Day 188-192 - Wet Sydney Days

Day 188 (Sunday 20th) - Pancakes

Rob and I got up earlier than I would have liked as he had a surprise birthday lunch to attend, so I ended up sitting outside Em's gates on my box of stuff, looking more than a little trampish. We hung out for a bit before going for drinks (again, all I seem to have done so far in Sydney is go for drinks with people - not that I'm complaining, it's been a lot of fun) with Smoz and Mike, down on Circular Quay. this was a pretty cool setting, with views of the Opera House and harbour. Somehow, probably due to Mike being a Chef, talk turned to food and it was excitedly decided that we should have pancakes for dinner, and so on the way home we did a little drunken shopping - went in for flour, came out with A$50 worth of groceries - and got some crispy duck pancaked too, for good measure. The pancake making was rather a success, I ad-libbed a recipe, which isn't very impressive as pancakes are one of the simplest things to make, and turned out more pancakes than we could eat, which were mostly filled with bacon and cheese and devoured exceedingly quickly. Stuffed and sated, the rest of the evening was spent watching rubbish TV in a semi-comatose state.

Day 189 (Monday 21st) - Sorting My Life Out

I achieved something I have been meaning to do for a while today - I emptied my backpack, sorted through all the stuff I would and would not need, and repacked it. I think I have only shaved about 2 or 3 kg off the weight, but it all counts. I also found the numbers of the traveller's cheques that were stolen in Thailand, and made a belated call to American Express, who were really helpful and told me where I could go to get new cheques, despite the fact that most questions she asked about the theft were answered with "I don't know, the Police report's in Thai". I have also booked a flight to Byron Bay for Monday, sorted accommodation in the Arts Factory (really cool place I vaguely remember from when we were there before - one of the dorms is in a Teepee!), booked an Oz Experience bus to cairns, and generally sorted everything out. This done, I took a walk round the area, ending up at Kirribilli Point (I was aiming for North Sydney Wharf, oops), from where I got the ferry to Circular Quay, wandered around the Opera House area, took some cool photos and wandered to Sidebar, an infamous backpacker pub, and completely failed to meet anyone, while sitting at the bar and generally feeling a wee bit lonely. I then went to Scubar and failed again, so I returned home a bit drunk, read for a bit and watched TV with Sam.

Day 190 (Tuesday 22nd) - The Weather Is Beginning To Irk Me...

Today was another crap day, annoying in such an Outdoorsy city as this. In the afternoon I swear I saw hail, and I got so bored an frustrated with the general state of Australian daytime TV that I went to the gym & pool in the basement. Even now I'm a little confused as to why I thought that was the best course of ages. I got confused with the weights machine, and ran for ages (well, half an hour, ages for me) on the treadmill before going for a very brief swim, as a result of which I am now knackered. Also I have changed my onward flights from Sydney, shaving a possible week off New Zealand. Sam got home and we had spaghetti bolognese before slumping on the sofa and watching Extras - I ended up watching the whole of season 1 and a surf video, ridiculously named Pig-Dog Pirates in the Land of the Lovely Lefts.

Day 191 (Wednesday 23rd) - Two More Days Of Rain, According To 9 News.

Today Em had to be at Uni/Work from about 1000-2230, starting her hefty day off with an exam. I didn't do much more than yesterday, but what I did achieve was watching The Castle. This is a film that Rob put on my list of stuff I should check out, with the note "watch this, be more Aussie" written beside it. It's an awesome film about a ridiculous Aussie family and their struggle to keep their home. I really enjoyed it. In the evening I headed out to The Cross to meet Rob and a load of his mates, as it was Louis' 22nd birthday. We went for a pretty good meal (veal schnitzel with cheese - loads and loads of melted cheese) and then onto a couple of pubs. Rob's mates all seem pretty sound, if a little posh - we had a chat about royal connections (one of them is apparently a German Baroness), then somehow had an enormous discussion on the practicalities of building a moat around your house, with particular reference to how you could do it if you live in a Terraced House... Rob left at around midnight, and I chose to stay on for a bit (which ended up being 2 hours) as I was getting on pretty well with everyone. I ended up sharing a cab home (for me, a bit of a detour for her) with a mate of Louis' whose name I cannot remember, no matter how hard I try, who works in TV and had to be up at 0730. Poor girl.

Day 192 (Thursday 24th) - Eugh...

I woke up feeling great at about 8, chatted to Emily and Sam for a bit, then dozed off and awoke with a horrible hangover at 10ish. I promptly cooked a load of pasta and cursed the workmen who had switched the water off from 9am-3pm today, as I was unable to use the shower/toilet/anything. Em and I went into town, where I could see blue sky and even a little sun, picked up my traveller's cheques and then she had to run off to work again. I went home, chatted to Leo online for a bit about his crazy VIP Seoul lifestyle and how Deller's is a bit of a poor runner-up when you've been guestlisting it at the best clubs in Korea for a few months - Leo and Pete The Heat have set up a facebook group called Momentum Seoul, which is generating quite a buzz and allowing them free entry and drinks in some of Seoul's best clubs - and there are a lot of clubs to choose from. Then I sat down and wrote all this - after a few successive cups of tea, I now feel good enough to not shrink at the idea of going out for a drink with Em's mate Dog, which is what's happening tonight, whether I like it or not. Tomorrow being ANZAC day, a public holiday, tonight is going to be quite a busy night for Sydney. All I want to do is curl up somewhere warm, maybe read a book, but I have no choice in the matter.