New Years in Sydney
12.31.03 (2:41 am) [edit][b]Day 24[/b]
So im finally in Sydney!
It fan-fucking-tastic!!! ( Its so big.. im lost at moment! looking for this internet cafe.. hope my trail of breadcrumbs is still there)
Im crashing at my sister's mate's house in Ultimo, which is just around the corner from Darling Harbour and 10 mins from the CBD.
My first night here was spent in the surburbs at my new brother in law's parents house, and went to my first "backyard barbie" which is what Sydneysiders do all the time, apparently.
Went to Bondi Beach on Monday ( i think it was Monday lossing track of the days out here) which was cool, the whole place was packed with Brit's.
I nearly drowned.... was trying to catch a few waves "body surfing" when this huge wave dragged me under, and across the bottom and then spat me out on my arse on the beach! I looked a right state.. saltwater running out my nose, me gasping for breath. So we got off the beach and got hammered in a Thai restaurant. ( It was a 'Bring Your Own' as in booze so we had about 15 bottles of wine between 6 of us)
So was a bit hungover yesterday when we met my sister's mate from Uni at Darling Harbour, at 1pm by 1.05pm we were all drinking again and went on a Pub crawl around all the posh bars on the waterfront, then got a water taxi around the harbour to the Opera House.( It was so cool! The Taxi takes you under the Bridge the sights were fantastic)
So im hungover again and ive got NYE to come!! Will try to take it easy tonight as ive got a flight at 10am tomorrow... (don't look at me like that i will honest!)
I think im going to a party in Kingscross on somebodys roof so we can see the fireworks
So have a great New Year's and i'll see you all in 2004
Matty
"I don't like Cricket..oh no, I love it!"
12.27.03 (7:25 am) [edit][b]Day 21[/b]
Melbourne is cool.... about 15 degrees to be exact! (Aussie weather jokes fantastic!)
Just come back from the cricket at the MCG, which was really good, like being at a large drinking competition with a bunch of white figures in the centre messing around with a ball for your entertainment when the drinking and shouting stops being fun (it never does)
The Aussies were fighting back after a decent start by India... or so i was told, i was far too interested in the Mexican wave.
Sunshine, Beer and Sport...Life doesn't get much better
But the Reds won as well and the 'Ton lost ( to a Utd side resting all their good players and gifting them a goal... oh dear!) so maybe it does...
So I think im off to watch LOTR tonight... can't wait, then a last pub crawl with the our kid in Melbourne before we head our seperate ways for New Year.
So in the meantime....
Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!
Oi! Oi! Oi!
Matty
Littlest Hobo
12.26.03 (2:33 am) [edit][b]Day 19 (..i think)[/b]
So im on the move again, currently in the Gold Coast airport waiting for my flight to Melbourne (were Oz are playing India, so may make a stop at the MCG...)
Christmas was good... i got a pair of shorts, a toy car and little black address book... oh and some marshmellows ( Really i did!.. why do people keep buying me toy cars!? Some kind of driving hint...)
It was a very chilled day, went the beach and at by the pool but being ex pats we all stopped to watch the Queen's speech of course. ( Oz telly is proper e! The Christmas day highlight was Come Dancing-esque programme!)
So im in Melbourne for two days, before our kid and the folks fly off to the States for New Year. Im then on the bus up to Sydney for New Year before flying off to Alice Springs with Julie and Phil. ( my flight to Alice is at 10.00 am on the 1st Jan... might be a bit ed on that flight!)
So im starting to feel like the Littlest Hobo...
"May be tomorrow I'll wanna settle down... until tomorrow I'll just keep moving on"
Matty
Aussie Xmas
12.23.03 (4:59 am) [edit][b]Day 17[/b]
Right it just doesn't feel like Christmas! No matter how hard i try ( even tried drinking like a looney with a Santa hat on, chase a middle aged IT teacher while holding a oversized lollipop. and jumping off flyovers!!)
Christmas just doesn't work over here... it's 35C for Christ's sake! but they do try... Pictures of Santa in shorts and surfboard!... fake snow... tinsel...it just looks so out of place next to the factor 50 sun cream and sunglasses in the shops.
Having a debate with the family whether to have Xmas dinner on the beach ( im against it! you can't let standards drop while on my tour of the Colonies! still wore a whistle at the wedding even though it was 37C!!)
Never thought id miss all those cold, wet, dark nights leading up to Christmas....
oh well....i'll just have to have a dip in the pool, crack open a cold bottle of the fantastic Aussie white wine and sit in the sun and reminise
Merry Christmas to you all and have a drink for me!
Matty
PS you can still text me... i just can't text back yet!
Day at the Races
12.20.03 (9:51 am) [edit][b]Day 14[/b]
Been up the Gold Coast today to a place called town Surfers Paradise. It looks like a really cool Benidorm loads of high rise apartment blocks but they were all great to look at, all blackened glass or mad colours and/or designs.
The main reason we were there was to attended the Gold Coast Turf Club! ( My Dad is mad about horse racing)
It was good but the course was half empty! It was glorious sunshine, about 30C, if this was Britain you wouldn't have been able to move, but the beach is only 10 mins away so everyone was most probably there...
I lost about $40.... I had one winner but it was a low priced favourite (trying to regain some lost ground),so my plan to become a professional gambler to fund my way round Oz is out the window!!
Just read about Rio... ( England don't need him he's shite!) and if Liverpool get beat today Ged the Red should resign...( thinking of staying up to watch a Premiership game in a pub in town... or might just go to Cheekies....or both!)
Im off to Brisbane on Monday to do my Xmas shopping, so i get to see what a real Aussie city is like ( be nice to get out of all these small towns with all their fresh air and breathe some petrol fumes again!)
Besides that its days on the beach or besides the pool kicking back and drinking a few stubbies
Life is hard
Matty
PS i got no credit on my phone so it won't accept calls and i can't txt back! ( costs me 1.50 just to answer the phone!) but im getting a Oz sim card on Mon so i'll pass my number on but not on this page... never know who's reading it!! :o)
PPS ah! miss you too Mike! (the Doctor is laughing at you though ;o)
Cheeky the Monkey
12.18.03 (12:46 am) [edit][b]Day 11[/b]
Yo! Bitchos
Cheeky Monkeys was top! (Cheekies to those in the know..) It was like the old PJ's in town loads of really cheesy music and full of Swedish backpackers.... which i avoid due to medical advice from my Doctor ;o)
Not that i had much chance anyway because I was with my sister Julie and her boyfriend who were both pissed of their faces and were dancing on the tables! you can't take some people anywhere...
But everyone was really friendly, its so chilled this town!
Anyway Oz is a tin pot country!!! ( Why so harsh Matty, I hear you ask...) Fucking Lord of the Rings does get released here till after Xmas!!!! Every other country 17th Dec but in Oz its Boxing Day....
I think Britain should reclaim its colonial power sort out this place... and it crappy film schedules
Matty
ps Surfing was postponed due to large hangover
Weddings and Byron!
12.17.03 (6:26 am) [edit][b]Day 10[/b]
Yo! Well the wedding was good... Anna got married on a bridge over this small creek, a bit strange i know, but it looked fantastic. She had this band playing music and then someone blowing bubbles when they finished their vows, all very romantic... then we all got pissed!
The wedding party was great, i met a load of her mates who live in Sydney, so I was networking! Ive got loads of phones numbers and offers of jobs and places to stay when I get there (everyone was really pissed so it will be fun to see how many people will remember their kind offers! but Ive got one definite, a lad call Sean who went to school with Syd) We all ended up back in Rutherglen where I ended up staying with their mates, because I missed the coach back to Beechworth!
The next day we all got up and started again, this time back in Beechworth where we had a BBQ (my first in OZ). They all cheat at BBQ's they use gas ones!! Not a firelighter in sight... so we all got hammered again ( some of us didnt actually sober up in the first place)
The day after that i got on another plane to Byron Bay in New South Wales ( with a large hangover!).
Byron Bay is a holiday town on the Gold Coast, full of backpackers and it fucking hot! think i burnt myself today...
We are staying in this great house my parents have rented, its fantastic! Its got its own pool, is about 2 mins fom the beach and it looks like it owned my a millionaire, actually it owned by some pro surfer, its got surf boards and surfing stuff all over the house ( it my last touch of luxury before i start backpacking..) The beaches here are amazing... miles of golden sands and blue/green seas ( but evil waves! knock you off your feet!)
Its also a bit of a party town (Magaluf with out the scallies and alot more beads!) so im off out tonight to a place called Cheeky Monkeys!!....
.. i think I'll fit in fine there.
And tomorrow my first go at surfing, so...
Surf's Up Dude!
Matty
Bucks Night
12.13.03 (1:34 am) [edit][b]Day 7[/b]
Ugh!.. Alcohol and jetlag have both caught up with me
(The Bastards) so I not feeling too good this morning...
Went out on a "Bucks Night" last night in a small town 50km up the road called Rutherglen. We couldn't go out in Beechworth, which is where im staying, because my sister was having her Hen night and there are only two pubs here... so we stay overnight in a pub/hotel called The Victoria.
It was sight to behold! Ive been into many strange pubs in my lifetime and this one is right up there with the best...
It was full of mad Aussie types they all looked shocked to see new people in there, never mind a bunch of Poms, a Yank..
..and my England Rugby World Cup T-Shirt didn't help!
(I know i hate rugby but i thought it would be funny!)
But we made it out in one piece, once they saw they we could handle our booze they made us feel welcome.
(besides the occasional "Bloody Poms!" comments direct at my T Shirt).
I ate some Kangaroo at the meal! Very tough meat..
There was also Shark curry on the menu (Im not kidding)... i avoided that because it had a bit of a bite!!
(*Drum Roll Cymbal Crash* " I thank you...)
Im staying in chalet on a holiday park just down the road from my sisters. Its cool over looking a big lake but im terrified to go swimming in it.. crocs are known to use it!
Its strange to think your risking your life just being here there are so many spiders and snakes out there that can kill you.. so im avoiding going into my sisters garden and staying well on the road when i walk anywhere!!
( Had to walk back to the chalet from my sisters the other night..drunk... it was pitch black... the stars where amazing but i could concentrate on them i was too scared about what in Bush all around me!)
Im all suited and booted for tomorrow im dressing all in black except for a silver tie ( not sure black is good idea now because of the heat! but its a 5pm kick off so it maybe a little cooler) I look like a Mafioso.. especially with my shades.
Right going to get some sleep before I have to start drinking again
Matty
ps Who the hell Letsvi Sofia?
Wizard of Oz
12.11.03 (9:33 am) [edit][b]Day 6[/b] ( Actually its day 5 but i lost a day somewhere thanks to the mysteries of the International Dateline!)
So its 30C, im sitting back and drinking a couple of VB's..
.. this is how December should be!
I finally made it to Oz after another long haul flight, ive had 5 flights in the last days!, but the VB's are keeping the jetlag at bay for the time being...
I met my eldest sister for the first time in 18 months, she was made up to see us all ( it was just like normal.. we had a few drinks and started to argue! Class)
Its her wedding on Sunday, so tomorrow i get to be measured up for a suit and the rest... lucky me!
The town where im staying is like something off Flying Doctors... its quite remote about 250 km inland.. even the local pub has its very own "Sheila" ( the pub is exactly like the Lamb but without the class!)
But more on Oz later..
I want to add a few more things about Las Vegas while its still fresh in my mind...
It's a very strange place.. on the last day i was there i got to see the underbelly of Vegas... the mad crack heads, the beggers, the prosititues ( not first hand.. honest!) but it showed me the human cost to this "American Dream" city... they tell you "Anyone can come to Vegas and leave a millionaire!" and I bet alot of people who go there believe that...but...
its not true..
The House always wins.
Matty
PS Now Im in Oz you can text me again!
Aussie Bound!
12.09.03 (9:16 pm) [edit][b]Day 4[/b]
All packed for my next set of flights ( only 2 this time). So im killing my last few hours in Vegas...
Last night I had the World's biggest steak!! It was at least half a cow ( it still had its Daisy name tag on it!).
I also lost $50 dollars on the roulette table while being surrounded by Cowboys!! ( There's a big rodeo final on in town so the place is brimming with Stetsons!)
Matty
Viva Las Vegas
12.08.03 (8:00 pm) [edit][b]Day 3[/b]
Where to start......
The flight to LA was long, but uneventful ( except some little Jewish bloke sitting behind me who shouted in Hebrew in his sleep)
Then we had a mad dash through LAX because the plane was delayed 45 mins on landing because they didnt have a stand ready! but we eventually made it on the plane to Vegas and arrived here at 10.00pm Saturday night... I was so tired.. I had been travelling for over 24 hours, 3 fights in one day!. ( I'd had a few hours kip on the plane but it doesn't really help) So we had a look round the Luxor and then collapsed! (Ive also got a cold coming on and with the jetlag, im a bit fucked but the beer should sort that out)
Las Vegas has to be seen to be believed it is just unreal, like an adult Disneyland. There's the huge Statue of Liberty, the massive MGM Lion and Sphinx. Its just mad!
Big, Tacky, and Brash but all in a fun way.
Im currently winning on the gambling stakes! Im a slot machine jockey.. (Easy now!) Im about $25 up, ive only dabbled on the Blackjack tables and such, so im planning to lose big tonight.
Today, im off to New York New York, to ride the rollercoaster, then the Stratosphere, visit M&M world(!?)
see the Pirate show at Treasure Island and get pissed!
Right got to go, just seen our kid win big.. beers on him!
Matty
Heathrow
12.06.03 (12:30 pm) [edit][b]Day 1[/b]
Do I not like flying with a hangover!
im hoping a mcdonalds will sort me out before i have to get on another plane in 3 hours....
anyway, what kind of airport is this? Liverpool are live on telly and not one of the bars has it on! gutted!
So im passing the time by trying to spot celebs....
thought id seen Dustin Hoffman but it was just some bloke with a big nose!
So bored...
Sod it im off to the bar!
Matty
Last Day!
12.05.03 (3:12 pm) [edit][b]1 day![/b]
Im so drunk!
Just been the pub for lunch because its my last day in work!
Everyone chipped in and brought me a really tacky Hawiian shirt... I love it!
So tomorrow its travelling, then Vegas!!!
Love you all that i'm leaving behind...
...and remember those of you who owe me a dollar
[b]I own your ass![/b]
Matty
American Money!!!
12.04.03 (2:23 pm) [edit]2 days...
What the fuck is the score with US dollars?
They all look the same and they are all the same size!!
How the hell are you supposed to tell the difference between a $1 and $20 when im drunk??
The bartenders will be made up with my tipping after ive had few beers...
..And talking of beers! Im out tonight for more farewell beers!! :lol:
(more drinking! Im thinking of renaming this blog
"me and my hangovers")
Matty
72 hours and counting...
12.03.03 (1:31 pm) [edit]3 days... [b]3 DAYS!![/b]
Fuck ive got nothing organised at all! Starting to panic a bit now...
Really got to stop going out!! Went to see a film last night with The Doctor, Love Actually... Cheese Actually might have been a better title.
("It was cheesier than direct hit on a Edam factory")
The Doctor loved it of course (Chick Flick) but she is slightly insane
think im going to miss her...
Anyway Liverpool play tonight in the Mickey Mouse Cup against Bolton but I can't go ( sooo tempted though!) because ive GOT to pack and get ready... (be strong Matthew!)
plus im am the greatest teacher in the world...
Have got my young padwan to make my coffee perfectly!
Matty
Boss man
12.02.03 (4:57 pm) [edit]4 days...
Jesus its hard being a boss!
Got my own staff ( of 1) this week, training my replacement for frontline stats work, he's a young lad who lives not far from me ( they ignored my request for a young blonde busty babe to teach!!)
So after a busy day my young padwan now knows where the coffee machine is and how long to spend looking at Footy365...
Tomorrow the hard work really starts....Lunchtime drinking!
Matty
Here's Jonnie!
12.01.03 (2:30 pm) [edit]5 days....
The weekend results:
Liverpool Won.
Everton Lost.
I got hammered.
(..and met The Doctor who is turning out to be very kooky, which is cool)
So a good weekend. The Lads played lots of practical jokes on me, usually by placing a condom about my person without me knowing and calling me "Jonnie!" to my bemusement and their delight... Hilarious!.. Im sure you agree...
( The Bastards!)
Matty
