Melbourne, the Heatwave and the Australian Open

Its been a week since we arrived back from our little mini break and its taken me all this time to write it up and finally upload it..but better late than never. We've also been without wifi in the flat for 5 days now as well which hasnt helped. Dodgy connection I think. 

Anyway so last Friday night we arrived back in Sydney from our trip to Melbourne which we had been looking forward to for ages. And it didn't disappoint! There were a few hiccups but nothing bad or serious. Oh, one of them being we had timed our trip perfectly to coincide with a large heatwave for most of Australia which you may have heard on the news.

Arriving at Melbourne airport on last Wednesday evening (just over an hours flight time) we jumped on a bus to the city and walked to our hotel. Very balmy night - you could tell how hot it had been during the day. But that first night was pure luxury! Comfy bed, air conditioning and soft towels! We'd forgot how special these things were. 

We got things kicking off in the morning with a special Aus Open breakfast the hotel had put on. $12 buffet! Which was ideal to fill up on so we didn't need to worry about bringing too much food in to the tennis. 

We bought a few snacks from the supermarket on our way to Melbourne Park. It was a nice riverside walk from the city, despite the intense heat, which was getting worse by the hour. It was 35 degrees at 10am.

So the first hiccup came when we had a mandatory bag search on queuing to get into the grounds...I had brought my DSLR camera with my telescopic lens. To my disbelief and utter frustration I was told I was not allowed to go in with it and was told I had to leave it at the cloaking stand. Why? Because, and I quote, "this is a telescopic lens, sir, it has capabilities reserved only for that of the media. If you get better pictures than the media how are they going to make money?". I somehow managed to contain my rage and tried to explain that it wasn't my problem if the media can't afford better lenses that mass consumer market ones. Utterly ridiculous. I've never heard of that before at any sporting event. Anyway they gave me the ultimatum of leave the lens or you're not coming in so I had to leave it. Luckily I had my kit lens so I could still actually get some photographs! 

The second hiccup came seconds later when we tried to get through the barriers and our tickets got rejected. Because we had night match tickets for Rod Laver Arena, we were only allowed to enter at 5pm whereas I thought they included grounds access during the day and entry to Rod Laver Arena at 5pm. We were victims to the small print on that one. We weren't going to miss out after coming all this way so we each bought a grounds pass for $39.

We had a really fun time going round all the show courts, taking in the atmosphere and watching some decent tennis. A very different atmosphere to Wimbledon as expected but there's something really special about the Aus Open. Each tournament has its own character and they are both very likeable for different reasons. Although something you'd never get at Wimbledon was 44 degree heat (yes it stayed at 44 for most of the afternoon)! It was the hottest climate weve both ever experienced. Whenever a breeze came it was like a hand dryer effect on your face. We were going through water like it never before. Luckily there were drinking stations dotted around everywhere. 

Needless to say, at 2pm the tournament director suspended play and invoked the extreme heat rule. (First time since 2007). This was a decision many people (especially the players) believed should have been made the day before as it was pretty much the same temperature. The past few days had seen players in tears, hallucinating, vomiting, fainting and just breaking down under heat exhaustion. Ivan Dodig from Croatia was quoted "I was thinking I could maybe die here". 

Play resumed at 6pm but only in the arenas. Matches were delayed by 4-5 hours. To pass the time Tom had a sleep and I had a walk around and took some pictures, waited at the practice courts but nobody came out for a hit. Don't blame them. But it would have been nice as both Federer and Murray had booked to train.

Because the day matches had been put back, so had the night matches which meant even though it was 5pm we still couldn't go in to Rod Laver Arena to watch anything. We had to wait for the day matches to be completed. So we were sat in the foyer of the arena watching Rafa finish up against a young Aussie player (Kokkanakis) when a lady came out during a change of ends and offered us her tickets! Score! The group of people we were sat next to watched wi pure jealousy as we strolled into the arena just in time for the one more set. So I got to see Rafa in the end, for free! Makes up for having to pay the grounds pass fee hey!

We watched Victoria Azarenka win in straight sets but just before she wrapped it up we went off to the gents to apply some face paint we'd bought earlier! After about 30 mins of applications Tom was still not happy with his 'face' so I had to re-do a bit of it. Never realised he was so touchy with his cosmetics! Then he managed to spell Murray wrong when writing it on my arm. 

Murray cleaned up in straight sets despite letting a 3rd set lead slip away only to win 5 games in a row. 

We managed to get on tv for a few seconds. Well mostly Tom. He did whip his shirt off afterall so he was obviously going to get more airtime hahaha

It was a great evening. Electric atmosphere on Rod Laver Arena with the city lots shimmering in the background. Glad we got to cheer on Andy and hope he goes on and wins it this year! He's got a good chance!

We had a great nights sleep when we got back. In the morning it was just as hot but instead of plumping for the buffet breakfast we decided to go and find a cafe on one of the hidden lane ways we saw which Melbourne is famous for. After walking around wondering what to do in the dessert like conditions we decided to head for a museum for two main reasons. Air conditioning and free admission. Being educated was a bonus.

We had planned to go sightseeing and explore the city but it was just impossible given the circumstances. So after what turned out to be a fun and interesting visit to the Australian Centre for Moving Image we headed for more shade in the form of going to the cinema to see Anchorman 2. And after that it was just about time to set off back to the bus station and on to the airport. By this time the temperature had dropped to a more bearable temperature and the breeze was actually mild instead of hot. They said the heatwave would start to end that evening. (Just as we were heading back to Sydney)!

So our little holiday on holiday was great fun and we really enjoyed it. Can't wait to return to Melbourne later in the year and really get to know the place. We both kind of prefer it to Sydney despite only being there a few days. It's a lot more chilled out but an amazing city nonetheless!

Here's some more pics from the trip

Excited for our kindly donated tickets

Rafa backhand 

Sneaking in some wakeup juice to tackle that hat exhaustion 

0 - 60mph in 3 seconds

Skydiving over Mission Beach 06/10/13

So it's been a fair few months but I've finally got round to getting the pictures of my skydive up here on the blog. Some of you may remember I wrote a little about it in a post during October last year http://adzinoz.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/october-week-commencing-300913.html

But seeing as I didn't write a great deal and there were no images for it at that time I've been meaning to do a post on it for a while now.

I went with SkydiveAustralia who own several different drop zone branches throughout Aus. I knew I wanted to do mine over the beach and what better beach than Mission Beach up in North Queensland. So I used  SkydiveAustralia's Mission Beach branch www.skydivemissionbeach.com.au and they were brilliant. Really glad I did it with them.

There are loads of skydive companies to choose from but these guys are Australia's highest tandem jump at 14000 ft, so that's one whole minute of free falling before the Shute opens. And of course they have a comforting history of safety! However this did not stop me feeling like I needed to be sick during most of the experience. 

For those of you who know me well you'll remember that I'm not good with heights... But I get more scared when I know there's a real chance of danger or chance of me badly hurting myself, so funnily enough I felt kind of ok with the jumping out of a plane aspect because I knew the odds of me being in significant danger were minimal. Like shark attacks the odds of injury and death during skydiving are so small it's not even worth thinking about. But of course you still do a little bit haha.

So as you can see, the views were unbeatable. Seeing the rain forests, the fields, the beach, the sea, the reef and the outer islands was really something special.

While It was fairly expensive... (Actually extremely expensive when considering the whole jump lasted about 5 minutes)  it is obviously a lifetime experience and I'd been saving for things like this for years. I'm chuffed that I did it - looking back it still doesn't seem real - and it's one of those things to always remember. Another one of experiences to cross of the bucket list. And I'd definitely do it again!

So here's some really handsome and flattering images of me falling through the air, spread eagle, at terminal velocity (approx 120mph) and even taking a go of steering the parachute :D

Yeeewwwwwwwww!

Regional Work - what is it and why do it?

Any backpacker coming to Australia will be at some point made aware of something called regional work. Regional work is basically the only way we backpackers can acquire a second Working Holliday Visa, ultimately allowing us to come back to Australia again for one whole year. Yes, if one wants to come back and enjoy the beauty of this country for another year then you have to work for it! An annoying but very admirable and respectable policy. 

There are of course other ways to get back in to the country, including being lucky enough to get sponsored by a company to stay here or even marrying an australian (de facto)! But this is the most reliable and more interesting way to have that opportunity to come back here again, which actually lasts until you are 30 years of age I should add.

So what actually is it? ... It's roughly 3 months (or 88 solid days) of any approved labour that you do in regional Australia - that's anywhere about 50km away from the major cities or coastline. The labour is most always fruit picking or packing on many of the outback farms but can include tradesmanship skills, bar work, repair work, landscaping or even working on a cattle station as a jackaroo or jillaroo!

I've heard you can even do regional work out at sea and on islands but that is quite rare and usually up in North Queensland or Darwin.

Tom and I want to get our regional work done and dusted as soon as possible and then hopefully spend at least 3 months in Melbourne and a bit more travelling just before our first year in Australia comes to an end later this year. Because pretty much every backpacker wants to do it, it's extremely hard to find work, and even harder to find a job that doesn't take the piss. 

We've heard (and are still hearing) many horror stories of backpackers heading 6 or so hours inland to a farm for a job only to be told there isn't one or to start working for nothing and being exploited to the point where it's not even worth it. 

Unfortunately because backpackers are in a desperate position to complete the work there are many farms that are just using backpackers and treating them like slaves. The only way to get the second year Visa is to have all your hours signed off by the employer and there are loads of con men out there apparently who promise everything... the work, the hours, the money and the accommodation but you get barely anything and they might just plain refuse to sign your hours.

So it really is a gamble with regional work. You need to be extremely lucky to find a place that pays and treats you with respect. 

The work is not for the faint hearted either. You can expect to be manual labouring from 7:30 till 7pm in conditions that usually reach 40 Celsius. The accommodation will be less than basic and not properly ventilated plus there are always the dangers of the local wildlife.

But if 88 days of hard graft in searing heat gives you a on additional year in Australia then I think it's worth it. Plus it will be an interesting experience which I'm sure will make great material for future backpacking stories or conversations. Because some people do regional work just for the experience alone.

So Tom and I will be looking for opportunities to get out there and get our hands dirty as soon as he finishes work which is around early February. I am praying we find somewhere ok that won't be a complete waste of time and money! Currently looking at ads and job posts for something in the states of NSW or Victoria. There are quite a few fruit seasons starting around February over here so fingers crossed we'll get something sorted.

Flat pictures and quick update

As promised (albeit a while ago) here's some images of the flat we've been living in over Christmas...

We signed a contract for a months rent in a unit about 10 mins walk up the road from Coogee where we were before. 

The area we are in now is a minutes walk to a place called 'the spot' - a bustling restaurant filled area in the vicinity of Randwick. Randwick is one of the main towns in east Sydney, just like Bondi Junction where we work, but a little cheaper.

We have been living in this two bedroom place while the current owners have been away for work/going overseas over Christmas. They sublet it to us for $300 per week (between the two of us) which is a extremely cheap here, and considering how nice it is compared to some of the shockers we've viewed.

It's been perfect for us but we will soon have to move on as our contract ends on the 15th January - the day we go to Melbourne to see the tennis at the Australian Open. So I've been looking around for new places the past few days. Hopefully we can find something short term again, in a decent spot.

The original plan was to move on to Melbourne and stay there after seeing the tennis... But since we haven't yet sold the van (which we put up for sale just before Xmas) and Tom's contract at work expires a lot later than nine, it makes sense to stay here in Sydney a little longer. Also gives us time to search for reliable opportunities for Regional Work (see upcoming post).

Anyway now I've finished rambling, here's the pics of the pad...

Enjoying watching the tennis on Foxtel!