Sunday 6 January 2013

Week 10 and 11 – Sydney, Australia

Fred's world tour

Week 10 and 11 – Sydney, Australia

1st until the 14th of December 2012

In brief:

  1. Recharge the backpacker 'batteries'.

  2. Run along the iconic Bondi beach.

  3. Return to the gym for some long overdue fitness improvements.

  4. See a musical show at the Sydney opera house.

  5. Get settled into Australia and frantically job hunt.

  6. Have my first ever phone interview for a job.

  7. Swim in the idyllic setting of an Australian salt water pool.

  8. Run and explore the coastal path from Bondi beach to Coogee.

I had a perfect farewell to Latin America with a big party in Santiago on Friday night and on Saturday the 1st of December 2012 I was off to Sydney. At the airport I stocked up with some traditional Pisco for my Australian hosts Tony and Daithi. Then, 14 hours later I landed! Tony, who is a friend of my friend John, came to pick me up from the airport which was really great of him. Tony, Daithi and their dog Joey had kindly offered me a room in their beautiful house in Bondi. I had the grand tour of the area including the stunning coastal path from Tamarama beach to Bondi beach. It weaves the unique rock formations and hugs the cliff all the way. Its filled with keen runners and outdoor gym equipment along the route. This epitomises the perceived Australian culture of healthy living, exercise and high quality of life. Of course the weather helps with this situation. My hosts naturally still had work during the week so I would explore on my own the surrounding area and join them for dinner in the evenings.

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The next two weeks I spent recharging my batteries. It was nice to be able to stay in the same place for a longer period of time and not have to worry about packing up or booking the next night's accommodation. I absolutely loved running along the coast to the iconic Bondi and exploring the surrounding area. I relaxed, in their garden, walked their dog and made the most of Tony's free guest gym membership he had managed to get for me. I went out to dinner events; Daithi's sister's birthday party, met up with some other of John's friends and overall had a great time. One of the highlights of my first week was going with my hosts and their friends to the Sydney opera house for a musical. It was such a beautiful location I was permanently in awe of the place. Its hard to appreciate the grandiose of the white tiled sail-shaped roof of the Sydney opera house. The show was funny, entertaining and in some parts flamboyantly weird! It all made for a great first experience of the opera house.

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However nice this all was I couldn't forget why I was actually here. The plan initially was to work December and January but unfortunately I was let down by my work agency that I have been in contact with since January. I wasted no time in getting on the internet and phoning hospitals in New South Wales (the state). I received plenty of rejections and realistically I wouldn't be able to work because I hadn't registered with AHPRA the registering medical organisation. The problem for me was that I couldn't register without a job offer that my agency promised me. So currently no one would consider me for work until May after I return from Borneo. Not only that but AHPRA registration process can reportedly take six to ten weeks. In light of this information my focus changed from trying to get a job for December to lining something up for May and in doing that I managed to get a phone interview plus secure an offer for work in Tamworth subject to a reference check. As my first two years of employment have all been application based I've never had to do a medical job interview let alone over the phone. Despite the nerves it all went well. All I needed to do now was wait but in the mean time I still continued my search for jobs which I then expanded to include Queensland just in case this Tamworth offer falls through last minute.

You can see how the quality of life in Australia is higher. Not only are there these coastal runs which are incredible. There are also abundant salt water pools along the coast which is like being in the sea but with the ability to do lane swimming and have a few more commodities close by. One such pool is the Andrew 'Boy' Charlton pool in Woolloomooloo bay or the Bondi Iceberg pool in Bondi. A perfect location to enjoy the afternoon. Over the last two weeks I enjoyed going to the gym, eating in or out with my hosts and challenged my self with longer morning runs along the coast. My last day of week 11 I ran to Cogee beach and back. What a great last two weeks. Completely different to the last 9 weeks in Latin America and yet equally as amazing.

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Next week I attend a true Australian lunch party out in the countryside (almost the outback), continue applying for jobs and visit the nation's capital territory of Canberra.

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