Sydney - OzIntro part 2

Yesterday we went into Sydney to confirm our bank account details and pick up our bank cards/change our pins etc with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. The main branch in Sydney is HUGE! it is the most mental thing I've ever seen... MASSIVE. And it was only as 'Chad' (the name even seems Australian to me) was confirming all my details etc, did I realise there was no glass between us or microphones or anything. Quite a revealation. And some nice friendly conversation as well. A+ CWBoA!

We then dropped our medicare details into the centre for them to process our medicare numbers and then went on to a Travellers at Work talk. Although I was feeling sick and wasn't really concentrating and therefore only half inspired. Looks like we may want to do the WWOOFing where we work for free for accommodation and food on a farm and it counts for the 88 days needed for a visa extention. Not sure what I'd do with regards to farm work but I'm sure we can ask these questions at our talk tomorrow.

After the bank/talks etc we went for some lunch at a cafe in Darling Harbour (hugeeee chicken sandwich and chips which went half uneaten :() and then onto the aquarium which was fun. Saw nemo fish and some scary looking sharks. Took a tonne of videos which I'll need to put online at some point when we have more time and a better connection..

In the evening, after a quick shower and touch up, we went to the local backpackers bar called The Gaff. I'm not really a pub/club person but the top of the bar played some good cheesey music that me and Sam enjoyed, and we have found a friend in (Little) Sam who also enjoys some pop so we had a good time. Bit confused with our VIP cards and tokens that OzIntro have kept throwing at us, as they only seem to work for 10 mins at the beginning of the night, which is a bit naff, but we made do until 1am when we took the party bus home to bed. Finally got into bed at 3am - not great when you have a 9am start.. eek.

Today was surfing. I'd already pretty much decided I wasn't going to do it (combination of things - plus size wetsuits are a no-no, scared of the sea and it's currents, when the glasses are off, I'm blind, water in the ear still gives me ear ache etc) and when we woke up this morning, it was raining quite heavily, making me feel a bit happier that I wasn't going to do it.

We took a drive 40 minutes to a secluded beach where everyone changed into wetsuits in a huge shipping container and took an off road drive 5 minutes to the beach. The ride was quite crazy - a lot of a rain, a lot of puddles, and a LOT of pot holes! We got to the beach and Anna and I stayed in the van on the beach and watched as everyone struggled (Chucklebrothers style) to get their boards into the water without the wind blowing them over.

From then on, I can't tell you exactly what happened after that as the rain was so bad, the windows were so obscured we couldn't see a thing! Surfing happened for about an hour and a half before the winds and rain got worse and the surf was abandoned.

So we returned early and have mainly gawped at the crazy winds that have blown our back door of our dorm open! Clearly the UK and Australia have temporarily swapped weather conditions - it's quite ridiculous at the moment.

Tomorrow is a walk from Coogee to Bondi (weather permitting!!!) and a BBQ. BBQ will aparently definitely going ahead, as there is shelter... not sure if this is from rain or wind or both but even that seems a bit touch and go at the moment. But we shall see. Pictures to come when I have some uploaded!