Sydney Snapshot

Ian and I flew to Sydney for a jam packed few days, as Liam journeyed home for an even busier two weddings in three days, before rejoining us in New Zealand. We were greeted at the airport by Ian’s better half, Amy and it was lovely to see them both so happy together after being apart for the last couple of months. After checking into the lively Wake Up Hostel, we all wandered down to Sydney Harbour and enjoyed a drink watching the sunset behind the bridge.

That evening I had my first experience of the infamos Goon (cheap Aussie wine, bought in a sack) for predrinks and I have to say it wasn’t actually as bad as I expected – must be the years of equally bad quality booze at Bristol! The next day we got a bus over to Bondi Beach and went for a scenic if rather stormy seaside walk over to Coogee.

On the Saturday, I headed out for an explore around the city myself, walking around the pretty botanical gardens and stopping in at NSW gallery. Rejoining Ian and Amy back at the hostel we headed out for my favourite of the nights out in Sydney, to Chinese Laundry (a quite grungey but fun club). I found the going out rules there quite weird; most places seemed to shut at 1am and you can’t order any shots by themselves…madness! Saying that there are plenty of cool, if expensive, places to go.

Sunday was family day, as I saw my cousin, Martin, his wife, Becky and their little boy, Seb (who I had never met before). We were lucky with the weather, and had a lovely day, getting the ferry over to Manly Bay. I was very kindly treated to a yummy Chorizo pizza lunch by Martin, whilst Seb gobbled down his pasta dish, getting quite a proportion of it down his top! We finished the day on the beach before heading back on the ferry.

On our last day in Sydney we made our way to Balmoral Bay, another beautiful beach a short distance away from the centre. Here we met up with one of my roommates, Scott from Wake Up and a few of his friends, and enjoyed the remaining sunshine before jumping off the pier into the chilly sea. I think I also have to give my larger than life Irish roomie Dave a little mention, he was the source of many a riotous story during my stay in Sydney. Including one evening, when our room was woken halfway through the night as my Irish buddy returning from a night out mistook his suitcase for a urinal, much to the dismay of the girl whose bed it was next to!

In no time at all we were heading for our early morning flight to Christchurch, New Zealand soon to be our home for the next month.

Over and out
Chris

Bali Time

After 2 months apart, Zo flew out to meet me in Bali and it was amazing to see her again 🙂 We had booked into our own place in the rural southern tip of the island, whilst the rest of the 14 strong party headed to Ubud. Our bungalow was set in an idyllic garden with a swimming pool, quite the contrast to the rather more humble hostel living of the previous months. We also had complimentary breakfast provided including particularly yummy fruit smoothies 👌. We spent a lovely few days here chilling out, Zo doing her best to try and catch up with my tan! Our last day before meeting up with everyone else was spent at a beach club bar with a stunning view out onto the Indian ocean.

The boat journey over to our next destination, Gili T, was rather arduous, but the beautiful island was worth the trip. The set up at our hotel was pretty perfect too, where we had our 7 mini bungalows all overlooking a huge pool. My sister Katie joined us all the next day to complete the party and we all went out that night for dinner, where I had a delicious fresh tuna steak 👍. Amongst the nights out in Gili dancing in many of the bars along the beaches, we all ventured out on a rather rocky but fun snorkelling boat trip, and we also fitted in the classic Gili island swing in the sea photo, just about squeezing us all into the shot!

The last stop for the group holiday was in Seminyak, where we had 3 luxury villas between the 14 of us, and you guessed it, they all came with a pool 🙌. It was here where we came up with a cracking new game, which we have named Aquapong. It’s basically beer pong in the pool, where each person acts as the cups by putting their arms out into a circle (if that makes any sense!). We had some great food whilst here too, the most memorable on the last night where our host cooked a feast for us all, my favourite of the dishes being the chicken satay. After the meal we headed out for a big last night with the gang and the next day our number was sadly reduced to 4, as everyone departed home/onward on their travels

The smaller group of Ian, Liam, Seb and myself spent our last days of Bali in the surfer town of Canggu. On our first day there, we headed down to the beach to give surfing a go. Under the careful instruction of Mr Davey (recently qualified surf instructor) we battled against the massive waves. I have got to say we made little progress, with only a few fleeting moments spent standing, but not for lack of effort. Our hostel, although aesthetically not the best or the cleanest place, grew on us by the end of our stay, with its very much ‘chilled vibe feel’. But I think what made it such a great few days, as so often is the case, was the great group of people we met there. The new game of Aquapong was embraced by many of the other guests and a good portion of the time here was spent playing it in the pool.

I’m finishing the blog this time on a very sad note, as for those who don’t know a tragic event happened on one of our last night’s out there, and I wanted to pay respect to the young guy, Elliot, who died. The exact details of the motorbike accident I don’t know, but when we arrived on the scene, Elliot was unconscious and didn’t have a heartbeat. For the next hour Ian, myself and his best friend Conor gave CPR at the side of the road, in the taxi, and at the hospital. He unfortunately never regained a pulse, despite all interventions. I had never met Elliot before that night, and although I have had to break bad news before, explaining to his family what happened is the most heart wrenching thing I have ever had to do. Ian and Conor were absolutely amazing throughout, and I would like to think we gave him every chance we could. My thoughts continue to be with his family for their loss.
He will be someone I sadly never met, but someone I will always remember.
Rest in Peace

Chris