Sydney, Australia: I reunite with old friends and drink a lot, yet again.
Working at The Pink Palace has introcuded me to some of the most awesome people I have met to date. One of them is Flo from Germany. She has a blog, which you can read here if you understand German, that is. Hollie from Brizzy is another one of them, and she also happens to be a gifted writer (seriously, check out her blog).
Sydney, Australia: I get drunk a lot.
Like the rest of 2015, my last day of the year is a bit of a mixed bag. We decide not to bother with the fireworks, since finding a good spot seems like an early morning thing. Screw that. Instead we have a fairly uneventful day, then get dolled up and go to Bondi beach after dinner to meet up with friends. Of course, we akwardly run into my ex-boyfriend, who we had invited along with us. He never got back to me about hanging out on NYE, but I do to see him on the last day of the year – with another girl. Feeling a bit annoyed, I tell Sharon: “there’s no way I am going to have a fun night.”
Sydney, Australia: I now live in Sydney. Holy shit.
I arrive with 40 kg of luggage weighing me down on a hot day. Despite a long day of flying and waiting in airports and fearing more cancelled flights because of a storm, I still manage to get a train to Central, find and check in to my hostel, Wake Up! once again, with minimal anxiety and loads of pride. After I arrive at the hostel, I throw my tired self on my bottom bunk bed and enjoy the Wi-Fi for the first time in months. I send off a few job applications, chat to my roommates for a while (how did I end up in an all-male dorm?) and then I go out to hang out with Sally. We met two years ago at The Pink Palace, and she’s made it all the way from Belgium to Sydney for the next few days. We walk down to Sydney Harbour and enjoy the view and a cheap dinner, which we reluctantly share with the seagulls flocking around us.
During the next couple of days, I go for a bit of shopping and meet up with Craig at my favorite George Street bar, Cheers, for a catch-up. At Paddy’s Market I buy a fascinator for the upcoming races and I finally buy a UNICORN ONESIE. Unicorns are kinda my thing by now.
Since Craig’s 25th birthday is approaching, everyone from Mildura who’s currently in Sydney get together at the Randwick Races on Saturday. It’s a beautiful, sunny day. Craig, wearing a suit, meets up with Sally and me at YHA Central (since Wake Up! is fully booked for the weekend). I’ve been up for hours, due to a new inability to sleep in, and because I’ve had to try to look decent for this day. At the races, everyone is dressed up, wearing suits or fancy dresses and fascinators and heels. Yep, I am actually wearing heels today.
We get the bus to Randwick and find a table for the group. The three of us get a bottle of champagne while we wait for John, Darren, Becky and her boyfriend Karl. Of course by the time they actually arrive, I am tipsy. I’ve spent 20 dollars betting on horses with funny names on the machines by the food court, and we realize that I’ve accidentally put my money on a race in New Zealand instead. I don’t win on any of the horses.
After several bottles and a few snacks in the scolding sun, I put my last bit of money on a horse at the last race named Danish Twist. It ends in the final three, so I win back my five dollars, and then we head back to John, Darren and Becky’s place in Bondi. We are joined by Becky’s brothers for a few drinks, and then I pass out, way before midnight.
From then on, the weather seems to get worse by the day. Except for a few cloudy days, it’s pretty much raining non-stop. John and I go check out Sculpture by the Sea at Bondi on a vaguely sunny afternoon, but most of the time we stay in the apartment, sheltered from the rain. Yeah, I’ve moved in temporarily while waiting for Sharon to get to Sydney.
I spend my Monday morning applying for around 16 jobs in hospitality and retail – by the end of the day I’ve heard back from three places. I find myself having two interviews on the same day, 30 minutes apart. I try to contact one place to reschedule, but don’t hear back from them.
After an interview and 2-hour trial at The Naked Duck café in Darling Quarter, I officially have a job. I have good hours and nice co-workers, and I feel so lucky to have gotten my life somewhat sorted in a short time. My days of sitting on a couch, playing South Park on Xbox, are over. I now have to get up at 5.30 AM, take a bus at 6.00 and start work at 6.45. By the end of the day I am tired and my white work T-shirt is covered in grease and food and my hair is wet and sticking to my forehead, but I’m happy. I have a sense of purpose again.
On a warm and cloudy Saturday, John takes me to Darling Harbour, which I haven’t been to before, despite working right next to it. We check out the Japanese festival that’s happening there, have lunch at the food court, and then we go to Museum of Sydney for the LEGO exhibition, that’s opened that very day. In a very small room, the Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge, a cruise ship and Luna Park have been made entirely out of LEGO, even with little LEGO people climbing the bridge or going for a show at the Opera House. In addition to looking at the impressive sculptures, we get to play with LEGO ourselves. Feeling very uninspired, I only make things like hearts, trees, houses and of course, a Danish flag. I’m feeling very patriotic these days. As we leave the museum, it starts to rain, and we find shelter at the Haymarket arcade. We spend $25 and over an hour on the machines, until I’m so tired, I can barely stand up. We have dinner at Grill’d and then I take the bus home while John meets up with a friend. Even though I am struggling to keep my eyes open, I still don’t fall asleep until well after midnight.
Those are just a few of the things I’m getting up to here in Sydney. There’s a lot more to come, though, and I just can’t wait. :-)
Brisbane, Australia: Ten days is too much, yet not enough
When we get to YHA Brisbane, we have one very important job to do: go shopping at H&M! We take the train to Indooroopilly shopping center and we find out that H&M in Australia is shit. We buy some essentials anyway, and go back for some quick lunch at the food court. For dinner, we go to Caxton Street and end up at a Thai place, where Sharon finds out that she likes Thai food! We decide that all the bars around us are too intimidating, and we go to sleep.
The following day, we walk around for ages, trying to find a bus that will take us to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. When we finally find one, we wait 45 minutes before it arrives and takes us to our destination. Entrance is $31.50 and taking a picture with a koala is $18 – heaps cheaper than going to Australia Zoo! Our koala, Becks, is the sweetest, not wanting to let go of Sharon, and nuzzling her face against my neck.
We go to the central shop to get our pictures, but mine never arrives. The photographer approaches me after a while, telling me my picture jammed the printer. Great, my face breaks everything!
We go look at wombats, dingoes, Tasmanian devils and various birds before heading to a grassy area to feed kangaroos. We approach some kangaroos lying down, but they’re not very hungry. We eventually find a smaller one who’s being very greedy with the food. Every time we think he’s done eating, he nudges our paper bag full of food. We are in love!
Back at the hostel, we decide to starton Project Blue Hair. I’ve wanted it for a while, and almost gave up on it until I found some blue hairdyes in Surfer’s Paradise. We put two colors in three different cups and mix them with conditioner to water them down a bit. So we sit on the floor in our dorm room, with foil and blue dye everywhere, much to the amusement of our Swiss room mate.
Here’s the result:
The following day, Craig and Andy, who we met in Sydney, join us. Craig wants to buy a van and travel around, and Andy is going to stay and look for a job. We have beers on the roof of our hostel and feel fine until we head back down to our rooms, where we temporarily pass out in the hallway by the toilets.
The next day, we end up meeting up with three Germans who are selling their pink van, decorated with flowers, for $2000. We name her Princess Rosie. As Craig tries to drive it up a steep hill to the parking lot however, it fails to do anything but roll downhill.
Lauren, whom I met in Kuta, Bali, meets us in the Valley at Rics Bar for cheap drinks. She brings her friends Lukas and Ruby. Sharon, the guys and I are really enjoying talking to people who aren’t backpackers for once, and they are such hilarious people.
We find an inflatable parrot on the floor, which I grab and immediately name Perry. I try to deflate him by sitting on him, which looks very inappropriate, of course. Most of the night, I try to imitate a parrot, saying “ARGH! PERRY!”. It’s funnier than it sounds, I promise.
We go to a different bar, which is completely empty at first. As we dance and fill up on gin soda limes, the bar gets busier. Lauren, Lukas and Ruby call it a night, since it’s only Thursday, and the rest of us continue to dance with Perry. By the way, when you bring a prop to a place full of drunk people, you’re going to have to fight for it. As I am standing there, talking to a guy named Jack, a girl actually grabs it out of my hand as she walks by me. As if stealing it right from me is no big deal at all. I am speechless and in my drunken state decide that Sharon needs to get it back for me, which she does. The girl actually claims it’s hers, can you believe it?
After a long night with way too much gin in my bloodstream, I decide that I need a kebab and my bed. Of course that means everyone else has to follow me home, which I am not pleased about. We end up getting a taxi back to YHA, and go to bed around 3.30.
The day after, we’re all pretty beat, but still drunk. We go to breakfast and have beers and ciders, then head to a bottle shop for a few drinks while we go to the pool. The pool is unbelievably cold, and after a game of catch with a rugby we call Russell or Jeremy, I go pass out on a sunbed. Andy drops by with a big case of beer, and they decide to try to throw me in the pool, even though I am wearing all my clothes. As Craig puts me down, I decide “What the Hell?” and jump in, fully clothed. We play Piggie in the Middle, with Sharon and I being the piggies, and we get aggressive. Mind you, we’re also very drunk. The rest of the day is pretty quiet though, as we slowly sober up.
Saturday is Anzac Day, where we remember the fallen Australian and Kiwi soldiers. There is a big parade on the main street, which we go check out.
We have Subway sandwiches on the warm grass on the Anzac Square, listening to speeches broadcasted from Turkey, where the battle took place. For dinner, we decide to be super Australian and have kangaroo steaks, baby potatoes with parsley, and of course, goon.
Craig’s Canadian roommate, Nick, joins in, and it’s all good fun until I yet again am too drunk and need food. Craig and I go for a late night snack at McDonald’s, taking ages to get back with cheeseburgers for the rest of the group, because we sit down to eat our nuggets, while talking to Sharon on the phone, saying we’re on our way.
On Sunday, we go to an AFL game: Brisbane Lions vs. Westcoast Eagles. We go all out, buying souvenirs, beers and snacks, while sitting almost front row, cheering loudly. Apparently, Lions haven’t won a single game this season, but we still root for them and enjoy the game very much. Sharon and I mainly drool over all the Lances on the team.
After the game, everyone rushes out on the field and kick their balls around. Sharon buys one, and all of us tackle each other, go long and so on. We’re covered in grass by the time we leave the stadium. Back at the hostel, Sharon dyes my hair again, and we get our goon out on the rooftop, where we all decide to extend long enough to go out again on Thursday.
The day after, Sharon, Craig and I take everything out of the van, Princess Rosie, and clean her and dress the bed in new sheets, wash all the pots, buy new cups and wash the doona. It takes us most of the day and we’re exhausted by the time we’re finished. We decide to make it easy and just get a pizza for dinner.
Tuesday, we end up having drinks on the roof and start playing Heads Up, when a big group of Canadians join us. It gets loud and kind of out of hand, so when we kicked off the roof by midnight, we go back to bed. When I wake up at 2 AM, Sharon is gone and not answering the phone. I freak out until Craig answers his phone and tells me everyone went out to a bar on Caxton street. I go back to sleep, but when I wake up Sharon still isn’t back. She makes up for it by buying me Skittles. I go for a ride to a store with Craig, and spend most of the day chilling out on a couch. After that, we hang out in the game room, where we attempt to play pool (I end up on the pool table several times). We are bored, so we go for a walk and end up at McDonald’s. Then we go back and watch Gladiator and pass out soon after that.
Thursday’s the big day! I’ve been looking forward to going out again for several reasons. Unfortunately, I wake up bloated and my stomach’s cramping up. I spend all day buying Gatorade and drinking water to rehydrate, drinking peppermint tea and taking pills for bloating, cramping, pains and nausea. I even have a nap that makes me feel so much better for like 5 minutes. Everytime I stand up I feel like vomiting, and my cramps are getting worse. It’s raining heavily, so we have dinner in the kitchen and drink a few beers. I hope the half beer I have will loosen up the knots in my stomach, but it makes things worse, so my mood is pretty shit. It’s Andy’s last night with us, as he has gotten himself both a house and a job, so I say goodbye to him and then head to bed… Where a very drunk English girl in the bed above me smuggles her loud boyfriend in. For the next hour, all I hear is “yum yum, ginger cookies” and “sshhh shut up!”. At 6 in the morning, they get up, still drunk, and try to pack.. loudly. I am furious, but at least my stomach cramps are almost gone.
So, a city we hated at first ended up being a city we now love. Thanks to Craig and Andy failing at fixing the car, we’ve kept extending to the point where we are now YHA members!
Surfer’s Paradise and Gold Coast, Australia: I’m drunk
Coming from a small hippie town where everyone wear tie-dye dresses and no shoes (Byron Bay) and going to Surfer’s Paradise with skyscrapers and Macca’s is just what we need. We are staying at The Islander, which is very close to the main strip that leads to the beach. Since we arrive in the evening, we go to an Irish pub on the strip for dinner and some beers, when our friend Jay calls us.
Jay was a guest at The Pink Palace back in 2013, and what a legend. Always wearing Budgy Smugglers and singing Disney songs, he was one of those people you remember very well. We’ve all kept in touch, and he’s invited us to stay at his parents’ house in a few days. And right now, he is out with a friend, drunk, and wants to meet up.
Sharon and I quickly finish a few beers and then meet Jay and his friend Veronica. We go to The Avenue, where we all spend at least $100 each on drinks and dance to the live music. We’re having a great time, when I spot a guy from Boracay that Sophie and I desperately tried to avoid. So what do I do? I go over to him and say hi of course! After that, we go to Orporto for a late night snack, before Sharon and I go back to the hostel and crash.
The following day, we go to a Vodafone store to sort out a plan. We are told we need our passports, so we go back to the hostel to get them. When we come back, we are told we need a list of transactions from our Australian bank account. We go to the bank to get them, but their printer is not working. We go buy lunch at Woolies, when the bank calls us to inform us the printer is working again. We get the lists, go to Vodafone and then I realize I need to go get my Westpac card, instead of my Danish card, so I run back to the hostel again. When I get back, we finally get things sorted out. We eat our lunch back at the hostel, but it’s nowhere near filling, so we run to McDonald’s, where we order on touch screens (!). We treat ourselves to a nap after our trying day, and for dinner, we have Mexican food and frozen sangria. We’re mentally and physically preparing ourselves for the mayhem that is hanging out with Jay.
We check out in the morning and go to Ripleys Believe it or Not!, which is an interesting experience. Kinda shit, really.
We then go sit on the beach for a while. It’s a beautiful day, but we didn’t bring our bathing suits, so we just sit on a staircase in the sun and look at the bright blue sea, when Jay calls. He is on his way to pick us up, so we head back to the hostel to pick up our backpacks. We drive for a while before we reach Sanctuary Cove, a gated community on the Gold Coast. We are staying with Jay’s parents, Cathy and Ian, in their beautiful 4 bedroom (I think?) house – or should I say mansion!? I have never stayed in a nicer house, and it’s full of life – the parents of another Pink Palace guest are also staying, as well as Jay’s sister, Nikki.
I jokingly ask Jay about kangaroos and whether there are any around here, since there is a big golf course in their backyard. He asks Nikki and Cathy as if I’m crazy, which makes me regret it – until Cathy takes us in her golf buggy to see a big mob of them! A few of the females are carrying joeys, and they let us get pretty close to them, before jumping away. Such a great experience.
Jay is heading to work at the Cove, and we sit back at the house for a while, watching TV with Nikki. Around dinnertime, Nikki drives us to the Cove so we can get some food and drinks while watching Jay work. It’s a Tuesday, which is usually pretty quiet, but as soon as we arrive, it gets quite busy. We have a few beers and one of Jay’s homemade drinks, which gets me pretty drunk. After Jay gets off work at around 10 PM, we go back and watch Aladdin in the TV room. After that, we watch Pawn Stars and I am so intrigued that I fall asleep and start snoring. Loudly. We go back into the room and have an amazing nights sleep in the most comfortable bed I’ve been in in ages.
The next morning, Jay gets up early to play golf with his dad, while we sleep in. Around 11, we finally get up and lazily starts dressing before trying to sort out bank stuff. It’s proving to be very difficult. Nikki knocks on our door an hour later to let us know they’re heading out for the day, and then Jay gets back and takes us to his workplace, where we get some food – we’ve only eaten a banana all day. At night, Jay is working again, and the whole family is going out, so they show us how to drive the golf buggy – and that’s how I drove my first golf buggy!!
Scared shitless about driving on the left side in the dark, I manage to get us to the Cove, where it is completely hectic, with an hour long wait for food. We try a sparkling wine called Innocent Bystander, just because of the name, and it proves to be amazing. A few of those later, we are driving home behind Jay. It turns into a bit of a witch hunt, Jay being the witch who’s driving with his lights off.
The next day, we sleep in yet again, and since Jay has a few stuff to sort out, he drives us to Main beach. We lay out there for a while, before we decide to walk 3 km to Surfer’s Paradise for lunch. We accidentally end up on a crazy shopping spree, buying jewelry, blue hairdye, clothes and whatnot. Before we know it, it’s almost 5 PM and Jay is on his way to pick us up.
We go to the Cove for dinner again, and then we pre-drink at Jay’s house, before going out in Surfer’s. First up, we go to Waxies for beers, then Avenue for more drinks, and then Orporto for late night snacks, before being picked up by an Uber driver.
On our last full day with Jay, we go to the mall to buy some stuff, and some beer and champagne for his parents as a thank you for letting us stay with them. We have a quick nap before sitting down with everyone for a great dinner and a chat about our countries educations systems and how we can extend our stay in Australia. Jay and Kimberly (the mom of the other PP guest) have a great discussion about equality. Kimberly brings up hand jobs. We are almost on the floor, laughing.
We start pre-drinking, taking turns introducing each other to good music, when our Uber driver arrives a bit too early. We hurry outside and go to Surfer’s yet again. At Waxies, we meet up with a couple of Jay’s girlfriends, joking about how Jay has so many girls sitting around him, and yet he’s still watching the sports game on TV. We move on to Melba’s, a nightclub full of creeps grabbing us for a dance every now and then. Jay follows one of the girls home, as she is “too drunk”, so Sharon and I grab his keys, go to Orporto, and then get an Uber driver back to Sanctuary Cove.
In the morning, Jay calls me and asks me to unlock the front door. He then goes to sleep, while we start packing very slowly. I am feeling hungover for the first time in ages, but thank God it’s not too hard to be alive today. We go to Macca’s for brunch, before Jay drives us all the way to Brisbane, which is so sweet of him. We’re going to miss him so much!
