LEAVING SYDNEY

 8.15 am

Disclaimer- This is a sad post. 

I haven't slept well all night, I woke up around 4 am and started packing my things in advance, I leave for the airport around 1 pm today. I was determined to finally write up an essay which is already over-due by a day but I have now concluded that I'm too tired to actually do anything substantial with it. I packed my things to the sounds of strange bird-calls, cool air coming through floor no.10 in the apartment I'm staying in the North Shore. I'm tired, and a little bit hungover, and it is then when I realise that actually, half of my trip I have been either drunk, stoned, or exhausted. And although I have been in awe so many, many times during this whole month, (beautiful vivid stars camping up north, swimming in a waterfall, kangaroos..) I still feel as though I never took a moment just to, well, be. You know, to take a breather and let a simple moment just sink in and stick. I guess that's what happens when you have a busy schedule and can't even fit in all the things you want to do. But alas, I am more than grateful that I even experienced Australia. (Even if I didn't go to Bondi or see a Koala) 

But how do I feel about leaving? I'll tell you. Terrible. I don't know if it's being irresponsible and bitter towards reality, education and work, or if it's simply not being bothered to endure the London winter ahead, but I don't feel homesick one bit. I must admit, at the start of my trip, I was a little homesick, but now that I've gotten so used to Sydney and met so many new, beautiful people, all I want to do is stay. I've gotten to know people, made friends, found appreciation and love for electronic music again, fallen in-love with the city, and now I have to leave, back to the other side of the world. Plus I'm leaving cheap sushi, the guy I have a crush on, and all the potential I had there behind. What do I have in London? What is there for me apart from my bestfriend, mum and my dog? I don't want to make this a rant about how much I hate London, so I'll just say that I'm genuinely going to miss Sydney and all of Australia greatly. 

 There is never enough time for any traveller to see everything and finish without untied strings, but what what the traveller can do is try his or her best to experience to the fullest. 

BEACH TALK #4: MANLY BEACH

"Manly Beach is a beach situated among the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Australia. From north to south, the three main sections are Queenscliff, North Steyne, and South Steyne"

Following up my intensely rushed "things to do before I leave" list, we decided to take a visit to Manly beach. It was my aunt who suggested we go to Manly, just to see not only the beach but also the suburb. So we took a ferry out to the suburb of Manly on a sunny day, the journey itself was a great for a tourist such as myself as you get to see alot of the sights such as the famous Sydney opera house to the Harbour bridge from a great point of view. -----> 

The journey was about half an hour, until we were greeted by Manly. The suburb itself was quite busy, as it is a good place for tourists, the high street was occupied by tourist, clothing, food shops and everything in between. I also noticed there were alot of long-borders/skateboarders, (and female ones, yay!) which is something I like to see. After shopping at Cole's for a picnic, we made our way to the beach where we relaxed and ate before heading into the sand. Finding a spot in the sand was a little bit hard as there was so many people. There was also "safety announcements" being held that day, it was quite annoying as it was only safe in the tiniest section of the water between the flags, but rather safe than sorry! I couldn't keep up with the waves in the beach, either falling over each time a wave hit or having to worry about my bikini top. It was quite the opposite of a relaxing day at the beach. As much as I wanted to have fun and spend some time in the water I couldn't really even take a second to breathe, although it was quite fun. 
The rest of the day we just hung around on the sand, tanning and what-not. It was quite the day.   All in all, Manly seems like a tourist-friendly town with alot of family-friendly attractions. 


[photos by yung gurl] 

CATCHING UP WITH THE LOCALS: KOMECHI KYOHOI

Komechi Kyohoi, 25, is a self-taught Japanese artist from Hokaido, Japan. For about two years he has been travelling around Australia. From Melbourne to Sydney to Byron Bay, he has been selling his artworks on the streets and in the tube stations. He currently sells his work for only $5, however he once made a total of $355 in one day. His aspirations are to create more original drawings and to travel to London. Kyohoi never studied art in university or professionally, and only started it as a hobby.

We met Komechi whilst coming back from Oxford St, Sydney. We were welcomed by his shy yet friendly presence, and ended up conversing with him for hours. Unfortunately, Komechi does not have a website at the moment, however he promised he would work on it. 

[Photos by Yung Gurl - Art by Komechi Kyohoi] 

BEACH TALK #5: MALABAR, LONG BAY

"Malabar Beach located as part of Long Bay is within the Eastern Sydney Suburb of Malabar and is a medium size beach with slightly course sand that is easily accessible by public transport and also has available parking. Whilst not as well-known as Bondi or Bronte it does offer a good place to fish, scuba or snorkel as well as their being barbeques to cook your catch." 

The last beach I officially visited in Sydney/Australia. On our way to Bondi a few days before my flight, we got a call from our friends, claiming they are at Malabar beach for a barbecue, and before we knew it, Bondi was cancelled and we head out to Malabar. We hung out on a quiet sandy beach, lying down on towels, smoking, hanging out with random dogs, swimming and fishing. It had quite the romantic/relaxed feel to it. There wasn't many people there and it was a quiet, reserved area, with a grass/children's play area and a barbecue close by. We sat on a picnic area and had a stereotypical Aussie BBQ then proceeded to hang out by the water and also did some rock adventuring (which I'm terrible at) The water that day was really warm and serene, the water surface itself quite rocky. All in all I would say it's 10/10 for couples. That is all. 

[photos by yung gurl]

AUSTRALIAN ROAD TRIP/FALLS MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL

Falls Music and Arts Festival: December-Jan 2013/2014 Review.

-I would like to point out this was the first festival I had ever been to, so it won't be a "correct" review...or whatever. 

Artists/bands seen: 

Bonobo

Flight Facilities 

Hermitude 

MGMT

The Roots

The Cat Empire

Rufus

Places passed/visited during road trip:

Byron Bay
Mullumbimby
Bellingen 
Crystal Castle
The Big Banana (hahahaha)
Loads more weird and strange little towns that I can't remember due to weird Australian names

_____________________________________

 A ten hour drive from Sydney to the spectacular town of Byron Bay didn't make me any less excited for working at/experiencing the Falls Festival, a music and arts festival spread over three days, including the new years that boomed us into 2014 and my 17th birthday. 


The festival was strictly 18+ however with a stall holder ticket and fakie (which they didn't even check as we were stall holders) there was no problem. We arrived two days early to set up my cousins Periwinkle Feather Extension Stall which I was working at, and spent the next two days in Byron Bay with some of our friends after setting everything up. Being in Byron Bay was like being in some sort of stereotypical American Spring-Breaker town. With an age range of 17-27, you'll find hippies, surfers, skateboarders and everything in between. All on vacation, or all for the festival. Every hostel, hotel and motel was fully booked. No vacancy, everywhere. Hot, humid air filled the atmosphere and any time, anywhere, everywhere you looked there was beautiful bohemian "party people". I regret not bringing my skateboard and 500d. I would've fit in pretty well. The beach town of Byron Bay is one of the best places to get away in Australia and meet some amazing people, surf/skate, party or just chill out. Our time there consisted of going to the best burger joint ever, drinking my first coconut, sleeping in a car, looking at surf shops, listening to flamenco and hanging out by the beach in the rain. 

Once back at the festival, people started gushing in like a flood, stalls were ready to sell, and people were ready to party. Our friends only arrived a day into the festival so we didn't really have much to do till they arrived. There was about 15-20 of us all together, and although my cousin and I had camped up on the very first few days in the "Vendor" camp area which was quite close to the festival, once everyone else arrived I relocated with all of our other friends in the "General" camp site area. Our set up was quite decent, a large gazebo and our tents camped up around it. (Our friends, in their 20's and Australian, have been camping alot so I was in good in hands) I hadn't been camping since I was really, really little so it was all pretty new to me, and I was pretty comfortable with all of it... apart from the excruciating heat in the morning. Seriously, it was like being slapped in the face by the sun every god-damn morning, and you couldn't help but wake up super early in the morning (and there's nothing to do at a festival in mornings but be hungover). So the 40 degrees northern sunlight, sweat, and sleepiness I could've done without. And being on the topic of heat, apart from the mornings, it was just generally, (well for me) way too hot - I literally did nothing all day when I wasn't working at the festival as I was too hot, but it was nice to experience it, sleeping under the gazebo all day wasn't too bad and plus I knew I was going to be back to London weather soon. The good thing is that we got cloudy skies on one or two days during the festival and even some rain, which ofcourse resulted in wet clothes but it was better than the heat!  

GENERAL VIBE 



So apart from the intense weather, the general vibe of the festival was great. The fact that it was over 18 was certainly a plus. You could find a wide range of different people there, from "brogan" Aussie's to hipsters to straight down to the mud hippies. Although there was loads of different people there, partying, and working at the stall, I was proved that everyone was about love and togetherness, it was refreshing and friendly. The festival was full of colour and so were the people in it. Tons of people dressed up every night in creative costumes and make up (our group of guy friends wore our dresses.. what a story that was). Working at the stall gave me the opportunity inevitably to meet loads of people, but even just in queue's for the bathroom or food I met and spoke to loads of lovely people who I will never forget. What I liked about the boys at the festival was that they were good-looking, yes, but mostly just really upfront (probably due to the alcohol) and I usually ignore it in London, but it's nice to get something different to "Oi my size, what you saying?" after going out for a drink, you gotta admit! I think the loveliest thing I experienced people wise at this festival was the fact that I wore my.. yes.. American Apparel red short-shorts, and I didn't get any disrespectful "what is she wearing" stares I would get back home on a sunny day in London. Because no one actually cared, everyone was having too much fun. It was awesome. And although I got some guys staring at my butt, followed by exchanging smiles with them, I didn't really mind. Because I wore them for myself, and it's, only natural for a guy to stare. Girls should embrace that a little more. 

The first night of the festival was a good one, all our friends had finally arrived and we spent most of the day working at the stall with my co-worker and friend Boris, it was pretty chill and it was just like an introduction for the next two to three days. That night I somehow got lost after meeting up to party, I wondered with a thousand cigarettes between my lips for the whole night, quite peaceful but a little bit annoyed and impatient. A few people spoke to me but I really wanted to just hang out with someone I knew! And then finally I bumped into Boris, Rusty and Ben. Finally, people I knew! I gave them huge hugs, I was so relieved. We entered the village and came across a really odd German, two man- (well, one woman, one man) band. It was so odd at first, all we saw was a slightly overweight woman in a Kimono rolling around the stage and kind of, well, stripping. Then the whole crowd was intrigued and we learnt that their music was actually, AMAZING. Really comedic, catchy stuff. I only wish I remembered what they were called. Shout out to those guys for making our first night an awesome one! 


STALLS 

The food at the festival was very mixed and varied, at the main section of the festival, where we had a stall, there were huge lines at most stalls. However some stalls such as where two of my Japanese friends were working, they were more towards the camp area and thus didn't have that many sales during the day. I had tried abit of everything during my 4 days of being there, Chinese, Malaysian, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish. All of it was pretty, well, greasy and overpriced. (A standard meal being around $13) But still good for a hangover! The other stalls, such as clothes and other things, (shout out to our feather stall) were pretty cool and creative. There were alot of organic/recycled stores, loads of peace/cause advertising stalls and my favourite, clothes stalls. I purchased 2 items from a vintage store, it was 3 items for $30 and two for $25, I left with a high waisted leather skirt (which I think I've lost now) and a floral tie-up shirt (and one of the buttons have come off, cry 4 me). All in all the stalls were pretty interesting and cool, however not as good as I expected. Some clothing stalls seemed really forced in general as companies (I won't name names). I must say I loved working at the feather stall, doing drunk boys and festival girls's hair, getting to know people was awesome and I finally learned to do something crafty with hair!

FAVOURITE MOMENTS/THINGS 

HEAT + PLUS WATER: It was hot as hell, but it was cool, cos we had all the water we needed. With high pressured taps for sunburnt people and water tanks for water for your water bottles, and the best, a water spraying tunnel by the main area of the festival. Man, running through that on a hot, dusty day is the best. The beach was 20 minutes away by car and it rained heavily twice, so although it was hot, we got alot of rain to balance it out! I only wished there was a lake/pool. 

DANCING IN THE RAIN AT HERMITUDE: On a more personal note, I never felt so alive after dancing to Hermitudes music, live, under beautiful tall Eucalyptus trees in the pouring rain wearing alien babe make up and practically my underwear at the forest stage. Although we had only started drinking and were mostly sober and my dance partner wasn't there with me, it was literally one of the best moments of Australia. 

THE LITTLE THINGS: The weird silent disco over the hill, getting bitten by ants, finding drugs on the floor and the trippy lights in the villiage. 

MY BIRTHDAY/BLASTING INTO 2014 WITH THE ROOTS: Another beautiful moment, being with all of my friends with all these amazing festival people in the middle of a huge crowd, watching the 90's legends that are The Roots. They did an amazing NYE show and everyone went insane with happiness and concept. Afterwards everyone in my group sung a drunken happy birthday to me, I got bitten by an ant (for the second time) and then got a piggie back through the whole festival, followed by some more dancing with amazing people. 

6 HOUR DANCE MARATHON: From Flight Facilities to Cat Empire to Rufus. I had literally never danced so much in my life. I did ballet until I was 14, and I dance at home whenever I can. But none of the clubs in London have done me justice (probably cos I've only mainly been to mainstream ones apart from a few trap clubs) - what made it great for me was being with Sophie, and amazing hoop dancer, we dance so similar and we just have the same love for dancing. It was so amazing being with her. Sophie, I hope we can dance again soon! 


All in all Falls Fest was an amazing experience for me, it's amazing to me that the first festival I got to experience was one of the best in Australia, on New Years AND my birthday! Had an insane time, I will never forget the horrible heat in the mornings, muddy vans (RIP my only skate shoes), the dust whilst dancing and the how amazing showers/the rain felt. I will never forget all the good vibes and good people, and all the amazing music! I recommend it to any festival lover! 

Road-tripping on the way back was amazing, between the drives we stopped over alot and conversed about 90's hip hop rappers with my friend Charlie. Eventually we joined our Blue Mountains friends and Sydney friends together, and even met some people from the festival, we all camped at a camp-site somewhere on the way back to Sydney. We had collected about 10 mattresses from the festival and blew them up, and placed them next to our tents. We had a barbecue and smoked a couple of joints all around a fire. We had guitars, a mediation singing bowl (which was so amazing) a harmonica, and an African drum. We sat around and made music under the stars. And this may sound cheesy, but I had literally (living the city under a cloudy UK), never seen so many stars in my life. It was so beautiful, I could stare at it for literally, hours. I was mesmerised. That night I encountered two beautiful web-spinning spiders (I forgot what kind) and a frog, which was also, pretty cool. There was also showers and normal toilets at the campsite, which was something I think, after the festival, we all had missed. The music of The Roots and Flume will always be a reminder of the festival and this whole trip for me!

view more photos via instagram: tomyummsoup 

[photos by yung gurl & crew]