With all 3 of us having recently arrived, we all hit the ground running - trying to find some work! The little laptop (which I now type from), saw alot of love from us 3 - with all of us scouring the net and various job sites applying for work!
I jumped straight on Gumtree, the site which was hugely used in the UK and after such success has now filtered out globally, and I also signed up with a temp agency. Hit a lucky break and within a few days, procured some work (which is still ongoing) at the live music venue, see http://noteslive.net.au/ and very fortunately this is cash in hand work! Job there is as a general staff member both behind the bar as well as on the floor. Very easy work, and money for jam as they say in the UK. However, the work isnt frequent enough - they are only open for specific nights - when bands have booked the venue. So basically working on average 3 nights a week, sometimes more sometimes just 2 nights.
Another lucky break saw me getting a short 8 day project with the temping agency I signed up for. Job was at Fuji Xerox, doing some admin type work with their accounts. So within a week, I had 2 jobs and was working daytimes and then on some evenings going straight to another job. It was tiring after not having worked for the past 7 months! Everything was perfectly timed, as I had planned a short trip to visit my friend Lara for 10 days, and the work gave me a bit of time to save some money but still allow the freedom to go on the trip, something I was worried about when I initially arrived and started looking for work. The temping work was only a short little project, so I did apply for loads of other jobs, I thought that it would be ideal if I could work both the cash in hand job as well as another more full time job.
I did start feeling guilty telling people I was planning on being here for 6 months, when in reality I was only planning on being here a few weeks. Something I had to do, as I put myself into a employers perspective when applying for jobs, and knew that I wouldnt hire someone if I knew it was only for a month ! I also found that most bars, restaurants, hotels etc want someone that has full availability, which I didnt have. I wanted to keep the cash in hand job , cash in hand is tax free after all, and if you have more than 1 job here in Oz you get taxed massively. So I even did a few interviews and trials at other places - but found that they were dead ends because I couldnt juggle the jobs effectively. Worked a trial shift at this place which served amazing food and was run with militant precision. Really top class fine food, whacky and weird creations, looking like art master peices - tasting amazing! It would have been awesome to work there, but alas what will be will be - after I said I could work the start day they wanted me to - they didnt call me back! Place was http://www.gastropark.com.au/
Anyway, all went well for the 2 weeks of my work. Worked like a dog and saved enough money to fund my entire trip to Melbourne and Adelaide, living comfortably of course!
The work for Fuji was dead boring, but easy enough - and the work at Notes allowed me to see some pretty awesome bands. The only downside of the work at Notes, is that the place has some pretty nutty people working there - wont go too much into it as this is a public blog after all, but had an "interesting" run ins with a staff member... crazy times. But I keep to myself, do my job - work hard and quietly relish in the knowledge that I am moving on a few weeks, and the "interesting" staff members there have shit lives and will probably die miserable and alone. Karma is so rewarding.
So onto the next adventure - on the Sunday 4th Sept, I left Sydney to fly off to Melbourne, where I was meeting Lara and staying with a mutual friend Renee (she spent some time with us in UK, and also the states). Save that trip for the next post! See below some of my Sydney Photos:
Ordering Sushi - on a touch screen!
Hilton making good use of the chopsticks...
On our way to watch our first Aussie Rugby League Game
Arrived a little early....had to kill time with some hotdog eating
The mascot!
Renee eating some vegemite on toast after a drunk night out!
a little tipsy, thats Ian, Renee's brother - stayed with them my first week in Oz
Iconic Sydney Bridge
An Aborigine!
Cockatoo's flying about everywhere like pigeons
Huge bats calling Flying foxes - just chilling in the trees in the Botanical Gardens
Botanical gardens - huge and lovely but the weather on the day I went was a bit rubbish
Cockatoos in the Botanical gardens just fly onto you if you have food!
Awesome views from the gardens...
Tidal pools on the walk from Bondi Beach to Bronte, again the weather was a bit rubbish!
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