Sydney Jaunt

Well we are back in Melbourne after a quick jaunt to Sydney. Alana had seminars organized and I explored a little of Newtown's cafes and surrounding area. Primarily though it was a working trip for both of us. The plan was for me to get as much possibly done on chapter 4, while Alana went to seminars and learnt a lot, then eat good food and go out a bit at night. Truth be told we were actually a bit tired upon arrival in Sydney, so we did not end up painting the town red. The other bit of the plan was to do the trip there and back as cheaply as possible. To meet this end we booked ourselves into a backpackers. After our last fraught experience with one backpackers in Perth this one proved to be the complete opposite and was a pleasant stay. I also managed to get the guts of chapter 4 written from scratch, read a third of Ben Kiernan's book The Pol Pot Regime that I had been putting off for ages. I also read most of a Tom Robbins novel called Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates. Like other Tom Robbins works it puts most writers to shame in terms of flare, vocabulary and fun wordplay. He does this while bordering on pretension, but with such skilled execution and sense of enjoyment of the craft of writing, that he manages to dodge become pretentious, if such a thing is possible. The place where we stayed was called Billabong Gardens. It was a good working environ as it was relatively peaceful during the day and without my many distractions, provided by Internet, toys or people. The room was small, but affordable, clean and not tacky or hideously coloured. I set up the laptop on the small desk which I placed in the doorway which opened onto a shared balcony. A cool breeze occasionally blew though the balcony doors in the afternoon, making sitting there more pleasant. The huge fan in the room was annoying, primarily because the room was so small. A ceiling fan would have fixed this easily. The backpackers staff were both helpful and friendly and promptly fixed the light in the room and replaced towels daily. I swum each morning which was great, and only once was there anyone else in the pool. The pool had a few leaves and twigs from the surrounding plants, but other than that was quite clean. Billabong Gardens also had good communal areas, and the obliging staff let me stay most of Sunday without charging extra or giving me a 'hurry up'. As far as backpackers go I would rate this a 3 / 5 star backpackers to stay. It missed out on a 4th and 5th star due to lack of ceiling fan or alternatively air conditioning to cool the room down at night, a very flat pillow, although a comfortable enough bed, and the double room being quite small.