The Red Centre - Part One: A Town Called Alice

It's been a bit quiet on the blog for the past few weeks and that's because I've been saving up for a trip to "the red centre". I decided to be a backpacker so found a nice little hostel just outside town and prepared myself for hanging out with some 18 year old gap year backpackers. Here's my hostel. Note the security gates...

Alice Springs is a quiet town. It has a river - see below. It's a bit dry.

The biggest difference to Sydney (at least the part that I live in) was the presence of a large Aboriginal Community. The white Australians seem to be trying their best to integrate them in to the white society but the success of this is a long, long way off.

I felt a bit uncomfortable taking a photo but to give you an idea, there are a lot of people sitting in the shade like this. If I'm honest, I was glad to be only spending one night in Alice before my trip in to the outback.

"Clare... It's an emergency..."

I came home from a hard day at school to hear a weirdly loud, drill-like sound coming from our toilet. When I looked round the door, what can only be politely described as "brown sludge", started fountaining out of the bowl.

Not pleasant and pretty scary as it started to leak out of the bathroom onto the carpet!!!!

It turned out the plumber was testing the pipes out in the downstairs flat.... It took me an hour and a half to clean up (obviously I had time to take a photo for the blog) and the flat still smells disgusting.

I apologise if anyone is offended by the above photo... (the toilet not the one of me cleaning....)

Goulburn Revisited

And now I know how to spell it! ...

Another weekend, another weekend away. This time to Clare's farm for some more pizza action. I thought I'd seen the best of Goulburn on my last visit but Clare had clearly left the best sights for this time.

We went to the famous historical waterworks.

The brewery, owned by the local priest.

We were the only visitors here but apparently they were having a "quiet" weekend. It's usually packed full of tourists... Can you believe that Clare had never ever visited this amazing attraction?!

As the only visitors we were able to take up prime position in the beer garden for a taste of the local brew and a cheese platter.

The best part of the weekend was spending time on the farm, which is absolutely gorgeous, quiet and peaceful. I managed to avoid getting bitten by spiders, snakes or massive ants when I had a little walk round to take some pictures.

Then back to Sydney on Sunday for an extremely warm Sunday afternoon on the beach. It's a hard life!

I love Jervis Bay...

I met Matt Wingate's cousin for dinner this week and he said - "Have you been to Jervis Bay?" When I said no, he suggested I pay it a visit. Helen doesn't get out much these days so she was especially excited to come too.

Only two hours from Sydney in the Subaru and we arrived at a very pretty little town with beautiful beaches and no people. It's winter here so too cold to go on the beach ..... brrrr...

Hyam's beach has the whitest sand in the world apparently - it was very white indeed....

I keenly got up on Sunday to check out the sunrise but it was a bit cloudy. Sensibly the Whittles stayed in bed. Spot the tourist.

We also visited Kangaroo Valley, "a little piece of England in the middle of Australia" - it was all gorgeous (no Kangaroos) but we did see an echidna crossing the road which I was quite excited about.

007 - A Time To Bond

Clare decided to have a big party for her birthday this year and as her favourite housemate I was invited "plus one" to join her at the Italian Village in Sydney. Gorgeous location, stunning views over to the Opera House.

Helen and I took the fancy dress part of the invite seriously and in my opinion, looked very James Bond (or Austin Powers/Pulp Fiction)....

I met lots more of Clare's family who had made an equally special effort with their costumes...

Drank some James Bond cocktails .....

And was proud to be one of the few still standing at the end of the party!!! Happy Birthday to you Clare!

Scooter Girl

I took the day off work on Monday and Tuesday this week to do my motorcycle learner course -Two days in a carpark in the middle of nowhere with some scary men in leather jackets. I was the only person learning on a scooter. Luckily I didn't get put into the remedial class unlike Cara and Joe who managed to drive their bikes in to the plastic barrier.

Clare told me it was easy to ride a scooter on the road. I have literally never been so scared in my whole life. I made the mistake of going out at 5pm on a Saturday evening when everyone was on their way back from the beach and thought I was going to die. So I got up at 6am on Sunday morning, for two hour driving practise on empty roads.

By the end of Sunday I had managed to complete journeys to Bondi, Bronte and over to Helen's and negotiated my way home in the dark. I can't say I am enjoying it but apparently it gets easier. I think the helmet could be a little bit bigger.....?!

The City to Surf!

The City to Surf is an annual 14k fun run from central Sydney all the way to Bondi Beach. More than 70, 000 people take part in the race and this year two extra competitors were on the starting line...... We may not have have been the fastest runners in the race....

But I sincerely believe we were among the coolest. Clare managed to look a little bit cooler than me with her Roberto Cavalli sun glasses....

I borrowed them, but still didn't look quite as fancy... (a bit more like John McEnroe?!)

We both finished in acceptable times: Clare in 92 minutes and me in about 100 minutes - I was so proud and I am still wearing my medal along with my headband and sun visor. Just call me Paula....