Merry Christmas!!!!

Well.... It’s not actually Christmas but the internet café has been closed for the last two days damnit!

I’ve had the best few days ever! Christmas day was great! Woke up with a big hangover from the Xmas eve drinking session so we all went for a surf. The waves were perfect and everyone caught loads....then, magically, the hangover was gone :)

At about 1pm everyone came back to the hostel to find that the owners had got us a big hamper and cooked up a big leg of ham! Everyone in the hostel had done a secret Santa, so we opened up all our presents and drank Champaign! My present was a small possum type thing.....just what I need for those long lonely treks across the outback!

After that we headed over to Shelly beach, which is a smaller beach that is sheltered from the waves....you’re also allowed to drink there, so we took a couple of cold ones down and a mini barbeque for snacks. There are no waves at Shelly beach so its perfect for snorkelling and the hostel has a few snorkel sets so we gave it a go. It was surprising how many fish come right up to the shore and swim around your feet! Saw loads of tropical looking fish and big shells lying around the bottom of the sea.

In the evening everyone chilled at the hostel 'til late then went over to Manly beach for a few drinks by the waves....It was a perfectly clear night so you could see all the stars, but all of the formations are upside down!!

So that was Christmas day, great fun! Missed having turkey, but the sun, beach and surf made up for it ;)

On Boxing day, myself, Conor and Gina went over to Shelly point, which is a big cliff overlooking Shelly beach and the beginning of Sydney Harbour national park. If you get up high enough you can see all the beaches along the area called ‘the northern beaches’. We went right to the top, where you could see Manly, Queenscliff, Freshwater, Curl Curl, Dee Why and Avalon beaches, all stretching across the horizon. The view was truly amazing, could have chilled there all day....

Its not all been sun sun sun though, the weather was quite rainy on Christmas eve....it pissed it down for a couple of hours and, because the drains are not actually used to rain, everywhere flooded really badly (see the last pic!). Luckily it cleared up in the evening and has been really sunny since!

Well I hope everyone had a good Christmas, enjoy the pics and let me know how you're all getting on. Peace



Lottie, handing out presents!



Adam using the force....with his pink lightsaber....



Everyone opening presents!



The tomato I won in Hong Kong now has a possum friend!



Everyone chilling on Shelly beach



Dave wanted a sleep in the van, so naturally we rocked it until he woke up



Rob was allowed to be the boss for one night only!



On the beach under the stars....its a hard life



View from Shelly point, you can see Manly, Queenscliff, Freshwater and Curl Curl beaches in the background.



It was quite high up, you could see miles in each direction!



Shelly beach is in the bottom left



Shelly beach with some boats anchored up



Another good view.....



Shelly point, we were right up the top of that cliff!



Me and Gina sitting at the top after a long climb!



Dont look down!



Happy days :)



The flood at the back of the hostel....Conor couldnt resist taking the wave ski out....

Nearly Xmas!

So its 4 days til Christmas but it doesn't feel like it at all....it actually feels like I'm on holiday in August.....which isn't exactly a bad thing :)

In two days I get a weeks break from work for the holiday season so I'm gonna try and see a few things round Sydney and maybe go to the Blue Mountains for a day or two. I'll also be doing lots of surfing and drinking (not at the same time mum) so it should be a good week!

Still trying to buy a fecking car! At this rate I will never be leaving Sydney.....I just came back from seeing a car with dodgy wheel bearings and juddering breaks.....so if anyone wants to send me a Christmas present, send me a car ;)

Anyway, hope everyone is good and ready for Christmas! I wont miss the cold but I will miss the Christmas eve reunion/drinking session, have a few for me chaps!

New Board!

The old board was getting a bit too easy so I've got a spanking new surfboard! Well, it’s second-hand but new for me.... As you improve you move onto smaller boards which are quicker, more responsive and easier to turn (but also less stable). So the new board is 6’11” and a much better shape to carve across the wave....it surfs great! I love it :)

The new board, amazing!


















Watched the new Borat film the other day, if you haven't seen it yet get down the cinema, its so funny! Other than that I’ve just been working and goin out. The bars and clubs over here have a ridiculously strict policy on everything....you have to show ID if you are under 30 and its only driving licences or passports....and I got kicked out of the bar on Saturday for being drunk....the cheek of it!

I tried beach volleyball for the first time yesterday, we got beaten by a load of girls and now I can’t move my legs…..not very successful ay! On a more positive note, we challenged some ozzies to a game of beach cricket (they mocked our ashes performance) and smacked them around the ground all afternoon! Get in!

Cant believe its 2 weeks til xmas, ill be leaving manly in about a month (if I ever find a car) and driving up the coast to do some real exploring……cant wait!

Anyway, enjoy some pics,

peace




We now have an underwater camera.....couldn't resist...



Me surfing (you can just see the board in the bottom left, im not just standing on the shore, honest!)



Me surfing again. I love this board!

Hostel-ish people!

Delphine, Iain, Bertise, Juliette, Me




Marion and Rob....and Borat if you look carefully!



Iain, Dave M, Cheryl, Dan, Sarah



Adam...Advertising VB....



Me, John, Lei, Edwardo and Ben (I work with Edwardo & Ben)



Bertise, Tom, Delphine



The French girls again!



Tom and Phil....possibly drunk.....

Yes, I’m still alive…..

So for the people who emailed, I hope that puts your minds at rest :)

But only just, mind you! I’ve had some rather bad surfing injuries lately….. a couple of weeks ago I smashed my elbow on the board and it grew to three times its normal size…..it still hurts but looks normal again! Then a few days later I caught a really big wave, fell off at the worst point and finally re-surfaced just in time for the board to smack me in the side of the face…..couldn’t hear anything out my left ear for a few hours and my jaw hurt a bit but its all good now! And finally, the other day a beginner caught a wave and was heading right towards me…..instead of letting me move out the way, he decided to jump off the board which made it fly really fast in my direction. I just managed to duck out the way of the fins, which went into my board, cutting a 2 inch gash right the way through it…..still, lucky it wasn’t my head ey! Those are the major ones, along with a load of fin cuts and scrapes from getting wiped out…..guess that’s why its called an extreme sport!

So my poor board was broke for a few days but it’s all fixed now and I've just come back from a surf :D

Every day its over 35 degrees, I cant believe its 4 weeks til xmas and I’m wearing shorts and t-shirt all the time, I’m gonna freeze when I finally come back home!

Ummmm……not much else to report really, this blog will get more exciting when I leave in 6 weeks and actually do some travelling!

Ridin' Waves.....

Hey hey! The main news since my last post is that I am now the proud owner of a surfboard!

It’s a 7’6” mini Malibu board and catches the waves like you wouldn’t believe! I actually bought it over a week ago but I've been too busy surfing to write to my blog! Was an absolute bargain at $330 (about £130) and I’m getting pretty good now.

I am covered in cuts a bruises, half from surfing and half from work.....which is going well still. We have had some really easy days lately and have worked for some rich people with amazing houses! we also replace old units which are usually fucked but sometimes completely fine and the customers still chuck them away. I could have had 4 units for free in the last 2 weeks.....but I dont have a house to put them in damnit!

If anyone has stayed in a hostel before you’ll know that you usually sleep in bunk beds.....well, getting in and out of the top bunk quietly when you’re lashed is a bit of a mission! So the other day I changed rooms so I could get a bottom bunk and ended up in a bigger room with a place for my surfboard, result! I’m now sharing a room with 2 English blokes, and English girl, an Irish bloke and a Swedish girl.

The hostel I’m in is so small (30 beds) that I know everyone who’s been there for a while. Its great cos we all go surfing together in the day and play drinking games in the evenings! Thursdays we all go for steak + drinks and last week I randomly bumped into a guy I went to uni with (Si Hassel if anyone from Uni is reading this). He came here a year ago and never left......small world huh!

I haven’t been anywhere particularly exciting since the last post; I’m trying to save enough money for a car to travel up the coast after Christmas. Been to look at a couple which were complete disasters, one actually broke down when I was test driving it! Luckily one of the guys at the hostel is a mechanic so I always get him to come with me so I don’t get scammed!

The weather is starting to get really hot and I’m ridiculously brown at the moment. The guys at work keep telling me its cold so I dunno how I'm gonna cope when its hot by their standards!

Anyway here are some pics, mainly of people from the hostel.



My lovely board!



Getting better ;)



Left to right: Phillip, me, Anton, Mark, Rob, Tim, Lottie and the side of Dave's head!




Me and Mark (don't ask!)



Rob and Dave



Delphine, Marion, Ian, me, Rob, Conor, Dave, Lottie and 3 crazy dutch girls!



Me and Conor about to play busdriver (the best drinking game ever!)



Marion and Ian



I was thirsty!



Phil didn't make it to his bed at the end of the night.....



Rob and Delphine



Juliet and me



Mark, Tim, Dave, Conor, Ian

Do you have any experience fitting air con?

I'm still in Manly and will definitely be staying here til January cos the place is just perfect!

The job is going well, it is remarkably easy to fit an air conditioning system....which is lucky cos I said I had experience with wiring! The last house I worked in was right on Palm Beach aka 'Summer Bay' and had a massive balcony overlooking the beach.....must have cost a fortune!

The other day I walked from Manly Beach to Curl Curl Beach (passing through Queenscliff and Freshwater Beaches) with an Irish guy I met called Conor. Walking across the rocks there are literally hundreds of crabs sitting around getting the sun. Luckily they run off when you step onto a rock and don't claw you to death cos there are some really big ones......

The Great British rugby team were staying down the road from us in Manly (they beat Australia in the rugby the other day!), so we saw them running on the beach a few times.

Anyway, cos I've been working the days and surfing the afternoons I haven't really done anything else particularly exciting. Just enjoying the place, people and surf! Here are some random pictures!



Me and Markus (a crazy Swedish guy!) in the first hostel I stayed in



Me and Conor in front of 'the old coat hanger'



Sydney Central from the Botanic Gardens



This is actually the panda from Hong Kong but I forgot to post it before!



A bit of the opera house



What a view!



Contemplating life.....



Palm Beach/Summer Bay!



And from the other side!



Almost got washed into the sea after this was taken!



A statue in Botanic Gardens



Tropical looking pond.....



Another cool statue in Botanic Gardens!



What was the gardener thinking!?



Me on a big rock