RWYA

Thursday, 8th March 2001

And so to Sydney, where our appartment was separated from the Opera House by the very large and very beautiful Botanic Gardens. In true Aussie style, the sign in the garden reads:

"Please walk on the grass. We also invite you to smell the roses, hug the trees, talk to the birds and picnic on the lawns...."

No worries, mate!

Tuesday, 6th March 2001

Sunrise at Ayres Rock. In the rain. Not particularly inspiring, especially as we had to get up at a very stupid hour of the morning (4am Balikpapan time) to see it. Even though we were soaked to the skin and freezing cold, our guide wasn't going to give up. "You guys are so lucky to see the rock with all the waterfalls on it!" She had never been to the UK - it looked like any Welsh or Scottish mountain, struggling to get through the cloud and covered with water.... Still, "No worries, mate!"

Friday, 2nd March 2001

Sat aboard our shuttle bus, waiting to go from the ferry terminal to our hotel, the bus driver calls out to a bunch of stranded divers: "Do you want a lift, mate?" The divers happily took up this offer, and so the driver spent the next ten minutes taking all the luggage from the hold and putting it on the bus, so that the divers plus equipment could get on. Was this a great inconvenience to the bus driver? "No worries, mate!"....RWYA

Friday, 2nd March 2001

Safety briefing on Rottnest ferry: "The life jackets are under the seats. Put them over your head and tie the straps around you. There is a whistle on the right hand side, if you blow it like this, you'll be right."....RWYA

Friday, 2nd March 2001

Twenty minutes before our boat left from Rottnest, Sophie remembered that she had taken the tickets from Alex's wallet and put them in the suitcase for safekeeping. Unfortunatley, the tickets were needed to board the boat, and the luggage had already been put on board. Whilst Alex was panicking about whether we would be allowed on the boat or whether we would have to buy new tickets, Sophie explained the situation to the man-on-the-boat, who said..."No worries, mate!" ....RWYA

Thursday, 1st March 2001

What's a girl to do when she is stuck in a hotel with a bottle of wine and no corkscrew? Ask the barman in the hotel, if he would generously open her bottle (even though she didn't buy the bottle there), "No worries, mate!" ....RWYA

Monday, 26th February 2001

Not so much RWYA, but an Aussie experience - going to see 'Billy Elliot' at the local cinema. You buy the tickets from the kiosk, and whilst you are waiting for the film to start, the ticket selling man ushers the audience out from the previous showing, switches the lights on, changes the film reels and then ushers you in to watch the film. If asked whether he was bothered about the multi-tasking, I'm sure he would simply say "No worries, mate!" ....RWYA