Travelling & Working in Australia (My Love of Travelling Part 4)

Hello Australia!  (Dec 98 - April 99)

Flight Route from Fiji to Auckland, Christchurch t Sydney, Alice Springs to Sydney and Cairns to Perth

Flying in over Sydney. Beach to the left is Maroubra Bay, more central is Coogee. 

The Iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House

After adventures across U.S.A., Fiji and New Zealand in 1998, I ended the year in Sydney. This time I didn't need to find a hostel as I was kindly being put up by my cousin's brother and sister in law for a few weeks in their house in Five Dock. It was nice to be with a family for Christmas. 
Brian collected me up from the airport, both of us not knowing what the other looked like. Our guessing worked. It was so nice to have home comforts again. 
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Christmas 1998 - Sydney

Christmas and Boxing Day was spent at another one of Ayleen's sisters who was also living in Sydney. Then with England in town it was off to the Ashes test match at Sydney Cricket Ground. Not long after getting into the ground I bumped into someone I knew from advertising in London who was actually with one of my old clients. I sat with them and enjoyed the beers in the heat. I didn't enjoy the domination of the Australians however although the 'Barmy Army' kept us entertained. At about 5pm and with the Waugh brothers still batting, we decided to get out early, freshen up and meet  up later for drinks. 
   

Sydney Cricket Ground - Ashes Test 1998

When I arrived back at Ayleen and Brian's I was devastated to discover that I had missed Darren Gough bowling three Aussies out in three balls - a hat-trick. I really shouldn't have left early!
After a spectacular New Year which was spent at 'The Rocks' in view of Sydney Opera House and The Harbour Bridge, it was time for me to get organised regarding work. I had arranged a working (holiday visa) back in the UK but I needed to find work and set up a bank account.

Working Holiday Visa

Information regarding holiday visas can be found here:
http://www.immi.gov.au/visitors/working-holiday/
UK residents: For a first visa you need to be between 18 and 30, be in good health (you may need to have a medical) and prove you have over $5000 AUS (approx £3300) in your bank account. The visa costs $270 AUS (approx £180) and you might need to prove you have a ticket out of Australia. You can only work for one employer for 6 months.
I was only interested in working in Sydney and not to do the fruit picking up the east coast that so many backpackers do. Having spoken to people who did it, I was glad I didn't. Most wished they hadn't either, the work was hard and pay was low. 
I found a backpackers information centre in Sydney and headed down there. This place had job boards and accommodation as well as information on social security/medical arrangements. I got my medical card soon after and without having any success meeting anyone in advertising, I found information about a sales job.The job was selling a cable tv and telephone service for Optus in the suburbs of Sydney door to door. In UK it was the equivalent of Virgin Media. I wasn't working directly for Optus though, rather they had sub-contracted the work out to another company. After a few days training I was placed in a team and out on the streets.
At the same time as fixing up the job, my time at Ayleen and Brian's was coming to an end and I needed to find some accommodation for me and my mate from university Richard who was coming to Australia at the start of his backpacking adventure. The four weeks at Ayleen and Brian's probably seemed like four months to them, particularly as Ayleen was pregnant with her first child. To this day I am eternally grateful to them for putting me up (or putting up with me), and I hope one day I can repay them by maybe doing the same for their children. In mid January, Brian took me out to search for accommodation and after looking at a couple of hovels, I struck gold in a lovely two bedroom ground floor flat in a very affluent area of Sydney, Double Bay (also known as 'Double Pay'). Fiona and Tracey were already there sharing one room and they were looking for another 'couple' to take the other. Job done. I even had a donated bed from Ayleen and Brian. I quickly moved in and soon after Richard arrived from UK. 

Richard arrives January 1999 to a house with no furniture.

January to March were fun filled where we worked hard during the week and enjoyed the weekends. Richard got a job in research, which he had been doing in the UK so he worked normal office hours. On the other hand I generally worked 10am to 8pm so I was always tucked up in bed as he left in the morning after a night on a blow up bed. Every morning he looked at me and uttered "you bastard". Richard generally got 2 hours less sleep than me every night as we would be talking about our days and hit the sack at the same time. 
Work was bearable for me, I didn't particularly enjoy door to door sales but I was earning ok and was working with some brilliant people and having a real laugh. We were on 100% commission so it was up to us when and how hard we worked. Towards the end of my time a group of us would go from the office to one of the many, brilliant sports clubs (Bankstown was a favourite) which had cheap food and drink. I recall one day having a few beers and not starting until 4pm but then got my best ever sales figures. Perhaps a couple of lunchtime beers was the trick. One of my favourite stories was being chased down the garden path by a woman shouting "Kojak" at me after I had questioned her politeness. To be fair, she did have screaming kids in the house and probably didn't need a door to door salesman and not least a 'Pom' giving her grief.

Me and Kojak. Separated at birth?

Weekends were for parties and adventure. Coogee Bay Hotel was the number one backpacker destination and I spent many a night there, frequently bumping into people I'd met in New Zealand. One weekend in particular was set aside as a New Zealand reunion and my Canadian mates James and Mark stayed at our flat along with English girl Katie who I'd travelled South Island with. See below:  

It was great to have Katie in Sydney too as she had a swimming pool in her block of flats. We also travelled to The Blue Mountains with Katie in a hire car one weekend. Other highlights included visiting the 'Home & Away' beach, going on a wine valley tour in the Hunter Valley with 'Grape Expectations'        (http://grapetours.com.au/) which we did for Richard's birthday. 

Sportswise, we did the great stadium walk inside the new Olympic Stadium (referred to in last blog) and met Australian sporting icon David Campese in his shop in the Rocks (see below). We also attended the England v Australia one day game. 


One Sunday Richard and I went to watch an Australian soccer game in Woolongong which was an interesting experience. From being a great family atmosphere with not a hint of trouble, it descended into chaos as the heavy handed police seemed determined to arrest some English fans. We were behind the goal with the ex pats singing away. Then the police arrived and said they would arrest anyone singing with swearing. Soon after a guy coming back from the bar knocked a policeman's hat off for a joke. It wasn't seen as a joke and a comedy chase ensued with the skinny Brit running from the portly copper. The best bit was when he had jumped the fence and he started to goad the policeman face to face. Within minutes we saw at least four police vans tear down the road to the stadium. It was a complete joke. Worse still was how it was reported in the national press and television news. The headlines were all about 'English Hooligans'. The footage they showed on the tv did look a little dubious with a mass movement of fans but was actually everyone running up the bank so we could see the chase. 

Longhurst, Barrett, Belly, Alan and me

In March 1999, a couple of my old work mates, Alan and Mike reached Sydney during their 'world travel' and a party of others decided to have a holiday in Australia. It was brilliant to see them and we had some entertaining nights out. 
At around the same time I had finished my job and was about to do a two week tour of South Eastern Australia taking in Melbourne, Adelaide and the Red Centre (Ayres Rock etc) before heading back to Sydney and travelling up the east coast of Australia. I took an overnight 'Firefly' bus to Melbourne and a day or so later, Alan and Mike joined me.

Me and Alan at MCG

I really liked Melbourne, I liked that it was smaller than Sydney and we went to an Australian Rules Footie game at the famous MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground). And of course, no trip to Melbourne would be complete without a visit to Ramsey Street, home of tv programme Neighbours. Here I am with Sydney work colleague Ian. 

After a few days in Melbourne, Alan and I decided to do a backpacker tour bus between Melbourne and Adelaide called 'Wayward Bus' which my Canadian friend James had recommended.
(Wayward Bus merged with another company in 2006. The new tour company is http://www.adventuretours.com.au/). 

The Wayward Bus was brilliant, it took in the Great Ocean Road and other interesting sites including a petrified forest and an old volcano. 

12 Apostles - Great Ocean Road

Finally we arrived in Adelaide but rather than stay in the city we decided to get the tram to Glenelg on the coast. It was a good move, I won a karaoke competition in the lively hostel which allowed Alan and myself to do a one day wine tour half price!  

Hostel http://www.glenelgbeachhostel.com.au/

In mid April it was time for me to move on again, this time via Greyhound Bus from Adelaide to Alice Springs via the 'Red Centre', Uluru (Ayres Rock), The Olgas and Kings Canyon. Along with Sydney Opera House, Uluru is one of the most recognisable landmarks in Australia and for this reason I was so excited about seeing it. I chose not to walk up the rock, the official reason was that the Aborigine people did not like tourists walking on their sacred rock, the real reason being I wanted a lay in. 

On the Kings Canyon Tour

The end of my mini-tour finished in Alice Springs where I stayed for a couple of nights before flying back to Sydney to hook up with Richard and start our month travel up the east coast of Australia. It would be on par with New Zealand as one of the best months of my life.  

Next Up:

http://travelhappinesslife.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/travelling-australias-east-coast-nsw.html