Monday 27/10

So what have I done since I last wrote on here? Thankfully the weather has got better in the last few days. The days are going in abit of a blur really I think, what with looking for jobs and flats closer to the city. Went out to Kings Cross again at the weekend. Well, Friday night me and Fiona went out for tea in Newtown and ended up in a restaurant called Twelve on Kings Road. I had a pizza as I didn't fancy anything else, but it turned out to be really nice. Was really bizarre, we were sat in a window table, and we were just chatting about something and all of a sudden this crazy man dressed like a Hell's Angel or something with a tattoo on his forehead drove past on a motorized mobility scooter with some strange rock music blaring out and pulled a really funny face at us as he drove past, it was so strange and crazy but funny all the same! You see all the sights in Newtown!

On Saturday night me, the two Fiona's, Patrick, Hayley and her new flatmate Sarah went out in Kings Cross. We started off in a place called The World Bar, which we'd heard was really good. It was $15 to get in, but to be honest it wasn't my cup of tea. The music wasn't very good, it was that funny beaty stuff that you can't really dance to because it has no lyrics. It was quite a funky place though, it reminded me of a big old house, and the different rooms had different music playing in them and little corner bars, and they still had fireplaces etc left in. After that we went back to Madame Du Bieres, was another $10 to get in there, only ended up having 2 drinks as I'd only brought out $60 and no card so I was sober as a nun by the time I got home!

We went to the Royal Botanic Gardens on the Sunday (26th) was lovely for a walk round, you can't quite believe that this vast expanse of greenery is in the middle of the city almost. Was quite a nice day to just mooch round, there are some fantastic views of the bridge and opera house, like the one in the photo from there. We saw a couple who had just got married and were having photo's taken in there. She was quite pretty, but he was abit of a minger. I've decided that that's where I'm going to get married even if I'm back in the UK and have to come over here especially to do so! Just need to find a man now......Haha. We also had our photo taken on that Mrs Macquerie's seat/chair thing, had to wait about an hour for all the Germans to finish taking their million pictures though.

On Wednesday 29th, me, Fiona, Sarah and Hayley went to a Breast Cancer charity night at the Manly Wharf Hotel in Manly, was really nice to have an excuse to get dressed up and wear heels for once! Was a really good night, they had a couple of fashion shows and you got a free glass of champagne and peach juice when you walked in, they served pizza and free blue drink things all night, was a good night, and did my bit for charity in the mean time! Couldn't go out for Halloween on the Friday as I had an interview Friday night for the Body Shop, and one on Sat morning, wished I could though just to see Fiona in her Ooompa Lumpa costume!! Didn't get the job on Saturday morning, but still waiting to hear back from the Body Shop. I have another interview for Fossil tomorrow afternoon too which is only for a month but has shed loads of hours, and Fossil seems like a good place to work, it's in the QVB so not too far to go really.

Saw our first cockroaches in the house the other day, they were bloody big too! Me and Fiona were just sat in the living room, and she started making a fuss and I saw it minding its own business, but I decided to go get a glass to catch it. I missed it at first and it went running off like the clappers, Fiona was up on the settee screaming, managed to catch it and throw it outside, but it was so funny, was a picture! There's about 3 spiders in various cupboards around the house now too which I've just taken to not looking in now. As long as they're not in my bed, mouth or pants I'm not bothered!

Yesterday (Sunday 2nd Nov - can't believe we're in November!!) Me and Fiona went to the Hyde Park Barracks Museum, got in for $5 instead of $10 because of our YHA cards which was good. Was really interesting in there, they've used it for loads of stuff including a male convict barracks, which was built between 1817 and 1819 to provide secure night lodgings for male convicts. The central building was used as a dormitory for an average of 600 men sleeping in hammocks in 12 rooms - cramped or what!! Can you imagine all the smells too! Uuuurgh. During the day the inmates would go out to various places to work in Sydney and then come back to sleep.

In 1848 it was transformed into the Immigration Depot for single females. The central building was altered and instead of hammocks they got iron beds. In 1862 it was again transformed into a female infirm, destitute asylum, with a matron and able-bodied inmates ministering to 300 or so infirm, destitute women. After that it was used for Government buildings and from 1979 to the present day it's been used as a museum.

Was interesting to learn about all the convicts which were kept in hulks of ships which were unsafe to sail anymore but could still float on water. Conditions were really poor and apparently they had different classes of ships and on the worst ones there was a ban of complete silence and convicts were chained up pretty much all day every day. The museum also told you about punishments, past times, eating etc. There was also a machine on the top floor which was an online database of all the convicts who had either stayed at the barracks or who had been shipped over to Australia. Was quite amused to see that when I typed in Cartwright it came up with quite a few convicts!! Obviously we were quite an unruly bunch back in the day! Well, compared to Fiona's lowly one Malcolm on the list anyway!

Not long til the big Cartwright reunion in Sydney now, 2 weeks on Friday! Can't wait to see you all, very much looking forward to it! Hope you're all well and take care xxxx