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Cool Custard and Loopy Juice
Sydney, 25th January 2002
I was up early again this morning so I could move the van to the car
park. When I drove up, the usual guy, oldish, skinny with grey hair
and large square glasses, walked out to take my money. He's
obviously started to recognise me and started chatting. He told me
about some other backpackers who had left their van here for 5 days
and it was stolen. He also told me about another one which had it's
window broken. I don't know if he's just telling me or warning me
that our van could be next. I'm not too sure, but I think I'll watch
out.
Custard (our van) was still suffering a bit. It seemed to be
overheating really easily, even though the gears all worked fine
now. When we were all up and ready to go, I phoned up a few garages
to see if I could get a tune up, which will hopefully sort out or
locate the problems. When I turned to the 'Mechanics' section of the
Yellow Page, I was met with a huge list of choices. Which one? I
decided to start by phoning the big, national companies, hopefully
this would mean less chance of being ripped off.
However, K-Mart, Shell Garages and the other main ones were all
fully booked until next week. As we really wanted it done soon, I
decided I'd have to look for a smaller, local business. I started to
read through the 100s listed. After a while, I gave up. Searching
through these was like trying to find humour in a Chris Evans joke.
I decided the best thing to do, was to walk around the local area
and find a few that looked reputable. I could then compare the
prices.
Near to the car park was a 'Travellers Autobarn'. That was as good a
place as any to start. I wandered in and was met with a huge garage,
just like the one I did my work experience in a few years ago. I
asked the man if they could have a look at our van, but he said they
only do work on their own cars before they sell them on. So I asked
if he could recommend any nearby mechanics. He said he could and
went to get the details.
As we walked down the side road we saw an old looking garage,
looking a bit run down, and wandered in. As I walked in, a small,
old man with white hair, big, strong glasses and dressed in dirty
blue overalls clambered out of the back of an old Jaguar. He walked
slowly up to us, dusting himself off, I introduced myself and told
him about the problems we were having with our van. After listening,
he told us to bring the van in and he'd have a look at it.
We fetched the van and parked it in his workshop. After explaining
the problems (overheating) he waited for the engine to cool then had
a look. He was a really friendly guy and chatted throughout,
explaining what he was doing as well as chatting about other things.
I had to listen really carefully because his strong accent made him
a little difficult to understand. I thought he was Italian, but he
turned out to be Swiss.
He quickly determined the problem, a faulty Thermostat. After about
an hour, the car was ready to go again and I pulled out my wallet,
expecting a HUGE bill. But he only charged A$50! Fantastically good
value! For anyone who travels through Sydney and needs the help of a
mechanic, visit this guy: JAY DEE'S, 43/45 Rilly Street, Sydney.
He's top quality! After his work, the car ran perfectly. Custard is
back to his good old self.
 In
the afternoon, the sun came out in full force and we headed over to
see the Sydney Opera House (finally). It's a fantastic, stunningly
white building with an amazing design. It was a little smaller than
I imagined, but still impressive. At first I thought it was a bit
dirty in colour, a bit brown, but then I realised I was looking at
it through my sunglasses. After looking over the glasses, I could
see the fabulous white tiles in their full glory.
In the afternoon we all wandered around town, doing our own things.
I decided to buy myself a Didgeridoo! There was a guy in the shop
who would play each one so you could hear what it sounded like when
played well. He made it look really easy. After buying it I quickly
went home and started practising. The sound is amazing, but
unfortunately, the others are going to have to put up with this
droning sound while I practice! The book I bought a week or two ago
came in really useful. I'm not any good yet, but to learn the
Didgeridoo is one of my aims of this gap year!
When the Simpsons came onto the Telly, I decided to put my didge
away for the evening and watch my favourite program. At about 8pm,
we all got changed and headed out for a drink in the infamous King's
Cross area. After walking down the even more infamous Darlinghurst
Street and turning the corner, we went into The World Bar. A really
nice pub/club with a great atmosphere. After a jug of VB (Victoria
Bitter) we decided to try another Ozzie beer. I decided to buy a jug
of Loopy Juice, at $7.50 per jug (about 4 pints) it was REALLY
cheap. But I soond learnt why it was so cheap. Loopy Juice is yuck.
After a few more drinks and a bite to eat we decided to head back to
the hostel. Getting to the take-aways was more difficult than we
planned. On Darlinghurst Street there are loads of 'Gentlemen's
Clubs'. They each have a couple of guys outside the door trying to
coax (force) people into the club. Even walking along with Natalie
was no protection form them. "She can come in too!" or "She can wait
outside" or just ignoring her were the common approaches. After
managing to get some food, we pushed through the crowds of people
and headed back to our hostel, luckily not too far away. We snuck
quietly upstairs to our room and quickly fell asleep.
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To know the road ahead, ask those coming back
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