One of the games that was invented by them was 2-up and the only day you can legally play it in Australia is on Anzac day. The principal behind it is to flip 3 coins off a wooden paddle, and whichever 2 sides match is the winner, hence “two-up“. There are some rules though: You have to get a good flip on the coins – if they don’t spin enough when you through them up, it’s a no-throw. Likewise, they have to get a good height – but not too high or hit the ceiling. And on hitting the ground, they have to all stay with the defined boundaries.

Now that sounds pretty dull in essence, but it’s a actually a blast! The reason being that you bet other people in the audience, and everyone – I mean everyone – gets involved. You can shout out a bet of say $10 on heads, and someone will say I’ll call you tails. The person who calls heads looks after the bet until the result is known. Then if they win, they keep it, and if they lose – tails – they give the money to the other person. You’d think people would try to cheat the system, but they don’t. The spirit is absolutely amazing! Everybody has great fun and chats and laughs and you just can’t imagine how much fun it is. It’s just a shame that it only happens once a year.

We spent an impressive 5 hours in the Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel that afternoon, but not playing that all day. All in all it was a great day, and next year I’ll make sure I’m up for the dawn service.

But, “Up North” – you have to say that with your best Geordie accent – it’s a different story. My friend is from Newcastle and we have the running joke’s about the differences between the North and South of England. And today, as the temperature drops to the point where I’m considering wearing a jumper – yes, it does get cold in Sydney despite the myths – I was reminded of a classic joke… The Geordie Thermometer.

It’s so true. I’ve never been up there, but I have friends from there, and they just don’t seem to feel the chill. It’s a strange thing. And that joke cracks me up every time!

One thing it has made me realise is that I really want to go there! I can’t believe I’ve never been. I went to Uni in the Midlands, and Newcastle’s not that far from it.

And yes, I just mentioned it. I actually have a selection of Winter clothes here in preparation for the Sydney Winter. It last for around 2 months, but thankfully doesn’t get as cold as home – gloves are not needed. But one thing I do wish is that they didn’t make manhole covers out of the slipperiest material known to man! I’m serious. The other day, it rained, and you can see all of Sydney’s working population carefully avoiding them like some kind of hop-scotch game. Those fool hardy enough to venture onto them, usually ended up doing some kind of impromptu dance routine with all the coordination of burning confetti in a tornado!

But, I do kind of like the rain. Reminds me a little of home. It’s rarely the same kind of drizzle you get in London – which is a good thing – but it is kind of comforting to know there are similarities with Sydney. Roll on deepest Winter… I’ve got my jacket ready.

It started flying over Epping – yes, there’s a suburb of Sydney called Epping, but it’s not quite the same as Epping in Essex, although that is the origin of the name – past St Leonards, and North Sydney. Then you see the bridge and the harbour open up, before seeing the towers of the city, all lit brightly against the dark night. The Sky Tower a pin-prick of building surround by these great monoliths of steel, concrete and light. The only thing I couldn’t see was the Opera House – although that may have been caused by the distraction of everything else.

The only thing I can compare it to was flying down the River Thames late at night passing over the whole of London. Going to have to book more late flights – but perhaps not on a Friday night as it wreaks havoc on your social life!

Fingers crossed I can still make that target I was after. And thank you in advance.

So, when I heard about Play, a Video Game Symphony was coming to Sydney Opera House, and would feature Halo, I jumped at the chance to hear such an amazing piece performed by one of the best Symphony Orchestras, the Sydney Symphony. It was conducted by Arnie Roth, who is also the director of the performances.

When the performance started, the first piece was Super Mario Bros. Now, you can imagine the laugh that went up when that famous tune started up. But the laughter was quickly replaced by awe as you realise what an amazing sound it was when performed this way.

It moved on through the pieces, many of which were great. But two pieces that really blew me away were from the Final Fantasy games, written by Nobuo Uematsu. One featured the entire Orchestra, a backing choir and the Grand Organ. The sound was just staggering. You were just pounded by the most powerful, wonderful music. The hair’s on the back of your neck standing on end. The organ player’s hands were a blur as he tried to keep up with the frantic pace of the music.

When Silent Hill was performed, the composer, Akira Yamaoka, came on stage with his Electric Guitar. Having already been treated to the Final Fantasy sound, we were then pummelled by this feast of auditory pleasure. That’s the only way I can describe it. It was so unexpected and so wonderful to hear this modern instrument played in perfect synergy with the Orchestra!

And then on to what was probably my favourite piece of the night. A suite of music from Castlevania – I’ve been trying to find out if it’s an actual piece, or one the conductor had put together for the show. Again, the Organ came into play, and again, the organ player was amazing. I only wish there’d been more pieces for him to have delighted our ears with!

I will however confess to being ever so slightly disappointed with the Halo performance. It was performed amazingly, apart from one key instrument. near the beginning there’s some bongo’s that are played softly, but in the performance, they were just too strong and over-powered the subtle sound that should have been there. But it was as good as I hoped other than that.

There were other classic songs, such as Sonic, and Zelda was kept until very near the end. Again raising chuckles from the crowd.

It was a simply awesome experience. And anyone who’s into their epic computer games, or thinks that hearing some of their childhood favourite games played live on stage would be something to behold, then go. If anyone else wants to hear something truly epic, and worthy of more attention, then go. I promise you will not regret it!

In fact, it was just the other day that an Australian friend asked me why so many English want to come here, when so many Australians want to go to London. That’s a tough question to answer in all honesty, and I still find myself trying to come up with an answer. It’s not just Sydney that draws us with it’s amazing Harbour, Bridge and beaches. We seem to be drawn to other parts of the country too – on that note, I’ve decided Australia should be a continent, and the states countries, as they all do their own thing anyway and find it hard to talk. I think it’s a combination of the lifestyle, the weather and, well, as much as it pains me to say it, and as much as I’m proud of my country, it’s not the UK I was starting to get fed-up with. I won’t talk about that, but there’s a feeling I’m getting from a lot of people that they feel the same way as me.

But, I digress… I’ve been here a year. Why? Well, to be honest, life’s been pretty good to me in a lot of ways. My original plan was to work for 3 months, then carry on my trip around the world. But, thanks to my friend Martin, I got a great job at Wiliam, which has seen me rise from the html guy, to a team leader, to Technical Director.

There’s also been the people I’ve met! I’ve had the pleasure of meeting some of the most amazing, wonderful people, from all walks of life. The house I currently live in is very transient, and as a result I’ve lived with 14 different people in that time. 14 people! That’s a lot by any stretch of the imagination! But, as I say, some of them will be friends for life I think.

As I write those last paragraphs, it makes me wonder what else there is. Obviously friends and a job you enjoy are really important to you, but there’s got to more hasn’t there? I mean, what else is honestly keeping me here? My friends back home all miss me – although they seem to have forgotten how to write more than 3 lines in an email. What else do I have here that’s not back in England?

The culture here is a mish-mash of those that have emigrated here. The national food is Kangaroo I think, although most Australians don’t eat it. Drinking is quite prolific – and as everyone who knows me, knows that I’m a sucker for going out and drinking. It’s sunny here a lot – although not as much as you’d be led to believe by the brochures. It’s also beautiful here! That’s a vague comment worthy of a little justification. I live 20mins from the beach, or 1 hours walk. And the coast here is amazing!

And there’s other things to do. Most weekends there’s something cultural going on. And there’s the golf, although I fear that it’s lost some of it’s appeal due to people not knowing basic rules – such as playing in 4 balls and shouting “FORE” if a balls going flying towards someone! Instead they stand there looking stupid to the point where you almost feel sorry for them as they have no comprehension of what they’re meant to do in that situation.

But, I’ll say it again. I do love it here. The lifestyle is undeniably great, as is the weather and most of the people. There are a few things that were getting to me, but they’re now forgotten. So, come and live here, it’s not too expensive, but you’ll have a tought time stretching your dollars back in England – although the Dollar is getting stronger.

Do we still need a separate print friendly page or is there a better way using CSS?

It’s an article where I look at how printing on the web has changed, and why new methods are better most of the time.

When it came into the harbour, initially all you saw was the smoke from the funnels, high above everything else. Then it poked it’s nose round the corner. It was immense! It so large that the hills and treeline near the harbour mouth could only just conceal it from view. Accompanying it was a large floatila of Sydney’s boats, lead by the Fireboat that clears the way for larger vessels.

As it approached, you just couldn’t help but marvel at the scale of it. 61m above the waterline, and two thirds the length of the harbour bridge, the Queen Mary 2 just cannot help but impress. Watching it glide effortlessly round Fort Denison, before doing a pirouette to face it’s final berth.

But, as if bowing to the crowds, it started gliding backwards towards the bridge. It was making the most of one of it’s many moments in the spotlight, but setting itself up for some fantastic shots set against Sydney most famous landmarks, the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House. It didn’t seem in the least bit fazed by all the boats buzzing around it viing for attention, or the helicopters keeping a watchful eye on her as she performed effortlessly for the crowd.

In fact, the Queen Mary 2 was so into the moment, that it seemed not to care about the other ships in the harbour, making the – usually large – manly ferry wait until she’d finished what she was doing, and allowing no room to pass.

Then finally it glided past us. I was honestly amazed it could fit through the gap as it was only 10 metres from where I stood, and I was making use of the low tide to stand on rocks further out than normal.

It was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. And, it was made more impressive when her Sister Ship, the QE2 sailed in that evening. Although, to be honest, as impressive as the QE2 is, it had the limelight stolen by her bigger cousin, the Queen Mary 2.

If you ever get the chance to see either of these magnificent boats, do! They’re well worth it. And if you can see it somewhere like Sydney, even better!

So, how’s it been. Well, I think that I’ve changed a fair bit. A little more confident, a little more outgoing, and a little more worldly wise – it’s amazing how people’s ears prick up when you mention you’ve spent some time backpacking.

I’ve met some great people along the way. But something that’s really getting to me at the moment is the way lots of my friends are leaving at the moment. It seems like I’m going to a leaving drink once a week at least. It’s not a nice feeling, I can assure you.

So what next? Do I intend to head home or perhaps carry on. Lets just say, that I think I’ll be in Sydney for quite a while yet, and after that… Well, we’ll see what happens. Perhaps I’ll finally get around to learning Spanish and head to South America. Or perhaps it’ll be the easier option of heading to the USA for a while. Who knows.

But I do know I’ve really enjoyed the last year, and I just hope the next year is just as good.

Unfortunately, Sarah has now gone back to her family in the USA, leaving me here, pondering my future in the Lavender House – that’s our other name for it. During her time here. we’ve become very good friends, and have made each other’s experience’s here something that we’ll remember forever.

I admit. we have had our ups and downs, but whenever we’ve needed someone to talk to, we’ve always turned to each other. It’s kind of strange not having her here now, and I half expect (hope) that she’ll walk through the door any day now. But, despite all my trying, I don’t think that will happen. You see, here experiences of Sydney have been slightly jaded by her university, that seems to have gone out of it’s way to take money from her, make it as difficult as possible for her to get anything done. Then there’s the fact that it’s an hour from the CBD – so 3 hours of traveling for her a day.

Then there’s the weather. I’m going to let out a little secret here… The weather in Sydney’s not as great as the brochure’s let on. It’s been very cold at times, with the biggest temperature swings) I’ve ever know. It can be 30 degrees one day, then 14 the next (it went to 8 once).

But, the times we’ve had here have been some of the best of my life. We’ve had many parties in the house – and it stayed intact. We started cooking together, and I think we’re now both much better in the kitchen for it – although there was my incident with chocolate powder re-decorating the kitchen, and she does still occasionally burn things. Our wanderings around town, and the close group of friends we’ve been lucky enough to make.

So, it’s with a tear in my eye that I finish this blog, and say farewell to a very close friend. I hope we’ll always stay close, and get the chance to live together again in the future. Thank you Sarah.

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Sarah’s leaving present