Touristy Stuff

I've now been in Sydney for 4 days and yesterday I finally went and did some of the touristy stuff. My friend James, who I met in England, has a friend named Emma that is currently living in Sydney so we got together via facebook and went for a walk over the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It was quite a walk, mostly because it was so ridiculously humid, but also very pretty and had amazing views of the Sydney Opera House.




I spent the entire first half of yesterday sitting in front of the computer trying to get my mobile internet to work. It's actually a pretty cool concept when it works. Basically I can use my phone as a modem and I just purchase data on a prepaid basis. The only problem was the software to do it came on a CD and I don't have a CD drive on my computer. I went down to Telstra, the phone company I'm using, and they very kindly transferred the data on the CD to a thumb drive and then I could load it on my computer. It took a while but the good news is it works. Telstra is the only network provider with service in over 95% of Australia so even though its a bit more expensive I chose to go with them since I plan on spending a fair amount of time out of the big cities.

Tonight is the Mardi Gras Gay and Lesbian Parade which should be crazy. I met a German girl named Irina at the house party Dean through and she's invited me to go out with her so I wont be alone. The house party was a lot of fun. Dean cooked kangaroo, which is surprisingly delicious, and we made sangria. The most entertaining part of the day had to be the preparation of the cheese souffle, which turned out to be more cheese omelets in their own separate cups. Regardless they were quite delicious.

Monday I leave for Wingham, a town not even the Aussies have heard of. Hopefully Telstra's famed coverage extends there and I will be able to get on the internet and update on my farm adventures.

Until Wingham!

Welcome to Sydney

14 hour flights = not fun, but its all good cause I'm here in Sydney. I found my CoucSsurfing apartment quite easily and have spent the last day wandering around Sydney looking for free wireless internet.

So far my observations about Sydney are:

-Holy crap its expensive, $4 for a vitamin water, $15.50 to take the train from the Airport on a 10 minute ride to Town Hall Station.

-It kind of reminds me of Disneyland, or at least Darling Harbour does. Mostly because there is a Monorail and "people movers", little toy train looking things that take you around the harbour.



-It feels too much like New York, London...basically every big city I've ever been to. I'm already ready to get out of the city and out into the country or outback.

-Its really really humid. I am going to be one giant pimple in a week, and my hair is already curling. Me and curly hair don't mix.

-Its hard to find free wifi...or at least free wifi that is faster than a snail. McDonalds has it and if you hit it at a slow customer time its pretty fast, Starbucks has it too but I haven't tried there's. It kinda sucks to have to frequent an American establishment to get internet but I guess that's the price we pay for free communication.

In other news, the guy I am staying with, Dean is very nice. We're going to have a dinner party on Thursday with some people we met in the hot tub last night and his french tutor. He's a chef so it should be pretty excellent. I've already decided I need out of the city and have written to several people on HelpExchange asking if they could put me up. A couple named Ant and Jane have agreed to allow me to work for them starting next week and staying till the 24th of March if I want.

I got a cell phone, after sitting forever in Telstra because they couldn't get my credit information. They finally had to give me a prepaid service instead of the monthly one which should be fine as I plan on using Skype more than anything anyways. I guess thats it for now as my computer is about to die and I left my converter thing in the apartment. Hope everyone is doing well and I'll be sure to update when I can find free internet.

The Nitty Gritty

Only one day left until Australia so I thought I'd update everyone on some of the details of the trip. After I arrive in Australia and use some of the products I have purchased to help me in my travels (ie. travel insurance, mail services)I will update on what I think of the quality.

First off, the flight. I am flying on a non-stop flight with United from L.A. to Sydney. Hopefully the non-stop option was the correct one. I know some people who have stopped off in Fiji or Asia but I think I'd rather just stick it out and sleep as much as possible without worrying about changing flights. Fourteen hours is going to be a long flight no matter what.

I did decide to purchase travel insurance, mostly for emergencies. I found it interesting that if I was a UK citizen I would have access to Australia's basic universal health insurance called Medicare. Since I am from the U.S., however, I don't have that luxury, which means I might really need that travel insurance. After quite a bit of research and some number crunching I decided to go with HCC Medical Insurance Services' Atlas International package. The total cost was $300 US. for a year and it seems to provide me with most of what I will need, including a relatively low deductible of only $250. What the travel insurance doesn't cover is prescriptions for pre-existing conditions, such as birth control etc. It will be interesting to see how I will be able to get my prescriptions refilled in a few months, but for now I've got enough to last me.

Whats left...? Bank account - went with Westpac. I applied and received my bank account online, which is a really nice feature they provide. As of now I can put money into the account but until I arrive in Australia and provide them with my passport and proof of address I can't take any money out. Still its nice to not have to deal with applying for an account when I get there.

The only thing left then is actually getting a permanent address...and I managed to do that online before I left as well. GoWorkabout.com offers a mail holding service for one year. For $50 AUD, around $45 US, they will provide you with a permanent address and will either open your mail, scan it, and e-mail you the scans, or will hold your mail until you request it to be sent to you. Having this address already should make it much easier for me to get access to my bank account and get a Tax Id number. I did request that they open and scan my mail since I have no idea when I'll have access to a permanent address.

Well my next post should be from Australia! I'll be sure to let everyone know I'm there and safe.

Bye Until Australia!!

The Countdown Begins, 3 Days till Australia

3 Days!

That's right, in only 3 days I will be boarding a plane to Australia where I will spend the next 12 months of my life. Everyone I know keeps telling me how exciting it's going to be, how much fun I'm going to have, but to tell the truth I'm nervous, very very nervous.

I've traveled abroad many times before, even living in London, England for 3 months, but nothing like this. In England I traveled with kids from school, had a set place to live, a bank account already set up, and most importantly a schedule. Australia is going to be a different type of adventure all together. I do have a few far distant family members whom I have never met living there to turn to in case of a dire emergency but aside from that I am completely alone.

Actually, that's not entirely true. Based on advice from friends I signed up for a website called CouchSurfing.org. CouchSurfing is a site designed to set up travelers with no where to spend the night with people who are willing to lend them a couch. The site boasts 1,690,425 members from over 200 countries and so far it seems to be a valuable resource. I have joined many forums relating to traveling in Australia and made a few connections with others living in the area but CouchSurfing's biggest test will come after my arrival since I am planning on spend my first few nights surfing on a strangers couch. So far everything seems in order, now all I have to do is find the place once I get there and keep my fingers crossed the guy isn't a creep.

That's all for now...I'll post more later on some of the more delicate details of the trip such as finding airfare, opening a bank account, and buying travel insurance. But for now its time to finish packing!