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July 15, 2004

Sydney: Arrival

I tripped out of Sydney airport, all tanned in my skirt and flip-flops, into the freezing winter morning. 'Unprepared' doesn't cover it...

I shivered as I traipsed around the full-up, overpriced hostels and scanned the windows of travel agents for the cheapest flight up to sunny Cairns. While I was setting up a mail service, I found a job unexpectedly, so ended up staying for a lot longer than the couple of days I'd planned. I spent the first three nights in hostels, and rushed around sorting out my visa stamp, tax file number, Medicare card, bank account, etc. I moved into a room in Glebe and started my job the next day. I stayed there for a couple of weeks, but it turned out they couldn't commit to the full-time, six week contract they'd promised so I left and signed up with a temping agency instead. The agency found me another job the following day and the company I worked for decided to keep me on full-time for at least a month, probably two. I also found work in the evenings at a bar/restaurant in the city centre, where I waitress Tuesday to Saturday, 18.00 to 21.00 or later. It means twelve hour days, but I'm trying to save up some money (despite the 30% tax) and I enjoy both jobs and really like the people I work with.

I have been exploring Sydney, getting to know the shops and museums (to escape the cold), cafes and bars, and meeting friendly people. It reminds me of London, but smaller and cleaner, with exotic creatures. There are loads of ibises everywhere, and in the Royal Botanic Gardens (a big park to the east of the CBD), I saw brightly coloured birds and fruit bats hanging in the trees. Took some photos of the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge and Pyrmont Bridge.

Posted by Rowena on July 15, 2004 06:26 AM
Category: Australia
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