SYDNEY - Can You Tell What It Is Yet?

You get all sorts of unusual oppotunities coming along when you're travelling. Fourth of July fireworks in the States, Oyster festivals in Brazil, even marking off Harry Potter filming sites in a British atlas for an Aussie family you'd met on a random New Zealand hillside. However, attending the Australian premiere of Walk the Line with a work party of eight Aussies will go down as one of the best of the year.

One of the wonderful things about being British is that we have an obsessive compulsive attitude towards queing. If we see a line of people anywhere in the world we know there's got to be something worth having at the end. So we'll always go to investigate. On this occassion, the line was doubly interesting as it was in the middle of th Botanical Gardens and in the blazing sun: signs that something interesting was obviously happening. It turned out that the line was for the Sydney Openair Cinema. Nine years ago, someone had the genius idea of putting up a large cinema screen across the water from the Opera House throughout January and screening films in the beautiful summer nights. It's grown since then into something of a mini festival, hosting several previews and even premieres. Such was the case this week. The well reviewed recent Golden Globe winning biopic of Johnny Cash, Walk the Line was premiering. The queue, it transpired, wasn't for the tickets which had sold out in about five minutes, but just to get in to the place to secure god seating (and this was about two hours before the gates even opened)

On my way out, I was accosted by a couple. They'd organised a work party some months back to see the film but one of their group had rung in a few minutes earlier to suddenly cancel. In their general pissed-off state they decided they'd scout the area and offer their remaining ticket to anyone they could find (Aussies do righteous anger very well) and so I got to join them swiping free samples of Lindt Chocolate and pulling up plastic chairs, waiting for sundown.


The Openair cinema in front of Sydney Harbour. If you've been to a more impressive cinema, let me know. But I think you're probably lying.

There weren't any stars in attendance (although, funnily enough, Charlize Theron was just twenty minutes down the road attending her premiere of her latest addition to the canon of worthy celluloid, North Country) but there was still glamour of sorts. The fish and chips, for example, came with little pots of gourmet tartare sauce. Classy. And the film was pretty good, too (Joquain Pheonix and Reece Witherspoon are both incredible and deserve as many awards as they can carry, everything else is a bit turgid) so, all in all, a good night out.


Sydney Opera House and Bridge. Again. But this time, by night!

More fun and games have been had at my latest stopping point on my tour of old and new friends around the world (or: the 'see how many free nights you can get' tour) This time my hosts are Chris and the rest of the Croan family in the lovely little suburb of Castle Hill just outside of Sydney. I met Chris this summer at Aldersgate. (Two weeks on and off joke sharing being enough to secure at least a few days stay, you understand.) Australia really seems to have even the USA beat for leafy surburbs since there's a huge population trying to fit itself into a reasonably tiny space. The country is, of course, huge, but practically everyone lives in a narrow band around the coastlines. Especially in Sydney, which has sprawled for miles in all directions. Except, of course, into the water. The Croans have many wonderous things in their house, including most excitingly for a Pommie, two original Rolf Harris paintings. I was most impressed.


Rolf Harris. Adding colour to living rooms across the world for goodness knows how many decades.

So the plan at the moment is to stay in the suburbs for a few days, venturing into Sydney for the usual tourist behavior and maybe for some Australia Day fun and games. My passport is currently being babysat by the Indian Consulate (yes, another country, another Visa) so I won't be actively looking for work until next week. However, having now attended a film premiere and lost my favourite hat somewhere along the way, I've decided to forego the fruit picking and instead do temp work in Sydney. Which will mean wearing a tie for the first time in a while. Bleugh.