Tag Archives: Sydney

Seeing Sydney by motorcycle

Posted on by
1

About 4 months ago, I bought my first motorcycle.  I say the “first” because I’ve been reliably told by my biker friends that you never stay with your first ever bike. The longer you ride, the more you want to keep buying and riding bigger and better bikes, so you’re always looking for the “next” bike.

I actually obtained my motorcycle licence in late 2009 while I was living in the UK.  It was on a trip to Cornwall with my mate Graham, driving around the windy country roads, that I thought it would be a wonderful experience to ride around Britain.  However, soon after I passed my test I embarked on my Central American backpacking trip and then never ended up buying a bike upon my return to London as I knew I would be soon moving back to Sydney.

With a full riders licence, I was tempted to buy a big bike, but being essentially a rider with no experience I thought I’d just get a little bike and get confident before I upgrade.  This is my sweet ride – my Honda VTR 250.  Looks a bit like a Ducati Monster!

One of the best things about having a bike is taking the time to actually go out riding and checking out parts of Sydney that I would never bother to visit otherwise in a car.  With Mark and my other biker friends, I’ve checked out Wisemans Ferry, the Royal National Park, the Old Pacific Highway north from Sydney, and just last weekend to Ku-rin-gai National Park to West Head to check out the view towards Palm Beach.

Another great thing that I’ve discovered is a fun riding community.  Last month was the annual Pink Ribbon ride, where riders of all descriptions come out and deck their bikes in pink all in the name of charity.  There are even some serious looking biker men with their goatees dyed pink!

It was so much fun riding out in a big group of motorcycles.  I think I’m seeing the appeal of joining a gang!

Dive 284: The Apartments, Long Reef

Posted on by
Reply

Dive time: 00:47:00
Max depth: 23.8 metres
Temperature: 17 C
Visibility: 10 metres
Buddy: Caro

This dive was organised by Steve and his mate Greg on our own private charter with Herb.  It was my first dive in Sydney since the one with Steve back in March.

We motored out to Long Reef and jumped into the water.  Even with my hood on I could feel the water was freezing cold.  I spent most of the dive mulling over whether I could bear doing a second dive in this ice cold water.

The reef was mostly big granite boulders with kelp on top.  We saw quite a few blue groupers (male and female), big schools of eastern pomfrets, old wives, striped wrasse, a large Sargent Baker and leatherjacket.

I felt a bit overweighted for the dive.  I sank like a stone when I first descended and had to pump a fair bit of air during the dive to stay neutral.  Must remember next time not to use 4 weights!

In the end I decided not to do the second dive, and just enjoyed the surface interval where we putted around whale spotting, and even saw two baby humpbacks performing full breaches.  Amazing!

Dive 262: Gordon’s Bay, Clovelly

Posted on by
Reply

Dive time: 00:43:00
Max depth: 14.3 metres
Temperature: 20 C
Visibility: 8 metres
Buddy: Steve Connolly

The enduring memory of diving at Gordon’s Bay for me was Dive 14 when our group struggled at the exit point at low tide, rolling around on the rocks while wave after wave assaulted us.

Thankfully this dive wasn’t as eventful, with a fairly easy entry and mellow, chill out dive. The water was an icy 20C though, and Steve was only wearing a 3mm wetsuit so he started feeling the cold quickly. We saw a Port Jackson shark, a few stingarees, a blue grouper, and a fiddler ray.

We ended up exiting along the rocks, not quite making the exit point, but happy to be out of the cold water. Poor Steve was shivering like a Parkinson’s sufferer!

The year that was

Posted on by
Reply

As 2011 nears its end, I thought it might be time to reflect on what amazing things I saw or did during the year, and what crap things occurred that I hope to have learnt from!

The biggest thing that happened in the year was moving back to Sydney from London. It was pretty tough settling back into a routine and giving up the nomad lifestyle, but now that I’ve an established a bunch of friends that enjoy catching up for socials and food tours, and am loving being back in my Balmain flat, things are getting easier. It doesn’t mean that I don’t contemplate moving back to London, which I would do in a heartbeat if a) the economy and job market were in better shape, and b) if the salaries in London weren’t so stupidly crap.

Considering that I spent most of the year in Australia, it actually wasn’t a bad year for travelling. I welcomed in the new year skiing in Italy, then made some short trips to Iceland, Poland, Turkey, Lebanon, Singapore, and New Zealand. I will be sending off the year in Japan!

20111227-085122 PM.jpg

20111227-090148 PM.jpg

There is nothing at all to report on the relationship front. Yet more harassment from the parentals as to the whereabouts of my future husband (there was some part of me that wanted to stay abroad!), but sadly for them, there seems to be a shortage of available, nice, interesting and intelligent men in Sydney. I think that 2012 might be the year of Internet dating!

So all in all, I’d give 2011 a rating of 7 out of 10. I wish that I could have figured out what I want out of my career by now, and I wish I had a few more friends that were up for some fun days or weekends away (trying to get people to come to music festivals, diving and ski trips this year has been an impossibility) but otherwise I’m financially secure and have very few cares in the world. The issues above are very definitely First World Problems!!

How would you rate your 2011? What do you hope for 2012?

Leading with the stomach

Posted on by
Reply

Coming back to Sydney after three years away makes me feel like a tourist in my home city.  As a result, I was looking for ways to explore new areas of Sydney and what better way is there than through culinary explorations of all of its ethnic enclaves.  Oh, and I love eating!

So every month since September, I’ve been organising a group of intrepid food lovers that were willing to travel further west than the CBD in search for a feed.

September food tour – Indian in Harris Park

I asked an Indian colleague where I could find the best and most authentic Indian curry in Sydney.  He immediately responded “It has to be Harris Park”, and I blurted out, “where the heck is Harris Park?”.  It turns out that it is right next to Parramatta, and walking around  the main section of Marion Street we passed Indian sweet shops, grocery stores with Bollywood movie posters stuck on the windows, and many Indian restaurants.

My colleague’s recommendation of the Copper Chimney didn’t disappoint.  Our table of 12 shared several delicious starters, including samosas and tandoori chicken, and a vast array of meat and vegetable curries, such as goat saagwala, lamb rogan josh and curry chicken.  All the curries were relatively mild as I had completely forgotten my colleague’s comment that they make everything mild to cater for us piss-weak non-Indians with sensitive stomachs, and we should specifically request for a spicier dish.

[Photo courtesy of NicCooks.com]

It was a definitely worthwhile trek out west for an Indian feed, and if I was in the area I’d drop by for a curry.  Unfortunately I don’t think they would home deliver the 45-minute drive to Balmain.

October food tour – Vietnamese in Cabramatta

When you mention “Cabramatta” to a Sydneysider, their first thought will be “Vietnamese”, shortly followed by “violent shootings”.  Yes, Cabramatta has been notorious in the past for gun crimes and drug dealing, but hey, if you want to experience Vietnamese food in the heart of Little Vietnam, Cabra is where you go.

I read some good reviews of Tan Viet, who specialise in crispy chicken.  Our group of 14 piled into the restaurant to the curious gazes of the locals, with some people trying out the crispy chicken specialty, and others settling for noodles.  The food came extraordinarily quickly, piled with fresh herb flavours and a waft of pungent fish sauce.  And we didn’t see anything dodgy in the Cabra streets on our early Sunday evening at all!

November food tour – Italian in Haberfield

I debated whether an Italian night out was worthwhile, since the well-known fare of pasta and pizza is pretty pedestrian in adventure terms, however I challenged everyone to order something that they wouldn’t normally eat at an Italian restaurant.  Leichhardt is more traditionally and commercially known as Little Italy in Sydney, however Haberfield has probably taken over the mantle.

A few friends had recommended Dolcissimo in Haberfield for fabulous food, although one had pre-warned me about “the worst service in the world”.  With those low expectations, the ten of us were pleased to have our food arrive within an hour of ordering!  I never cook veal at home, so I ordered the scallopine di vitello all a pizzaiolla, which was cooked perfectly tender and served with a lovely olive and caper tomato sauce.  For dessert, I couldn’t resist a canolo with a creamy ricotta filling, and I am not kidding you when I say that I have been dreaming of canoli almost every day since!

December food tour – Lebanese in Lakemba

Ever since I went to Lebanon in January, I have been slightly obsessed with Lebanese food.  The smoky grilled meats, creamy hummus and baba ganoush, fresh tabouleh and fattoush, and the acceptable (actually, expected) practice of eating with your hands – bliss! And oh, that garlic sauce!

Three unrelated friends of mine recommended Jasmins restaurant in Lakemba, which is home to one of the largest mosques in Australia.  Despite having been warned that there would be a lot of food and there was very little chance of finishing everything, I was completely out of the running after going too hard too early when the bread first came out, with plates of that delicious, light and fluffy garlic sauce, as well as sliced tomato, mint, onion and olives.  By the time our 13 respective mixed plates came, piled with an assortment of lamb shish kebab, smoky grilled chicken, lamb shwarma, kebbe and felafel (not to mention the hummus, fuhl and tabouleh), we were almost full!  Everything was delicious, especially the grilled chicken and kebbe, and I think we all polished off almost every dollop of garlic sauce served to our table.

But wow, what a feast, and I discovered that Lakemba is actually only a 25 minute drive from home, so I can definitely see Jasmins becoming a regular eatery of mine.

The new year will bring lots of new food adventures, with plans for Korean, Portuguese, Turkish, and Croatian to name a few!  So much eating to do.

The adjustment period

Posted on by
3

Almost every single Australian that heads to the UK intends to return Down Under.  Some return after their one-year working holiday, pulling beers at their local pub and then blowing all the money they earned on a shitty flatshare in Shepherd’s Bush and a few Contiki tours.  For others, they end up settling into British life and staying longer than they had initially planned, until they get sick of the weather, and of moaning constantly about how things are better in Australia.

I was one of the latter antipodeans, and returned after three-and-a-bit years away.  Having been back in Australia for nine months now, all I can do is reminisce fondly about is how life was better in London.  Sure the weather was a bit crap, and people always mocked me for saying “thongs”, and “DAH-tah” instead of “DAY-tah”, but it’s only after coming back that I’ve realised in what an expensive, isolated, and history-deprived country we live.  Grocery shopping is a depressing experience when you realise that everything costs twice as much as the UK.  On my second day back in the country, my brother took me to a cafe where an almond croissant cost $5.50 and all I could think about was how it would only cost me £1.70 (less than $3!) in Paul.  Jumping in a plane for 2 hours will get you from London to Barcelona for a weekend city break, but doesn’t even get you from Sydney to Auckland.  And in the UK, you can visit cities that were formerly Norse kingdoms, and ancient Pagan stone circles.  In Australia, we have a some cave drawings in remote parts of the country, and Heritage-listed buildings that are only 100 years old.

Before you all tell me to bugger off back to Engerland, there are of course upsides to living in Australia.  It goes without saying that the weather is rather more pleasant, we have proper beaches, and we have great Asian food.  Our economy is still putting along rather nicely, and incomes are a damn sight better than they are in troubled UK economy.  The newspapers don’t just contain headlines about which married footballer was caught with his pants down with some seedy WAG wannabe.  And our transport system doesn’t grind to a halt from dumpings of snow:

 

It has taken me a little time to adjust back to Sydney life, but things are going well.  I have a new job and a new car, I’m back living in my little Balmain flat, and I have quite a few travel plans in the pipeline.  So all in all, life is good!  How are you guys going?

A test of patience

Posted on by
Reply

Having spent the last seven weeks in the glorious Australian summer, it’s just so easy to fall back in love with all the aspects of the country that I missed when I was in London.  Being so close to friends and family is wonderful, as well as enjoying endless weeks of sunshine, the laid back culture, the fantastic fresh food and wine, and did I mention the weather??

While I’ve been impatiently waiting for the British Consulate to check a few boxes and hopefully approve my visa, I’ve been considering the possibility of having my visa rejected yet again, and formulating an alternative plan.  Needless to say, if my visa gets rejected again, I will find it incredibly hard to justify throwing more money on top of the almost $2000 that I’ve already spent on visas.

Brainstorming an alternative plan has actually been really quite stimulating, and to be honest, it is so exciting that I’m beginning to become a little indifferent as to whether I head back to the UK or not!  I would buy a round-the-world ticket, backpack for up to 6 months in the cheaper parts of the world (Asia, Central America, South America) via London, to pack up all my stuff and ship it home.  No doubt I would then be nearing my 30th birthday, which I would love to celebrate by doing something completely crazy, or just being in a really special place like Mount Kilimanjaro or Iguazu Falls.  Then I could return to Sydney and look to kick off my business idea, return to taekwondo training and also possibly start my own class.

Now you see why I would be excited right??

Having said all that though, I really am looking forward to returning to London.  I miss the big city life, London’s melting pot of culture, the European travel, and just wanting to live out my dream of living abroad for an extended period of time.  I know that if I didn’t make it back to London then it would be something that I’d always regret.

Still, it does rile me that some unskilled worker from Poland can so easily enter and work in the UK, whereas I’m highly qualified and experienced and will no doubt be paying a lot more taxes to the British government and therefore contributing more to the culture and society there.  It just doesn’t make sense does it?  But then again, since when was government bureaucracy rational?