Wednesday 19th May 2004, Day 249/366 - Sydney, New South Wales to Charlestown, New South Wales.

Hawaii Friends Visited

Catching the Greyhound to Belmont (near Newcastle) to meet up and stay with Vincent. I met him in Waikiki on Jacks Tour, the same one where I met Liz. The tour has been good to me in the free accomodation and friends stakes. Vincent and I shared a few good nights out in Da Dawg House, drinking beer, eating pizza and playing pool and darts. Good Times.

Finished another book. An Amber Glow by Peter Allen. I picked this up for $1.95 in Bondi Junction and what an absolute bargain. It's actually the story of the World Cup winning football from 1966, which was stolen by a German after the game. This book is about the search for it and getting it back to English shores. It has lots of good anecdotes surrounding the game and proves that the press have no scrupples and are a law unto themselves.

I officially visited the worst toilets in the world ever (apart from maybe my experience in the Berlin Olympic Stadium, enough said). At the Sydney Bus terminal the bogs are disgusting. It has those blue lights that make your eyes go funny, there is graffitti everywhere and no doors on any of the cubicles. A sign explains why. "There are no doors on these toilets, due to acts of vandalism and lude conduct."

Bye Bye Sydney. As we crossed the Harbour Bridge all the glory of Sydney was revealed on a balmy winters day. The Opera House and Harbour were swathed in glorious sunlight. 9 nights is about the longest that I've spent anywhere (at my expense) and I could easily have stayed longer.

'Snow Dogs' was the film selected on the bus. It's a kids film and rubbish, but it does confirm Cuba Gooding Jr. as a superb and versatile actor and my desire to travel to Alaska.

After 3 hours on the bus, I was met by Vincent and we went to pick up his sisters kids and eventually got to his house and met his Mum, Sister and had a chinese, drunk red wine and watched a video.

'Lost in translation' was the video. A lot of people rave about it. For me it bypassed me. I hate films that leave me with more questions at the end of it. What did he whisper in her ear at the end?

I'm a bit worried about the Huntsman Spider saw outside his house and Vincent's nonchalent nature to its presence. I peed my pants and I didn't even see it.