Our 2 years in Sydney is rapidly drawing to close. I wanted to post one last journal…an ode to Oz perhaps.
Things we like about our life in Oz
- Cheesymite scroll (a savoury Chelsea bun with vegemite and cheese)
- Boost juice
- Endless blue skies
- Manly scenic walkway
- Scenic commute over the bridge with opera house views
- Beer fridge in the office
- Fresh fruit in the office
- Being able to walk to work
- High quality, high quantity cheap eats
- Gourmet pizza (LCC Manilla; Australian Hotel Surf and Turf or Morrocan Lamb with couscous)
- The multi-coloured parrots (rainbow lorikeets; galahs; cockatoos; rosellas)
- Triple J (radio station)
- Random areas of bushland in Sydney – flat rock creek
- Proximity to world famous beaches (Phil particularly likes the sights at Bondi)
- Blue Mts – Mount Solitary, Kanangra Boyd
- Kayaking on the harbour
- The positive lexicon of the Aussie native: For sure; no worries!
- A bush walk is ‘busy’ if you see 10 other people on the trail
- All the little lizards – even on our balcony
- James Squire Amber Ale
- Fruit bats in the CBD
Things we’re happy to see the back of
- Flies and Mozzies
- Maintenance required to keep legs hair free ALL year round (especially for Phil?!)
- Sweaty commuter trains
- VB (very bad brand of very popular beer)
- The loud abrasive squawks that the multi-coloured parrots make
- Crap terrestrial telly
- How long you have to wait at pedestrian crossings
- The price of the theatre/concerts – and crap frequency/selection
- How every resort/rock formation/bush/beach up the East coast is similar
- Having massive windows with single glazing and NO heating in winter
- Price of books
- Carrying ALL your water when out on a bush walk
- Australian hip hop music
- Cockroaches
- Plastering yourself in greasy sunscreen as soon as you get out of the shower
- How everything is referred to as the biggest x or tallest x in the southern hemisphere. Actually this is more just amusing than something we'll be glad to see the back of!
Perhaps we should have done this list before we committed to the decision to come home ;)
So what’s next?
We’re travelling back to the UK – the long way. We’ve been in Australia for 2 years and we’ve seen a lot of our offices but not much of the country. The natural break in jobs made it a perfect opportunity to take some time off and see Australia and New Zealand and a fair chunk of Southern Africa before arriving back in the UK in April!!
Our itinerary is as follows:
31st October (Weds): Finish work. Yipee!!! We then have a few days in Sydney to panic; pack; perhaps take in a few of our favourite sights one last time.
5th Nov (Mon): Head down to Melbourne to visit some friends and go to the Melbourne Cup - the biggest horse race in Australia!
8th Nov (Thurs): Fly to Auckland, New Zealand. We’ll spend some time travelling round the north island taking in volcanoes in Tongariro (aka "Mordor"); thermal pools at Rotarua; big trees in Kauri and catching up with Shon and Graham in Wellington.
On the South Island we’ve booked onto a couple of the ‘Great’ multi-day Walks – the Kepler track and the Routeburn Track. I expect New Zealand will be all about the scenery so I guess we’ll be doing LOTS of walking. Let's hope the hiking boots cope with it all...
24th Dec: Getting the early o’clock flight from Christchurch, New Zealand to Brisbane, Australia. We’re then hiring a car and driving along the East Coast of Australia. We’re spending Christmas in Byron Bay, onto Fraser Island, Whitsundays, and a couple of trips to the reef no doubt. Those are the key sights that make it onto the standard English itinerary on top of that we’ll be going to the Glasshouse Mountains; the Atherton tablelands, Daintree rainforest and the Undara lava tubes.
20th Jan: Fly from Cairns to Adelaide. Spend a few days on Kangaroo Island; have a quick tipple in the Barossa valley and then drive to the Flinders Ranges (if its not too hot). Slowly make our way along the South coast of Australia towards Melbourne. We’re hoping to catch up with Uni friends again and also visit Phil’s rellies in Melbourne. From Phil’s rellies we’re hoping to go down to Wilsons Prom.
8th Feb: Fly from Melbourne to Cape Town, South Africa and meeting Beckie’s parents. We’ll be tourists for a week rather than backpackers!
16th Feb: Start our Dragoman Overland trip through South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania and Kenya. The tour takes in the Namib Desert, seals at Skeleton coast, bushcamping with bushmen, Okavango Delta, Lots of elephants at Chobe NP; Vic falls in the wet season (!); Zanzibar; Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Malawi and much more
14th April: Fly back from Nairobi, Kenya to UK. Catch up with the folks for a week or so and then back to the grindstone.
