as bad as it might have been. I had been planning on going to the pool at the Prince Alfred Park to spend the day relaxing in the sunshine, but shortly before I was going to leave I received a Facebook message from Robert, a guy I met through the Soccer Society, asking if I wanted to play that afternoon. I decided to play football rather than go to the pool although in hindsight, the pool would have been a far more relaxing day, as the afternoon heat beat down on us as we played. I even managed to get a little sunburnt from the few hours which we played. It was good to meet yet another decent group of guys who enjoyed a game of football though and it was also the first time I had been down to Wentworth Park, where they play. The park is near the Anzac Bridge and not far from another amazing marina on the waterfront - it's a very picturesque place for a kick around. On a related note, unfortunately, there was an email sent out to those players who hadn't been picked for the Hakoah squad and I was one of the people who hadn't made the team. Gutted. I'm still hoping to find another team though.

I was working once more on Monday - a fairly long shift too - which is great for making money but also dreadful knowing you have to get up and go to work all day. The shop wasn't too busy, which was unusual considering how close we are getting to Christmas, even though it was a Monday. I had a bit of a headache in the afternoon and I was glad to be finished work and get home. After dinner, I spent some more time hunting for Christmas presents online to send home, but I was still struggling to come up with an idea for Kerry. When I woke up on Tuesday morning, it was alright bright and sunny and the weather forecast was for a really warm afternoon, so I decided to get up and go to the pool at Prince Alfred Park. Disappointingly, the free swimming there has finished now, but it's only around $3 for a student entry - can't complain at that! Just as I was heading down past the reception in the common area, one of the staff came running after me - I didn't hear him shout on me since I had my headphones plugged in - and told me that I had a parcel waiting for me. He said I could pick it up later in the day, so I headed off to the pool wondering what could have been sent for me. Surely it couldn't be my Christmas package from home, I considered, since that had only been posted around a week earlier and previously my birthday presents had taken almost four weeks to arrive here. I enjoyed my afternoon relaxing in the sunshine at the poolside, topping up my tan which is actually reasonable now, although I'm still far from bronzed. There's still time! When I returned, I discovered that the package was in fact my Christmas gifts from home - I have no idea how they arrived here so quickly, but I'm not complaining. I opened my cards from Dad, Mum and Kerry as well as one present which was labeled "OPEN NOW!" The present turned out to be a Christmas decoration with the dog on it, which I pinned up on the wall for the time being.

My presents and cards from home - including a card from the dog! Haha!

The other brilliant thing which happened on Tuesday was that Jess's boyfriend had visited and she had convinced him to leave his Playstation 3 in the flat for a while. Needless to say, I was delighted when I discovered that there was a copy of Pro Evo Soccer on it and took great pleasure in virtually beating Barcelona a couple of times with Man Utd. As sad as it is, I do miss playing FIFA! Haha! I also received my first wages from work on Tuesday - I have definitely missed pay-days! I got a fairly early night after dinner since United were playing early on Wednesday morning once again; I got up at the usual ridiculous time and watched us beat Shakhtar 1-0 to seal first place in our Champions League group. Happy days.

Playstation 3 and Pro Evo hooked up to the TV in the living room!

Since Jessica and I both had a day off work on Wednesday, we decided to go to Bondi as it was supposed to be another scorching day. We were not disappointed and managed to catch the train then the bus out the Eastern Suburbs shortly before 11am. The beach was remarkably quiet and free of people, since it was before noon on a weekday - I had never been to the beach so early before but it was well worth it. The peace and quiet was promptly interrupted by some European guys blaring dance music from their portable speakers though. It was fairly annoying at first, but then they began playing some decent tunes and it was fairly enjoyable to just relax on the sand with some background music. After a few hours of sun-worshipping, we headed to the restaurant at the pavilion for some lunch and a beer. It was great to sit and look out at the sea as we ate and it was definitely one of those moments where you had to pinch yourself to remember that it was actually real. A Wednesday afternoon in December and here we find ourselves on Bondi Beach. Living the dream. On our way back to the city, we stopped by a shop called Hot Dollar, at Bondi Junction, so that we could both buy some cheap Christmas decorations. We ended up buying quite a lot of stuff and my room in the flat is looking suitably festive now!

This giant turtle, made from recycled car tyres, was in the restaurant where we had lunch at Bondi.

On Thursday back home, my Christmas cards which I had posted finally arrived. Rather unfortunately, only the cards for Dad and Kerry had arrived by Thursday, which was funny since it was Mum who most wanted a Christmas card! Her own one did arrive on Friday morning though, luckily enough. My plan for the day was to finish my Christmas shopping - finally! Just after lunchtime, Claire, Jess and I headed to Paddy's Market to get some fruit and veg which we were all needing in the flat; we headed home and dropped off our shopping and then I headed back out to the city to take a wander around the shops. My shopping trip took me to a few places I hadn't really been in the city before, for example the Queen Victoria Buildings which I had only really passed through once before, as well as the Westfield Shopping Centre near the Town Hall. I also found an amazing bookshop called Kinokuniya, which was comfortably one of the most impressive book shops I have ever seen in my life. The majority of the presents I needed to buy were all done in a few hours, so I spent some time looking for some things for myself as well, although I ended up not buying anything. I always find it easier to spend money on other people, which is unfortunate when you could really be doing with some new shoes!

Friday meant that I could look forward to another game of football in the afternoon. I didn't really do much all day, apart from watching the recently aired ITV documentary, 'Keane v Vieira: Best of Enemies' which was brilliant! Roy Keane is such a legend at United for what he achieved as a player, it's just a shame he feels the need to constantly bad mouth Sir Alex Ferguson and just generally act so bitterly towards the club. In the early afternoon, Jessica dropped by with some more Christmas decorations for me as well as some surprise presents. I had no idea what she was on about, but soon discovered that there had been some behind the scenes chat between her and Kerry on Facebook which had led to Jessica buying some things for me which were from Mum, Dad and Kerry back home. Very sneaky! Jessica was keen to point out just how well wrapped her ones were and I believe she may even have suggested they were better wrapped than the ones I had received from home! Serious fighting talk when it comes to present wrapping! Haha!

After playing football and arriving home, I got showered and changed and ready to head out with Claire and Jess from the flat, to go to the night market down at the Rocks. We walked some way down George Street before catching the free shuttle bus the rest of the way to Circular Quay. The markets were extremely hipster, but also quite cool - there was an old fashioned barber, ghost-walk tours, fortune tellers, a silent disco, stalls selling all kinds of jewellery, masks and other small gifts and even a karaoke machine which had gathered quite a crowd as enthusiastic tourists murdered some well known hits! There was also numerous amazing food stalls and we each regretted having already had dinner before we left the flat.

Here's a photo of the three of us wearing our headphones at the silent disco - we didn't stay long, although some people were really getting into it. Always a laugh!

Even though we had already eaten earlier we decided to buy some cannoli from one of the market stalls. It was a sort of crispy biscuit tube, with a filling almost like ice cream. Again, it was something which I hadn't tried before I don't think, but it was excellent! We walked around the rest of the markets and then began walking home, back up George Street. We also stopped by Chinatown where I bought a few cream puffs again - they're just too good and too cheap to say no - and Claire went to a place which sells Taiwanese desserts and that was also fantastic!

Here is Jess and I posing with the cannoli - superb!

On the walk back, we also stopped by the Town Hall to see the lights, which never seem to get boring either - they're fantastic! There was also a music performance happening on one side of the building, in time to the illuminations, which was really cool and I managed to catch a short video of it.

This is the side of the Town Hall, all lit up.

Finally, I also noticed that the monkey statues on top of the Three Wise Monkeys pub had been dressed up in Christmas gear, which was funny!

Yesterday, I was working from 12 until 6 again, so I got up in the morning, had a shower and some breakfast and headed off for my shift. The day went past fairly quickly and I also had a break to go and get some food, which was very welcome since I was starving. Jessica and I were planning to go out for a few drinks that night, but eventually we decided to go to Hard Rock Cafe at Darling Harbour. I'm fairly sure the only time that I have been to a Hard Rock Cafe before was when we were in Disneyland Paris years ago and I've never been to the one in Edinburgh, so I was really looking forward to it! We ended up getting a really good table with a view of the harbour, which was great for the usual Saturday night fireworks. I had brisket with coleslaw and chips, whilst Jessica had fajitas and we drank a really nice bottle of Marlborough Upside Down Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. I'll be like a Scottish Oz Clarke by the time I come home.

Hard Rock Cafe Sydney!

The Christmas tree at Darling Harbour.

Inflatable floating Santas on the water.

Afterwards we went to another bar on the harbour-side where we had an awkward conversation with a random Scottish woman, before we moved on to Cargo Bar. I'd never been to Cargo before, but it was really excellent; the DJ was like an old man - he looked like Judge Jules - but he played some great tunes. There was also an awesome guy with dreadlocks and a beard who had some brilliant dance moves - Jessica thought he was the coolest guy in the world and then we discovered he actually worked in the bar! Haha! We headed home around 2am, shattered. What a good night - I'll definitely go back to Cargo!

I woke up fairly early this morning - I can never seem to have a decent sleep after a night out - but since it was around 8am, I decided to use the time to catch up with home. I chatted to Jonny in Valencia on Skype for a while and also spoke to Mum and Kerry for a bit. Afterwards, I went out and finished off the last little bits of my Christmas shopping before getting everything wrapped. Wrapping is such a chore, even more so because I appreciate presents really should be properly and nicely wrapped, but I'm not very good at it. An infuriating task, really. I spent this evening finishing off this post and cleaning the flat since we have an inspection tomorrow; gladly the place is looking like a show-home. We've done a really good job of getting the kitchen and living room looking spotless. Only a few hours until the United game now - big game away to Aston Villa, we could really be doing with a win!

Here's a picture of my decorated Christmas tree - thanks to Jessica - with presents underneath!

Only 10 more sleeps now!

Until next time,

Jamie

Cairns - Finding Nemo, Crisps and Crocodiles

It hasn't been that long since I last updated the blog, but so much has happened since Thursday last week that I thought it was worthwhile writing a new post. This one will be detailed with lots of great photos and lots of interesting adventures - it may very well be the best post yet.

I left off my last post on Thursday, just a few hours before heading to the airport to catch our flight to Cairns. I met Jordan and Alex at Central Station around 3pm and caught the train to the domestic airport not too far from the city, although it still cost us a little over $11 for a single journey with a student concession card - typical airport public transport! We met Jessica at the airport and got checked in for the flight; Jordan and I had decided to check a bag, however we didn't have any check-in baggage allowance which meant that it was going to cost us $40 for the privilege. In a rather fortunate stroke of luck though, when I attempted to pay my baggage charge with my card there was some sort of issue with the card machine and the guy at the desk told me that he would waive the fee on this occasion. After passing through security and getting some food from Subway, we found a table and enjoyed a beer whilst chatting about the forthcoming adventures over the next few days. Our excitement had slightly dulled by the time it came to board the plane, as our flight was delayed by around 45 minutes - we then spent a further 15 minutes on the tarmac before we actually took off. Flying can be a bit of a chore at times and I'm not a massive fan of aviation as a form of transport; it doesn't scare me or anything but I usually just put my iPod on and try and sleep for the majority of the time. 

Our delayed flight meant that we landed in Cairns a little later than expected, although we gained an hour back due to the time difference. Whilst we had travelled almost directly north, therefore not moving between any actual timezones, there was still an hour difference since the clocks are moved in New South Wales for daylight saving, whereas the state of Queensland don't move their clocks. It was around 9.30pm local time when we eventually landed, collected our bags and made our way to the arrivals exit. We enquired about an airport shuttle bus to take us to the hotel we had booked into at Holloways Beach, north of Cairns but the gentleman on the desk was kind enough to tell us that a taxi would be a cheaper option. We appreciated his honesty and headed outside to find ourselves a cab. Upon stepping outside of the airport for the first time, the pleasant warmth and humidity of the night was fantastic - the area around Cairns essentially has a tropical rainforest climate and it was immediately noticeable. We arrived at the hotel shortly before 10pm and found the reception was closed for the night. Luckily Jordan had been clever enough to realise that would happen and had managed to secure himself the code for the safe at reception, let himself in and retrieved our room key which had been left there for us. The fact that the reception was closed for the night actually worked out very well for us since we had been a little bit naughty and only booked in for two people in the room, when in reality there were four of us. It's only illegal if you get caught, right? Actually, as a law student, I probably shouldn't abide by that rule. 

Our apartment on the night we arrived.

Rather annoyingly, due to our slight delay in getting to Cairns, the local supermarket had closed shortly before we arrived at the hotel, meaning we had no food and hadn't eaten since the early evening. After making a call to the Pizza Hut in Cairns and being told they wouldn't deliver to our accommodation, we wondered if we would manage to find ourselves something to eat at all. Eventually, we decided to call another taxi to take us into Cairns in an attempt to find a supermarket, or takeaway which would be open late on a Thursday night. The taxi driver turned out to be a really decent guy and turned the meter off for us and waited outside whilst we went in to get ourselves something to eat. Since none of us could be bothered to start cooking so late at night, we each got some super noodles and big bags of crisps - the first of many bags of crisps consumed over the weekend - as well as some milk and cereal for a few days of breakfast. We got back, demolished a truly rubbish dinner by any reasonable standards and headed to bed. I drank a can of Mountain Dew with my dinner, which was a poor idea in hindsight, since the sugar kicked in just as we were going to bed; I couldn't sleep and didn't eventually go to bed until almost 1am having a carry on and keeping everyone else up too. I'm sure everyone appreciated it though, especially with a 6.30am alarm set for the following morning. 

I was surprisingly quite sharp and alert soon after my alarm went off. I think mainly because Jordan had cracked the blinds open and it was a beautiful sunny day, I remembered where I was and immediately felt energised looking forward to what we had planned for the day. This was the view from my bed when I woke up.

We were due to meet our bus outside the hotel around 7.30am, which would be taking us on a tour of some of the sights along the coast, north of Cairns. We were the last people to be picked up from our respective hotel and found ourselves the only four remaining seats along the back row of the small bus. The driver had a microphone attached to the speaker system in the bus and talked us through the itinerary for the day and explained what would be happening at each place. One of the first things which he said was, "I won't talk too much, just a little bit of talking, but most of the time I won't be talking and I'll just let you relax and enjoy the journey" which was followed by him talking for the majority of the day. Now, usually it would be great to hear lots of information and interesting facts about a place which we had never visited before, but often it was quite difficult to hear what he was saying which meant his commentary was relegated to the status of annoying background noise. Fortunately, the scenery spoke for itself - the green mountains, fields of crops and fruit and amazing coastline meant there was plenty to see. 

The first stop of the day was at the Port Douglas Wildlife Habitat, around a one hour drive from our hotel. It was a great little place and I actually enjoyed it more than the Taronga Zoo in Sydney; the animals seemed like they were in a more natural environment and it was amazing to get up close to some of them. Particular highlights were the wallabies, crocodiles and kangaroos - I actually had the surreal experience of two kangaroos eating out of my hand, before a bird approached also looking to be fed. The bird pecked my leg and the kangaroo jumped to my defence and scared it off! Of course, it was only looking after the food for itself, but it was still amazing to see! The crocodiles were also one of the most amazing things which I had seen - such powerful, menacing creatures - but the Wildlife Habitat wasn't to be the best, or closest, crocodile experience of the day. 

Here are some photos of the animals from the Wildlife Habitat.

Very close to some small wallabies - a few of which even had little joeys in their pouches - amazing!

A rather large crocodile, who had been removed from the wild because he was considered a serious threat to human life. He was essentially in crocodile prison - such a boss!

Jordan making himself a furry new friend! Also, one of the birds which pecked me, just to the right.

Finally, a kangaroo - not a wallaby - eating from my hand!

We all really enjoyed the Wildlife Habitat and enthusiastically flicked through all the photos we had shot as we boarded the tour bus once again. I have to admit I haven't really done very many tour-type trips before and usually tend to explore places and visit tourist locations without the help or interference of a tour company or guide when travelling, however the tour was small - maybe around 20 people - and it was great to see so much stuff in the same day. There is no way we could have achieved as much in the one day on our own. The next stop wasn't too far away and we disembarked once more to find ourselves at the Mossman River Gorge. We took a short walk around some raised walkways through the forest and stopped at the side of the river to snap some photos of the mesmerising, crystal-clear water which was home to a substantial number of fish, which seemed quite at ease with the odd tourist who had decided to take a dip in the waters. 

We didn't spend too long at the gorge before we boarded the bus again and headed further north towards the Daintree River. When we reached the river, it became apparent that we would be taking a ferry crossing before travelling any further; we were given a quick chance to get out and stretch our legs as we waited on the ferry, which crossed on wires over the river and we wondered why there wasn't a bridge since there seemed to be a fair number of cars waiting to cross. As we got off the bus to take a walk around, the driver warned us not to get too close to the water since there were crocodiles. I didn't get too close, but I also didn't take his advice too seriously and brushed it off as a bit of a joke - although I would later discover that he was being deadly serious. 

A photo whilst we were waiting on the ferry, which can be seen at the other side of the river.

We probably travelled another 30 minutes or so, before the driver informed us that we would soon be stopping for lunch. Earlier in the day, a clipboard had been passed around asking us to tick whether we would prefer a steak, barramundi fish or a vegetarian option for lunch and I had opted for the fish. We arrived at a place where there were several wooden chalet type buildings offering accommodation scattered through the forest and we walked down from the car park near the road towards the water-front. We ended up at a large area where there were tables set up, underneath a large canopy and beside a small swimming pool; it was really warm and a great place to chill out and have lunch although we couldn't actually see the water since the trees were so thick they blocked out the view. Lunch was really good and our food was followed up by plates of fresh fruit, which provided a welcome refreshment in the afternoon heat. 

Jessica and Jordan at the place where we had lunch.

After lunch, Jordan, Alex and I got changed into our swimming shorts and headed towards the beach. We emerged from the edge of the trees, taken aback by the majestic scenery of the beach and the sea - quite simply one of the most amazing places I had ever had the pleasure of experiencing. It was almost completely quiet, except the gentle sound of the waves on the perfect white sand, and the overgrown, wild forest intruding on to the beach made the whole place feel like something from 'Castaway' or 'Lost'. Breathtaking. 

This sign greeted us just before reaching the beach. I think the presence of the bottle of vinegar gives a fairly strong indication of the danger of jellyfish and sting rays in these waters.

 Alex and I floating around in the sea, which was quite literally the temperature of bath water. The day we were there, the water temperature was around 25 degrees celsius, but it gets up to around 28 degrees in the peak of summer. It's very odd to go in the sea and for it not to even be a little bit cold initially.

After drying off and getting changed, we got back on the bus and retraced our steps back towards the ferry at the Daintree River. Along the way, we stopped at the Alexandra Range lookout point, which provided some spectacular views across the forest, out to the sea and down to the river. The small island which can be seen near the centre of the next photograph is actually very close to the location where Steve Irwin, the famous wildlife expert and crocodile hunter, was killed when he was stung by the barb of a sting ray. A high profile reminder that these waters can genuinely be quite dangerous. 

Upon reaching the river once again, we got off the bus and boarded a smaller boat in order to enjoy a cruise along the Daintree River. Our expectations of the cruise were quite tame, and we thought we were likely to motor upstream, with our guide pointing out any wildlife and some of the more interesting plants and trees. However, what we experienced was quite literally crocodile hunting; our tour guide was a very interesting character and I expect he had several outstanding croc-tales. There was no planned route on the "cruise" as he used his experience and knowledge of the area to chase down the likely hiding spots of the river monsters. He was also quite funny and shared a lot of thought-inspiring facts and information as he captained the vessel - I was totally intrigued by the crocodiles and quickly typed up much of what he was telling us on my phone. He let us know that there were only a few hundred permanent residents north of the river, which was why there was no bridge and also that the river was too shallow for a large boat to be powered by propellors, which is why the ferry ran on cables. Another astonishing fact was that the during the wet season from November to April last year, the area experienced over 5 meters of rainfall - absolutely crazy! We did also manage to spot two wild crocodiles, and I got a couple of good photos in between typing.

Here are some of the better facts which our tour guide shared with us:

• In this particular stretch of water, there are around 70 crocodiles which are over 2 metres long and many more which aren't as big.
• The crocodile in the second picture, above, is around 4 metres long and estimated to be around 50 years old.
• It is a male and could potentially grow to over 7 metres and live for over 100 years.
• Whilst that particular male is a large, powerful, killing machine, it is not the dominant male in the area - our guide could tell by the shape and size of the head.
• The crocs in the river are used to the boats, so they aren't threatened by their presence, but that doesn't mean that the animals can be trusted and it's important not to get too close.
• Whilst camping near rivers, it is important to set up camp at least 100 metres away from the banks, since the crocs will roam on to land - especially if there are food scraps to be found.
• The biggest crocodile ever found in Australia was 8.63 metres long and weighed over 2 tonnes. In comparison, our boat was only 10 metres long!
• The biggest crocodile in the Daintree River at the moment is around 6 metres long. 
• Finally, if someone were to fall into the water, the guide said that the best thing which he could do would be to film the events on his phone and upload the video to YouTube.

I thoroughly enjoyed the river cruise and felt like it had been a really great day overall. We boarded the bus once more and headed back to Cairns, only making one last stop at a view point on the road back in order to take some photos and stretch our legs again. Another stunning view.

When we got back to the hotel, we popped into the supermarket across the street to get ourselves some dinner and a few beers from the Liquorland next door. We bought some pasta, vegetables and a jar of tomato sauce along with another few bags of crisps, before picking up a pack of pale ale and heading back to the apartment. After our long day of travelling and sightseeing, Jordan, Alex and I decided to go and take a swim in the pool before dinner - it was just about getting dark, but the pool was lit up with bright blue lights and it was still a great temperature. We relaxed in the pool for a while until we were hungry and returned to the apartment to get showered and changed.

After showering, we cooked our pasta and ate outside on the little balcony, enjoying the warm night and the somewhat unusual silence - it's practically impossible to find a quiet place in Sydney of course. Once we had cleared up our plates, we opened our beers and were happily enjoying a game of "Ring of Fire" when suddenly there was a power-cut! I went through into the bedroom to check the fuse box, but everything was normal there, so I headed downstairs and outside to check whether the entire complex was out. Most of the communal areas were still lit as normal, however it seemed that the entire grid had lost power. With no power and no plans other than chilling out, we simply sat around in the darkness, finishing our beers and using our iPhone torches for light. We stayed outside for a while watching a huge tropical rainstorm, complete with some thunder and lightning, which was a truly awesome experience - the water was pounding down as it bounced off the ground below us. At the stroke of midnight I greeted my 20th birthday in the darkness, before we all headed to bed. We also endured Jordan complaining about the heat for quite a while, caused by the lack of air conditioning after the power shortage - "Ugh! It's too hot!" became quite a catchphrase over the weekend actually! Luckily enough, around 12.15am the power returned and all the lights came back on, which meant we fired up the air-con once again and got off to sleep.

The next morning we had another early rise; Saturday 2nd November was my birthday and we had a great day ahead of us. Another 6.30am alarm call was quickly shrugged off when I realised that today I would be heading out on a boat trip to go snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef! We had to be at the harbour in Cairns itself for 7.25am, which meant catching our taxi not long after 7am. Fortunately, there was plenty of time to spare when we arrived at the harbour, so we took the opportunity to go and buy some bottled water for the day ahead. The forecast for the day was for clouds and rain, although it was still very warm; regardless, it remained dry for much of the morning and we kept our fingers crossed that the worst of the weather had passed over during the night.

Heading down the jetty towards the boat - the one just behind the small, yellow Coastguard boat on the left.

Upon boarding the boat, we paid the remainder of the money which was due for the trip, got a mug of coffee and a muffin and found some seats where we could leave our bags. The trip we had chosen to take was with a company called Seastar and all of the staff were really friendly and helpful as they came around the boat sorting out fins and masks for everyone, before calling everyone to the deck on the bow of the boat for a safety briefing. The sailing out to the first location, at Michaelmas Cay, was going to take about an hour and a half, and we stood out on the deck in the breeze for much of the journey. It was incredible to be standing out in the open air, in a fairly rough sea, with a dark, cloudy sky overhead and not feel cold, whilst only wearing shorts and t-shirt. It's fair to say that my experiences of the seas around the West Coast of Scotland didn't exactly compare. Soon enough however, the skies opened and rain began lashing down around us; we made a move to the back of the boat in order to stay dry but avoided going inside the cabin of the boat for fear of getting sea-sick. I've learned that fresh air does the trick for me and I felt perfect all day, however Jessica did briefly succumb to the rolling, pitching waters on the journey out from Cairns.

Photo taken from the back of the boat, looking out at a rather miserable day.

Just to prove that it was still an incredibly warm day - the water temperature was around 25 degrees once again - here is a picture of Alex and I chilling on the boat wearing shorts and t-shirt.

We eventually arrived at Michaelmas Cay, which is essentially a large sandbank in the middle of the sea. It is a wildlife sanctuary, home to many hundreds of birds and surrounded by tropical coral reef. We were each sized up with stinger suits, to prevent jellyfish or sting rays from harming us - although I'm not convinced the thin material would have done much, in truth - before jumping into the water wearing our snorkel masks and fins. Mum had advised me to take a life jacket or buoyancy aid if they had them, since she had found snorkelling in open water very tiring without one when she had been on holiday in Mauritius with Dad a few years ago, however I opted not to bother anyway. In hindsight, I managed alright without one, but I totally understood where she was coming from since the fairly large waves and choppy sea made it difficult to stay composed and control your breath in the water. Eventually, I got used to it though and after spending around 30 minutes in the water, the wind died down, the water became much flatter and the sun came out.

I didn't have an underwater camera myself but some of the staff working on the boat were carrying one and they managed to snap some great photos whilst in the water with us.

An awesome turtle, one of two which I spotted. Potentially one of the coolest things I have ever witnessed with my own eyes.

Jordan and I snorkelling.

An amazing little clown fish, for all the Nemo fans!

Another photo of Jordan and I under the water.

Finally, all four of us bobbing around on the surface, with the boat in the background.

We got back on the boat full of excitement and sharing stories of all the amazing sights we had spotted under the waves - what an experience! The staff on the boat told us that the second reef was even bigger, better and deeper than the one we had just dived though, so we were anxious to get going and see more! First things first though, so we enjoyed some lunch on the boat before moving off again.

I managed to get a quick photo with Michaelmas Cay in the background after the sun had started to break through the grey skies.

We sailed for around another 15 minutes and arrived at Hastings Reef, where there is no land or beach, just coral reef in the middle of the sea. Once again, we donned our stinger suits, masks and fins and plunged into the water, where we spotted a plethora of sea-life including fish, turtles, hard and soft coral, clams, sea cucumbers and turtles. It was simply astonishing. However, the highlight of the adventures at Hastings Reef was comfortably the 4 foot barracuda fish which we spotted floating perfectly still beneath the hull of the boat. Apparently it often swims around under the hull of the tour boats, possibly because it treats the large object as a kind of coral shelf, affording it some protection. I dived down to a depth where I could look at it horizontally under the water and was completely mesmerised by it - the pure size of it, coupled with the fine collection of razor sharp teeth was totally astounding. I must have returned down to look at it four or five times and could have kept doing so all day, it was just awesome! How cool!

We got back on the boat, got changed into some dry clothes and began sailing back towards Cairns. Luckily the sun shone for the vast majority of the trip so we spent the full time out on the deck enjoying the views in the sea breeze. As we entered the harbour back in Cairns, we saw a massive private yacht, including a helicopter on top of it, which must have been worth a few hundred million - proper silly money. We took a walk around some of the shops in Cairns and I was shocked with the news that we had a table booked at a restaurant in the city that night for my birthday, which was a fantastic surprise. After walking around the shops for a while, we caught the bus back to the hotel, took a quick swim in the pool again and started getting showered and changed to go out.

We went to a restaurant called Dundee's, on the waterfront, not far from where we had left on the boar cruise that morning and enjoyed a really great meal. Jordan and I shared oysters as a starter, which were fantastic and I followed that up with mussels in a white wine sauce. I also tried a local Cairns beer, which was really good as well. After our food, I had another surprise in store as the waiter came to the table with a large plate of chocolate brownie, ice cream, and sparklers with the words 'Happy Birthday' written on the plate in chocolate. It was also fantastic and the four of us shared it together, although I think it would be fair to say I had a little more than my fair share. It was just too good!

After the meal, we headed out into Cairns for a night out. The first place we went was called Sugar Hut, which seemed to be packed to the rafters with teenagers who must surely have been underage. The tunes were great when we first arrived and we enjoyed a few rounds of drinks - for some reason, Midori was quite cheap at the bar and it reminded me of the Still Game episode with Big Innes! Haha! Sugar Hut seemed to die down quite early and the DJ started to play some crap tunes, so we left and headed out to look for another place, eventually ending up at a bar called Society. Again, it didn't seem to busy but the DJ was excellent and it was a lot of fun - vodka and cranberry was also only $5 which is as cheap as I have seen any vodka in Australia so far, so we enjoyed a few of those. One thing which I definitely miss about being at home is going out in Falkirk or Glasgow and enjoying £1 drinks! The night ended back in the hotel at around 3am with a box of super noodles and some more crisps before we headed to bed. I checked the Man Utd score on the BBC Sport website and saw that we had beaten Fulham 3-1 - a very happy birthday indeed.

On Sunday morning, we woke up fairly early again and headed over to the small cafe across the street to get some breakfast. I had French toast, which came with hot peaches, cream and icing sugar, which is quite unusual but it tasted superb - definitely one to remember. After breakfast, we spent the vast majority of the day at the pool in the hotel, relaxing, recharging and enjoying the warm sun. Remarkably, at one point an older guy approached us and asked where we were from; I immediately recognised his Scottish accent and learned that he came from Dundee. He was a footballer who had moved to Adelaide in 1987 and used to play for Falkirk - what a small world! The only other plan for the day was to have a barbecue later that night, using the communal outdoor grill by the poolside. Jessica and Alex headed to the local IGA supermarket to get meat, corn, rolls and even more crisps, whilst Jordan and I trotted off to Liquorland to get some Rekoderlig cider for us to enjoy with dinner. The food was really tasty and I feel like we are beginning to totally perfect the art of Australian outdoor cooking - the corn on the cob was particularly good.

We spent Sunday night chilling out on the balcony and talking over the events of the past few days; we had certainly been busy and there were countless photos to be enjoyed too. A fairly early night was required by all, but typically we didn't head off to bed until around midnight once again. Monday morning was another bright, beautiful, sunny day and we returned to the same cafe for breakfast again. This time I opted for sausage and fried eggs and it hit the spot just perfectly. Our flight wasn't until around 4pm and the taxi was booked with plenty of time to spare, so we spent our final few hours relaxing by the pool again. Although I had managed to avoid any real sunburn throughout the weekend and the entirety of my time in Australia so far, on Monday morning I did find myself rather red looking - I think it was just a case of last-day carelessness. We packed up our bags and caught the taxi to the airport, where we departed Cairns and headed home to Sydney. I love the fact that I currently call Sydney "home" - it never fails to make me smile. What an amazing weekend we all had.

When we landed I finally got some decent wifi on my phone for the first time since Thursday. I found lots of lovely birthday messages, Tweets and Facebook posts and managed to catch up on all the latest football scores and news from back home. I also found some lovely cards waiting on me when I reached my flat, although unfortunately the parcel which Mum, Dad and Kerry had posted hadn't arrived yet. It was great to be know that people had went out of their way to send me cards all the way across the world and I really appreciated getting them.

Later in the evening I chatted to Mum and Dad on FaceTime and told them all about the things which we had been doing up in Cairns. Unfortunately though, I returned home to the very sad news that my Gran Rita had passed away in the early hours of Thursday morning. I feel a little bit helpless and far away at the moment and wish I could be at home to spend time with loved ones.

Rest in peace, Gran - much love. X