So You Think You Want To Live In Sydney?

A Kiwi friend of mine got back to Sydney last week after a three week trip around NZ's South Island.

She and her Sydneysider-but-born-in-Liverpool-and-will-never-forget-it boyfriend borrowed her parents' motorhome and went for a spin. Apart from dodging other motorhomes, it was a restful, uneventful trip.

At least until they got to Christchurch. In Christchurch my friend 'J' took her man to visit an old school buddy and her bloke. This is a woman who in true Kiwi fashion, doesn't hold back, if she's got something to say, she'll say it.

She started off by asking my friend "so are you guys going to have children here or in Australia?' and the evening just careered along from there, like a motorhome going over the Crown Range.

The bit that really made me laugh out loud was when this woman made a comment assuming my friend J was "rolling in it" in terms of cash. Poor (in more ways than one) J had to try and convince this woman that just because she was living in Sydney, she wasn't fabulously wealthy. J has a respectable job with a respectable large corporate, but she ain't breaking any records for attracting big money, just like 99% of the other people living in this town.

J tried valiantly to tell her friend that Sydneysiders shell out heaps of cash from the moment they swing their legs out of bed in the morning, until the blissful moment usually (unfortunately) much later in the day when they can swing them back in bed again.

This is not a cheap place to live. You don't come here to earn big money, you don't come here to save money. If you want to find somewhere to spend a large amount of cash in a short time, this is the place for you. Even my wealthier friends and family members can have the breath stolen out of their mouths by a bill in a CBD restaurant, or the price of a round of drinks at Darling Harbour.

Of course it all looks fabulous, hip, trendy, everything you could want at your fingertips. Trouble is, you can't have it! More friends arrived last week, these ones are staying for awhile.

Their little eyes were wide and round as we pushed our way on to a bus in George St and struggled down to BBQ King in Haymarket for Sydney's most famous BBQ duck. It's great food. But the service, also famously, is lousy. I think these words had only just left my mouth when one waiter in his haste to throw sizzling prawns on to our table, knocked over a cup and my friend K found herself doused in Chinese tea. This seemed unfortunate, but when it happened AGAIN, to her boyfriend sitting next to her, courtesy of yet another dumping of food .. well as Oscar Wilde would say, once is unfortunate, twice is just plain careless.

At least Chinese tea doesn't stain denim. Of course, this is Sydney, so there was no apology, no discount, no drycleaning, no extra ice cream for dessert. They didn't even bring more tea! That meal, for four of us, cost A$150. No wine, just three beers, a Coke, a couple of entrees and four servings of Chinese food.

Welcome to Sydney! Oh yeah, it's a goldmine!

Speaking of goldmines, everybody's favourite miners, "Todd and Brant" were back on the tele last night. This time at a big flash afternoon tea in Canberra for practically the entire town of Beaconsfield. John H and the boys in Parliament thought they should show their appreciation to the little town that could. It all went horribly wrong for John H and his people when Todd and Brant stood up and said the new industrial relations laws make mines even more dangerous and the laws should be changed. Hmmm, seems John H couldn't have put quite enough effort into getting the boys on side before he let them get in front of a microphone.

Todd and Brant seem to have a real way about them, these two must have spent the entire two weeks they were one kilometre under, sorting out their lines for when they saw sunlight again. They haven't put a foot wrong so far, even when it came out they will get about a million each from the Channel Nine tv deal.

Right now they are off doing tv interviews around the globe and I hope we get to see those interviews here in Australia. These guys are great characters, and the spirit and resolve in their faces harks back to a time most Australians have little or no memory of.

Two honest, straight up guys with an amazing story to tell can do more for the image of a country than any multi-million dollar ad campaign with a slick slogan and a girl in a bikini.

Teddy bear Collector - Bear No 236

I bought a new bear for my 'sports bear' collection yesterday.

It's the Socceroos World Cup bear, and when you "press here" he waves his arms and sings "ole, ole, ole, ole."

You can tell its an Australian bear cos you have to pull his pants down to switch him on.

It's Not Cold Is It?

I think I'm losing it. I'm losing my cold tolerance. My body thinks 17 degs is a bit chilly.

It's not. I'm going soft here in Sydney where the Asian students wear t-shirts with a scarf as their winter outfit.

Women wear long boots all year round because ... they're not for winter are they? That's not enough time to wear your lovely expensive boots.

And you see people with gloves on. I still don't really get that. Once again, it's just a case of wearing gloves for the sake of it. Gloves are nice.

This winter does already seem to be colder than the ones we've had in the last couple of years. There's a lot less rain too. I'm back recycling water out of the shower to get my struggling new grass to grow. Real grass. It's green and fluffy and needs plenty of water. That's probably why it died out from chunks of space on our small back lawn. For some reason I've assumed I'm the right person to rectify the lack of grass. It's turned out to be a bit of a struggle. New Zealanders aren't used to struggling to get grass to grow!

To make matters even more confusing this house we live in now, out in the deep dark suburbs, seems to be very good at keeping cool. Too cool. It was warmer outside yesterday then it was in the house, I have to figure out a way to let the warm air in. Opening the windows when the house is already cold seems a total contradiction. But that's the way it works here.

I fear the only way I'll preserve this grass patch is by taking a photo of it and putting it up here on this blog.