The land Down Under.....

So we've come to the end of our 3 weeks in the land Down Under.
All together now, 'I come from the land down underrrrr'.....

Oz has been my favorite place in the world since I was lucky to backpack here in 199/2000 and then come back again very briefly in 2003 before NZ and the Lions Tour.

I felt pretty lucky to be able to come back and sample ALL the things I did back in the day albeit a little bit older (ahem) and a bit more cash (yay). It was the hubbies first time in Oz and once I stopped wrecking his head by comparing virtually everything to the 'last time I was in Oz' (yep thats v interesting sue to hear about the convenience store that isnt there anymore) , he realised that it was a pretty deadly place! Of course there are changes to the place, there'd be something wrong if everything was still ticking along in the 2003 pace (somehow I doubt that right now) so having thought about it as I lay in the sun and worked on the tan the past few weeks (weather has been lush), here are a few comments about Ozzie life.

Backpackers
What has happened to the real backpackers? Its all gone tecno obsesive. They are WAY more sophisticated then when we did the backpacking thing. For starters, they all have laptops. I kid you not. Mal and I were like the ancient pikies heading to the internet cafe emailing mates on our hotmail. Oh its all facebook these days people. Eh, eh, eh! Many a time as we stolled past Maccers and as I fought the urge for a Big Mac, we saw up to 10, 12 people all looking into their laptops (free wifi at maccers) and not a peep out of them. It was a bit eerie actually. Whatever happened to the good old fashioned craic, the banter, the cracking up laughing in the internet cafes as friends read emails from pals at home?? Nope, just the silence and tap tap tap on the keyboard. Yeah, fun.

There also arent half as many backpackers traveling around Oz which surprised us. I guess a lot of it has to do with the dollar (brutal compared to years ago!) and the overall cost of living over here. I remember back in my day (see what poor Mal has had to live with), we could buy a 4 litre casket of wine (called Goon) for 8 bucks. Now its about 16......rip off!(but very necessary). We invested in the good stuff for 20 bucks. Classy!

Customer Service.
Suffice to say Australia has a fabulas mix of people adding fun, diversity and culture to the place. I also have a few aussie pals whom I would deem very intelligent so needless to say they are not included in this small percentage of aussies.

Right, that aside, I have let rip on some thoughts. I thought several times Jeremy Beadle was gonna pop his small hand out and wave a little flag at us -some of the situations we found ourselves in with these 'customer service agents' were unreal. Its a small bunch of people who work in customer service. Cousin Paul summed it up perfectly last night. He said its a mixture of them a) not knowing and b) not caring. In a nutshell, they dont give a shite! Need some examples? ok.....

Example no.1 - Tour Desk, Magnums Hostel, Magnetic Island, Queensland 

susan - hi, can I ask you about scooters and how much they are to hire?
girl - awwww yeah. Silence.
susan - great, so do you know how much they are?
girl - danno mate. Im only new but hey I drove a scooter with my mum and sister in new zealand, it was awesome.My sister and I took one scooter and hey it was rad.
susan -amazing. So, can you find out for me how much they are on this island?
how about I pop back in 15 mins?
girl - eh? silence.
susan - fabulas, I'll be back in 15 thanks so much!
25 minutes later....
susan - hi, its me!
girl - God that was fast, I havent done anything about it yet.
susan - (thinking) oh sweet lantern you thicko. (says) ok, will I come back in 10 mins? Just the scooter prices thats all I need.
girl - Ill do my best dahl.
25 mins later.....I go back to the desk and I get the prices. Amen.

Example 2- Reception, Goldsborough apartments in Sydney where we stayed
Susan- ring, ring, hi is that recpetion? Yes hi, we're in room 506 and we've just checked in.
I notice that the sheet on the bed doesnt fit. The matress is showing and its not very nice - its got quite a few hairs on the matress and we cant sleep on this. Can you send someone up to change the sheet for me?>
Reception (chinese accent) - what u wan? ohhhh sleet? ok. You like sleet.
Susan -Yes, a new sheet please.
Reception - you room pease
Susan - Room506. Can this be done before we head to sleep tonight, that would be great. Thanks a lot.
4 hours later we come back.There is a new sheet on the bed but the very same size as the last one. It still doesnt fit. We throw the bed spread quilt over it and sleep on that.

God Ive loads more but I will spare ye. You catch my drift though. They are thick!

Ayers Rock
Its a rock! In the desert.
They make you join bus groups for sunrise and sunset (both freezing, bring layers) which cost $500 each over 3 days. Crikey....Mal and I were like 'meh' when we saw it. You cant climb it either. They say its for weather reasons but its to do with the Aboringines not wanting folk to climb it. Fair enough I suppose.
In between sunrise and sunset there was feck all to do so I sat by the pool and read.My advice? Only if you wanna.....only if you really wanna!

Sydney Bridge Climb
I adore Sydney. Its one of my favorite cities in the world. Mal and I decided to do the bridge climb in Sydney and we were blessed with a gorgeous sunny day as we went into the office in the Rocks at Circular Quay to do the paperwork before getting breathalized (i kid you not) and told to put on these smashing looking grey 1 pieces.

So we're sitting down in the office, concentration face filling out the form, about 24,000 miles from home and Mal turns to me and says 'ahhhh JAYSUS'. I turn around and Ronan 'the schmile on your face' Keating plus family are standing in the queue. With sunglasses on. Inside. Yes peeps, Ronan, all 5 ft 1 of him,  'im a celebrity for being a muppet' was doing the bridge climb. The same day as us. In his sunglasses. I felt such a yearning to run over & pull down his trackie bottoms! I know....agressive or what?! I decided not to   but bloody hell though, Ro and gang got the VIP treatment and ushered in before us. I was NOT impressed.

Firslty no-one puts baby in the corner (sorry, wrong movie). I dont believe in queues (i know it sounds a bit poncy but I dont) and I dont believe in paying in after queing (to pubs and the like)
But I appreciate that everyone who HAS TO QUEUE should queue. Capiche?

Rant over, we got ourselves sorted and told to wait for our instructor called Kylie. Chirpy Kylie arrived with a Hey u guyyys, how are you going? in the strrrrongest aussie accesnt ever. We passed the breathalizer test (so mature) and off we went. As Ro has recently been a very bold boy (did the dirt with a lap dancer on the boyzone tour and his mrs left him before taking him back) I had hoped I might see wee Ro dangling by a few threads on the harbour bridge with Yvonne laughing evily, pair of scissors in her hand. No such luck!

The climb itself was awesome. Bit scary at times but very safe. You're harnessed in all the way and no chance of anything happening. The views of Circular Quay, Opera House, Manly, and all surrounding areas were just amazing. I did ask Kylie if she had had any suicide jumpers (I know, the gerbil in my brain) but I had the cop on to ask when we got back on dry land....just in case she thought I was a wierdo. So peeps, We'd deffo reccomend the climb if you venture to Sydney. Its quite pricey but once in a lifetime and well worth it.

Our Hotel in Sydney.
We were staying 2 more nights in Sydney before we headed off to Asia. We booked online a hotel and yes alarm bells should have begun right there and then when we read the name 'Posh Hotel'.

As we drove from the airport, we both had visions of a crusty warehouse with a big sign with 'suckers' written on the front! So when we got there and sure enough 'Posh Hostel' was there, we thought right happy days, bring on the 2 days in Sydney. Slightly scarlet about the name tho.

We were greeted by a grand asian guy who simply said NO when I asked him if we could be upgraded as we were on honeymoon (if you dont ask and all that!). We were given our key and got to the room. Gorgeous. Clean. Spacious and very modern. We had been so wrong about the hotel. High fived Mal and said right, quick head to the loo to freshen up .....eh,  where the F is the bathroom???  There was none. Everyone had to share a bathroom on the floor. What?? Posh me arse. 

Whatsmore, the loo, ah here. When you actually need to use the loo,  there was a small gap in the door so everyone walking by could see you! Scarlet. I went down to reception to change room. No can do. Fully booked. Few tears from Sue (upset that my fav city and we had booked this pretend Hotel). I wasnt happy about it but I got over it. Word of warning, any slightest hunch that the Hotel you booked is not what it seems, DONT BOOK IT!

Overall though, Oz was fantastic. Going back visiting Harris St where I lived in Sydney, Seeing my cousin Paul and Kim, walking round Darling Harbour, seeing the Opera House, Harbour Bridge, getting the Manly Ferry, seeing an orange (snore) rock in the desert, diving in Cairns on the Great Barrier Reef, bombing around Magnetic Island in a topless tropical moke we named 'Terry'. It was ace.

Oz has become pricey for sure, but its a fab country, so much to see and do. Very friendly people and gorgeous sumemr weather in November!  The fact that we could also fully communicate with people (after 2 months in South America) was also a dream. Love being able to chat...(tis true)

Thats all for now peeps, we are heading to Thailand in the morning. Back to us not having a rashers what the locals are saying and us likely ordering dog from the menu. We head to Bangkok and then to Phi Phi to dive, chill, visit 'that' beach (from The Beach) and work on the tan. It is a tough one, I know I know. ah we're making the most of it and getting along famously. Arent we hubbie?! We then fly to Chang Mai and then onto Camobdia into Ankor Wat where we're gonna hook up with D & Moira for a few days (hey guys, chat on facebook with details x)

More about the Thai thing as it happens.

love Sue & Brick 'squire' Bradley x