The Sydney Royal Easter Show

The Sydney Royal Easter Show is a traditional/annual agricultural event that's held in Sydney to promote and display livestock, produce and rural merchandise. There are lots of amusement park-type rides and games and other live shows in addition to the cattle/horse/farm animal shows. It started on Easter and lasts for about a week and a half (I think). This year it was held in Sydney Olympic Park and my friend Antony took me to it on the Sunday after Easter. We didn't spend much time in the smelly animal part...we just wanted to ride some rides!

We arrived at the Easter Show around 1 and stayed until about 6:30 or so and we got to go on a fair amount of rides while we were there. It was a really good time and I honestly laughed so hard during the rides that my abs were sore the next day. Antony had a little height phobia and some of the rides we went on made me worry that he might go into cardiac arrest. My favorite was the Zipper because there was no line for it and they let us stay on for a reallllly long time. I thought Antony was going to die. I didn't stop my hysterical laughing (it was WITH you, Antony!) for the entire ride.

Here's a video of one of the last rides we went on. It took about 15 minutes for Antony to psyche himself into actually going on it. To be fair, I wasn't 100% sure about it either since we'd JUST eaten lunch right before. But it was really fun!

So I was just chillin with the Black Eyed Peas....

Me, Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas, Amanda

Here's the story:

I go out with Amanda (above on the right) who I met at the gym. She says The Eastern is supposed to be fun on Wednesdays so we make our way to Bondi Junction to check it out. Halfway through the night we hear that Will.I.Am was upstairs in VIP. We somehow weasel our way up there and get a quick picture with him. Later that night as I'm wandering down the street I see Will and his friends walking in front of me. They're being hounded by people taking pictures of Will, but I made some small talk with one of the guys as I walk by. I go around the corner to the ATM and they walk down near where I was to hail a cab. As the cab pulls up, one of the guys yells at me to get in and go "party" with them. I literally do the "turn-around-to-make-sure-there's-no one-behind-you-then-point-to-self-and-ask, 'me?' " thing. He says, "yes, you!" so I try to play it cool and saunter on over to the cab. I ask if I can sit up front and they oblige and the 3 of them squish in the back seat. The cab ride is cool and Will talks to me a little bit about South Carolina and they all seem pretty nice. The cool part of the night pretty much ends there though, because the cab ends up just going to the hotel where they are staying and not a "party" so I tell them I am just going to catch a cab home and off I go.

Not the most exciting star story ever...but still a good story.

How The Aforementioned Itinerary Played Out

Rob arrived in town a little later than expected, but we still got him checked into the hotel and headed out for my friend Adrian's 24th Birthday party at a bar called Dome in the Crown Hotel in Surry Hills. We got there a little after midnight, so I think my birthday wishes were lost on Adrian but I'm glad that we made an appearance anyway. A bit after we got there, the group left and went to Stonewall: a gay club on Oxford street. I told them we'd catch up with them, but I got us lost on the way so we went and had a drink at the hotel bar, split a kebab (the Australian form of a gyro and SO delicious) and called it a night.

At Dome

Saturday morning I had to open the gym at 8:00 and work until 2pm, so Rob had to fend for himself. I gave him my free pass to the aquarium and Wildlife World so he did some touristy stuff while I worked. After I got off and got cleaned up, we started walking towards Centennial Park to see the JACK JOHNSON CONCERT!!!!!!!!! We ate some Thai food along the way and grabbed a drink or 2 at a bar in Surry Hills then followed the crowd towards the park. It was a GORGEOUS day and the park was HUGE and starting to get pretty busy. Eventually the opening act started. I don't remember the first guy's name but next was Matt Costa and then G-Love came out and played a few songs! We didn't even know he was going to be there so that was cool. Jack was AWESOME and besides Mr. Elbow Thrower beside me the entire day was perfect; weather included. We walked back with sore feet and grabbed some pizza in Surry Hills to end the night.

Centennial Park

Upon Arrival

Matt Costa

G. Love

Jack Johnson

On Sunday Funday we were supposed to check out the St. Patty's Day parade but we weren't able to find it. Instead we walked around Darling Harbor and had a nice lunch at the Blackbird Cafe where Rob tried his first Kangaroo Filet. It was a gorgeous day and we sat outdoors most of the day drinking at various hot spots in Darling Harbor (Pontoon Bar, Baia, Tokio Hotel, Ice Cube...). Later in the day we took a little sunset cruise (well...a water taxi) over to Circular Quay and walked around perusing the shops and restaurants and taking in the views. We stopped at a little place called Minus 15 and had oysters at a little waterside restaurant.

Near Blackbird Cafe on Darling Harbour

Monday was the Hunter Valley Wine tour and it was AWE-SOME! The chatty tour guide took us and about 9 others to a few wineries. Rob and I split off and went to one on our own: McWilliams. Only because we both love their wine. The rest of the places we went (Iron Gate, Brokenwood, Audrey Wilkinson, McGuigan, Earnest Hill...) were little boutique wineries so you can't buy most of their wines outside of there, which was cool. At the end of the day we bought 2 bottles of wine. One was a delicious Merlot from the McGuigan winery and the other was a sweet shiraz from Iron Gate. I also got this cute little pink wine bottle holder with wine tools in it from the McGuigan winery. I'd have to say that the best part of the tour was when the guide set us loose for lunch and to explore 4 wineries on our own and Rob and I (quite tipsy at this point) got lost and were running around in circles trying to find the bus.

Outside at the Audrey Wilkinson Winery

Outside of the McGuigan Winery (obvi)

On our own at McWilliams

Earnest Hill Winery

Iron Gate-our favorite winery!

Tuesday we had planned on hitting up Manly Beach but we did Bondi Beach instead. We had some oysters in the middle of the day at Iceberg-this nice little spot on the edge of the beach with an awesome breeze and a really neat atmosphere. I'd been meaning to check it out for awhile, so I'm glad we went there. Before we caught the train back we stopped at Ravesi's for a quick drink. We got quite a bit of sun during the day then I headed off to work for a few hours where I got progressively red as the day went on. Not fun. That night we out in Kings Cross and met some interesting characters. We didn't head back to Surry Hills until around 4:30am!

Bondi Beach

Wednesday was a big day. We tried to wake up early for the zoo but we were both moving pretty slow from the previous night. We got to the zoo mid-day (partly due to our slowness, partly due to how ridiculously long it took us to get some of Rob's $$ converted). The zoo was great. We got to see kangaroos, gorillas, lions, zebras (Rob even jumped the fence to get a good picture of them), seals, platapi (just guessing at the plural of platypus), giraffes, and lots of cool animals. Lots of good pictures from that day. Not of us though. Just the animals. After we rushed back from the zoo and got changed we made our way to Oxford St. for the Sugarland concert. We grabbed a quick bite to eat first next door at the Gaff ($5 steak night). The venue where the show was at only held 600 people (country music may not be as popular here as back home in the south) so we were really close to them. It was a great show; MUCH better than the time we saw them in Charleston-even though Jennifer Nettles wore the same outfit as she did then.... After the concert we wandered around trying to find a couple of spots that Rob had picked out to see but to no avail. We ended up hitting up a couple of gay bars on Oxford Street then heading home.

Taronga Zoo with the Kangaroos

Sugarland

Jennifer Nettles

The somewhat obnoxious Kristian Bush

Thursday we spent a good part of the day in The Rocks. We stopped at Jackson's on the way (below) and in The Rocks we hit up G'day Cafe for lunch. There are so many cute cafes around there and the weather was gorgeous so lingered around there for a bit. We walked around the Opera House and got some good pictures of that and the Harbor Bridge from Mrs. Macquerie's point. At night we finally got Katie and Gracie to come out with us. We hit up the AWFUL Sidebar and then Scruffy Murphy's to take in the nightlife.

Jacksons on the way to The Rocks

Gorgeous View

Sidebar with the Roomies (Rob-Deer in Headlights-Emory)

Taking a break from bustin' our moves

Friday: We were lucky that the Waves Surf Camp was open because being Good Friday pretty much everything else was shut down. Surfing conditions weren't perfect for us. The weather was chilly (understatement) and there were only good waves for the first part of the trip, but we got to learn the basics anyway and Rob and I were probably the best 2 beginners out there. We were both able to ride a few waves in. Once the waves died down the group unanimously agreed to call it quits and hit the pub. We had some good laughs-mainly at the Irish girl in the group- and a couple of drinks before heading back to Sydney. Friday night Rob had made reservations for us at Wildfire Grill in Circular Quay. It was a really nice restaurant that was supposed to have a gorgeous view of the Opera house, but the restaurant e-mailed Rob to tell him that there would be a cruise ship blocking the view until 9:00. When we were walking up to the restaurant we realized WHY they called to tell us. This ship-The Sapphire Princess-could have CRUSHED the Opera House. It was absolutely ENORMOUS!!!!! We lingered through the first half of dinner so that by the time our entrees came the ship was taking off. It was neat to see such a beautiful, HUGE ship but I'm glad it left before we finished our meal.

Gnarly, Dude!

The tiny Sapphire Princess. Note the size compared to Opera House

Great Restaurant

At Wildfire with a little vino

Ditto

Saturday I was supposed to work but I ended up taking the day off since it was Rob's last full day. In the morning we walked through Paddy's Market for awhile and then wandered around Darling Harbour drinking coffee and watching some live shows that were going on. Part of the Easter weekend celebration. There was a little break dancing, a little "flying orchestra" and some crazy Canadian lady doing God knows what... We had a morning cocktail at Cohi bar-a cigar bar-grabbed some sushi at Narita, and shot some pool at Docks. It was a nice relaxing "take it easy" kind of day.

Our sushi boat at Narito

Flying Orchestra

Sunday was Easter so we attended at a large traditional service in a gorgeous church building right next to Town Hall. Surprisingly, there was a SMALL crowd. I want to do some research on Christianity in Australia now, because I was dumbfounded at the small turnout on Easter Sunday! After church we grabbed brunch at a place called Adria on Darling Harbour and then it was time to head to the airport and say our goodbyes.

St. Andrews

Inside

Easter pic with Rob-Deer in headlights-Emory

It was definitely one of the best vacations I've ever had...and I wasn't technically even ON vacation!

Rob Does Sydney

Rob is coming to visit me TOMORROW! I'm so excited! We have a ridiculously packed itinerary planned out with lots of fun stuff to do. I can't wait! And for those of you sitting there trying to figure it out-Are they together? Are they broken up?-don't bother.

Here's our tentative schedule for the next 9 days:

Thursday
Mar 13

10:45pm
Rob flies out of Charlotte


Friday
Mar 14

6:50am
Rob departs LAX

9:20pm
Rob arrives in Sydney

10pm
Rob checks in at Capitol Square Hotel Sydney

10:30pm
My friend's 24th Birthday Party

Saturday
Mar 15

8am
Hailey Works at Gym

4pm
Jack Johnson Concert!!!!! - Centennial Park

Sunday
Mar 16

12pm
St Patrick's Parade - Sydney Town Hall

7pm
Blackbird Cafe

8:30pm
Ice Cube

Monday
Mar 17
St. Patrick's Day

7:30am
Hunter Valley Wine Tour

6pm
Thai Express

7pm
Cargo Bar

8pm
St Patrick's Day Drinking

Tuesday
Mar 18

Manly Beach

5pm
Work at Gym

9pm
Out in Kings Cross

Wednesday
Mar 19

9am
Taronga Zoo

1:30pm
G'Day Cafe in The Rocks

3pm
Harbour Tour? Mrs. Maquarie's Chair?

6pm
Dinner

7:30pm
Sugarland Concert!!!

11pm
Victoria Room

Thursday
Mar 20

Bondi Beach

4pm
Liberty Lounge or Lambrock Cafe on Bondi Beach

5pm
Work at Gym

9pm
Quay or Doyles at the Quay - In Circular Quay

10pm
Circular Quay/The Rocks

Friday
Mar 21

9am
Waves Surf School!!!

8pm
Wildfire Restaurant & Bar in Circular Quay West


Saturday
Mar 22

9am
Koala Sanctuary or Snorkeling at Clovely Bay

2pm
Work at Gym

4:30pm
The Rocks Pub Tour

Sunday
Mar 23
Easter Sunday

8am
Church/ Brunch

2:30pm
Rob Departs Sydney

So stick that in your pipe and smoke it!

Stolen Stuff

This past weekend (March 7-9) definitely had it's ups and downs, but I'd say only about 20% ups and 80% downs. Most of Friday night was spent debating on whether or not to go out on the town. Then at about 10:00pm it started pouring down rain, so our decision was made. We stayed in and watched TV all night.

Saturday night I had plans to go out with a new friend of mine named Antony. He works at a bar in Darling Harbor called Wallaby Bar, so we planned on starting there and then he had some other spots picked out for us to go. Antony met me outside of my apartment and we headed to DH. Wallaby bar was pretty cool, but a younger crowd. After we'd been there for about 10min a guy approached me with the typical, "Where are you from?" and then, "How old are you?" When I said 23 he put his hands up and said, "Woah, you're too old for me!" Ouch.

So after we had a few (too many) drinks at Wallaby Bar we headed out for the next destination. Somewhere along the walk we got in an intense argument about where Croatia was located and which countries surrounded it (don't ask) and we sat down on some steps so he could look it up on his phone. For the record, I was right. Now, the theories differ here but I'm sticking with my story. When we sat down, I laid my purse (correction: Gracie's purse) on the step next to me. When we settled the Croatia debate and got up to leave: no purse. We immediately called my phone and it was shut off, so it was definitely in someone else's hands. I felt bad enough about losing Gracie's purse, but on top of that was my phone, camera, keys to my apartment, keys to the gym, my wallet with $70 and 5 credit/debit cards, and my South Carolina id, and my lip gloss. Bugger.

Antony was SO sweet and walked me back to my flat and looked up all of the phone numbers to my banks online. He kept dialing the number for a bank, putting the phone under my head on my ear as I was falling asleep on the couch, and trying to keep me awake enough to talk to the customer service agent. I kept waking up and complaining about how bad it sucked that my lip gloss was gone. HaHa

I got all of my cards canceled and now I've gotten all the new ones reissued, but it hasn't been the easiest task. I also filed a police report and paid Gracie back for the purse. Also, Antony had a spare phone that he is letting me borrow (much nicer than my old one too) and I got to keep my same phone number. That was really cool of him. I guess it's not the worst thing that could have happened, but it was inconvenient to say the least.


The End

Mardi Gras 2008

Before I publish any pictures from Mardi Gras let me clarify that in Sydney, Mardi Gras is not the same as in New Orleans. Mardi Gras in Sydney is a huge Gay and Lesbian pride festival and parade. It pretty much takes over the city, as it is one of the largest such events in the world.

On Mardi Gras, I headed out to the parade around 4pm with 4 German girls and my friend Glen who came down from Central Coast.

L to R: Melanie (will be moving in to apartment in a few weeks), Nora, Julia, me, Catarina

Somehow I lost the girls pretty soon after getting downtown (typical, I know), so I spent most of the night with Glen and his friend Brett.

Brett and Glen. Brett is tall

So after about an hour or 2 of the parade-which included the classy Dikes on Bikes and Gay Cops-we started seeing these pink Australian flags so we went on a hunt to find some for ourselves. I wanted one so bad at the time for some reason. We finally found the flags and tied them around us so we could look more festive during the parade.

After our journey to find the flags we came across a homeless man selling random merchandise and I picked up this sexy wig (below) for $2 and the guys got a couple of hats.

The night ended for me at about 11:30pm because it started at about 3pm. Haha, another fun filled night in Australia. Always an adventure....

Canberra

I'm a little behind on the updates, so let me backtrack a little:

2 weekends ago Katie, Gracie and I took a Greyhound bus down to Canberra. For everyone who thinks that Sydney is the capitol of Australia: guess again. The capitol is a lovely little place called Canberra and it's about as different from Sydney as it could be. It's a pleasant, pre-planned city that's nice and clean and everything looks so put together. Ask any Canberrian what they think about their home and they'll say the same thing: "Great place to live, but why would anyone visit?" Here are some scenic shots I got:

View from The Lookout

Parliament House

War Memorial

The real reason that we went to Canberra was for Gracie and Katie's friend (Joe)'s birthday party. The party wasn't until Saturday night and we arrived at his house on Friday night. We were welcomed by his family in typical Australian fashion. They were so nice and let us stay the weekend with them. Joe's mom fixed us some pasta when we got in and it was nice to have a real meal.

After we got dressed and ready we hit the town and went to a club called Academy in Civic (a part of Canberra). It was a really good time and Joe and his friend Geoff-later nicknamed "Josepheeny Weenie and Geoffy Poodle"-took good care of us.

Outside of Academy with some new friends

L to R: Gracie, Joe, Katie, Geoff, Me

The next night (Saturday night) was Joe's party and it was hilarious! It was a costume party, and everyone went ALL OUT. Gracie, Katie and I weren't prepared and didn't have anything to wear. Honestly, we thought Joe was lying to us when he told us we had to dress up. We thought he was trying to trick us into looking like stupid American/Canadians all dressed up for no reason. But Joe's mom helped us put together our costumes and I went as Cleapatra in a toga, Gracie was Pocahauntas, and Katie was....well...I don't really know. She threw on some uniform that was funny to all the Canberrians but we didn't get it. I think it was a high school rugby shirt or something.

Anyway, Joe's brother Mardo went as Duffman from the Simpsons and his costume was hysterical. Halfway through the party I was sitting and talking to him and he goes, "Wanna trade costumes?" and I was like, "HECK YEAH!" Haha, so I ended up as Duffman before the night was over. At one point I put on a Wiggles shirt of someone elses but I got the evil eye from Mardo so I took it off ASAP. Haha, overall a fun weekend!

Me, Katie, Geoffy Poodle

All of us with Mama Roos (Joe the birthday boy is in the back as Captain Jack Sparrow)

Jack Sparrow, Cleapatra, Pocahauntas, Duffman, and Tooth Fairy


The Switch

Geoff, Katie, and DuffWOman

The birthday boy and Katie