Well it has been three weeks since I have been in Sydney now and I figured that it was about time I kept my word and started filling in this blog diary so that you can all see what I’m up to and hear about my adventures, in your own time.

I’ll give a little bit of background for those of you who haven’t kept up with me over the past wee while so you can get a basic idea of where I am at now. Following my year in Argentina (1999) and my final year at Christchurch Girls’ High School (leavers 2000 hoorah) I went on to do a whole number of papers at the University of Canterbury culminating in a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Political Science and then Honours in Diplomacy in International Relations, fondly known to us at Canterbury as “dipl,” pronounced dipple (home of the dipple tipple). I proudly managed to achieve First Class Honours, and then took off for a really cool (and somewhat rainy) summer around the homeland. Auckland was great, and I did a couple of fun tramps – the Heaphy and the Queen Charlotte, spent a couple of days at Paynes Ford and then returned to Christchurch to figure out what to do once the money ran out. I worked part-time at the Fendalton Library for a few months which was nice and then I made the decision to cross the awe-inspiring Tasman and here I find myself, being run over by the human traffic in Sydney.

Goodbyes on the home shores were really quite sad, re-affirming my belief that the hardest part is committing to getting on the plane. I was really lucky, this time, in that the plane ride itself was the probably the best I have been on and in no time I was looking ahead to the great things which might lie in store. This is generally the best thing to do when you’re in a plane soaring through the sky with no way to get out and nowhere to turn. Reasons why the plane ride was the best include several surprising and happy co-incidences, my generally low expectations of what could have been a boring flight, and the incredibly impressive service by Emirates. Go Emirates!! You Rock!!! The first good surprise was getting into the departure lounge, feeling a bit gloomy having just been through the tear-jerking bit and then spotting Glenn!!! Glenn and I had the first year blues together at Canterbury, we used to bitch and moan together about, well, most things at University in first year and it seemed rather fitting that we bumped into each other while fleeing the country. Great Minds Think Alike eh. So that was awesome, suddenly I wasn’t on my own any more and after some enthusiastic catching up we agreed to get really drunk on the plane. And Emirates didn’t let us down. It was such a wonderful flight, from the hot towels served at the beginning to the chocolate and copious amounts of bourbons poured at the end. Highlights for me were swapping seats so that Glenn and I could gossip together, choosing my movie to watch – I hadn’t seen Finding Nemo before so I caught up on that one – and playing 2 player vidoe games on the Emirates personal entertainment system, damn is that cool. The food was really awesome as well, everything was classy it was pure enjoyment. So after being “wined and dined” by Emirates, dinner and a Movie with a flight included.. we finally arrived in Sydney Airport, a bit rosy cheeked but sober enough to not have to declare ourselves at customs (less than 3 bottles, easily).
It has been all of three weeks now and I haven’t caught up with Glenn again since we arrived, he’s a bit of an elusive character. He tells me that he left his life in Wellington to pursue fame and fortune on the stage so I really wish him all the best; it takes real guts to follow your dreams.

Wow. Sydney. First impressions, it was Saturday night when I arrived and the city was just so beautiful. I caught a shuttle to the centre of the city – travelers note, this is generally the best way to get from the airport to the centre of the city. The shuttle bus was a little bit hard to find, (its not with the normal busses or taxis and we found the driver roaming the airport) but it charges a flat rate of $9 and does a round of the central backpackers so it’s convenient and costs less than the train does into town. Sarah Luxton met me at Base backpackers, she’s an old mate from primary school and it was awesome to see her!! She was my primary contact I suppose you could say, I went over to Sydney basically because she was going in the first place, even though Sarah then decided to come back! So after all the hugs and the "I can’t believe I’m here"s (actually getting on the plane was an uncertainty for right up until the last – due to factors other than my nerve, for the record, eg job prospects) we took a leisurely stroll around Darling Harbour, and my first impressions of Sydney were of classy city bars by the waterside, sparkling fairy lights and lots of happy young people out enjoying life.
The first night we stayed in Base Backpackers, which is where Amanda works. It was pretty cool, right in the middle of town and all that and the showers were really good I love good quality showers it’s the little things that make the difference! I didn’t have a very good sleep, as one would expect the first night in a new environment. Sydney is rather a noisy city and I found it a bit noisy in the backpackers, which was probably the biggest annoyance but it was only one night and other than that was all good.
Sunday came and I had my first good look around Sydney. First impressions: it’s a real city. I say that with respect, not everyone likes the whole metro feel but I think it’s my thing and it has been in my system since I fell in love with the rugged but charming Buenos Aires. The shopping definitely impressed me on that first day. I didn’t spend much then and I’m not really here to spend money -I’m here to make it - but just the variety, the masses of different things you can buy here, there is a pricewar evident that the consumer definitely wins. I didn’t manage to get lost at first with Sarah showing me around; I saved that for a later date. I did enjoy sitting around in the sun though, lying in the park and being scared by those massive harry-potter-style birds with the huge long beaks that I still haven’t learnt the name of (cue google).
To fastforward through the next three weeks.. I spent two weeks staying with Matt and Amanda, two nights in Goswell with Sarah’s lovely second cousin and her lovely family, two nights with Dad here visiting in a hotel – the Menzies, and now I’m living in a really really lovely little bohemian-style suburb called Glebe (pro-nounced Glee-b). After two weeks of a lot of sunshine, beaches, great wines and really good food, I rang up an agency, went in for an interview and testing the next day, they offered me a job the next day, and I started the next working day after that. It really was that easy and the job is really quite cool.
I’m working as a Committees Assistant for the Australian Society of Anaesthetists. It’s administration work, preparing agendas and attendance lists, taking minutes from meetings that sort of thing. They seem quite keen to keep me on permanently, it’s not really the kind of work I was looking for but the office is great, nice people, nice working environment. I have applied for a number of other jobs so I’m juggling the possibilities at the moment and it is likely that by the end of the week I will have some more news for you so watch this space!
I’m living at a Guesthouse, it provides long or short-term accommodation which suits me because my temporary job means I need to stay flexible with my commitments for now. It’s owned and run by a kiwi couple, and is very moderately priced for Sydney. I’m living in a room with 3 other girls, Ruth is from Germany, Anne from New York and we currently have Neelja from New York also but she is moving to another room later this week I think. Anne and Ruth are here for 3 months, moved in the same time as me. I like sharing a room, it suits me really well at the moment because I don’t get lonely and even though I don’t know many people here it’s like I have friends. I don’t like being on my own very much. And I have a new laptop! It is really, really cool and has a microphone and speakers built-in so if any of you have skype or even msn messenger and want to actually talk, let me know and we can hook up! My wireless connection runs between 6.30am and 11pm Sydney time. Alright that’s me for now. Stay in touch, &party hard. Love, ~
Crystal.