Back over to Sydney...

So I got offered the job I attended that interview for in Sydney! It was a pretty quick turnaround because a week later, I was on the same Monday morning flight to Sydney en route to start my first week of work beginning with five days of training in the city. So glad it was longer than a day trip this time!

I took advantage of being over in Sydney for the week by meeting up with a couple of Sydneysider friends who like me, made the move to Oz from the UK, but some time before me. At the start of the week, I met up with my friend Mel who is an old work colleague from London. Mel suggested we go to the Summit Restaurant & Bar; a revolving one located in the heart of the city in Australia Square, 47 floors high above the city with 360 degree views. What a great way to  start my week; absorbing endless views of Sydney by night with a cocktail in hand after the first day on the new job.

 

 

 

 

Sydney really has an energetic vibe. It's a fair bit bigger than Perth and you can feel it. It has a real buzz which I particularly experienced on my walks to from my hotel in Wynyard to the offices on Pitt Street each morning. The buildings are grander and you almost forget for a moment that you’re in Australia and feel like you’re in a European city. Although I didn’t have time to visit many shops, I was pleasantly surprised to see a familiar sight when I spotted one of my favourite shops from back home!!

 

 

 

Wynyard Square - view from my hotel room

 

I was excited to also meet an old secondary school friend dinner and drinks  who has lived in Sydney for the last few years and who I hadn’t seen in at least 10 years. It was a fun reunion, catching up on all that we had done since our school years; from university and to life in our twenties and our moves to Australia and experiences. We both agreed that neither the other had changed and enjoyed gossiping about old school friends and laughing about silly high school behaviour! We started at The Russell Wine Bar and then Jennie took me around The Rocks to take in the nocturnal views of the Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney skyline before going for a night cap at a great newly opened bar on George St called The Morrison.

 

Drinks at The Russell Wine Bar



Wondering around "The Rocks"

 

 

Oh, and I managed a much closer, more illuminated view of the bridge this time!

 

Day-return ticket to Sydney, please!

Having lived in little ol' England for 29 years, it’s astonishing when you then relocate to a very large country (which also turns out to be a continent), how big a scale it sits on in comparison.

On Monday I flew from Perth to Sydney AND BACK within a day! The long round-trip day journey was for a job interview I had been invited to attend with a company whose head offices are located in Sydney. I spent the best part of 4 hours in Sydney which included interview time and public transport travel to and from the city. Talk about a whirlwind trip!



Double-decker train into the city



Pre-interview self check



My last job in the UK saw me travel from London to Paris by Eurostar a couple of times per year, but that was just a comfortably quick 2 hour train journey within which time I was transported to another country. In Australia, it’s crazy how you can fly for 5 hours and still be in the land Down Under! If you flew for a 5 hour flight from London, you could be in Turkey, Cyprus which are over the other side of Europe, or even Egypt which is in Africa! My outbound Qantas flight was 4 ½ hours and 5 hours flying back; apparently the winds blowing in the opposite direction make the flight home that bit longer. The interview went well. Afterwards, I took a quick tour down George Street in search of a bite to eat and took in the city sights and atmosphere for an hour or so before making my way back to the airport. I said a brief ‘hello’ to the Sydney Harbour Bridge on my passing double-decker train at Circular Quay at the start of my journey back home…

George St, Sydney

View of Sydney Harbour Bridge from Circular Quay station



My Week in Review...

Cultural outing of the week

Yesterday I was in the city centre for some appointments and wanted to do something for free with my free afternoon. After popping by the WA Visitor Centre for some recommendations, I decided to head to the Art Gallery of Western Australia and check out their collection of artwork by Australian artists.

I took in the works of historic and contemporary Australian artists including some indigenous artwork. The Aussies are so laidback that you’re even allowed to take cameras in, so I took advantage of this and snapped some of the art that grabbed my attention…

"Sunbathers" by Albert Tucker, 1955

"Goolgool the owl with four young" by Rover Thomas, 1987

"The persistence of language" by Gordon Bennett, 1987

Sunset of the week

I’ve seen lots of amazing ones here in Australia already, but I loved this one from Friday night over Yanchep Lagoon; a small coastal town where our friends live, just under an hour north of Perth.

Winter sunset at low tide, little breeze, nice.....

My Week in Review...

Olympic Moment of the Week…

My dear friend Becky in London thoughtfully sent me an Olympic-themed package in the post this week which arrived right in the middle of the Olympic Games taking place. It's always a treat to receive international post and packages from friends but this package was particularly special. Inside was an assortment of decorative British goodies; 2 x union jack flags, union jack heart-shaped bunting, a packet of red, white and blue balloons and one non-Olympic related present, a lovely white laced dress from one of my favourite shops back home, H&M! I have decked out the television area of our living room just so I can remind myself, and Micky, of the team I’m rooting for when the games are on (Team GB of course, Australia comes a close second)! I have got quite into the spirit of the Games by watching many of them, much to my own surprise, particularly the mens and womens athletics, artistic gymnastics and weight lifting!? It’s honestly the most sport I’ve watched on TV in at least the last 10 years and I’m really enjoying them. I mean how can I not with them being held in my home city and with Great Britain winning so many medals!

Oudoor Venture of the Week…

We spent a lovely couple of days at Micky's parents at the weekend along with his brother and sister-in-law. They live in a small town called Wongan Hills, two hours north-east of Perth. On Saturday afternoon, we walked the Christmas Rock Walk Trail, a scenic nature trail through bushland and wildflowers just outside of Wongan Hills. It took us half an hour to leisurely walk up to the rock wall. There wasn’t another soul in sight, just lots of trees and sunshine. Anyone could tell it was my first small bush walk. I kept looking down at both sides of my path for snakes to jump out of the bushes. Apparently it’s not the right time of year for snakes, it wasn’t hot enough. Still, for the end of July,  it felt very warm to me!