merry xmas and have a great new year!!!

only 2 more days until xmas, although it does'nt feel like it too much here, i'm looking forward to new years eve at sydney harbour, that should be good....it will be at 1pm new years eve your time.

i went to palm beach the other day which was a lovely place, i got a milkshake at the kiosk they use for home and away and i bought a keyring and took a seashell which looked good. i will include the keyring and seashell in the things i send home soon. it took 1hr 45 mins by bus from central station by the hostel and was $11.20 return (around 5 pound). i saw the summer bay surf club and the wooden fences with the tree's around them just above the beach where the cast shoot scenes occasionally (although they are off until mid-feb, i will go back there at the end of feb and hopefully catch some action)

ive not done too much this weekend, just some shopping which has saved me some money.

i am looking at spending 2-3 weeks in NZ mid-march and catching a test match in wellington and napier (they do good passes for 100 NZ dollars, around 35-40 pound, where you can watch all 5 days)

i want to spend a week in the blue mountains and then maybe hunter valley from jan 9th but i'll see how it all goes.

hope all is going well back home,

take care and have a great xmas and new year

g

got tickets for the ODI today!!

hi, just to let ppl know i got the tickets for todays ODI between australia and NZ at the scg.

its 11:40 am here so i'm going to take a trip to hungry jacks then head down to the ground around half 12.

btw - i did the laundry for the first time here, takes a while but was good enough.

later

g

the first week

hello everyone, the first week here in sydney has been pretty good. ive been to sydney harbour to see the harbour bridge, opera house and the harbour in general, very beautiful place. I spent some time in kings cross and in the main CBD, which is close to where i'm staying.

the hostels were getting booked out pretty quick so i extended my stay until jan 6 - my last surfing lesson is jan 8 so i might look to check out on jan 9 and spend some time in the blue mountains, dubbo or wooloomooloo. i went to a meeting on tuesday at the work and travel office and filled in my tax form and application form so they are looking for work for me although its harder before xmas. i would like to start working asap or my money will get drained.

i've booked the sydney harbour bridge climb for tuesday at 1:05 pm.

i still want to go to taronga zoo, palm beach and bondi which i will be doing soon.

i've also noticed that australia are playing NZ in a ODI tomorrow at sydney so i'm just off to the scg to see if i can get a ticket.

take care, g

australia...just arrived!!!

hi all, just a quick post again, bangkok was a pretty kool place, lots of interesting ppl.

i arrived in sydney about 3 hours ago, the person who was supposed to meet me never showed so i had to get a taxi back to the hostel but everyone is meeting with them at 9am tomorrow to sort things out like the bank account, jobs, city tour, etc..........

i just arrived at the hostel and it seems like a great place, quite lively, there is 4 to a room but it should be an interesting place.

i will be on msn on wednesday night at 10pm your day and time if anyone wants to chat.

my e-mail add's - nfl202020@hotmail.com in case anyone's forgot

catch you all later,

g

bangkok - quick post

hello all, just a quick post to say i hope your all well. its 17:00 on tuesday here. yesterday i walked around the city and looked around nana shopping complex then i got a tuk-tuk to siam square (it was only a 10-15 min ride but he tried to charge to 500 baht! (around 7 pound) but i said no, 100 baht - eventually i agreed on 200 which is only around 2.80 mainly because i was hungry and just wanted to get to the hard rock cafe and get something to eat, then he tried to get me to go to his sponsors, a tailor and lok round so he would get free gas but i said it had to be straight to hard rock cafe with no stops which he eventually agreed on, alot of hassle, taxi's are easier although i got a tuk-tuk today and there where no problems, its also quite fun to zip in and out of traffic as well as quicker then taxi's as you can zip through the traffic at times) - HRC was good where i got some hickory chicken. Today i had a lok at river city shooping complex and then round chinatown which was good (i picked up 2 little pink purses in chinatown at one of the old markets which looked very sweet, one had a cartoon kitty on and the other some cartoon hamsters, they are only little and i will post them in sydney with the postcards - they are for emily and sophie (you can choose who has which one leanne, does emily like hamsters or kittens better? lol) - hopefully it wil all arrive by xmas.

btw - the phone calls i made home cost a combined 40 pound home to mum/dad/jamie, paul and leanne so it must of been around a pound a minute - i will call when i get to sydney, a little expensive but just one of those things, it was good to speak to everyone - i could look into getting a phonecard but i will just wait until next week or so to call)

how did the kestrels do this week?

ummmmm............anything ive forgotten??? i just saw england were blowing the cricket and will probably lose - i'm in lumpini park and i will have a look around then get some things at 7/11 to take back - i will probably look at going into chinatown or patpong tomorrow night but i doubt i will do too much tonight - i will probably go to the grand palace on thursday, i'm not sure what to do tomorrow - its the kings birthday here tomorrow and there are alot of things up in the streets. maybe there will be a festival or something going on, i shall see.

a quick hello too to julie/david/katie and ashely - i heard you all sometimes check this blog, how are you all doing? - i bought a postcard for you all which should arrive by xmas)

how is you fantasy team doing? in the playoffs? i lost by a few points this week so crashed out!!

anyway, i better go (turned into quite a long post)

take care and speak to you soon

byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee (G)