Past The Half Way Mark

It's been exactly 6 months since we set foot on Australian soil and we can't believe how quick time has flown. I have scheduled my return flight for mid August which means ill be back home in less than 6 months and I'm sure they will go as quick as the first 6.

Tom is looking at adjusting his flight so he can go back via Hong Kong to visit his brother which will hopefully work out.

So tomorrow we begin the next chapter of the adventure where we will head 10 hours north west of Sydney to start a week long ranch training course which will teach us the skills we need to become a station hand / jackaroo.

We are hoping that the job they offer you at the end of it is a decent one where we can both work on the same ranch/farm without having to split up. We were told they do manage to find jobs for two friends in the same place but they can't guarantee anything so we will have to keep fingers crossed on that one.

The jobs can be anywhere as well so we really aren't sure what to expect or how things will pan out.

The course is in a town called Brewarrina near the NSW/QLD state border but we could be offered a job anywhere apparently! Depends on where their contacts are and who is needing workers.

I had to buy a new phone today as my old one that I lost never got found. Really annoying but the new phone is so much better and only cost a bit more than what I paid for the other one. I think I can hold on to my number which is convenient.

Its Toms last day at work today so when he gets back we'll carry on packing stuff up and get ready to leave the flat in the early hours of tomorrow morning. Everything's been arranged with the guy we've been living with and it's worked out really well to be honest.

This past week I've been going back and forth to the city to do a bit of last minute sightseeing and enjoying city life before we head to the back'o beyond.

Here's a summary with pictures of what we've been up to...

Its not always sunny y'no!

We took the ferry to Manly on what started out as a nice day which quickly turned very dull and grey.

It was nice to finally get the ferry somewhere. We took the surf board but never actually went on it.

Instead we relaxed on the beach (a little bit cold I might add) and then made sand sculptures which of course turned very competitive.

Which turtle do you think is the best? And which turtle belongs to who? Hmmm

Turtle A 

Or Turtle B

Was funny to see the Mardi Gras decorations out in full force.

I went to the city to take some pictures and sightsee. This is the Anzac War Memorial in Hyde Park.

Hyde Park Trees

Archibald Fountain 

Little did I know, a storm of apocalyptic style scale was heading to the city from the south. I was walking through the park, turned around and saw this! This storm had already wreaked havoc in the eastern suburbs and had people running for cover as it approached the city.

It turned out to be so fierce and menacing that it randomly made the lunchtime news back home. I don't know if any of you saw it. Nothing was damaged or interrupted but it had a lot of potential!

Here's a few cool pics from onlookers. (I don't own these images)

After getting soaked right through while running to the subway for cover I made my way to the strand arcade to dry off and had a nice hot chocolate. Very quaint little arcade indeed.

I wondered around town until it got dark and decided to head over the harbour bridge and take some pictures of the illuminated city from Milsons point. I will get around to putting the high quality pics from my DSLR on here at some point but here's a couple from the ipad.

Circular Quay at night with a cruise liner at the terminal

Looking across the harbour from Lunar Park

And here's some city pictures from another day of sightseeing - this time with slightly better weather...

Skyline from Mrs McQuaries Chair

Botanical gardens

Bennelong Point

Jorn Utzons concept for the Opera House

Preparations for the Australia premiere of Pompeii

Cool street art at circular quay

Down by The Rocks

Dawes Point

Dramatic sunsets at Bondi Junction

Most recently we took a trip back to Watsons Bay - one of our favourite places which has a nice little beach and a great vantage point of the city. And it is next to part of the National Park too.

Walking around The Gap at Sydney Harbour National Park. The Gap is called so as it is the gap between the land which forms the entrance to the Harbour from the Tasman Sea.

Looking across the Gap entrance to the other half of the Sydney Harbour National Park

The view after coming through the gap, looking towards the harbour with the start of the city skyline on the right. 

History Lesson!

This view of the land and water is what greeted the crewmen of the First Fleet as they sailed in to claim the land as their own. The headland at the Gap was eventually heavily fortified and served as a primary defence location during threats of invasion from the French and the Spanish. Most of the gun battlements have been scrapped and taken away but some remain and serve as interesting reminders.

View of Watsons bay from the headland

One of the many pics we've taken featuring our weirdo chums! Miss you guys!

The cliff jumping spot!

Doesn't look that high here but it was!

Perfect view of the city here. You can see why we like it here so much. 

Just a shame is was quite hazy on this day.

So that's the lot for now. Next post will be from on the ranch course if I get chance hopefully.

I hear the weather is picking up back in the UK so hope you are all having a nice weekend and enjoying yourselves. Have a good one!

Secret GREEN DAY show!!!

Well well well a secret Green Day show! It's taken me a while to report this (mainly due to the fact I've typed it out two times and both have not saved properly so I'm having to redo the whole post for the third time) but finally here it is... One of the most spontaneous, exciting and adrenaline fuelled 4 hours I've ever experienced.

A few weeks back Tom and I were turning in for the night when I got a notification Abbie had tagged me in a post on Facebook. The post was from Green Day who had taken to social media to divulge that they were going to be playing a gig in a small hotel just outside of sydney. Half an hour before the show!

I actually had no idea they were even in Australia - something I should have known since I absolutely love them. I checked the location of the hotel in relation to our flat and doscovered it was literslly a 5 minute cab journey!

This was when the adrenaline started pumping, knowing there was a possibility I could get to see up and close one of the greatest punk rock bands to ever grace the scene, on my doorstep! I have of course seen them play before in England (and know how good they are live) but this was a chance unlike many others right here!

I got changed and woke Tom up to tell him what was going on but he was so tired and out of it that he said he was going to stay at the flat - something he would later regret. I ran outside and hailed the first cab I could see.

When we pulled up on the street next to the venue and I ran to the doors there were a random handful of about 20 starry eyed Green Day fans who had also got wind of the message. The rest, lucky enough to get here sooner were inside the venue which unfortunately had a 200 person capacity.

And since nobody was obviously going to come out before they'd finished, the chances of getting in to the venue and seeing them in stage were getting smaller by the minute as green day played out their nicely chosen set list

Even though I was outside and the equipment they had in the venue wasn't great, I could still hear every word of the songs and could actually see them on the Tv screens they had in the bar through the window.

It was amazing just to think I was here, when 20 mins ago I was getting ready to go to sleep completely unaware that my all time favourite band had been walking around the area where we are living. And now they were playing a spontaneous show at a venue so small and intimate compared to the arenas and stadiums they usually play that it was like comparing the area of a doormat to a football pitch. 

They love doing these types of gigs when they're in the big cities. I remember a few years ago they played at a club in London when they were there for Reading. And of course there have been many in the US also,

I got talking to some people in the queue and one guy told me they were in Australia to headline Soundwave - one of Australia's biggest festivals - which is held in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.

So unfortunately the moment came when they finished off their set and I was still outside. They came back on for an encore and just as it finished I ran around the back of the venue with some others to where the back doors were. Conveniently, there were large windows looking through into the back room behind the stage so when they came off stage I could actually see them through the glass which was pretty cool. I must have looked like a excited kid staring at lions in an enclosure at the zoo. 

After a while of me gawping at them through the glass the cars arrived to pick them up and I knew they'd be coming out of the door I was standing right next to. Luckily I'd remembered to bring a pocket sized digital camera and had it at the ready. (Wish I had an iPhone because my camera has a delayed response when pressing down the button to capture an image). So when they did walk out I didn't get any well timed photos to my annoyance, but there were a few ok ones.

I ran round to where the car was pushing through the crowd and watched Billie Joe and Mike get bundled in to the back seats by their bodyguards. Next thing I know, Tre Cool is right next to me asking me and this other guy to let him past so he could get in to the front seat of the car!!! Madness! 

Within mintutes they were gone and speeding back to their hotel in the city and what seemed like a lifetime of waiting and an adrenaline rush that nearly matched that of my skydive was actually over incredibly soon. It was hard to comprehend the enormity of what happened in such a short space of time.

The crowd dispersed and people started to make there way home. One poor guy had driven an hour and a half as fast as he could (picking up several speeding fines along the way) and he didn't get insode the venue either. I decided to run back to the flat instead of paying for the privilege in a cab again and got there in about 20 mins. Got unchanged, back into bed and went to sleep like nothing happened.

When I woke up several hours later my first thoughts were "did that really happen or was it a dream".

I actually had to check my camera to see if the pictures were 'real' or not.

It really was a crazy night, and one I will probably never forget about.

^ A few pics from the TV screens inside the pub

^ Billie Joe walking to the cars

^ Cheeky Tre

^ Billie Joe and Mike (holding the bottle of water)

^ Tre up in the front seat

A bit of media coverage...

...

Green Day surprised Sydney fans with a top-secret headlining show last night.

Following a tweet and an Instagram post from the band at 10:30 last night, fans were given just half an hour to get to the Captain Cook Hotel - a 200 capacity venue in Paddington - for the surprise set from this year's Soundwave festival headliners. 

Taking the stage dressed in traditional garb - black shirts, black jeans, black shoes and black hair - the band joked about how the crowd "must have seen the tweet," before launching into a twelve-song, hourlong set that, on the whole, erred toward the earlier albums in their catalogue: Dookie, Insomniac and Nimrod. 

...

http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/musicnews/s3949487.htm

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/sydney-confidential/green-day-plays-secret-gig-at-sydneys-the-captain-cook-hotel/story-fni0cvc9-1226833389291