Travelling Post 13 - My blog now up to date and I have put my Hong Kong Pictures on bebo http://rhino-rob.bebo.com

On the Monday of my third week I went to move into Coogee, however, after lugging my heavy bags to Sydney Central, I decided I was just gonna stay in a different hostel in Sydney Centre. I ended up staying in Railway Square YHA, it was pretty much similar to Central YHA , clean and tidy, but this had a little more atmosphere, probably because it was smaller.

On Tuesday I undertook a Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) Training course. It cost $70 and was 6 hours of sheer boredom. The RSA allows me to serve alcohol in Australia, however i now work in a place that has a Bring Your Own (BYO) license and does not serve alcohol. I am now determined to work in some bar throughout the year so I haven't wasted my time.

On the Wednesday I felt it was time to go to Coogee, [where I am now living], stay in a hostel until I moved into the house and find a job. Job hunting had to wait though. As I arrived in Coogee, on a very hot, very humid and cloudy day, I saw Sam W and Alison, who were off to Taronga Zoo because they couldn't sunbathe. After a 15minute check in I caught with them and off we went. During the bus journey I spoke to Ed, who was staying in Central Sydney, and he then joined us. At a cost of $29, the zoo wasn't badly priced. The cost included a ferry there, and as the Zoo is situated on a hill, it also included a cable car to the top, add to that the zoo is probably bigger than Chester Zoo, then, as I said, it was very reasonable indeed.

I couldn't begin to list all the animals I saw, I wouldn't even know half their names, we didn't see any Kangaroos though, they were hiding as the day was so hot, we did see Koalas, who look so much like their cuddly toy counterparts it's freakish, and we also saw a Chimpanzee stick it's finger up it's own bum and then lick it. Overall a really good day.
















Me with a real Koala Bear














The Koala Bear's cuddly toy counterpart

An Echidna, Australia's version of a hedgehog

My favourite animal of all


Thursday was job hunting day, of which after a demoralising hunt for about half an hour i wandered into Zach's Cafe and got a job. I had a trial on Friday and started on Tuesday. After only been promised around 15 hours a week I have now completed my second 40hr or so week, so the money situation is improving. The job isn't brilliant, I wait on people, how good can it be, but it's better than nothing and I have pretty much done it all before so it isn't very difficult.

In between getting , and the starting the job I went snorkeling, in the ocean, how cool is that. It was such a refreshing feeling, just to get into the ocean on what was, when I went, a hot sunny day.

So I started my fourth week with a job an and house, that week I pretty much just worked lots. Then on Friday things went a little awry.

To cut a long story short. I received a phone call from the Estate Agents saying the landlords now only wanted 8 people not 10 in the house, so we had to get rid of two people. This is 1 day before we were due to move in. Jamie, a 10th person whom we didn't know, found somewhere pretty quick, and so he choose to go and so did Emma, who now has a boyfriend. So it was all OK in the end. But I was supposed to be going on a relaxing Coogee-Bondi walk that day, and work in the evening. Instead it ended up being the most stressful and worst day that I had been hear. The Estate Agents were useless, they cocked up big style and didn't even properly apologise. At least our rent has not gone up.

So on Saturday 2nd December, 8 of us, moved into the house. It has 4 bedrooms, one triple, two twins and one single. I am in the single and I can tell you it is a relief getting my own room after a month of sharing, I like my space and for at least the next two months I have it. The house is big and fully furnished, we have a TV and a DVD Player so all is good.

On Friday, which i had the daytime off, and was in work at 5.30 I went and did the very touristy Opera House Tour. On first impression the main, largest hall, the Concert Hall wasn't as big as you would expect but after a few minutes it all sinks in and takes over you and it really is an emotionally invoking experience. I plan to go and see Michael Parkinson at the end of January; he is going to talk about his 35 yr career with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra playing music from the golden age of cinema. It is a high culture that is accessible to me, meaning i would enjoy it more than the ballet or the opera. It is going to cost $95 for the most expensive tickets, which I want to get, but it will be worth it.

Anyway this is me, now up to date with my blog. I have probably missed stuff out, I haven't talked about what I learnt at the opera house as you can look that up, and and also if i told you everything what would I talk about when I saw you all when I next see you. This afternoon I am off to do the Coogee-Bondi walk, hopefully, we will see if anything stops me this time.

TTFN