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Day 78 and after our mammoth drive to Sydney we had to lug our bags half an hour down through Sydney City Centre to meet Peter at his work place.He had offered to let us dump our bags and shower then wander the city for the day before heading home with him in the evening.A shower and a bottle of water later we wandered to Circular Quay by the harbour where we sat down for a coffee.After a short break we walked round the harbour and saw the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge which looked awesome in the sunshine.I could remember seeing it 13 years ago and thinking exactly the same.After the Opera House we walked through the Botanical Gardens which were full of people having picnics or playing football.We sat for a while and tried to soak up some sun.After a while lying in the sun we walked back to the city, applied some sun cream from a local pharmacy (without buying any) and headed for the QVB building which is similar to Selfridges in London.Soon we were hungry so we headed to a pub on Pitt Street where we ordered some sarnies and beers.The cricket was on (Australia vs South Africa 1st Test) so I spent ages explaining to Burns what was going on.Literally every time something happened he said "whats that?" "Why did he just run?" I'm sure he'll get the idea of it soon.Our Sarnies still hadn't arrived after about 45 minutes and as the Manager walked past he noticed and promised to look into it.He came back 5 minutes later, apologised for the delay and gave us our money back whilst insisting the sandwiches would be right with us.Soon enough our sarnies arrived and they were epic; really good we got them free! We finished eating and headed back to Peter's office to meet him about 430pm. On the way Luke had a haircut and Laura bought a new phone (she lost her old one as a result of her drunken antics in Melbourne).Peter locked up his office and we all walked to Martin Place train station.Peter is a keen walker and also loves Sydney loads so acted as a tour guide.It was hard to keep up as we were lugging our big backpacks around in the afternoon heat.A 30 minute train journey, and then a 10 minute bus journey later we arrived at 14 Hamer Street, Kogarah Bay which is where Kerrie and Peter live.I could just about remember the house from 1996 when me and my family came to Aus for a 3 week holiday.The house was lovely and a welcome change from hostels.Kerrie was very welcoming and just as I remembered her, generous and full of beans.I can see why her and my Mum have been friends for so long!Us 3 lads would sleep in David's room (K+P's son) while the girls would sleep in the attic which had recently been converted.After dropping our stuff we immediately got into the garden sun and were offered beers.It was Aussie life at its best! David and his girlfriend were about and we chatted with them about our travels so far while Peter fired up the barbie.After watching some more cricket we had some steaks and salad and the others got to know K+P.Their house was full of xmas decorations which made it feel more like xmas (the hot weather really made it feel non Christmas like).There were 5 xmas trees of some sort and multiple lights.The garden had one tree with over 800 lights in!About 1030 we all headed for our rooms and slept as we had been on the move so much.
Day 79 and we all were asleep until 11am after a mega sleep. Helen came into our room and rudely woke us up by jumping on the bed and being annoying.After a round of showers we walked to Ramsgate bay which was about 20 minutes from Hamer street.We bought food for lunch and had it on the beach, though it was blowing a gale so we couldn't really stay for to long as stuff was blowing away.We found a park where we played Frisbee and keepy ups while the girls sunbathed.Luke and Burns were shocking at headers, barely able to do 3 between them. We did this for a few hours and then headed back to K+P's.Luke broke his flip flop during the frisbee sesh and had to use an elastic band to keep it together for the walk home.Once home me and Burns sat with Kerrie and had a chat while watching the cricket while the others sat in the garden sun. We had yet more beers which was great and the girls kept having to say no to Kerrie's offers of wine as they were adamant they would never drink wine again after the other night.We had Spag Bol for Dinner which was excellent; while Peter gave us a good talk about what to do in Sydney and how much better Aus is than England.Peter himself was born and raised in England but moved to Aus in his twenties and is no a fully fledge Aussie.He had plenty of stories to tell us and after a few glasses of wine couldn't stop.Helen managed to get her mum the house number and spoke to her for an hour or so as she had been on a short holiday herself. K+P had advised us to go the Carols in the Domain tmoro and organised everything for us.They had a cool bag, blanket, cutlery, plates, water, wine, beer and everything else you'd need for a day in the park.We all got to bed early ahead of what was sure to be a long day tmoro.
Day 80 and we woke early as we planned to get a bus then a train to Martin Place in the centre on the City.Peter cooked us a truly awesome breakfast, Beans, Toast, Tomato, Mushrooms, Sausage, Bacon, all the works.After this he then drove our bags to the bus stop, including the massive cool box which had beers, frozen water and wine in.The bus ride was about 10 minutes then a 30 minute train ride later we arrived at Martin Place station.We could tell the event in the Domain would be big as there were families and groups of people everywhere with picnics and bags.A short walk from the station is The Domain, a large park area which hosts all sorts of events and shows.There were already hundreds of people out camping and getting the best spots.The stage had already been setup and loads of food and drink stall lined the edges of the park.The weather was good and the sun was to quote Coops "Roasting!".We setup the blanket and picnic and cracked open a few cold beers.After a while Laura and Burns wandered into town as Burns was looking for a new camera and Coops needed to use the internet. They were gone for a few hours and returned about 3pm.Helen and I then went into town where we visited the internet cafe.It rained while we were away from the park so one can only guess how the others coped covering all the bags up! When me and Helen got back from our walk we had some ham sarnies, crisps, and chocolate with some more beer and wine which was defrosting.We all had noticed the amount of really really fat people with their arm chairs and picnics.And there was us thinking all Auzzies were fit and healthy.I went to the toilet at one point and on the way back wandered into the city streets where I bought some beers from a pub as no shops sell beer it seems.When I returned Luke and Burns were delighted to see 12 bottles of brew.Soon after the main show started with music and dancers on the stage.There were some spectacular fireworks and the show went live on national TV also.Sally from Home and Away was one of the hosts.In the twilight we noticed some birds flying about, though Coops was sure they were bats.With her poor eye sight me and Burns simply ignored her, but then had to admit they were in fact bats flying about.The music that got the best response was Deltra Goodrem (with Bryan McFadden) and a children's group called The Wiggles.The Wiggles are basically 4 middle aged men in colouful jumpers who jump around and make fools of themselves.Literally the entire park was up and dancing when they were on stage, from 5 year olds to old people and even the really really fat ones.We were also informed by some locals that The Wiggles were the 4th richest entertainment act in Australia, crazy really.Near the end of the show we went and got Kebabs from the food stalls. They were magic, just like Mo's Best Kebab in Hatfield.The people who went to Uni will know how good those kebabs were!After the show ended we headed back to Martin Place station and waited for our train.While waiting we saw a grown woman of about 35-40 chunder (vomit) over the platform and onto the track, priceless! We also saw some teenagers having petty fights as a drunk girl started punching a boy screaming something about staying away from her and her sister.Was all very funny espec after a few beers.On the train we saw some drunk rednecks but luckily they got off after 1 stop.When back at Hurstville station we walked 20 minutes to K+P's house and went in the back door, had some water and hit the hay.
Day 81 and we woke at a decent hour as we needed to head to the city and investigate a possible neighbour's night in a bar.After a round of showers and another excellent breakfast from Peter we walked to the train station and were in the city by midday.We found the Coolabar which was hosting the neighbours event but found the price and lineup rather off-putting so we decided against it.The cast would have been Connor (whose not in the show anymore), and 3 other people who I have never heard of.As a result we needed to rethink what to do, me and Burns thought about going to see a Football match between Sydney FC and Perth Glory.The others were fine by this and said they'd spend the day wandering the city as the weather was good.About 2pm the others went one way up Pitt Street while me and Burns walked to the bus station where we got a bus to Moore Park, which houses the SCG and The Football Stadium.Our tickets cost $25 which was pretty good value and we were some of the first people into the ground itself.The security guards and people selling food and drink had no clue about football and who was good or bad, and were taken aback by us thinking football was the best sport in the world.The stadium was a 45,000 capacity but by the time kick off came round there was about 11-12,000 there, so pretty empty.The seating was so casual you could pretty much go into any stand and seat you wanted, which is good as we sat in the sun where is was 'Roasting'.After a few beers, a pie for burns and some chips for me, kick off came and the game was underway.The pitch was in dreadful condition and the standard of play was really really poor.Me and some of my mates from Sunday League would have looked the part with some of these guys!Sydney, with star player John Aloisi, had been losing games for fun and Perth were on the up.Perth took the lead through their right winger Pellegrino, and went 2-0 up from a corner when the centre back headed home.Aloisi then missed 2 sitters and started getting booed by his own fans which we thought was a bit harsh.We found out from a local fan that he was their 'Marquee' player and that each team was only allowed to sign 1 per summer and he wasn't playing well after his big money move and he was therefore being booed.Ridiculous in my opinion, but the Aussie fans weren't exactly in the know about football.There was one good section of the crowd which was singing loads and doing all the English chants.Half time came with Perth 2-0 and looking by far the better team. During half time we got some more drinks in and changed seats to behind the goal where all the singing was.The second half started and Perth soon when 3-0 up when their captain hit home from the edge of the box.The boos were getting louder.They soon turned to cheers though, ironically, as Aloisi, the home team's star player got subbed. Clearly the fans aren't impressed with him.Sydney pulled a goal back to make it 3-1 with a bullet from the edge of the box by their number 8 who was their best player in my opinion.The crowd in our section went ballistic with beer cups, food and toilet rolls being launched into the air as about 3,000 people, most drunk went mad.Was a comeback on the cards... No was the answer as Perth made it 4-1 when the Sydney right back scored a magnificent own goal with a header.The game ended and our impression of A league football was, think League 2 only with lots of sunshine.On the way home we grabbed a Burger King, or as they are known here, Hungry Jacks.We met up with the others at K+P's and talked about the day.To make things better the aussies lost the cricket to south Africa so Peter wasn't in the mood for banter.The other had been around the harbour and done some mini zorbing which sounded cool.We spent an hour or so chatting with David while Coops was on the phone before going to bed.
Day 82 was to be our last day staying with K+P and after 2 days of busyness we headed for Cronulla beach for a chill out day in the sun. At the train station we all got pies and sausage rolls for brekkie which was awesome, great value the pastries here and Burns is becoming quite the Pie Connoisseur.Helen disappeared into the pharmacy we thought to put some sun cream on but instead it was to use some deodorant as she forgot to put any on early, how pikey. The beach was busy and was perfect, white sand and blue sea with some choppy surf.The wind was so strong though, we couldn't sit on the sand as it was blowing everywhere and none of our stuff would stay down.We moved to the grassy area and spent the next couple of hours reading and catching some rays.Helen Burns and me wandered into town and bought a drink about lunchtime and checked out Cronulla shops.The weather was perfect, proper aussie summer with hot sun and not a cloud in sight.We bought some wine for K+P and spent a while longer on the beach before heading home about 5pm.Once back at the house we sat down and briefly packed our bags as we would be heading for the city in the morning.For dinner David cooked Lamb chops and Sausages on the barbie and Kerrie put together some salad and fried potato.A few beers and a lot of chat later we walked with Kerrie round the streets checking out the xmas lights on local houses.Some of them were just ridiculous with literally hundreds of lights and moving puppets and things.One old man offered us into his house to check out the rest of lights.We declined.His outdoor lights had taken him 2 weeks to put up, to much effort in my opinion.We headed home before to long and went to bed knowing in the morning we would have to lug our bags through the city to Maze Backpackers Hostel which would be our home for the following 2 weeks.
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