We arrived after a 13 hour flight from BA and Neil was impressed by 2 things the fact the first thing the Oz male trolly dolly said was G'day and that (me included) loved the free pouring - more spirit than mixer - alcohol on the Quantas plane. So we landed in Sydney and went through customs which took a while as they asked us many questions (it was like border contol or passort control) after a grilling we were finally allowed to leave the airport. We caught a taxi to Rachael's house in Bondi....it was not like Bolivia anymore let me tell you....our cab coast us $50 OMG!!!! We arrived at Rachael's flat and chilled out with her (she has not changed one bit!), bottle of wine and some thai food before heading to bed for the night as to us it was around 4am.
Next day up earlish and with the flat to ourselves as Rach was at work (it takes her a hour and a half commute...mad) and Row (Rachael's flat mate) out we chilled by watching Australian TV which happened to be Home and Away and ate Vegimite.....it is not the same as Marmite and horrible. Anyway feeling suitable like a Ozzy by this point we headed out into town to get Neil's toe sorted (for those who do not know since the trek his toe has become pussy and it looked like he seemed to have caught a flesh eating disease).
I've had this dodgy toe for about 10 days now, the skin was peeling off and it was very sore and red etc. I read that we could get reciprocal health care for free in Oz but I had to go and register with a Medicare office first. We walked into Bondi Junction and went to the office. After waiting for a bit and filling out a form, the woman told us that our passports weren't enough as ID and we needed more. I went all the way back to Rach's flat (about 30 mins), got some credit cards and came back. We queued again and saw a different woman who told us that we needed our visas. I explained that they were 'e-visas' and the stamp in our passport was the visa. She insisted that we go and get our visas. We went out and found an interent cafe where I printed off the emails which explain that we have 'e-visas'. We queued again and saw a different woman who was perfectly nice, didn't even ask for extra ID and printed us off a temporary Medicare card. Happy with this, we then spent another half an hour walking round looking for doctors offices who could see me today. Eventually we found a nice medical centre, I got an appointment straight away and the reception lady said, 'Right, Medicare will pay 34 dollars and you just have to pay 30'. I had to ask her a number of times before I understood that I still had to pay anyway, even after all that. No surprises then when I went ot see the doctor and she said, 'So what's wrong with your toe then?'. I explained that I didn't know. She said, 'Do you want some antibiotics?'. I said that I didn't know, that's why I came to see a doctor. She took a swab and then asked me to 'pop up on the table' so she could grope my testicles. I wasn't sure about this but she assured me that it was normal that I might get groin lumps if I'd hurt my toe. She didn't find anything. I got a prescription and an appointment to go back the next Tuesday for my results and she packed me off to the nurse to clean and dress my toe. The nurse asked me what was wrong with my toe and I confessed that I was none the wiser. We went to get my antibiotics (after withdrawing more money) and the pharmacist asked me if I wanted generic or branded drugs. I said whatever is cheapest – it cost about 20 dollars.
We did a bit more shopping, I got some shoes, Bindya got a dress and stuff
I wanted to buy more but we on a budget so hey..... After shopping all day we headed back to Rach's flat and waited for Rach to get back from work so we could head out for the night. Row came back from work with Charlie and they asked us to play tennis...me and Neil gave them a look like “are you kidding” we were starting to get the sporty, out doors attitude of the Aussie's. We had some wine and headed out with Row and Charlie onto Bondi Road to a place called The Royal where we had our first Aussie beer and Charlie introduced Neil to the bookies shop inside the pub...his eyes lit up and Charlie placed bets on the dogs and horses. Rach showed up and we headed for dinner to a lovely Tapas place and then back to the Royal for wine, beer and pool. We met Broph and had more drinks back at Rach's. All made us feel really welcome and we had a great night out.
Next day I was up but feeling ill (hungover I think is the word) So I spent most of the day on the Sofa trying to feel better before I headed out into Sydney to join Rach for her sister's hen do. We got the train to the harbour....let me tell you this now all those in London, you are so lucky to have the tube...it is great, frequent and easy to use....unlike the Sydney train system which is slow, difficult to get around and their trains are double decker. After a walk around the Harbour and seeing for the first time the Bridge and Opera House (which was amazing and took my breath away as it always somewhere I have wanted to go and couldn't actually believe I was there) I headed to The Rocks (oldest part of Sydney) to The Argyle to meet Rach for the hen.
I spent most of the night drinking wine, champagne and shots in a variety of bars and got to meet Rach's mum, sister and cousins all lovely and made me feel really wecome. Other girls were great especially a girl called Victoria but all call her “Boozer” and judging from the night I could see why. After this we met up with Neil, Broph, Charlie and Row for more drinks and was introduced to Aussie Rum...Bundy's. I have to say it was strong and pungent taste. We decided to head home after as it was late and I think the Jet Lag was getting to me while the rest headed off to watch the Rugby...where England beat Australia.....hahaha.
The next day was Sunday so after we had a bit of a lie in (and felt a lot better for it), we were going to head off to the beach. First though, we had to go into Bondi Junction to find a waxing place (for Bindya... not me...). Rach told us that the beach was “eight minutes walk away” so we headed off down the hill. 20-30 minutes later we had reached Bondi beach and it was heaving. There was hardly a square inch available to sit on. Luckily, they were all at Tamarama beach, which was nearby (another 20 minute walk). We passed by all these sculptures that were part of a yearly exhibition they have here and found Tamarama which was considerably smaller but not quite as packed as Bondi. Lots of sporty looking people in bikinis and 'budgie smugglers' for the men. We went down to the water to have a swim – pretty rough sea. The waves were extremely strong and I only got about chest deep as the currents were insane. For such a tiny beach, there was about 5 or 6 life guards and I understand why. We sat and roasted ourselves for a bit before heading back, buying a load of food so that Bindya (with my small assistance) could cook everyone a nice meal. We did this round at Charlie's place and got introduced to the delights of Australian X Factor. Mainly a load of useless gimps who make Wagner look professional (yeah, we've actually been keeping up with the UK X factor through the joy of illegal downloads).
Monday morning and we had a lot to plan i.e. getting the campervan, packed, route decided and what to do etc. We also had a meeting with our Celebrant in the afternoon to discuss the Civil Marriage (yes we are not legally married yet). We headed out after some Marmite ( in Oz they call it Our Mate...not sure why) but the heavens opened (first time since we had arrived) and the rain fell all the way as we walked to the Celebrant's house. We met her in her posh house in the Boho suburb Paddington, she was sweet and we sorted out all the paperwork, location of the wedding and left with a DVD on marriage (not seen it yet), documents and lots of things to decide on like vows and stuff. It was still raining when we left and so got a bus back to Bondi. The day was pretty much a wash out as it rained all day and so we chilled at the flat, had some VB's and watch Round the Twist...great show.
Tuesday morning I emailed the people who gave us the cheapest quote for a van and they emailed straight back saying that we could pick it up tonight instead of tomorrow morning. Sorted with that, we went out and bought the few bits and bobs that we thought were essential for a camping holiday in Australia - some tupperware boxes, a stubby cooler, a mobile broadband dongle and a bit of food. Sorted. I had to go and get my test results as well but when I got to the doctors and the receptionist said that I had to pay again just to get my results I decided that my toe was fine (it was...). We packed our stuff, Rach came back and kindly gave us a lift up to where the campervan was, mainly in order to help us get back without getting lost. It was a bit of a casual operation, run out of, what looked like, an illegal backpacker hostel (they seem to have a few here...) and the van was a little beat up and rough looking but the bloke was straight up, gave us a good deal when we said we'd have it for a month instead and told us that we could get a few knocks and scrapes on it so long as we bring it back in 'mostly one piece'. We got it down to Bondi fairly easily and went out to get pizza and a bottle of wine. And chocolate.
Sorry no pics were taken over these few days...promise there will be loads more to come in the next blog
