Life's a beach

Last night my housemate and I went for an evening stroll from Clovelly to Bondi (where we then gorged ourselves on burritos just to undo all the walking goodness), I took some photos on the way as the coast looked so pretty at dusk. It's such a novelty being by the sea, having never really lived somewhere with accessible beaches (Cardiff doesn't count!). It's quite a humbling feeling being able to see the ocean stretching out before your eyes.


Bronte Beach


Bondi

Niggles...

Ok... as I'm a whinging pom I have to express my irks, EVEN THOUGH Sydney is a BILLION times better than anywhere I've lived in the UK... so these are the weirdly annoying things about Sydney / Australia thus far:
. Crossing the road takes forever because the green man pedestrian crossings take FOREVER to change. No wonder people jay walk.
. Hummous tastes like ass. Seriously. I bought some the other day from Coles (pretend tesco) and it tasted like someone had put grease and peanut butter in mushy chick peas. Unacceptable. However, due to hummous being fairly pricy, I don't want to go through a whole taste odyssey to find an acceptable brand. No hummous for me.
. Woo girls at the gym. STOP WOOING WITH ENTHUSIASM WHEN IT'S REALLY HARD IN SPIN. You put all the lamers like me to shame. Plus I can't bring myself to say "Wooo!". Ever.
. Coles is horrible. I hate Coles. It's expensive but not nice. Like a derogate Tesco. Or an overpriced Iceland.

That's all for now.

Living well...

... is the best revenge.

One thing that has really stood out to me since coming to Sydney is how high the general standard of living is here, and how people really look after themselves. It's not superficial like in America, it's a way of life. You can run around the beaches and not feel awkward, because loads of people are doing the same thing. There are gyms on every street corner practically, and pretty much everyone has a gym membership and uses it. I go to body pump, body combat and spin pretty much 5 times a week and previously in britain I was one of the fittest people in the class... not here by far, they take it very seriously and although I can keep up, I definitely get a full work out in doing so. It's awesome the range of ages too, it's not just 20 somethings kicking arse, but middle aged men and women with figures most 25 year old brits would die for.

That being said, the sun here is strong, and if you don't SPF it up on your face and neck you will succumb to the aging UVA rays, I've noticed that the girls my age may have banging bodies, but I certainly look younger, mainly from working in a lab and not really getting out in the sun much in grey britain.

The economy here is good too, I can get a coffee from any number of independent cafes rather than a faceless starbucks or costa coffee (this makes me very happy, having been denied a local independent cafe where you can get a panini and a decent coffee in Birmingingham). The food is genuinely eclectic - a huge number of south east asian, japanese and deli-style cafes and restaurants can be found everywhere. I've become a big fan of a big bowl of laksa soup for lunch, sat eating that in the sunshine beats sitting in Wagamamas slurping some overpriced noodles whilst surrounded by fat people's arse cracks. Seriously, there are backs on chairs so people don't have to look at strangers muffin tops and arse cracks whilst eating.

Yeah sure people go out drinking, the beer is cold and served in 3/4 pints. So far I'm quite a fan of the James Squire beers, chancer golden ale in particularly. Wine here is good too, I've had some very nice fresh, crisp whites, in particular Hidden Hive Verdelho by Two Rivers winery, at about $16 it's a "middle range" price, but on a Sydney wage it's hardly breaking the bank...

I think I've used the word arse too much.