Brrrrr, it's cold in this hemisphere...

The man on the news last night was pleased to report that it would be a mild night and would only get down to 8 degrees, with temperatures not rising much higher tomorrow. What the hell is going on? Nope, global warming hasn't gone into reverse in Oz, I've just come back to the UK. Yup, couldn't take it anymore and have left Pete in Sydney to fly home to the family. I arrived back yesterday and am now trying to get over the jet lag. A strange thing to do when the weather is getting lovely, I have found a cool place to live in the centre of Sydney, made friends and even found a job (yup, managed it, KC Australia for some reason thought it was a good idea to take offer me a job). Ah well, sometimes you just have to do what's right for you...

Shocked? You should be. Shame on you also if you believed I'd do such a thing! I am in the UK, but a flying visit for 2 weeks for my sister's graduation. It was a graduation surprise for Jane from my parents, flying me home, so fly home I did this weekend... 24 hours in the air and then the rest on the ground... Yawn. I am fair jiggered. Jane had no idea. Mam and dad had asked Jane to pick mam's friend up from the station as mam was away in the lakes - an unusual request to say the least as said friend doesn't live here, she lives about half an hour away. Jane was fuming, as she'd looked forward to a nice Sunday night in. Dad came with her as he said he didn't mind picking the friend up but could Jane come too. As my train pulled into the platform, dad handed Jane a ticket to her graduation and said "here, you'll need this for the person getting off the train". Jane erupted, asking why the bloody hell they'd invited mam's mate to her graduation when some of her friends were struggling to get enough tickets for their close family. Previous to this there had been various altercations between my father and my sister as Dad seemed to constantly contradict Jane's various musings about her little sister, including one about the weather: Jane said "I bet it's warm where Faye is" to which dad replied "no, I think she'll be enjoying pretty much the same weather as us" (I was on the train) to which Jane just took a little fit at dad being so contrary when it was obvisouly going to be a lot nicer in Sydney than the pissy grey weather they're having here. Anyway, by the time my train pulled in she was thoroughly pissed off with our father which made seeing me step off the train even more shocking. I saw dad first and then was a little surprised to see Jane. She was more than a little surprised, I've never seen a look of such shock on anyone's face! She then burst into tears, proper sobs. So I think she was pleased to see me. Either that or very relieved to discover that mam is not having an affair and was in fact speaking in code to me on the phone the other night instead of speaking to her illicit lover, as previsouly suspected by my confused sister.
So, it's all worked out marvellously. Ta to ma and pa for forking out for me to fly back... it is so weird to be here... I left a beautiful, sunny Sydney and arrived in a beautiful, grey north of England. Sorry, you can't beat the UK, even in the rain Yorkshire is just the prettiest place on the planet in my eyes. I packed my hiking boots so I can enjoy it and apparently my trusty Raleigh is oiled and pumped up and eagerly awaiting me in the garage. Ah, I've missed my bike.
The graduation is next week and until then I plan to cycle and walk enough to work off all the cheese pasties, wotsits, bacon crispies, Walkers cheese and onion, Cadbury's, ham and pease pudding sarnies, Yorkshire puddings, home-made quiches and bottles of Magners I can possibly stuff into my belly. Mmmmm. That and party with my sis - we still need to celebrate my 30th. And see my mate Jenny's bab as I have only a photo so far.
After that I will fly back to my other home - Pete moves in on Wednesday, luckily our mates Matt and Elena are already moved in to keep him company (or lead him astray - although we're quite good at doing that ourselves - on Friday we all went to our local only to discover our local is a bar for girls who like girls, ah well, it was a larf). And yes, you did read it correctly up above... I start work with KC Australia the Monday I get back to Sydney. I'll be working on training prep for their South Asia project whilst someone is on maternity leave. Thanks to my mate Abby for all her efforts with my CV, she's a star, a true mate. The offices look out over the harbour bridge and I will pass the Opera House every morning on my way to work! Hurrah! Money to spend in all the restauarants and bars in the Sydney Eats guide that I've bought. Oh, can't wait... living in Sydney is going to be sooooo cool.

Life is good.

Home, sweet home

Hello from Sydney... our home for the next couple of months. We arrived on Monday night and since then we have seen most of Sydney and phoned practically every possible lead on accommodation that we could find. We're exhausted! Yesterday we almost threw in the towel because we decided Sydney hated us. On Wednesday, we found a really cool room in a share house in Newtown (cool area) but when we said that we'd like to move in, the girls moving out said they hadn't started looking for anywhere else yet (they fancied a change for summer, maybe the beaches). So that was that really as we knew that when they started looking they'd realise that what they had already was a fab deal and would change their minds about moving out. Pete's still convinced it was because he mistook one of the girls as a boy (in his defence, she did look like a boy) when she was, in fact, the other girl's partner (Newtown is known for that kind of thing). So back to the adverts again. On Friday night we found a really really cool place - sharing with 2 lads but we had our own floor in the flat with a big double room with ensuite, a walk in wardrobe that was as big as another bedroom and a big private balcony with views of the CBD. Ecstatic we contacted the landlady to say we'd take it and to arrange to meet her on Sunday. Upon arriving back at the hostel we looked up the area (Redfern) in our guide book to see what joys awaited us, only to find that the only entry for Redfern was a little box explaining that it was "the closest Sydney has to a no-go area". Further investigation revealed that it was the site of Aboriginal riots 2 years ago and that the 6 storey police station on the road our flat was on had been built to address the crime rate in the area. We were gutted and torn - we were so tired of constant searching. But a trip to said police station made up our minds for us when the bobby said "if you want to enjoy my country, do yourself a favour and don't live here". Safety first and all so we sacked that flat off too. To quote Maria from the Sound of Music, "when God closes a door, somewhere he opens a window" and said window has come in the form of 92 Flinders Street ... a newly renovated share house (so new, we can't move in yet as they're finishing our room) right close to Oxford Street (fab cafes, bars, shops, restaurants, home to Mardi Gras). Our room has a brand new ensuite, a new big double bed, 2-seater sofa, TV, fridge and a big verandah which will be newly painted. A couple of friends we've made in our hostel have taken another room in the house too... we'll be sharing with 8 others... Party!! Can't wait to move in. We're now so excited about living in Sydney. It's going to be great. Now all we have to do is find jobs! Fingers crossed guys.