Australia, Part Two

Okay, another reasonably long post. So here is the summary:

• Flew to Sydney
• Got a tour of Jonathan's Boat
• He bought a snake
• Went to Wollongong
• Got to see everyone there which was fanstastic!

The flight from Canberra was very quick. I had done the trip once before, but that was just on a little Dash 8. This time it was a 737. We were lucky to be in the air for less then 25 minutes, but the flight attendants were still able to serve the people in business class (unfortunately not me) a full meal!

Jonathan met me in Sydney and we headed back to his house in St. Leonards. It is a pretty cool place. He lives on the 19th floor with amazing views over the harbour. Mark (our cousin), Christine (a friend of Mark's), Jonathan and I then headed to Gilroys for dinner.

Jonathan then took me down to HMAS Waterhen to show me the ship he is serving on (HMAS Gascoyne). It was a diddy little ship - a trip to Singapore in that thing would be a bit of a challenge. We then walked back to his house - it was a lovely night and the Northern Suburbs of Sydney are really nice to walk around in.

The next day we headed into the city for a look around. We did not really do much except go and see Walk the Line at the cinema. It is a fantastic movie, so if you have not seen it yet, you should. Speaking of which, did you hear about the Hollywood actress who killed her husband. It was Reese someone. No, not Witherspoon, With a knife (hahahaha). Anyway, we just walked around the city for the rest of the day taking it easy - it was nice.

The next day, after a quiet morning, Jonathan and I went and picked a hire car and headed down to Wollongong. I was "lucky" enough to be upgraded, so we could have fit an entire football team in the car. Anyway, we first went to Kearns (where we were staying that night), had a quick shower and then headed out for dinner. Kearns had arranged dinner with some people I used to work with at BHP IT/CSC which was nice. It was great to catch up with them all again (it had been a while). The restaurant was pretty nice as well, unfortunately I can't remember the name of it.

The next day we walked around Wollongong for a bit. Jonathan had recently bought a snake (yes I know) and wanted to go to the pet shop to get some fuzzies (really tiny dead mice) for it. We then headed out to Warrawong and had lunch with Joe and Michelle (people I use to work with as well). Joe gave me the keys to his and Linda's place (where we were staying last night) so we headed straight over there. They had moved since I came to the UK, and were now in the penthouse in their building. It was a pretty cool place. Just one street back from the beach. Really nice! Jonathan and I went for a walk and ended up at the North Gong Pub (a favourite of Jonathan's for some reason). So we sat back and had a couple of beers!

We met Joe and Linda back at their house and then headed over to Belmore Basin for some fish and chips for dinner. Michelle and Wayne (and their dog, Max) met us there and we just sat outside. It was really nice. We then headed over for a quiet drink at the Brewery before heading home.

They next day we had a quick coffee at the beach before saying goodbye to Joe, Linda, Jasper and Ella. We drove back to Sydney and hung out at Jonathan's place for a while before he drove me to the airport. I was on my way to Armidale to see the rest of the family.



The view from Jonathan's place,


Joe and Jasper


Linda and Ella


Ella


The Beach!


The Beach!