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Cheeky Round The World Trip

a travel blog by Priya&Tim

The time has finally come, for Mister Brown and his sidekick, the wonderful and brilliant Miss Patel to embark on their travels. So, to keep you informed with what we are up to and where we are going, here is what is essentially a diary for the next few months! Enjoy!

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Week 1 of Australia

Sydney, Australia

So we have arrived and are enjoying the comfort of newly aquired apartment. We are looking to stay and work here in Australia for a while but before we anything as serious sounding as that we were going to do a bit of sightseeing and what is going to Sydney without taking your first walk to the city and the harbour. First off, it was so nice to e back in a Western Environment except for the food part - our jellie bellies weren't so nice now that we are back to processed and junk foods galore. It is amazing how bad we can eat. But anyway enough of that, as Tim and I wander through the city with help of our trusted Sydney Guide picked up from the airport and Tim's handy little AA guide courtesy of Basingstoke collegues we headed in the vague direction of Circular Quay - where we are told is the central hub of transport to Sydney Harbour and all of its delights. Before we knew it, we could see a glimpse of what lay ahead and as you can imagine I was getting very excited!

Next thing we know, we can see the harbour and with the bridge in full view and the opera house; it really is all that but it looked so much smaller than I imagined it to be! The illusion of TV and Posters eh! Nonetheless, here we both were, literally half way around the world and on the start of our long stay in OZ. The whole panoramic view of the harbour is beautiful but we knew we were no longer in Asia because all of a sudden, the price of food, drinks and convenience goods just got a lot higher and the atmosphere is totally different. It was actually quite striking how different the Aussies look compared to Europe, both phyiscally and in aesthetically. Glamour is not quite the word I am looking for, but there is a clear effort towards it.

We took a little walk around the harbour, and took in the views of the opera house and headed back to the city to grab som food and a long awaited Guiness. We also enjoyed the pleasure of going to the supermarket so that we could make full use of our apartment. To be honest we are just glad we can relax and feel so comfortable while we shake off the jetlag and our dodgy stomachs!

PS Mum, Neighbours looks like its starting to get good!

permalink written by  Priya&Tim on September 19, 2006 from Sydney, Australia
from the travel blog: Cheeky Round The World Trip
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Sun, Sand and Surf!

Sydney, Australia

The next day, we went back to the harbour, again with our trusted guides and a bagful of tourist information leaflets and guides etc.... (No anoraks dont worry guys!) This time we headed towards the botanical gardens; here you walk along the harbour front and get a fantastic view of the opera house in front of the harbour bridge; or you can just go for a walk around the gardens and see all kinds of beautiful flora and fauna. And loads and loads of fig trees.

The place is just crammed with so many species of animals and birds, for the first time on our travels we saw so many macaws and parakeets. Again many of the same kinds of trees as in South East Aisa; but a totally different variety of shrubs and bushes. You noticed things like no or few Ginger plants, at least not the way they are in SEA with their bright and big flowers, and no lillies. And just like Singapore, plenty of orchids to set my hayfever off to Tims great delight! Unforntunately we spet too much time looking at the ridiculous amount of fruit bats in the palm trees that we were unable to take a peek at the carnivorous plants exhibition - another day maybe - but we did get to see lizards, more bats and parots, strange looking black and white birds that make a hellava racket and loads of kookaburras. I was all good though, being a fan of Dot and the Kangaroo when I was a little girl, made me quite a happy bunny to see them!

We took a walk back through the city and saw the landing point of the Pomms from back in the day. Saw a beautiful cathedral, walked past the Olympic Training Simming Pools, saw a few statues, and monuments and took a walk through 'The Rocks' - an older part of town, etc, etc....

To start wrapping the end of our tourist stay in Sydney, we also took a trip to Manly, which is on the other side of the habour and Sydney City, to get there we took a ferry from the harbour. It is basically the Bournemouth of Sydney, where everyone goes to get out of the city and enjoy some quiet beaches and take a promenade walk. But the good thing is, that it isnt full of retired people, and the beach really is lovely. We took a walk along the beach and chilled out there for the most part of the day. I'd never seen people surf before, its kind of weird watching them do their thing, you look at them, and you would think its almost impossible to stay on top of the waves like that, but they do and it looks great! I envy their sense of balance so much!

After some sand, and surf we decided to get more sun and took a walk around Manly Town and basically did a trail of their parks and the cricket oval. At one point there was an unexpected bush walk which wasnt cool when we were both in flip flops and we had to be extra careful because of the broken glass bottles. Ah, the joys of having nothing better to do when youre 15!

Anyway we walked back to the beach and started to think about dinner, and with that it was time to get the ferry back and get some food in us! And the views of Sydney harbour at night, is really something special!



permalink written by  Priya&Tim on September 23, 2006 from Sydney, Australia
from the travel blog: Cheeky Round The World Trip
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Week 2 - Melbourne

Melbourne, Australia

Next up - Melbourne and with a little help from some friends we had a place to stay to base ourselves from - to which we are very grateful for, given the price of getting around and acomodation and all the stuff in between. Tim and I were staying next to the beach but at this end of Australia there isnt a lot between you and the Antarctica - you can imagine we werent too impressed with how cold it was!!! Especially in the night/evening when the temperatures just plummets! I invested in a scarf which was just biggest joke ever, given that we have just been in 30+ degree climates and it is appraoching summer here in Australia where temperature are same if not in some cases worse!!! In any case, I was so grateful for my scarf, hoodie, jumper and jeans! The beach itself in Melbourne is pretty small but the sea front walk stretches all the way down the coast beyond St Kilda's and beyond the city in the other direction.

We spent some time in Melbourne exploring the city and loving its more European feel, particularly with the huge cafe culture here. We also took advantage of the dining out experience and the huge range of Australian Wines, they're not half bad! We ate a lovely Italian Restaurant that did wonderful pizzas - filing too and the tastiest we had since arriving into Australia. We also did a stop at the Melbourne Museum and got our first insight into the varied landscapes of Australia and even did ourselves a Rainforest Walk. We also got our first insight into the Aboriginal ways of life and their history in Australia before and after the Europeans arrived. The whole experience was interesting since we hadnt done a museum in a little while now, however, we found it to be quite disorganised and that did make it all a bit frustrating because it was a shame finding out that there were more parts to the museum that we just did not have the time to appreciate. In a nutshell, the museum was more of an exhibiton for a bit of science, natural history, environmental issues, human evolvement, biology, zoo-ology, australian history, politics, art.....you get the idea; all a bit disjointed and a serious lack of focus.

We did some more sightseeing of the city including a surprise viewing of the AFL team as they were due to be playing the Finals at the weekend. Screaming girls and one of the players named 'Ricky' wasnt cool, so we got out of the mayhem and saw an open air exhibition of photos from the sky around the world. The exhibition is called 'Earth From Above and sound familiar to some. It takes a look at things on Earth from a different perspective. In fact it was the same exhibition as the one that toured Birmingham while we were at uni, but they had a different selection of photos so it was nice to look at them all again.

We later followed the river walk of the Yarra and over the bridge to the MCG - the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which is comparable to Lords in the UK. Here we took in the all the sports memorabillia, but whats a visit to the grounds without stepping inside? We didnt know they had timed tours and that these had actually finished until we got there, so at my insistence I convinced Tim that we should just ask to go inside even if its to the glassed bit inside so that we can just see inside the stadium. So in Tims poshest of accents, he asks a guy that clearly is a patron there and low and behold we wangled ourselves a free tour of the stadium, inside the stadium function rooms and the grounds, down the aisles to the grass and even stand in the Patron and VIP sections! Sweet!

So after putting a smile on Tims face with the MCG thing, it was time for a smile on my face - that meant a shopping spree!!!For work clothes, of course, or so that was the plan and in the end it was Tim who manged to get fully kitted for work, and me, I got the one pair of shoes. Boo!

All good though, I still had a glass of wine to hand, and my scarf! We finished Melbourne after much investigation as to whether or not we could live here and get a job. In a word, No. It just wasnt as finacially feasible as Sydney. So a bus back it was and time to get ourselves sorted with a roof over our head and a job. Not before a stop over in Kings Cross though!

permalink written by  Priya&Tim on October 2, 2006 from Melbourne, Australia
from the travel blog: Cheeky Round The World Trip
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Kings Cross but not as you and I know it!!!!

Sydney, Australia

So Back in Sydney but still no sightings of any kangaroos or bushfires even though we were apparantly driving past them on the route we had taken to get back. You could smell the burnt wood however, and the most disturbing thing was seeing the lack of water anywhere. We knew that Australia is and has been having a lot of water problems and in many places there has been a drought for over 6 years. But the extent of this problem was certainly more apparent as we were driving through some of the arid parts of New South Wales and near the Victoria Borders. Wells are totally dried up and water troughs are just overgrown with weeds. The land is incredibly dry and there is very little green for cattle to graze upon.

So we returned to Sydney with the aim of finding ourselves a place to stay for the next few months and a job to cover our costs and save a little for the rest of travels. We booked ourselves into a hostel on Kings Cross - it being a center for backpackers and a hub for the nightlife of Sydney. We had been warned and to be honest we were curious and it would be a place of interest or rather an interesting place ticked on the list. The latter was an understatement!!!! ;o)

We found ourselves in a dingy place and argued a dorm of our own because we were initially placed in a dorm with four other guys who had clearly been on a boozy one the night before - at the 7am the room did not smell pleasant!!! The room we were put in, was actually quite nice and we were happy with it - besides it was only going to be for a few days. We got straight on the internet and sorted ourselves some viewings on an ongoing basis as with the applications to various agencies etc.

Kings Cross is quite a pleasant place with shops and cafes and the usual city bustle, until about 4/5pm. In true Richard Attenborough style - "this appeared to be the time when the more unusual of the human species started to come out to play." Streets would be littered with drunks, and hobo's and at the risk of being really racist - abo's everywhere drunk and out of their mind, along with the druggies and the pimps and ho's. Thats right....Kings Cross is the Red Light District and it was a great place to have a bit of fun and see a totally different side to Sydney! Even the tourist buses come through for a cheeky peek! As for Tim and I, we enjoyed just watching the weird and wonderful world below us from the comfort of our room, where we had a balcony (being on the third floor) allowing us to have front seats of the pimps, pushers, prostitutes and all the revellers in their supe'd up cars with ridiculous alloys and loud music and neon lights galore! Fantastic!

But the fun had to end, and we decided to move on to a hostel in the City Center where we were more accessible to find work. By this point we had already found ourselves a place to stay - we just couldnt move in until the end of the week. So off we went, and didnt look back.

permalink written by  Priya&Tim on October 4, 2006 from Sydney, Australia
from the travel blog: Cheeky Round The World Trip
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Life gets serious! (Well, a little anyway)

Sydney, Australia

We moved hostel from Kings Cross to Central Sydney in order to be closer to the action and nearer our new home, you may as well familiarise yourself with an area before you move in! With a home address arranged the means to pay for this home became our prevailing concern. First stop, the Internet. We had minimal success with actuall jobs but we managed to register with a million agencies. Of those million agencies at least 5 phoned back and requested an interview/test/waste of our time. Shortly after registering with a company and the night before we were due to move into our new house I (Tim) was called and asked if I could start work the next day, I said "yes and no, as I've got to move house" their response was that they would call back. Friday 13th October and I received a call from the agency saying I should get into work for a few hours that day for a handover, a traditionally spooky day made spookier still with the stress of moving house and starting.....WORK!

So as we got settled in our new home in a lovely part of town - Ultimo near Darling Harbour - and got quainted with our housemates. I quickly got into the routine of work, but Priya still had to find something....however a few days here and there took her around Sydney and into the city centre. So here goes nothing...."Hi Ho Hi Ho, Its off to work I go...."


permalink written by  Priya&Tim on October 20, 2006 from Sydney, Australia
from the travel blog: Cheeky Round The World Trip
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Getting Settled

Sydney, Australia

So as we got settled in our new home and got quainted with our housemates. Tim quickly got into the routine of work, I still had to find some....but a few days here and there took me around Sydney and into the city centre. Then, I got an assignment to work in Bondi! Awesome is all I have to say, I was basically doing HR for a Silver Service Catering Company that were based on the beach front! It was pretty cool walking down Bondi at 7.30 in the morning and seeing the surfers and the beach totally empty and then watch it pick up as i gazed from my office seat and then join the madness on the beach and have my lunch! Absolutley great fun but a bit of a nightmare to commute to. Getting back at 8pm and then waking up to start the day again at 5.30am wasnt my cup of tea as I couldnt enjoy the evenings or weekends properly - And anyway whats a Working Holiday Visa when you take out 'Holiday'???? I havent got the intention to be sponsored or move on a long term basis - so it was back to city center based assigments and lots more time for Tim and I to spend together! Definately worth the change! And to save some bucks knowing that you also get your tax back and having fun is what its all about! Cant wait to spend it all now!

permalink written by  Priya&Tim on October 23, 2006 from Sydney, Australia
from the travel blog: Cheeky Round The World Trip
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Diwali!

Sydney, Australia

The Indian Festival of Lights and New Year! Diwali is a very special day in the Indian Calender and I was about to spend it for the first away from the UK and my family and friends. But a big thank you goes out to my family who sent me a card and made me feel right at home. And also to Nitya and Vidya, our housemates with whom I celebrated Diwali with. Tim and I and the girls went to St Helensburg about 90mins away from Sydney where we visited a South Indian Temple in the mountains. It was so cold in there as it is made entirely of Marble, and is very well ventilated, ie no carpets or windows or doors! But it was absolutely beautiful and that made it worth it. Here we made some offerings and said some prayers and basically had a really fun day out! We even got some Roti and Curry for lunch which Tim especially enjoyed!

Back at home, I had prepared some sweets in the morning and made some vegetable curry for the evening; so we tucked into that after lighting some candles and diya's (little lamps) aorund the house and saying some more prayers. Yummy!


permalink written by  Priya&Tim on October 27, 2006 from Sydney, Australia
from the travel blog: Cheeky Round The World Trip
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The Motor Show

Sydney, Australia

The International Motor Show was in town at the Sydney Convention Center, so we were hoping to see some fantastic cars and bikes! While we werent disappointed overall, especially considering a healthy Ferrari, Maserati and Ssanyong presence this was no Geneva or London Motor Show. Saying this, it gave us a welcome break from the usual mid week routine of cook, clean, sleep. And we did get to see just what exactly Holden does has to offer....Not Much!!!!



permalink written by  Priya&Tim on November 25, 2006 from Sydney, Australia
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Trish's Birthday

Sydney, Australia

A big Happy Birthday to our fellow traveller and friend Trish whom we have spent many months travelling with around South East Asia and here in Australia. We went out for one of the best dinners ever - Fact! - at the lovely and very posh restuarant 'Coast' on Darling Harbour, where thanks to Trish and her colleagues we sampled the best Australian Cusine has to offer!


permalink written by  Priya&Tim on December 23, 2006 from Sydney, Australia
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Christmas 2006!

Sydney, Australia

Wow, its Christmas already! The Time has literally flown by and here we are in Sydney ready to celebrate Christmas. The only weird thing that you just have to experience if you are out in Sydney at this time of the year is obviously having Christmas in the Summer! Barbeques, Seafood, Salads and Summer Fruits. So strange! Especially more so, when you see everyone Christmas shopping around you and window displays have Santa Sleighs or Elves in snow and little kids wrapped head to toe in wolly hats and scarves and jumpers and coats yet you're walking around in nothing but your tshirt, shorts and flip flops!

Of course there are the usual haunts for all the tourists to go to at Christmas in Sydney but we didnt fancy a crowded beach where you cant have a beer with your barbeque. So we made it special in our own little way and made good use of our huge balcony and had a pinic - all courtesy of the brilliant chef and wonderful friend, Trish! It was wonderful, sitting outside and having a couple of glasses of wine and chilling out for the afternoon. The sun stayed out and we had a great day....and we couldnt help but smile as we thought of good old England and the rain!


permalink written by  Priya&Tim on December 25, 2006 from Sydney, Australia
from the travel blog: Cheeky Round The World Trip
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