Australia 2 (the first week)

This week has been crazy, suddenly started going really fast! Sunday was still really woosy as I felt super jet lagged still. I got up and had a chat to Ross before heading out to visit the two flats I had organised to see on Saturday.

I got the bus up to Rozelle from the hostel and went to see flat number one. It is down a tiny road off the main street and I walked past it twice before I noticed it! Belinda opened the door and showed me round. The room had a bed in already which is good cos lots don't seem to have any furniture at all. I met her other flat mate Dean and his girlfriend. We had a nice chat and found out that she works for a teenage drug abuse charity and he is from Tasmania and works in management. Dean’s girlfriend was really nice and a Pilate’s teacher so maybe I could take that up! Then I left to go and see flat number two. It was further away from the Uni campus but in a really secluded private block of flats. Was very nice but the flat itself had almost no character. The guy Joel seemed a little bit strange as well. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but he just seemed a bit of a creep.

In the afternoon I decided to be cultural and stop panicking about flats so I headed over to the town centre and walked around circular quay. There was a big chocolate and coffee festival on. I felt so spaced out though I couldn't even face trying any.
By the time I got round to the Sydney opera house the sun was starting to go down. There was a beautiful vivid orange light illuminating it and it really did look stunning. After a wander round I headed up into the royal botanical gardens and mossied about looking at the massive trees. I also saw hundreds of Fruit bats (locally called flying foxes).

I decided as it was getting dark I should wander back and check out my timetable for orientation.

Monday was incredibly boring. We went into the great hall to be welcomed etc etc and sat in the freezing cold for about an hour. We were then split up and went into two (warm) lecture theatres. We sat there for hours and got bored listening to advice on how to get on a bus and ways to deal with feeling lost in a big city etc etc etc etc....... on and on and on. I was sat next to some people from Leeds which was cool as it made me feel a bit more at home.

After the tedious talks we had a free lunch and some of the clubs had stalls out that you could join at (no canoe club present sadly)
The lunch was pretty good though. Was a big buffet with lots of fresh fruit and mini sandwiches... I decided that my main aim for the week would be free food :P

The afternoon was as bad as the morning and as we left the guys from Leeds invited me out for a drink in the evening, by the time I got back to the hostel though I was totally shattered so stayed in a felt miserable and stressed Ross out on he phone which im sure he really loved! I finally fell asleep after a long time not being able to.

Due to my late night I missed the 1st morning lecture and sneaked in late. From all accounts I hand missed much at all! Over the break I chatted again to a German girl I had met the day before called Nina. We chatted for a while and I bumped into the group of English folk again. We decided to meet in the evening and go to the cinema. The afternoon lectures we basically a massive promotional op for all the tour companies and surf camps to tell us to spend all our money to go on trips with them. When we finally escaped and handed in all our forms and stuff it was still brilliantly sunny so I came back to the hostel and made dinner. I met Nina at 8 and we went to see the Proposal. (rubbish film really but nice to do something in the evening that wasn’t just sitting on the Internet)

Wednesday was pretty much a free day so I decided I should fill it with lots of things. In the morning Nina and I went on a tour of the Campus called a SPOC SAFARI, no idea what spoc stands for but it was a really funny tour, showing us the ugliest building on the campus etc (was the architecture building ironically, also looked almost as bad as Glasgow architecture building!

In the afternoon I set up my new Australian bank account and then headed back to uni to go on a tour called "walk to water" It took us from the uni all the way down to darling harbour, we walked through all the little back streets and stopped along the way and the guide told us stuff about the city, and Australian history etc etc. The main reason for going was a free drink that we got in a really nice bar in Darling harbour. Nina and I ended up sitting next to another English guy and a French guy in the bar. The English guy was really pitying that I lived in Scotland as apparently he thinks the accent is horrible and they are all thugs. He looked a bit put out when I told him I thought the accent was hot and men in kilts beat weedy English guys ten fold. ha-ha, was funny to see his face. Think Ross was pleased when I told him as well. :)

As Nina and I left to get the bus back to the hostel it started pissing it down, it was a proper downpour and by the time I got back to the hostel I was freezing. Had to do a quick change and head out to Rozelle to collect my keys.

That in itself turned out to be a bit of an adventure. I didn't realise that I had missed the last bus, so had to get a taxi to the flat. I tried to take money out form the bond and my card wouldn’t work, so I only managed to get out $500 on my other card, which was still $300 short of the deposit amount. I was really worried about it so phoned Dad and he said just to go anyway. It turned out fine, Dean didn't mind at all and he even gave me a lift back so I didn’t have to pay for another cab!

Thursday I had a really long lie in which I think wiped the last of my jet lag away. got up about midday and headed down to the uni for a swim in Victoria park pool. Its a public pool set in the middle of the park, its outside and 50meters! Was pretty chilly but was so nice swimming in the outside with trees all around. I walked back and got my phone sorted out at the shopping centre (had bought it the day before and it hadn’t worked properly). I got back and got ready for the International Party that was on in the Union and Nina and I headed down.

It was awful! It resembled a school disco with everyone talking in little nervous huddles and nobody dancing apart from a strange German guy. We got a free bbq which was good and then decided if it was going to get any better, we should start sampling the bar. After a few beers it did improve and I met Hermione who is from the group of Leeds people. I danced with them for a while and left about midnight to go and skype Ross as he got back from work (still finding it very hard to work out the time difference. 12 hours would be so much easier than 9!)

Friday morning I packed up the majority of my things and took them to the new flat. It was good to get in there and have a look around while everyone was at work, and I took some photos of it and put them on face book. I got back about lunch time and went to meet the girl Alexa who had been in my dorm all week. We had decided to go to Manly beach so along with two other Americans (Tyler and Michelle) we got the bus into town and took the ferry from just by Sydney harbour Bridge. The ride over was beautiful. It was really hot and sunny and the view of the coast was beautiful. We arrived and headed tot he main surf beach to check it out. Was massive! and really pretty. It was a bit cold to swim so we wandered along the beach and walked around the rocks to another little beach called cabbage bay and shell beach. I had my first ozzie Ice cream and we sat in a beach cafe as the sun was setting on the water.
It was freezing on the ferry coming back! I had all my layers on but Tyler and I braved the cold and sat right out on the front. Turned out Gay American Men are afraid of water! The boat was pretty rocky and he was squealing like a ten-year-old girl. When we finally go on the bus to go back to Glebe it was getting pretty late and I was starving. Decided to meet Nina on the way home and we got a takeaway pizza and a bottle of wine and then crashed in the TV room in the hostel and watched a film. Was a really nice way to end the week. I fell fast asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow and had one of my best sleeps yet. \

I am currently sitting in the hostel eating free pancakes for breakfast before I take the rest of my stuff to the flat. I need to do a big shopping trip today to get bed sheets and all the related gubbins.

Sorry this is so long and been so long coming! I will try and be more regular in future!

Loads of Love to everyone!!!!!!
Amy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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