And it's about time too!

It's already been a week since I left Malta and I haven't had time to breathe let alone update this blog! Australia has so far been the trip of a lifetime, with four weeks left to go I worry that I won't manage to fit just about everything in. I'm currently sitting in a supermarket/internet cafe in the Rocks (just off of Sydney Harbour), exhausted after a morning of trying not to get lost on the trains, souvenir-shopping, sightseeing and the like. It's a hard-knock life, isn't it?

The name of this blog is actually incorrect. Whilst I am spending a lot of time in the Sydney, Woman lives on the Central Coast - a town called Woy Woy in the suburbs of Sydney really. Getting to Sydney and back doesn't take long at all and it's a veryyyyyyyy pretty area. Woman herself is currently at work, leaving me to go wild in central Sydney by myself.

The epically long trip to get here was remarkably eventful - hard not to be considering I flew from Malta to London to Abu Dhabi to Sydney! Malta-London was the usual Air Malta-styled trip, marked by an uncomfortable showing of a wildlife documentary of some sort that included viewings of predators cutting up and eating the bloody carcasses of their prey, leaving us half-asleep passengers a little ill as we tried to ignore the bloodlust raging onscreen and eat our breakfast. England itself was fine, I got to go to Watford for some unanticipated shopping (PRIMARK!) and then spent some time with Paul (a friend of my mum, who volunteered to pick me up from the airport and then take me back, lucky me!) and Louise and the kids at their place.

The flight to Abu Dhabi was as nightmarish as Terminal 3. This is not to say that Etihad Airways caused such problems, in fact flying Etihad is something I'd like to do more often - however, two babies happened to be on the same flight and seemed to be doing shifts in screaming throughout the 6 hour-long journey to Abu Dhabi. Did not get a wink of sleep, leaving me to survive on the 4 hours I had managed to get back in Malta. The three hours I spent in Abu Dhabi Airport were awful, mostly because of the sheer exhaustion overwhelming me and the fact that the precious bracelet my friends had bought me prior to the trip had been stolen during a security check :( still can't believe it's gone, I'd be lucky to find another one like it.

Despite everything, I managed to sleep away at least some of the time during the 13-hour long flight to Sydney, marked by a few movies here and there and rereading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I finally landed in Sydney at 6AM, to be greeted by mah Woman with a giant pink sign with WOMAN emblazoned on it - couldn't miss her! Customs went very well by the way (phew!), what was hilarious was that there was a sign saying they were actually filming Border Security that day! Maybe I might get to be on TV after all!

The drive to Woy Woy was awesome (despite Woman getting lost several times, including in the airport carkpark - teehee!). We went through the city and over the Harbour Bridge! Despite it being a grotty day, I still got to squee like a tourist and take lots of photos.

Things I have discovered so far:
1. There are trees. Lots of trees (this is coming from a Maltese person so you have to excuse the surprise).
2. The beaches (such as UMINAAAAAAAA! Haven't seen Bondi yet) are beautiful, even in winter.
3. Speaking of winter, it's farking freezing! Didn't bring enough warm clothes (and being the giant tyoob that I am, I accidentally left my overcoat in England! Managed to buy a new one for $20 at least :D).
4. Vegemite is actually AWESOME and almost rivals just how much I like Bovril. Fairy bread is also the greatest invention ever.
5. Cigarettes are ridiculously expensive here. As is going to the cinema and buying cinema food ($55 for two people!!!!).
6. Shopping at Coles is like an adventure.
7. Never say 'I'm rooting for you!' in Australia. NEVER!

We have eaten a lot of Thai food! I have been to at least one drive-thru. Also managed to watch HBP on the first night here and The Hangover on Saturday Night at Hoyts in Erina (this all sounds like goobly gook to you, I imagine). I have sort of worked out how CityRail works and have acted like a complete dork when I caught my first glimpse of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House on a sunny day. Beautiful doesn't even begin to describe it. The zoo was an incredible experience, especially the chimps!

There is so much I want to talk about buuuuuuuuut my internet time is running out so you have to make do with this and all the photos I have for now =) toodles!