I've finally arrived in sunny Sydney after a fantastic week in Melbourne. I have left some great mates there. Mates I really hope I see again. Abi my Liverpool friend, Luke, Aimee, Jen, Liam, Mark, and Darren (who is the funniest drunk I've ever met). I'm covering quite a lot on this blog, so it might be a big'un.
The hostel where I'm staying in Sydney is a lot different to the Base hostel in St Kilda. It's small, cosy, and seems like everyone here knows everyone. There's fewer Brits here too. I've met people from Sweden, Germany, Luxembourg, France, Norway, and one guy from Oldham, so it's cool in that sense. Breakfast is free here, as is the wifi, and there's a rooftop courtyard where people chill of a night.
Tracing my steps back to Saturday night, I met up with Paul, a mate from home, and we went to a house party somewhere in the city. It was nice to meet his mates and his Aussie girlfriend, just to see how he has settled down over here. One of his pals at the party went on the Australian Deal or No Deal and won $30,000. How good is that?! With the winnings, him and his girlfriend bought a city centre flat and a puppy. Rock and roll.
After the house party we made our way to the city to see Liverpool get spanked 3-1 by Southampton. God it was depressing. Not only was it a rubbish game, but there was a rather rotund Southampton fan girating in front of us every time they scored. We didn't want to let the result get us down though, so we headed straight to Hungry Jacks (that's Burger King to you) and proceeded to eat our body weight in burger meat, giving the portly Southampton fan a run for his money.
The next day was Grand Prix day, and I woke up hungover again (something I've now perfected). With most of the gang out watching the race, me, Abi and Aimee decided to take the tram into the city to do all of the touristy stuff. It was great. We checked out the Thai Festival (where a rather aggressive cleaner hit me with his bucket), strolled around the Southbank, and took lots and lots of pictures. There was one moment where we found a picturesque spot for a photo of the three of us, and all Aimee had to do was find someone to take it. She only happened to ask quite possibly the oldest women in Melbourne! I don't think she'd ever seen an iPhone before, and I still laugh about it now. After five painfully awkward minutes, we got our picture, and I now eagerly await the Facebook tag.
I mentioned wanting to go and see the Great Ocean Road in the previous blog, but after seeing how much I've spent already, and taking into account the things I'm going to be spending money on in the next few weeks, I decided to give it a miss. If I visit the state of Victoria again, I will most definitely go and check it out, as it looks incredible.
On my last night we all decided to do what we do best and get drunk on goon. We walked down to the beach and carried on drinking there until the early hours. It was great fun. Something of a novelty too, as when I'm home I definitely won't be drinking on the beach by the Egremont Ferry.
But now I'm in Sydney. I've had my breakfast, had my shower, and I'm off to the city where I'm going on a guided tour. My plan is to stay here for a few nights then make my way to Bondi, before boarding the Greyhound bus right up the East Coast. But then again, the one thing I've learned about travelling is you never quite stick to your plans. Wherever I end up though, I'm sure plenty of goon will follow.