10/8/01

O.K. I know that we have been really slack, but we will write the rest of the site up some other time.
Well our big long driving adventure came to an end when we arrived in Sydney and went straight to Wendy and Kirstie's house (friends of Peter's parents). They first of all welcomed us with open arms, and then recoiled in horror as we got closer and they smelt us. Yes, embarrassing. Apparently we stunk of fish (failed fishing attempt). So we were quickly invited (read ordered) to have showers and use the industrial strength washing machine to our hearts content. Wendy loves to recount the tale of the state we were in when we arrived on her doorstep. She says that we have put on lots of weight since getting here. Oh goody! Happy about that.
Our personal hygenists



"So what have you been up to all your time in Sydney?", I hear you cry. Well the answer is that we have been working, and trying to save up a bit of money - when we got to Sydney we were seriously broke - I had $5 in my account, and Peter was considerably richer with the grand total of $7.50. Would we have ever survived if Carl and Fausta had not come to our rescue? Doubtful! We only just escaped death by starvation! After a couple of days scrubbing, we felt ready to tackle job-hunting again, and thankfully it was a lot more successful than Perth, with both Peter and I falling straight into 3 month long jobs.

Here are a couple of pictures from Peter's job in Allianz - as a fun game try to count how many pink files you see in the background
 

And a perfectly clear picture of his office block from the ferry


So the whole time that we have been in Sydney we have been living with Carl and Fausta - Peter's parents arrived and we all moved into our new home together, which we were all going to share for the next 3 months. Recipe for disaster? Maybe, but we have all been getting on really well together, and really enjoyed our time in Milson's Point. Sadly this will all be coming to an end soon when "The Oldies" go back to England and Peter and I get in our lovely van and start driving again.


But on the bright side, between now and then we are all going on holidays up north to a lovely paradise island called Lizard Island. If you really want to hate us check out this link. Peter's brother Mark and his wife Jane are over for the big holiday too, so it is one big Oden/Nolan outing. Needless to say, we are all very, very excited. And when we come back we will have loads of photos to add to the site. Hopefully with lots of blue sky and vast expanses of gorgeous sea full of beautiful little fishies. So looking forward to diving again! And this time we have a waterproof camera, so we should get some great pictures.

Hard as this is to believe we have been doing other things apart from working all the time - yes, we have been having bit of fun on the side. One memorable night out is the night we went to this pub in Glebe, because there was crab racing going on. This is such a funny thing they have over here. Literally, you buy a hermit crab and then they have a race with all the crabs in the middle of the table and the first one to get to the edge is the winner. Such good fun! Just to warm the crowd up before the main attraction begins, they have other antics going on it the pub. First of all they have a huge supersoaker gun attached to a hose and they soak everybody, and then have things like a stripping contest for the guys and a hula-hooping contest for the girls. At this point I have to "thank" Samir, Anna and Nadine sooooo much for beginning a lovely chant that went something like this "Caroline, Caroline, Caroline, etc". No thankfully I didn't have to strip, but I did have to climb up a small ladder onto this table and compete in a hula hooping competition. One small problem - I can't hula hoop to save my life. It was so embarrassing because the hoop just kept falling to my feet. But because the DJ put on "Sweet Caroline" (I really don't like that song) and I got everybody singing along to it. I managed to win and am now the Hula-Hooping Queen of Glebe. To the girl from Colarado who was really really good and should have won - I am so sorry!
 
 

Another place we have been a couple of time is the Roller Disco in Petersham. It is so much fun - such cheesy 80's music, much improved by lightheadedness induced by going around and around in circles on roller skates. Makes you bum sore though.

Here are a couple of snapshots from a meal that we had out in Harry's Fish Cafe with some really nice friends of Peter's parents - Doug and Bobbi you are both great!
Doug, Bobbi, Greg, Jeannie, the Odens and a Nolan
Peter deciding to kiss up to me when he saw what I had ordered for dinner.

On the sporting side of things, Peter has been doing quite a bit of surfing in Manly, and has been up close and personal with quite a few large waves.
 
The day we went out with Mark and Jane - massive waves that day!!
 

And a "slightly" bigger day when some guys board got it


I decided that surfing was too hard and dangerous, so I took up the calm and relaxing sport of Aussie Footie. It hurts.


A trip to the Blue Mountains is something that you just have to do while you are in Sydney. So we did. It was a really excellent day trip, but it is pretty chilly up there in winter.
 


The following are some photos that we took from the night cruise that we took around Sydney Harbour.
So cute!
 

And more of Sydney during the day and night.


 

Perth   Perth to Sydney   Lizard Island   Sydney to Byron Bay   Byron Bay to Cairns