So there I was at Noah's Backpackers in Bondi Beach, looking forward to a week of the beach and job hunting.

After a knackering first day I had an alcohol free evening and even an early night! The next day the sun was out and I hit the beach and waited for Svenja, who came to join me. As the weather was so gorgeous for the first few days, job hunting proved to be difficult as the beach was just too tempting. We sweated out way along the 5km walk from Bondi to Coogee in the midday sun one day to meet up with Rachael and Kimberley from our previous hostel. As we plonked ourselves down on Coogee beach and surveyed our surroundings, it turned out that we had sat down right next to everyone from our old hostel that we had been trying to get away from...!

Our time in Bondi was made complete when Lauren and Rachel from our old hostel came to Bondi for a few days and we made a good group. However there were a number of things we really didn't like about the hostel. It was absolutely massive making it quite difficult to make friends, it also didn't really appear to have to much of a social scene, when we were so used to everything being completely organised for us. Svenja and I also had a couple of questionable room mates, including the 'boho' Olivia (yes she really did ask me "what would you say my style is? It's boho isn't it?"), who pinched my towel and took it to the beach, told us intimate details of her love life and attempted to set us up with all of her friends. Svenja and I made the mistake of going out with her to Scubar in the city centre as she strolled around picking up various guys' numbers and making them buy her drinks. It was really quite an eye opener to what some people are like!

One particular highlight was the night cruise Svenja, Lauren, Rachel and I took. Sold tickets by Olivia we weren't too sure what to expect, but it was actually really wonderful going out on a boat at sunset and looking back at the city skyline, with the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. It felt so surreal to realise we were actually half-way across the world, so far away from everyone.

In the end although being by the beach was so great, I realised I was spending an absolute fortune on bus fares going in and out of the city for nights out and even to go to the supermarket. My attempts at getting a job were fruitless as I went from place to place trying to hand out my CV and was told only that they were overstaffed and that it wasn't as busy as it usually was. In the end the only solution was to move back into the city as my funds were quickly disappearing. I decided to head back to where my friends had already returned, King's Cross, for one last week. If I didn't get a job within that week, I would give up and head over to New Zealand for the remaining summer time.

The lady boys were waiting on the street corner for me and it was as if I'd never left! The fire alarm has gone off three times so far (it's automatically linked to the fire station), once set off by someone and twice because of a faulty detector. One poor guy has also had nearly all of his possessions stolen after a junkie broke into the first floor. The third time it happened he actually caught her, restrained her (getting bitten and hit in the process) and the police arrested her. It's all happening in the Cross I tell you!

I moved into a nine bed all female room which was in the attic of the hostel and it felt like a girly sleepover :). I quickly established a large group of friends and the hostel was much more of a unit, with at least 30 of us going out on nights out together and sitting around chatting. On Saturday I did my RSA course (Responsible Service of Alcohol), which is basically some crap made up by the government to make money and pass the blame for problems relating to alcohol. I basically had to sit there for just over three hours whilst this guy (who incidentally went to the Duke of Yorks Military School in Dover!) went on about how alcohol was bad, don't serve a drunk person, this is what a drunk person looks like... etc. etc. This cost me $65, but would hopefully make me more employable :)

Sunday was Rachel's birthday and after a particularly heavy (and shameful) night at the Gaff the previous evening, no one really felt like doing anything except collapsing on Coogee beach. However I then got a call from a cafe asking me to come in for a chat about a possible waitressing job in Bondi Junction, which considerably cheered my hungover state up :). I went in for a chat the next day and got on really well with the head chef, so I now have a trial tomorrow, so fingers crossed. Yesterday I met with Chris and Matt from home, which was another surreal experience. Unfortunately for them the weather was quite poor so we spent most of our day in Manly running back and forth between the pub and the beach during the rain. A seagull also stole a chip out of my hand not once but twice, bringing back terrible memories of the time the seagull tried to steal my sandwich in Pencester park... :(

Rainy Sydney love,

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