Oz Trip Part 1

Day 1
Shortly after arriving at Glasgow Airport we went to baggage scan, where it was sweet revenge to see P searched after beeping in the metal detector. This was after her going on and on and on to me about how we’d be targeted due to my DSLR; I’d be mistaken for a professional photographer apparently. Ah, if only it were so simple. Long have I desired that someone should mistake me for a professional anything.
Day 2
The famous P luck strikes again; bad fortune follows her around. We end up sitting behind an Italian couple who have the bearing of people used to flying first class now living in reduced circumstances. They are constantly nagging the cabin staff for everything and anything; the wine is no good, neither is the replacement wine you’ve just brought me from first class, the breakfast isn’t to my liking. To make matters worse the man has a size 60 waist if it’s an inch. He and his wife have the seats fully reclined before we’ve even left the gate! It takes two times of asking to get the seatbacks in upright position for take off.
Day 2 ½
Which is sort of like Day 3 but not. Arrive in Sydney to be welcomed by a deluge of biblical proportions. The taxi driver says this is very unusual, but how surprised am I when P argues that it quite often rains heavily here at this time of year. Never argue with service staff, or at the least wait until they’ve carried out whatever service it is you hope they’ll provide. He was South East Asian, so hopefully he couldn’t understand her. He took us to where we needed to go for the fare we expected so either he didn’t pick up on what she was saying or he just wanted rid of us. She’s now cleaning the flat so L and I wait patiently for that to complete (a lengthy job I’ll wager). Actually L is asleep now, which is bad as it’s 11am and he’ll never get to sleep tonight! Mind you, it’s far too wet to go anywhere and to compound matters it seems there’s a bus strike on today.
Once the rain went off we ventured out and this place is every bit as skanky as I’d been lead to believe. No street corner is complete without at least two drunks arguing, in many cases rolling around the pavement whilst doing so. I guess it all adds to the “bohemian chic” of King’s Cross. Definitely not somewhere you’d want to be out at night with a child in tow. Having said that I didn’t see much evidence of the roving gangs of laptop and camera thieves I was “warned” of. McDonald’s was full on young folk (well, compared to me) with computers far more expensive than mine, some even carrying SLRs, and yet they didn’t seem overly concerned. One thing I did notice was how half McDs was filled with tourists updating their Facebook status without having bothered to buy anything! That’s free Wi-Fi for you. Cheapass bassas.
The day ended with a massive barny outside the flat (not that any of us were involved). A real taste of the colonies … after all these people are the progeny of transported criminals after all J

Day 3
The weather was much better today; clear blue sky and temperature in the 30s. We walked down to the Botanic Gardens where (for some reason) it was a shock to find wild birds that you normally see going in Pets At Home for 50 quid +. Also loads of giant bats hanging in the trees.
In the evening we walked down to the harbour where we happened across a young fellow with quite obvious mental problems (pacing up and down, talking to himself). Thinking we should give him a wide berth P decided to go and sit on a bench exactly where he was pacing. “Oh he’s not going to do anything” I was told. Now that’s how it turned out, but I’m sure I’ve heard of mentally disturbed young men killing strangers for no good reason. No point risking becoming a statistic … at least in my mind.
The evening ends on an unexpected note as P falls down the stairs in the flat. Her ankle is clearly sprained worse than any sprain ever, well in her opinion. That’s just great seeing as how we’re supposed to be walking around with her family tomorrow! Oh joy.