In Sydney, alive and semi well. Not much sleep and so I’m feeling rough. Have dropped bags at the hostel, it’s too early to check in, and I’m sat in a Starbucks borrowing their neighbours wi-fi. It’s not great terrible, the connection drops as soon as it receives the first email… but Telstra are actual crooks and want $5 for 15 minutes of connectivity.
Long long bus journey. There were periods of dropping off, I’d say I got about 7 hours sleep but it was all broken down into 45 minute to 1 hour chunks and so I don’t feel like I did well. The bus was only half full though so two seats was good. It’s one of the few times being tall is such a disadvantage. All of the shorter people curled into double seats looked so much more comfortable than I felt.
Music for the journey was Bon Iver, Bat For Lashes and Ryan Adams and some Michael Jackson. I have decided to give HIStory a couple of listens for re-evaluation purposes, I also had the passing thought that Invincible does too but don’t worry, that thought passed pretty fast. I also read three books yesterday which isn’t so good. I traded in a load for some more Robert B. Parkers. They are good fun but they fly by. The last one I read was about 220 pages and it went in just over 2 hours. Not really good value for money in some ways.
Now the plan for today is to kill another couple of hours, head to the hostel for a few hours sleep and then I’m off to meet Chris Breach for beers (a crawl has been mentioned, I may die tonight) and to see a little bit of the city.
Ohh speaking of seeing a bit of the city. When we were coming in and the driver was letting us know that we were 10 minutes out and not to forget our bits and pieces he said we’d be coming in over the Harbour Bridge. Now it’s hard to get a group of weary travellers enthusiastic about anything at 6.30 in the am but I was not alone in openning up the curtains and peering around. The bridge looked pretty impressive and I certainly want to walk across it and back at the least and then there below is the Sydney Opera House and so there are two thoughts. Firstly, that lovely travel feeling of hey, I’m in Sydney. This is a new place and this is cool. It’s literally enough to put a grin on my face (Okay I’m tired and I feel like shit and I’m sat in a Starbucks but still I’m in Sydney, how cool is that??). Secondly the Opera House is tiny! Now okay, it was still fairly dark and I wasn’t the most awake I’ve ever been and so it could be a case of perspective (Now concentrate this time, Dougal. These are very small; those are far away… ) but it looks so tiny! Also, of course, it looks pretty fucking cool. Certainly looking forward to wandering there with my camera.
However I would be remiss if I did not mention what must surely be the highlight of my travels to date. I caught merely a fleeting view from the coach but I have seen my first “Big Thing”. Yes that’s right, in Ballina I saw the one and (I assume) only Big Prawn.
Oh yes new beer to add to the list. Little Creatures Pale Ale. Lovely stuff, probably right up there on the preference list. It was however responsible for ensuring that I had the start of a hangover when I got onto the bus just before 7 last night.
Now I should wander and sit somewhere else where hopefully I can get a connection…
11.13 Sydney Australia Thursday July 24th.
Crap, my bank card is being rejected and online banking appears to be anything but. I cannot remember if I transferred a lump sum from my second account to my main account. If I have done already and my card is being rejected then Australia may actually have broken me.
Good thing the company I use to work for got the thumb out and sent me all my documents so I have a lovely tax refund coming. Oh no wait, despite having 3 months to do so, they didn’t!! I still don’t know if I have them.
Fuckity fuck.
Oh well onto Sydney. Backup card is fine and I’ve still got some Sterling, Euro and US Dollars in reserve (Boy Scout - be prepared!) but I could do without this extra hassle.
More of a placeholder for me to come back to as I carry on but I just typed some of it up quickly for an email and it’s something I’ve been meaning to blog.
So in order of preference:
James Squire Porter (rare, I think I’ve had it twice!)
Tooheys Old (much better on tap, but stubbies are nice too. This is the one I have marked down to look out for back “home”)
Little Creatures Pale Ale
Carlton Black ( only seen in stubbies and I can only get into two of ‘em before needing to switch. An odd beer)
James Hoag (sp? - Tasmanian, only seen in stubbies)
James Squire Pilsner
Coopers Green
Pure Blonde (way way better in stubbies, I’ve had bad bad pints..sorry schooners)
Coopers Red
Beers I don’t like.
XXXX
Hahn (of any sort)
Tooheys New
Carlton Draught
Victoria Bitter (VB)
Bee Neez
Beers I have yet to see:
Fosters!
I am looking out for Coopers Dark and Coopers Porter (possibly not their names).
I shall tag this post with drunk as I was once a boy scout and one should be prepared…
I use to be able to get at least basic HTML right, I seem to fail at making links these days. Hmmm. Fixed now.
A quote of the day that I forgot to post a few weeks ago:
We don’t believe it’s possible to drive into the Pacific Ocean by accident.
I did end up going to see The Dark Knight last night and it was just as good the second time round. In fact it may have been better, the pace works better on repeat viewing. Also Ledger really is that fucking good. Also, overlooked a little the first time around Aaron Eckhart’s Harvey Dent is note perfect.
Today I slept late and then went for a haircut. It’s been that kinda quiet day.
Hangover watch, it is now Sunday afternoon and I can report my hangover from Friday has been upgraded to only slight. I’m not entirely sure how it got so heavy but sometimes life just does that. The hostel was having a barbecue and promised burgers (good), hotdogs (needed more time) and all the sangria you could drink (oh dear).
Continue reading ‘Find lovers and anchor before the courage is all gone’
I am pleased to be able to report to you that hangover watch now reports as mild. I’m feeling a whole lot better. I went for a walk on the beach for about an hour and then went for a swim. It’s about 24 degrees here today and the sun is shining, much like it has been for the past few days. So it’s by no means cold and once you get into the water and adjust, it’s nice and warm. While walking the beach though, I was most amused by the numbers of Australian’s walking with coats and scarves. It is the middle of winter afterall. Anyways the swim helped a lot.
I’m sat down in the Hogs Breath Cafe here and just finished off a very very late lunch. It was good and just what the doctor ordered. I remembered when I was wandering the beach that one of the reasons I was feeling so rough this morning is that I was smoking last night and that always hits extra hard and leaves my stomach churning. Still it seemed like a good idea at the time… as these things often do.
So tonight I’m going to watch Australia playing South Africa in a local pub and then call it an early one…he says but honestly I think that more of the same might be on the cards for this evening.
16.39 Byron Bay, Australia Saturday July 19th
I am incredibly hungover. This is a massive step up from the incredibly horrendous hangover I had about two hours ago. Some painkillers and a long long shower have helped but not enough.
I’m all set to spend the day on the beach doing nothing but that would involve getting up from this table in the coffee shop and I’m not sure I’m ready for that.
Ugh.
