Part 3 - Mine Country

Our night in Cocklebiddy passed without incident and we set off for Coolgardie, 613km down the road. We had lunch in Norseman en route. This is an old gold town which would have been booming back in late 19th century. Now it's a sorry looking, run down town with not a whole lot to offer but over-priced fuel. We drove the longest, straightest road in Australia that day, all 146.6km's of it! The landscape at this point was hilly, and the roadside lined with trees. We passed a couple of dried up lakes, where we read that the local youths like to drive out on them and write off cars at the weekend. The population of W.A. is 2 million and 1.4million live in Perth so en route to the capital city there really isn't a whole lot going on, or many people about.

Coolgardie too is an old boom town, the remnants and facades of the old buildings that would have been built during that period are still present. Nowadays it's just  another stop on the road to Perth.

Day 7, our last day we set off for Perth with a mere 588km to cover! We rolled into Perth CBD that afternoon about 4pm. We parked up and got out to stretch the legs and check out the city centre. Having just drove through it in a few minutes we got a sense for just how small the city is. As Dave says Perth has a very deceiving skyline, from a distance it looks big and impressive, but down on the street level the CBD consists only of four streets by three. Within our first hour of being in Perth we managed to acquire a $100 parking ticket. The weather was dull, it had none of the wow factor of Sydney and we were beginning to wonder what we had done!

In retrospect I think our initial feelings were a little harsh. We were perhaps slightly delusional when we first arrived. We were very tired, and it is very strange to step out of your car a couple days later and feel like you're in a different country. We covered 4185km in total in seven days.  We didn't quite know what to think or to do with ourselves those first few days, so luckily it was a case of Dave to the rescue.

We sat in the car cursing Transperth and waiting for Dave, it wasn't long before we spotted his distinctive gait making his way towards us. We drove 100 metres down the road to his place and parked up Holden for a few days, and a much deserved rest.

Dave cooked us dinner, it was great to catch up. We marveled at all the places the three of us have met and parted over the past year. Starting with Red Square in Moscow, goodbyes in Bangkok, Thailand, hellos and goodbyes again on the beach in Koh Tao, only to meet again in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, a tearful farewell in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and some months later a reunion in Sydney, and here we were again sitting having dinner in his city centre apartment in Perth CBD, it really was all a bit surreal. 

So we did what we do best when we get together and we made our way out on the town, it was Friday night after all! James managed to get a razor through his week long cultivation of facial hair, the prospect of a few pints had been something we had been looking forward to in the last few hours before we arrived. Shock horror, the price of a pint is a helluva lot more expensive here than in Sydney, in fact Perth is a lot more expensive than Sydney full stop! That we hadn't been prepared for. After a 15 dollar pint in the Belgian beer cafe we crossed over the footbridge into the infamous Northbridge and spent the remainder of our evening in Rosie O'Grady's. Yes our first night in Perth, after taking seven days to get here and we spent it in perhaps what is one of the most Irish pubs outside Ireland that I've ever been in. It was unbelievable! Everyone in there was Irish first of all. It was like a pub in the midlands, bad decor and full of people in GAA jerseys. It was bizzare and certainly not what I was expecting from our first night in Perth. But we were wrecked and glad of a seat, familiar surroundings and good company.

Part 2 - Adelaide and the Nullarbor

 
Adelaide

We arrived in Adelaide that afternoon and checked into 'My Place' hostel for the night. A comfy spot in the city centre. The Grace Emily hotel across the road is a wonderful old pub, no TV or pokies, an open fire and some quirky merchandise in behind the bar all add to it's charm. Another marvelous pub in Adelaide is the Exeter in the CBD, a grungy spot with an old headline framed above the bar proclaiming that 'Tourist dies of thirst'. No chance! These two pubs, their warmth and the cold wet weather outside made us feel slightly at home in Adelaide! I'm sure arriving there mid summer is a different story.
 
The following day we set off on foot to explore and have a wander around the city. We checked out the Parliament house, had a stroll along the banks of the Torrens river, past the railway station turned casino and into the Immigration museum where we learned just how much Greek culture influenced and shaped Australia's popular culture. American influences came this way via Greek family members who were operating milk bars in the States. They adoptedthe technology being used there, implemented soda fountains, and dukeboxes and combined with Greek culture of good coffee and socialising at cafes. Their influence on cinema and music was huge too. Lots of the greatest hits of the time were first heard in such places in Australia. Later we stopped by Haigh's chocolate shop and stocked up for the next leg of the journey.
 

 
Adelaide is the main city in the state of South Australia. Two thirds of the state's 1.5 million inhabitants reside in the city's environs, so once you roll out of town its pretty sparse.
 
We moved on from Adelaide all three of us glad of the rest. Funny how Holden can drive thousands of km's and not let a peep out and then as soon as we hit city traffic he gets very flustered indeed. Since hitting the road we frequently pat the dashboard and whisper soft words of encouragement to our temperamental companion (well I did) never for a minute forgetting there are three of us on this trip!
 


We only drove 300km that afternoon following the road up the York Peninsula and rolling into Port Augusta shortly after dark. It was a prolonged dusk en route as we were headed west and we got some pretty views of Port Augusta and Eyre Peninsula on the other side of the water as we approached in the dark. We checked into Flinders St Motel which was a bar with a few rooms overhead. The bar itself felt like something from midlands Ireland. Pretty dated accommodation but it served its purpose.
 
Day four saw us getting closer and closer to the Nullarbor Plain. On these lonely roads everyone seems to wave at each other as they pass by, much to James's enjoyment. We stopped in a place called Iron Knob to fill up on petrol. A greasy attendant came out and filled the car whilst a sleepy dog lay in the sun. There was a toilet block with 'Blokes' and 'Sheila's' written on it, and nothing but scrub land in view as far as the horizon. Unbelievable. Iron Knob was apparently the home of the steel industry in Australia, hard to believe how anyone could live in that dusty, lonely place.
 
We passed a "Big Galah" (big parrot for those of you who don't watch 'Home and Away' )in Kimba and a sign saying 'Half Way Across Australia' We were in granite country now, not very scenic. Monsoon type rained poured down periodically, and tumbleweed actually blew across the road at one point! We spent most of that day traversing the top part of the Eyre Peninsula, it was a bit like 'Groundhog day' as each town we passed had large grain storage towers just outside the town on the main road, each with a sign saying 'town centre' and pointing to very little. We stopped in one such town called Wimepa for a coffee.
 
We stopped in Ceduna that night and stayed in the Ceduna Motor Inn. This is the last town before crossing the Nullarbor Plain and the Great Australian Bight. It's situated right on the water too. It was there that we were informed that we were going to pass a whale breeding grounds a couple of 100km's down the road. An unexpected surprise!
 
Feeling very excited about seeing some whales we hit the road early the next day passing places called Denial Bay and Anxious Bay on the way. This breeding ground is one of the three largest in Australia. It is the first land mass north of Antarctica and Southern Right whales come to breed between June and October. We had the absolute joy of watching the mammies with their calves in the water from viewing platforms on the cliff tops. The wonderful thing about this spot is that you can view the whales in their natural habitat without interfering or disturbing them. They come very close to the cliffs and so we were able to get a good look at just how enormous they are.
 
On another note I was told that scenes from 'Jaws' were actually shot here. One of the locals in Ceduna told me as I was staring horrified at picture postcards of the kind of sharks found lurking in the waters of South Australia. If you fancy a swim with Great Whites, no better spot!

  
At this point I must add that after only a mere five days on the road we had adapted to the truckie lifestyle and diet! It was hard not to when all the roadhouses had to offer were greasy fries and pies. We learned the hard way that traveling with fruit across the states is a no no, when our bag of apples was confiscated at the Victoria/ South Australia border. Excessive coffee intake further compounded our appalling diet for those few days. I don't know how the truckie's drive such distances on a regular basis never mind having to live off the crap that the roadhouses turf out. It truly is a very unhealthy lifestyle, it's no wonder they are mostly over-weight.
 
The landscape proceeded to change as we got further into South Australia and closer to the W.A. border. The initial rolling hills were giving way to grassy plains, their vastness being uniquely Australian. The Nullarbor Plain is typically grassy this time of year. We spotted the ocean every now and then from the car, but for the most part because the land is so flat all you can see as far as the horizon is grass, so unless you know the ocean is there you'd be none the wiser.

We crossed the border into W.A. and stopped at a place called Cocklebiddy for the night having hit the 3000km mark that day. On arrival I asked to see the room, not sure why as there was no other choice for 100's of km's but force of habit I suppose. The woman looked at me like I was some kind of princess! All I wanted was to make sure there was no visible rodents or large cockroaches on the wall, that done we handed over a 100 bucks and checked out what Cocklebiddy had to offer! A small folder in our room summed it up pretty quickly. "Yes this was all there is to Cocklebiddy, no there is no town centre, yes there are only 8 people living here, all of which run and work in the motel, restaurant, shop and petrol station, this population increases to 12 in Summer months, yes we sell milk and bread and a few basics, no we don't get the daily newspapers!!!!!!!" At best they get whatever the truckies leave behind passing through.

James did omit the apology in advance about "the mice and black bugs" when he read this out and filled me in on that detail a few days later when we were far, far away. The time difference here was 45 minutes behind Sydney, so we hit the road after elevenses at quarter to twelve. Narf.

Roadtrip Sydney to Perth - Part 1 July 09

The night before we set off we arranged to have a few drinks in the Dee Why RSL with a few friends that were around. There was much slagging and jokes about our planned voyage. Our temperamental car was the butt of many jokes but we remained undeterred (or just stubborn!?)

We arose early on Saturday at about 6am, planning to cover good ground the first day and get as far as Hay (745km away). Not being a morning person James took the first shift, and amidst all the excitement I was asleep before we even left Sydney! I awoke just as we were pulling in to get petrol a couple of hours later. After some coffee and whatever grease the petrol station had to offer I drove the remainder until we got to Hay.

On the way there we passed through places called Wagga Wagga and Gumly Gumly which gave me a bit of giggle. I'm quite the content passenger now, perhaps all these months of traveling has enabled me to sit and stare out the window and soak up everything passing by. Lets be honest we all could have packed up after our five weeks on the Trans-Mongolian and gone home and thought/ reflected/ got our heads around that trip for five months! Same could be said for the three weeks in China or the two and a half weeks in Cambodia. The aul cliche that these trips are life changing really rings through. I find now that when we do a long car/ bus/ train journey it gives me the chance to digest all we've seen and done. I finally get some 'down time' to reflect and form an opinion. So now I rarely find any boredom in long journeys on a bus/ train/ car. I enjoy the chance to sit back relax and sift through the memories. So much of travelling can be delays and waiting. But it's part of it now, a much needed part in ways to allow a break from the constant stimulation, a chance to soak it all in.

Hay was a quiet town, we checked into the Bidgee Motor Inn for the evening. Small towns like Hay that seem stuck in a time warp were not uncommon as we had come to realise from all our traveling around Australia. They still have video stores (no dvd's just vhs) big wide streets, and a few small independent grocers and butchers. A nice slow vibe to the place.

The following day another early start got us on the road by 7.30am and we drove 747km that day. We were just shy of the NSW - Victorian border at this point and passed through a place called Sunraysia (such a made-up name!). Orange groves and vineyards lined the roads for a couple of km's before the terrain turned flat. We spotted emu's off the road, which was pretty exciting for about fifteen seconds then the landscape turned to plains filled with livestock. We crossed the border into Victoria and drove through the Barossa Valley en route to Adelaide. Needless to say we were unable to simply drive past such fine wineries without a detour and so popped into the famous Wolf Blass winery and then later on into Penfolds. The region here is dotted with towns originally settled by the Germans. We actually drove over Jacobs Creek! It was very cool to see where these wines we so often pick up in the supermarket at home come from! South Australia is the home of 'big gutsy reds' and good shiraz and so we made sure we didn't miss out!

Bye bye Sydney - July 09

The last of Sydney.............

After our trip north to Cairns we stayed with Colin (again) for two weeks while I worked out my notice and we tried to sell our car. We spent a weekend in Kings Cross with Helen and James before they flew out to S. Africa. Kings Cross is great, Templebar of Sydney one might say, lots of pubs and clubs in very close proximity. We spent the Firday night going from place to place. Accidentally bumped into Susie and Lisa on the street,which was quiet funny. James and I spent Sat afternoon feeling a little sorry for ourselves wandering around the CBD. We caught up with Helen and James for the last of our farewell drinks.

J and I woke and checked out Sunday and decided to catch the ferry to Watsons Bay. It was a beautiful day. We arrived and had fish and chips take-away from Doyles like the other 90% of people on our ferry . We sat on the beach looking back across the harbour at the Sydney skyline thinking and talking about our five months in Sydney and the craic we'd had.

A massive thanks has to be said at this point to Colin and Sandra, they very generously let us intrude on their living space on more than one occasion.

We planned to drive to Perth the following Saturday, and like all good plans, ours was hatched over a few drinks in Kings Cross the night before. We were eager to get out of Colin and Sandra's hair, and coupled with the advantage of having a car in Perth we just decided to drive. In the harsh sunlight of a Sunday afternoon we sat on the beach discussing how realistic was it with our car! There was a lot to sort out that week but the over-riding feeling was excitement. We were gonna do it, we were gonna drive to Perth!

Cairns - June 09

Townsville

June 09

Our lease expired on the paradise apartment in Manly, so we decided to leave utopia before any cracks started to appear. Time to move on, see something new, get the sunshine back for a few days (clouds were gathering!). With the arrival of James and Helen on the cards, we decided to book flights north and fulfil another of our Oz ambitions - to dive the Great Barrier Reef.

So having spent our final days in Manly packing an frequenting a few of our favourite haunts we weventually moved out and hopped on a plane to Cairns the very same day. It was like a holiday within a holiday - moving from (bear in mind we have aclimatised now) near freezing daytime temperatures of 16 degrees to the tropical breeze of far north Queensland, where the men are men and the women have sweat patches.

We settled into a hostel in the town centre, and promptly wandered into the Woolshed, a haven for stingey/broke backpackers hungry for a feed and thirsty for pints. When in Rome. A hazey evening...finishing somewhere in the nether regions of a Casino until 4am (girls were ditched at this point) where the two James's found themselves an empty bar, comfortable seats for the Cork v Kerry clash live on the perched box, and a gaggle of bemused Indian cleaners who were desperately interested in the goings on of this savage game.

The following day we nursed our silly heads with a wander about town. Cairns has the feel of a far flung tropical outpost. There are a few nice old buildings right in the town centre, but the rest is a bland mix of tourist traps, touts crawling over each other to sell you trips to the reef, and grungey backpackers.

Wasting no time, we hit the road north having rented ourselves some wheels for the week. The highway towards Port Douglas is hewed in by great fields of cane and railway tracks run parallel to the road over which run carriages full of soon to be sugar/rum.

Port Douglas is a beautiful little town. After a swim on Four Mile Beach (completely in denial of the stinger signs) we found a great hostel in the town centre and took it easy given our previous evening's excursions. Up bright and early and onward north through the lushness of the rainforest we found ourselves at Mosman Gorge, in the heart of the Daintree.

There is a short walking trail there, and a magnificent swimming hole. Fresh water creeks - nothing like them for a cool down. I managed to get swept away by the current and ended up a flopping mess on the wrong side of a series of boulders - next stop lots of sharp rocks/crocs. After a quick assessment of the situation, I was keeping my cool and trying to figure my way out, when I saw the expression on the other three faces (Sarah going apeshit of course) and realised I may have been in a little bit of trouble. Luckily I'm incredibly athletic (haha) and hauled myself up onto a rock and jumped back into safety. Oh the excitement.

Next stop (last stop north on this side of the coast unless you have a 4x4) Cape Tribulation. We stayed at the Beach House, a secluded camp in which you really do feel like you are in the wilderness. A huge spider (well..size of my hand lets say) hanging on a tree outside reception reminded us that we should probably keep our guard up and not go frolicking about in the bush too much by ourselves. He was introduced to us as one of the many residents, and venomous Golden Orb Weaver spiders, whose greatest achievement as a species it must be said occurred in November of last year way up in outer space.

Yes, NASA in their infinite capacity to amuse and baffle took one up in Endeavor, and promptly lost it. Imagine being one of those astronauts..I've trained all my life for this, I've done cryptic crosswords at 10 G's and yawned with the boredom, I'm elite, I've got large biceps, I look great in white,..I may be put put of action in this poxy shuttle if that bloody spider bites me. I digress..

So we set ourselves up in our cobwebbed hut amidst giant palm leaves, and promptly found the bar. It began to rain, so we had a few drinks and played scrabble for a while (rock n roll) and then poker for the rest of the evening. The following morning was overcast and blustery and we wandered out along the beach southwards for a few hours taking in the scenery - which was aptly described by our resident Kerryman as "like Jurassic Park". Another swimming hole called Emmagen Creek, a few kilometres north of the beach house had come to our attention, so we drove up there along the dirt track.

We came across some water, and again ignoring those pesky warning signs (this time for hungry salt water crocs) I had a paddle in the creek to try and figure out whether we needed to cross it in the car or not to find a spot to swim. We found one eventually, another beautifully secluded meander in the creek but only James braved the water again.

Moving southward once again, we rolled into Cairns that afternoon, having stopped for a croc burger in sleepy little Daintree Village, and sorted out a dive on the reef for the next day.

Diving the Reef..

was spectacular. It took about 1 1/2 hours to get out to our first dive site, Michaelmas Reef. I lazed about on the top deck of the boat, watching Cairns disappear behind our surf, and watched as more ominous clouds gathered above. Before I knew it we were mooring, and I stood up to have a look around. When I close my eyes and think 'Barrier Reef', I fantasise about azure blues, endless colourful choral - all viewed from above of course and shot at a great height. The reality at sea level before you get into the water, is a different story, and I was less than overwhelmed initially. This all changed the second we jumped into the water with our dive guide. Its paradise down there. It wasn't a million miles from the experience in Koh Tao, however the water was cooler and there were a few more varieties of marine life to chase about. So we spent about 40 minutes exploring the reef shelves, peering into the mouths of the giant clams and generally behaving like giddy kids.

We jumped in for more, this time with snorkels, after our air was out. We agreed afterwards that you really don't have to scuba to experience everything here - the reef crests the surface of the water, and depth never gets beyond 10 metres so you can see everything floating on top. Its more relaxing to snorkel too with less effort required to propel yourself about. The currents were pretty strong, but the boat was moored into it, so you had to fight to get away from the dive deck.

James and Helen did an introductory dive. Fairly brave of James given he wasn't comfortable swimming, never mind diving! I don't know how more people are not drowned out there - 50 or so people in the water (one person watching them), some complete novices, strong currents, 40km off shore. It was a far cry from the safely safely step by step approach we encountered with Bans on Koh Tao. They got on fine though, at one point James was the furthest body from the boat, completely absorbed in the reef!

The next dive site we stopped at was Hastings Reef, a little to the north of Michaelmas. Sarah and I decided against diving again and jumped in to snorkel for an hour or so. We were just up and out of the water, and watching Helen who was about 30 metres off to the left of the boat, when we noticed a turtle come up for air just beside her..we jumped straight back in! It was the highlight of the day and we spent about 20 minutes watching it eat coral and come up for air every few minutes.

We celebrated our day on the reef later in town over dinner and a few drinks, and hit the road south for Townsville the next morning. Not the most inspiring of towns, we went for a wander down the esplanade in search of the salt water pool,which was closed for the afternoon. That night we hit a few bars beside the hostel (mostly Irish bars, go figure) and ended up in The Heritage Bar, a lovely old Victorian building, the former post office. We spent the following day at the re- opened sea baths, and had a picnic up on the hill overlooking them before heading further south to Ayr.

Ayr

Sarah's first cousin Richard Fallon and his wife Fabe were good enough to put us up for the night, and we arrived into their house in time for a much appreciated home cooked dinner.Their two kids, Henry (4) and Meg (1 1/2) provided endless entertainment. Like wind up toys, their lives seem to revolve in cycles of huge excitement, much running around and shouting, slight irritation, hunger, real irritation, silence while eating/drinking, and then sleep. Repeat. Not too far off the perfect lifestyle.

Both Richard and Fabe have worked (Rich still does as a draftsman) for the main provider of employment in the area at the CSR sugar mills. Its amazing how the town has survived and prospered almost solely on the one industry since it was initially settled around 200 years ago. We arrived in Ayr at burning time, when the scrub around the cane is burned in huge controlled fires all around the town before harvest. Because everything is so spaced out (apart from the town centre) there is no escaping the seemingly endless fields of 8-10 foot high cane and the thick sweet smell of burning is ever present. 6 months of the year are devoted to harvesting, and 6 to processing so everything progresses on a well rehearsed cycle. There is a sense of calm settlement, an assurance I suppose borne of the surety of generation upon generation of the unbreakable cycle of life as it has always been known, and I found it refreshing. Rich and Fabe spoke of their contentment with their lifestyle, having escaped the rat race of Sydney where spending a good 6 hours a day with their kids while paying Sydney house prices would just not have been possible.

The next morning Helen and James said their goodbyes and hopped on a bus southward. We waved them off then took a drive to the closest beach, a vast stretch of sand reaching to the horizon and walked along it with the Fallons for an hour or so. Then it was back to the house for some lunch, and we gratefully caught up on some emails and chilled out for the afternoon. I was pretty keen to see the Lions game that night, and while we had initially planned to head back into Townsville to watch it, Rich invited us to hang around. It was such a pleasure to have all the sport (3 international tests in a row...heaven), a cozy couch to watch it on and a fridge full of beer!!

Our good friend Eoin Denvir happened to be in the environs, and our hosts we gracious enough to welcome another 'cousin' under the roof for the night (easiest way to identify yourself to the kids - cousins pooping out of the woodwork!). So we agonised over the first test loss that evening, and I had to have a few beers to calm myself down! Amazing and a bit emotional to see me old Naas u12's backrow partner lining out against the Boks. We started our fascination with the Lions together when we were 13, watching that last trip they took to sunny S.A. in Dunmore..

Thanking the Fallons profusely, for they were generous indeed, and great company, we (three of us now mind) hit the highway for Cairns again. We stayed in Gilligans hostel, a big rambling place right in the town centre and ended up spending the last few days there between the pools at the Esplanade and hanging around the bars at night. We caught up with Suz, Lisa, Shani and Lynda for a few days, and it was a nice relaxing finish to a great trip. Great to spend time with Eoin too, who managed to get himself sorted with a job in Sydney over the few days we were in town.

Its really satisfying to have driven the length of the east coast, all the way from Cape Tribulation down as far as Wilsons Prominotory. Its the only way to see the country!

James's Birthday

James's 26th birthday was brilliant. Dave came over from Perth for the long weekend. We started celebrations that Friday evening in Manly, where Colin also joined us and we had dinner and then went to the Shore Club for some after hours dinks and a spot of dancing because lets face it we are amazing dancers............?? The girls decked out the apartment in balloons, and in the club later managed to get the whole room singing Happy Birthday to J.



The next day started with a dip in Little Manly Cove, well I dipped and he lads dunked from a height, jumping from the edge of the "protective" shark wall. There truly is some incessant need for boys to jump off stuff into water? Anyway that got rid of the hangovers. Well that and the large fry/ champagne breakfast we cooked up .



We caught the ferry into the city that afternoon and went to Sydneys most infamous Irish bar The Mercantile. Then to the top of the Shangri La hotel for drinks in the Horizon bar where we watched the sun set over the city (THE best view of Sydney full stop). Next was a bite to eat in the Australian hotel. Pies of course. We headed off to then to watch the Barbarians get hammered by the Wallabies in Sydney Football Stadium.



Post match drinks were had in Newtown. Ashamedly I admit it was in another Irish bar, only place that was showing the Lions game that night. We drove up to North Head the next day to show Dave the view of the harbour and the city.

Sarah's Sydney

I felt I couldn't let my time in Sydney go without mentioning my boss and my place of work seeing as it occupied so much of my time there! I worked for over 4 months in a pharmacy in Brookvale. I spent almost four weeks in Sydney initially looking for work and that's excluding the time I put in around new year. Admittedly it was very disheartening to be trying so hard and getting nothing in return. After yet another day of driving around and mapping out all the pharmacies in the area and going into each one with a CV and my rehearsed spiel, we were finally on our way home when we passed by a pharmacy we had missed and J abruptly pulled over when he saw it and said 'sure you might as well try it.' Wearily I walked in and met Nermine who took my CV and told me she'd leave it with the boss.



The following morning bright and early "Mr. Soprano" called and asked me to come down. Brimming with the excitement of a potential job I rushed down and met the man who finally gave us the break we were looking for. And for that I will be eternally grateful. All J and I wanted at that point was for one of us to get work so that we could get our own place and enjoy city life. With weeks of no luck we were beginning to get concerned that perhaps we might have to try elsewhere. Mr. Soprano was an entertaining character from the beginning. He has a tendency to ramble and after chatting for twenty minutes I was still trying to figure out whether he was actually giving me a job or not!



"So you have a few hours for me then?"



"Yes, yes sure we'll get you off the streets for now, hahahaha, can you start Monday?"



And that was that! I could have hugged the man. Monday to Friday 8.30 - 5pm, no weekends, no late nights! Strolling into that shop when I did turned out to be one of the best things that happened to me in Australia. It made my time in Sydney that much better. I was constantly busy in work. All the staff were lovely, I never worried about work, it was all too easy from the beginning. It was great to have my evenings and weekends free. Mr.Soprano was an old man close to retirement as it turned out. He appeared a bit doddery but in actual fact he is a very smart man, whom I learnt alot from in my time there. He was quite old school in his dealings - sometimes to his detriment. He'd sooner go out of pocket than see anyone go without. More about the people than the profit. It was refreshing to work with him.



He had been located there for almost 50 years - which leads me to the clientele. Mr Soprano, as you may have guessed from the moniker I've given him - is second generation Italian, and so 90% of the customers were Italian, mostly first generation. Many have been here in Australia for years and still speak very little English. Mr S was a Godsend to them. It was a colourful place to work with the aul lads smiling at me and calling me "bella". Many came in with bunches of parsley or bags of lemons for Mr S, I never did quite work out whether it was payment or mere generosity. Mr S did say he used everything they gave him except for the home-made wine!!



My other colleagues were Eygptian and Australian. With pharmacists from different backgrounds working together it made for an interesting work environment. Two of the Eygptians are Muslim and so went off periodically to pray. I've never met anyone from their background and so it was an eye opener to work with and learn from them. Marwa was the closet in age to me (30) and we got on really well. She's who I'll miss the most. Mr S is a man who laughed alot and constantly cracked jokes many of which went over the Eygptians heads but his humour wasn't lost on me. He's also the kinda guy to come back from his lunch with blobs of pasta sauce on his shirt and would pop off at various points during the day down to the corner for his coffee and a chat with whomever was about. He is a very endearing old man I must say with a very big heart.



I worked in comparative bliss to J. He came home each day with browner arms and legs and a sunkissed face while I laboured in my air-conditioned haven! I actually had to iron my clothes while J picked his oldest, dirtiest clothes for work, ha! But we were like two pigs in the proverbial. I joined the Manly Athletics Club and he joined the Dee Why Lions rugby club and so our evenings were active and our weekends jam-packed. It was the typical 'no worries' Aussie lifestyle for five months. Bliss.



We caught a few rugby league games in the Brookie oval, temporary Manly Sea Eagles supporters. Walked across the Harbour bridge, and did a pub crawl around the Rocks. The Australian hotel is a great pub with great food it must be said. Best pies I've tasted in Sydney. Harts in the Rocks is also another great spot.The markets in the Rocks are super and I'm sad to say I didn't frequent them enough. We also did the Spit to Manly walk with our flatmates in tow. Lisa tottered along handbag in one arm and her mobile in the other spending most of the time complaining how much she disliked walking, but she also hates to miss out on anything. Lynda our platunim blond Yorkshire babe was stripped to her bikini top within a matter of minutes working on her tan. Susie was oohing and ahhing at every corner stopping to examine every spider/ reptile we passed. Mother nature herself! We were a funny mix. It was a magnificent walk. It'a coastal trail along cliff tops that hug the harbour and afford the most amazing views out behind the two heads and back over to our beloved Manly too. A'must' if you visit Sydney in my opinion. James and I ventured into the water for a quick swim in one of the coves we passed. It was back to our place after that and out to the wharf bar for the evening.



The weather was great in Sydney pretty much till mid-June. I must admit I was in denial that winter in Australia is bad or cold, but it is! For that reason a trip up north to where the sun always shines was just what the doctor ordered. We weren't done chasing the sun just yet. The expiry of our lease, the fact all our housemates had onward plans and the arrival of my very good friend Helen and her boyfriend James were enough reason to take time off and see the infamous Great Barrier Reef (more to come on that).