Neighbours' Karl Kennedy - a real taste of Oz!

Even the film I was watching at full volume didn't drown out the noise!

It was driving me mad! It is times like those when I think I will never have children! Other than that the flight was really nice, with good food and a TV in front of our chairs so we could watch whatever we wanted.

A couple of guys we know from University, Ste and Simon, booked us into their hostel, called Original Backpackers, in Kings Cross.

Ste arrived in Australia about a month before we did and Si has been here almost a year. We were supposed to be stopping in their room but the smell was so bad we opted for the all female dorm!

The difference in price between Australia and south East Asia hit us straight away..... We had to pay $30 a night (15 pounds) each for a 10 bed dormitory and communal bathrooms. In South East Asia we never spent more than £4 a night each for a private ensuite room, and they were nice!

We could afford to eat out every night in Aisa, here, eating out is an expensive luxury that we can very rarely afford!

We spent our first day in Sydney having a look round the shops in the city centre, before heading to Darling Harbour to meet the guys as they had got us tickets for an afternoon boat trip.

It was so much fun but never have me and Sarah felt so underdressed and untidy in all our lives! You could definitely tell we'd been in South East Asia for 3 months, we stood out a mile!

All the Aussie girls were wearing gorgeous dresses with high heels, and a full face of makeup. Sarah and I were wearing Koh San Road's very own Billabong shorts, a Vest top also from Koh San Road and flip flops i've worn every day for the past three months! I think we worked out that our whole outfits cost about six pounds!

Luckily all the guys we were with were wearing boardies and t-shirts so we felt a little better. We just got over the embarrassment by drinking copious amounts of wine for four hours! The boat trip took us past Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Opera House, and to the different beaches surrounding Sydney. There was also a nightclub on the boat, but given what we were wearing we didn't feel it appropriate to take part on that so we just sat at the top deck sunbathing and drinking! What better way to spend our first day in Sydney.

When we arrived back at Darling Harbour we met up with my friend Jenny and her family, who now live in Australia. Jenny is a good friend from home who moved to Australia a couple of years ago with her daughter Chloe. She's now married to an Australian and I was the first from back home to meet their five month old son Jake, who is absolutely gorgeous! And he doesn't cry! They live about a three-hour drive away from Sydney but they came over for the weekend to meet up with me. We went to a lovely restaurant at Darling Harbour, so it was the perfect end to a pretty perfect first day.

The following day we headed to Bondi Beach and met up with Jenny again before their drive back to Singleton. It was so nice to see her and catch up. She's back home in Wakefield for Christmas so no doubt we'll all get to see her again then.
Bondi is a really cool beach but because it was the weekend it was absolutely packed. It was exactly how i imagined it to be though. Lots of surfers in the sea, and lots of joggers running along the beach front! Having come from South East Asia where it was always so hot with no breeze, we felt pretty cold for the first few days.

We went back to Bondi the next day and it was a lot quieter. Obviously, that's where all the workers spend their weekends. Sarah and I had a hair appointment booked. I was excited because I had not had anything done with my hair for 3 months and it desperately needed doing, but nervous at the same time. I have had the same hairdresser back home for almost 10 years and only in extreme circumstances would I let anyone else touch it. I was right to be nervous because she did a bloody awful job of it. She may as well have cut it with a pair of blunt scissors. Sarah tried to assure me it wasn't too bad but my hairdresser back home would have been mortified had she seen it! I'm now scared to go back to another hairdresser other than my own.

The following day (Tuesday 24th) me and Sarah, and Ste and Si decided to check out Manly beach. That is slightly further than Bondi and takes about half an hour on a boat. It is a gorgeous beach though and much preffered it to Bondi. We were planning on having a big night out so we went for dinner and a few drinks, before heading back to the hostel to get ready and go out. We went to a bar called World Bar, where the bouncers had to inspect our shoes with a torch because you're not allowed to wear flip flops in Bars in Australia. Flip Flops are the only shoes we own out here so we were really worried we weren't going to get in.... the bouncer must've like the rest of our outfit because we got in no problem and had an excellent night!

We stayed in Sydney for 5 nights and on the Thursday (26th) Me and Sarah, and ste, Si and a French guy called Matt, who was also staying at the hostel, hired a car to do a road trip to Melbourne. I was so excited to get behind the wheel again! We set off early on the Thursday morning, and stopped off in Canberra at about lunch time for the picnic we had made the night before. We got a bit over excited when making the picnic and made way too much food. While we were in the capital we thought we may as well see the Parliament buildings. I was a little disappointed to be honest, so after a couple of hours we got back in the car and headed for our next stop Cootamundra.

I was behind the wheel for this part of the journey and I loved it! The car was a Kia eight-seater people carrier automatic. I had never driven an automatic before so once I got used to not having a clutch and not needing to use my left foot I was fine. It is so easy to drive out here because they drive on the same side of the road as England and because the country is so big, you can be driving for hours and not see another car on the road.
We were staying in Cootamundra because it is on the way to Melbourne and Ste and Si have a friend who lives there, who said we were more than welcome to stay at his for the night.
Cootamundra is a very small town and a little bit backward. I don't think I saw one restaurant or bar. It was a very bizarre little place. Matt's house was gorgeous though and it was so nice to be staying in a little bit of luxury for the night! Matt works as physio therapist there and is basically living in Cootamundra to save money because it is so cheap to live. I didn't see one hint of a social life there though so I can't see he'll stay there for too long! We cooked dinner for Matt to thank him for letting us stay and just had a couple of drinks at his house. I don't think we could've gone out even if we had wanted to!

The next morning we set off on our road trip again towards Melbourne. We arrived there at about 7pm and stayed at a lovely guesthouse called The Nunnery, not too far from Melbourne Central. We went out for a few drinks and met up with one of Si's mates but we weren't a big fan of the bars so we left pretty early.

The following morning was a nightmare because we hadn't booked a place to stay for the night and The Nunnery were fully booked. With the Grand Prix in Melbourne the next day everywhere was fully booked and prices for the night doubled than they would normally be. We tried every hostel/hotel we could think of but there was nothing. We ended up booking a horrible Formule 1 hotel that was miles out of the city centre. It was a three bed room, but with there being five of us, Si and Matt had to sleep on the floor. Luckily, we only had to be there for the night as we had pre-booked accomodation for the following two nights.

On the Sunday, the lads went to the Grand Prix so me and Sarah took the chance to go shopping! I don't know why.... our bank balances can't afford it and our backpacks can't fit any more in. My idea was to throw some things out but when I got back and looked through my things I realised i had nothing to throw out! We're happy with what we bought though, and I feel we got some good bargains in the sale so it's all good! By 2pm we were done shopping, so like typical girls, we sat outside a bar and ordered wine. After a couple of bottles we headed to our hostel in St Kilda, where the Grand Prix was being held, checked in and got ready for a night out. We went to a stunning restaurant in St Kilda where I had a char-grilled chicken salad. It was so good! We found a nice bar called The Vineyard and had a couple drinks there. Hence to say, I wasn't feeling too great the next day!

I woke up on Monday hungover but so excited because we were going to the Neighbours Party that night. The prospect of meeting the legendary Dr Karl Kennedy kind of cured my hangover, and I think I spent about 2 hours getting ready! Neighbours Night is always held every Monday at a bar called the Elephant and Wheelbarrow in St Kilda, about a 15 minute walk from where we were staying. The lads hadn't booked to go as they didn't think any of the female cast would be there, so me and Sarah got a table with a guy called Richard, who works at the hostel we're staying at, and a girl called Beth, who is also staying at the hostel.

The compere introduced the cast, where this week it was Dr Karl Kennedy (who is there every week because his band always play) Carmella, and Steve Parker, who plays the vet. While the cast came round to meet everybody and have photos taken, we did a trivia quiz, where the top prize was $250. We didn't win! I was so excited when Dr Karl came over, I was actually shaking a little bit! He is an absolute legend!

When everybody had met the cast Dr Karls band came on, playing hits including the Kaiserchiefs, The Killers, The Kooks, Kings of Leon, and even Queen...... It was awesome! I had such an amazing night. After the excitement of that came to an end we went to a bar called The Prince of Wales.

We didn't realise that Monday nights was Tranny-oke night, full of drag queens and gay men. One Italian gay man even tried it on with us and started licking Sarah's face. It wasn't nice. And after about the tenth person asked me and Sarah how long we had been together I had to leave! It could have been worse, when we went shopping Sarah bought a t-shirt with a heart shape on the front, with the colours of the rainbow and inside the heart said GdAY!!! Ste had to explain to her that it was a lesbian t-shirt, and is very popular at Mardi Gras apparently! She exchanged the top the next day!

We have spent the last couple of days on the beach and tomorrow morning (April 2nd) we are getting a flight to Brisbane. We were all hoping to be able to get a relocation car to Adelaide so we could drive the Great Ocean Road, which looks amazing, but we haven't been able to get one for the four of us. Su and Ste have found a two seater car to relocate to Adelaide so they have headed off there today and me and Sarah fly to Brisbane at 6am in the morning. I'm hoping I'll be able to meet my friend Liam, who moved there with his girlfiend last summer.

We'll spend a couple of days in Brisbane before heading to Byron Bay and surfers Paradise. We need to be back in Sydney for the 12th April to meet our friend Helen who will be over for three weeks! We're both so excited to see her, and we'll also be meeting up with another University friend, Danni, who has been in Australia about 4 months. We'll all be going to Cairns, Fraser Island and the Whit Sundays together, so no doubt it'll be a fun-packed university reunion!