home or holiday?

I've been in Sydney for two months now.

It's fair to say the original 'wow' feeling has long since gone. But, hey, that's to be expected. I arrived on a gloriously hot day and was effectively on holiday.

I'm now in 'I live here' mode. I complain about the buses, whinge about the weather and get annoyed about trivial stuff. This isn't a statement of unhappiness, it's merely an appreciation that I am now more 'resident' than I am 'tourist'.

Everything is starting to feel more real. I guess I feel at home and quite settled. If I'm being completely honest, I am now starting to consider whether or not I want to stay beyond July. I guess it's an inevitable consequence for anyone when you start living and working in a place and actually like it.

Backpacking, traveling or whatever you want to call it is very different. Sure, you can love a place while you're exploring it and not want to leave. But you're on holiday. It's how you feel on a Monday when you've got to get up to go to work, when you're having a difficult time and under pressure in the office, when the weather starts getting rubbish that really determines how you feel.

I personally have a much better standard of living and overall feeling of happiness. Perhaps I am still in the honeymoon period. But, then again, I can't help but compare little things here with their equivalents in the UK. Little things like my harbour side stroll to work every day, that begins with a walk past beautiful water, then continues through acres of the enchanting Royal Botanical Gardens, and then ends with, erm, well ends with me sat at a fucking desk in a fucking office, but you get my point.

I never cease to be amazed by the plenitude of fantastic restaurants, cafes and bars that are on my doorstep. Brunch here on a Saturday morning is compulsory in my eyes. Gone are the days of rolling out of bed half pissed and into my front room where, surrounded by the debris from the previous night's festivities, I would heat up a tin of beans or a pot noodle.

Now I roll out of bed half pissed still, but at least it's to an alfresco cafe for some of the finest coffee in the world and food to die for. Today I had poached egg, rocket, sun dried tomatoes, bacon and asparagus on turkish toast, drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Top noshing.

This afternoon I will take advantage of the clear blue sky to go to Bondi Beach and this evening I will meander around the bars of Sydney's gay scene, which I can walk home from in around 15 minutes.

I'm not trying to portray this as some kind of holiday lifestyle, because it isn't. I've just done a 45 hour working week, some of which was indescribably boring and last night I had a shit night that ended with me having an argument with a friend.

My point is, I'm living a normal lifestyle here. It just has the advantage of being better overall than my one in London. As I said, time will tell. Maybe location was my biggest problem back home. After all, the fact I used to heat up beans on a Saturday morning in an unclean flat says more about the way I was conducting my life and where I was living than it does about the availability of decent places to have a meal in London...

Time will tell

vote for me!

On Saturday (March 24) voters go to the polls in the New South Wales State election - if they haven't died of boredom before then.

The Australian Labor Party (ALP) is expected to be re-elected comfortably for a fourth term of office, despite being regarded by most people - including their own supporters - to have a miserable track record.

Aussie politics is a curious set of affairs. Here there is a Federal Government, based in Canberra, which does Australia-wide stuff like decide to join in the fun and games in Iraq. It is run by the Liberal Party, which has the unusual distinction of not really being 'liberal' at all. They are the Tories of Australian politics.

Then there are state governments, which run day-to-day services like education, health and transport. These are all - every single one of them - run by Labor.

You may be wondering why it is that Australians from the outback to the centre of the cities consistently elect left leaning state governments, and yet have returned the 68-year-old deeply Conservative John Howard as Prime Minister in the last four federal elections. It is a question Australians themselves have difficulty answering.

Anyway, Labor are set to maintain their dominance in New South Wales in this week's elections. This is despite many people thinking they haven't really done very much other than preside over a crumbling transport system and an economy lagging behind other states.

Unfortunately for the Liberals, nobody really believes they can do any better. Parties of the Right will always have difficulty convincing people concerned about the standard of public services that they can run them better. Likewise the Liberal's plans for generating more economic growth in NSW seem to centre around sacking lots of state workers and scrapping certain employment rights. Who's gonna vote for that? Haven't they realised you are supposed to keep quiet about things like that until you get into power?

The Liberal leader, a guy called Peter Debnam, doesn't exactly inspire people either. In fact, he is exceptionally dull. The only thing he does that seems to get people talking is his topless daily run along Bondi Beach, which is a pretty unedifying sight. Think Frank Spencer trying to be David Hasselhof, and you're getting there.

Elections normally fascinate me, but I've given up reading about this one. The whole fucking state is having one big massive whinge - one newspaper today claimed Sydney has the worst public transport system in the world, which has to be one of the biggest porkies ever said outside of Nazi Germany or North Korea. And yet despite all this, it is predicted the party running the state for the last 12 years will get in by a landslide! Bodes well for Labour in the UK...

There is no chance of a low turnout here, either. No prospect of Labor supporters staying at home and the result being distorted - voting is compulsory.

If I could vote in this election, I'd want to give my support to somebody in tune with my values and beliefs. So obviously that would mean re-electing the charming Fred Nile, who is campaigning on an anti-gay ticket. His biggest concern appears to be that children are being 'taught' homosexuality in schools (ring any bells?!) and instead favours the teaching of 'Aussie values', whatever they are.

Note my use of the word 're-elect'. Sydney's reputation for liberal tolerance doesn't extend to all parts of this State...

something for the weekend

Was over my illness by the weekend and had recovered sufficiently to probably risk doing similar damage to my body yet again.

On Saturday I went to the Future Music Festival at the Randwick Race Course, and on Sunday popped along to the celebrations for the 75th anniversary of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

I only got hold of a ticket for Future Music - a typical all-day dance tent mash up thingy - at 10.30am on the Saturday, just a couple of hours before it started. After appropriate preparation in several drinking establishments, I finally got my arse over to the venue only to be greeted by an almighty storm. By the time I enter the festival, I look like a drowned rat from a tsunami.

The event itself is alright. A bright sunny day certainly helps at things like this, and so therefore a rancid dark and horrible one does pretty much the opposite. I try and convince myself that the more Smirnoff Ice I drink, the more fun it will be.

Ok, let's be fair here. It is a fun day. I'm not at work, so that's a bonus. But, I dunno, there's something missing here from the equivalent events I attend in the UK. It begins with E, that's right it's, erm, Eucalyptus Oil. Yes. That's the one.

One of the things that really fucking annoys me about festivals is twats stood next to you at the bar boasting about how wrecked they are. I get myself into some pretty interesting states at these events, but I never - and I really do mean never - feel the urge to turn round to somebody and make some kind of announcement about it.

"Mate, are you as fucked as me? I'm fucking wasted. Tell you what, I'd fuck that barmaid."

Next day I attend the anniversary of the Harbour Bridge. It would have been a great occasion, but again the weather is lousy. Plus, there's only so much looking at a bridge you can do...

Miserable cunt, aren't I?!