The Sydney Chronicles // Part One

THINGS CAN ONLY GET BETTER...Right?!

I stayed in Wake Up! Hostel which is located at 509 Pitt Street, Sydney, 2000 - across the road from Central Station and its the giant building where Pitt and George Streets meet. As I have mentioned I stayed here almost four years ago when I came to see Leanne & Jo. We had such a good time then and in my mind that would transcend this time around.  However, that was not the case, this time round I was more self concious than I was before, less confident in myself and found it difficult to integrate with people and make friends. This hostel has about 700 residents and yet it's one of the loneliest places. 700 people from all corners of the world with the same common purpose yet companionship was really very hard to find.  Not that I didn't find any in my five weeks residency, I did find some gems hidden amongst the mound of bodies.

Wake Up!

In my room was three Germans, one of which was always in the room, he didn't like sydney/travelling all that much, I think he too had some difficulties and it just got the best of him.  He wasn't interested in making friends, all he was doing was counting the days down to his departure, despite my best efforts and free alcohol! The other two were a couple, Alex and Katharina, they were shy at first, I guess not too confident in their ability to speak English. My experience so far is that Germans are often found with other Germans but from the ones I have met they really want to improve on their English and actually do come out of their shell and integrate. After a day or two they were more chatty and I was keen to get to know them and help them improve their English, we quickly became friends. I had bought alcohol at the airport when I got to Sydney and thought it would be a great ice breaker in the hostel, a sort of desperate attempt to bribe some friends! I decided to crack it open one night before I was heading out out to Oxford Street, I thought it would relax my fellow roommates. Even the reclusive German got in on some vocal action, however it was limited.  

Alex & Kat became important people to me in Sydney. They were fun, interesting, young, and great to be around. We would meet for drinks, chat in the room and just hang out. I'd attempt to help out with their English, it is fair to say I'm probably not the best person to teach anyone English given my vocab is essentially Essex English, it's a thing - OK! 

 Kat, Alex & I in Side Bar which is in the basement of Wake Up! Hostel.

Over the course of our rooming we helped each other to find work, more on that further in this post. It was sad when they left the hostel, they moved to an apartment in Sydney but we did make an effort to meet up and we had our own Christmas drinkie poos. They eventually left to continue their adventure together, two of the nicest people I have met on my journey so far and we've remained in contact. I'm so pleased they have each other. I sincerely hope our paths cross in the near future. 

Over the five weeks (!) that I stayed in Wake Up various souls came and went from the room but few left any sort of effect on me, aside from Alex and Kat, there were another two, Katie and Kelly, to northern lasses. They were so much fun, so kind, sweet and great to be around. They stayed in the room for a while and a friendship blossomed. They are absolutely gorgeous girls. We had fun together at the hostel. Kelly has since gone back home but Katie is still in the country and fingers crossed we shall meet again. 

Katie, I, & Kelly in Darling Harbour waiting for the fireworks.

 The three of us on a night out.

Whilst staying at Wake Up! I met Dom who went on to become pretty much my best mate away from home. He wasn't staying in the hostel, we actually met through Grindr. For those unaware Grindr is a 'social media' app/tool that connects GBT/GBT curious guys locally, the app, with some sort of accuracy, will tell you in foot/meters how far away another user is, with the closest (not closeted - but likely anyhow) being next to you on the app screen. Now it is predominantly used for hook ups however whilst I've been away I have tried to use it to make friends in the area of a like minded-ish nature to have some sort of social life with. That's how Dom and I got talking, we were both not interested in meeting other guys for hook ups we just wanted someone to chill with. Dom remains the only person I have met from Grindr in Sydders. In Sydney especially Grindr really highlights the faults of the gay community and confirms what people think of gays, in my opinion. It's ridiculous actually. In the city, on the app, for every face picture there is 5 torso pics and headlines like 'MASC 4 MASC' 'MASC HOST' 'BTTM MASC' (the irony of which is not lost on me!). What makes me chuckle is those profiles with a torso and underwear on display then there headline is 'NOT INTO NSA' or 'FRIENDS ONLY'. Who are these folk kidding? Anyways I digress (!!!) and I could write a whole blog post on the issues with this 'social' app. Dom remains the only person I've met from Grindr here because no one else has been interested in just hanging out and going for a beer etc. I should state that Grindr does have its uses and not everyone on it is a tool, I'm just generalising.

Dom and I are very different people. Dom is a now 22yo German lad and I am obvs an older Brit. We both view the world differently but it can be a good thing for two different people to collaborate. We bickered a lot over our few months together but ultimately we got on well and we did have some fun in the city. It's hard not to sound patronising and what I said at the time and what I say now in my blog doesn't come from a negative or patronising place but the differences were so apparent between Dom and I. I hope we have learnt some things from each other. 9 years is not a big age gap, even less so when you consider the 'culture' I surround myself, I figure I'm on a wave length of about a 15yo! However I think what I have done is forgotten what I was like as a 21yo. Although I don't think I was ever sure of anything, still not, but my outlook is very wide on life, probably through personal experiences, certainly through work life, these are things Dom has yet to experience and ultimately these were where our issues lied.  Our friendship did grow but the lines blurred somewhat between us and it actually became a difficult/frustrating friendship. We pretty much did everything together with some exceptions and it became a bit too much towards the end and we decided it was best to just stop what we were doing and just go back to being mates and just mates towards the end of his trip and that was the definitely the best thing for us. I'm a line wolf really and I think I lost a bit of my identity and assurance that I could do things on my own. This was an issue of mine and not one made by Dom. I like my own company and during our time together I think I felt like I lost it a bit, my own fault by own decisions. What I will say now is that I owe a big chunk of my Sydney experiences to him, we had a laugh and he's such a nice guy and in many ways old before his time, he is someone I will actively stay in contact with and I wish him the absolute best from life and self happiness. There'll be more about Dom and I as the blog continues. 

Just a few snaps of Dom & I.

One of my favourite pictures of us from one of our many nights out.

Now is probably a good time to touch on JOBS and the hunt for which, which is not dissimilar to hunting the Sasquatch I imagine. Who'd have thunk it? A big city in a very developed country yet very little work around. Maybe it's arrogance or just an idealistic thought but I didn't think it would be as hard as it was to find work given my background in Policing, and way back when in Retail/Catering - I was so very wrong. The struggle is real and it's manifested in Sydders. I should sit down and count how many jobs I applied for, I could actually do it given I have the emails etc. maybe by the time this blog is ready for publish I'd have done it. (Ed - I haven't) Anyways....there are A LOT of jobs to apply for yet very very few come to anything. 

Alex & Kat told me about an opportunity for some work with an Australian Children's Cancer Charity, we went along to the open meeting where they told us about the role which was basically selling reindeer antlers for the charity, it meant working in various locations and with other people, mostly backpackers. Dom came to the open meeting but he had already made his decision that he was not going to do this job. Dom was more self concious than I and when it came to wearing reindeer antlers it was just too much for him. Obviously a great thing to do for a great cause but once I found out that just 20% of the money went to the Charity itself I was turned off.  I worked a fair few shifts and got around the suburbs out of Sydney which was interesting to see. Its incredible realising just how ignored these folk who do these roles are. It has made me approach them differently, even just an acknowledgement would improve their day tenfold. I started with Alex and Katharina and they continued to do the full 4 weeks with the charity.

Clearly loving life...

My last shift with the charity was the same day as the Sydney Siege. Although my last shift and that incident wasn't exclusive to why I left the job however I had been posted in Martin Place in Sydney's CBD this very day; 16th December 2014. I was about 200 metres away from the incident when it happened, although I was blissfully unaware at the time what was happening until the surge of Police descended on to the Lindt Café. I still at that point didn't know what was happening but it was obvious, this was not good. Various retail units and coffee houses were shutting their doors, and one female at a coffee house told me there was a terrorist situation going on and that I should go inside or leave the area. I went online and there was nothing reported initially. 

Picture the scene. There I am standing, holding a coin collection bucket, about 50 foam reindeer antlers, green and red in colour, wearing two of these antlers on my head, blank/confusion expression on my face, probably my normal face hey?! Police all around Martin Place, shops shutting and literally chaining the doors so they're securely locked with staff and customers inside. There I am just standing there not really knowing what to do. It was a bit intense, I called the guys running the fundraising and they were aware of the situation and said I could stay if I wanted or go else where or head back to the office. Needless to say, but imma say it anyway, I didn't raise hardly any funds in Martin Place at this point. I decided to walk through the city. This very morning there had been a suspect package at Sydney's Opera House too. There was a very distinct shift in the atmosphere around the city, as I was walking away from Martin Place heading south through Pitt Street and Pitt Street mall. Cops were running around, police radios going off and sudden change of direction from them. It was very strange to be in that scenario. Instinctively I wanted to assist in some way. Having been in the police for almost a decade in London, my instincts are not to run away from trouble but to get involved, assist in diffusing the situation, that's what I'm trained in doing and that's what I got paid to do. I had to go against my instincts on this occasion. I'm not going to lie, the whole thing was pretty scary. Rumours circulating that there were other threats elsewhere. By this point the news corps had got hold of the story and they were running the terrorist angle on it. I got back to the office and handed over what little money I made and the remaining antlers and I left never to return. I went back to the hostel and just sat watching the news for the rest of the day as the Lindt Café was now a hostage scene with staff and customers trapped inside. The events that unfolded were tragic. People lost their lives and those that survived will have been scarred for life. Incredibly sad. Martin Place became a memorial site in the days after the event where people, myself included, went to pay their respects and lay down flowers. It was really breath taking and upsetting to see the outpouring of support and grief from the Sydney community.

The outpouring of grief was quite a sight to behold. The way the city came together on the day and the days after the incident will never be forgotten.

The job hunt continued... Dom and I got another job with a leaflet distribution company. The 'interview' was a little ridiculous, it was basically just assumed that everyone had the job, no questions asked. This was my longest job in the city but it was badly paid, naturally, and it was hard work. You'd think it wouldn't be, walking around and delivering leaflets, how hard can that be right? You'd be wrong, as was I. Most shifts would find you walking constantly for about 4/5 hours on average, sometimes longer and rarely shorter. If you've never been to Sydney or the outer suburbs, or even just NSW generally speaking, let me tell you, it is not a flat area. It's unreal how hilly it is, how mountainous it is. We are also talking December here, which is the summer, and it gets very hot. On average I would be walking 10miles a shift I would say, in 30+ degree heat, carrying x amount of kilos on my back. But hey dem bills need paying!!! 

Just to re-emphasise this, it was hard work. The pay for this was based on the size of map you got. When we went for our interview they said that there were three types of maps; Small / Medium / Large. The smallest map would be $55 to complete with one leaflet, $65 with two and $80 with three leaflets. I worked with these people for over three months and I only ever got a small map, on the very odd occasion it would take two hours, but mostly 4/5 hours and sometimes 6/7 hours. Yet they claimed the maps were of similar size. I only ever got paid for small maps. Needs must though. I wasn't prepared to go cap in hand back home for help, this journey/adventure was for me to achieve on my own, regardless of what comes my way. Naturally if my dollar wasn't stolen in Thailand I wouldn't have needed to do these kinds of jobs but it was and in order to live and have some sort of enjoyment I needed to do this job until I found other, substantial, but allusive work. My Dad and Brother offered me help in ways of financial assistance but I declined, a time would have come where I would have needed it but I wanted to hold out. 

The guys who run the leaflet business were atrocious. Really unorganised, rude, and dismissive of the distributors. You couldn't guarantee that you'd have work everyday, or even most days. It required me to be very proactive with them. I'm amazed I worked with them for so long given that I had a couple of big stand up arguments with a couple of the guys running the operation. I was the only person to stand up for themselves. I wasn't going to take the shit they ploughed on others, I tried to stand up for anyone that was being taken advantage of. In the end it was clear that the whole situation was not working. I don't lose my temper easily and it's not a good sign when I'm rather loudly causing a scene in public with the so called supervisors using expletives to carry my point. Ultimately it's not a job I would recommend to anyone but if times are hard then do it. The other side of it was that I lost a whole bunch of weight, I went down to about 12st 6lbs (78KG), the lowest I have been weight wise since I was in high school. I lost just over a stone in weight. I can report that I'm putting the weight back on in, in a healthy manner now. 

Whilst doing the leaflet drops I was also still applying for jobs online and in person. There was a lot of work about but it was very specific for certain skills. As a Police Officer back in the UK for sometime I've gained a lot of skills but they're not very job specific outside of the police. My customer service skills are second to none however I think people are turned off to a degree when they see Police on my CV. I got a job interview for a call centre job, this was to raise funds for a charity and it involved warm calling (calling previous donors) and cold calling.  This was my first proper job interview in about 9 years. I was pretty nervous, and when I'm nervous I swear a lot. A LOT. I was wearing a pale blue shirt and the sweat patches were repugnant, the more I was noticing the patches the more I was sweating. To make matters worse their air con was broken. Despite my revolting appearance they still hired me. They were intrigued by my police background and just talked to me about what I did in the police. I worked with them for 8 days before they got rid of a whole bunch of people they had hired. It was pretty hard. I started of well, raising quite a bit of money but it quickly went south and I struggled to raise hardly anything towards the end. I raised a few thousand for the. In the short time I worked there. Really difficult making so many calls and getting knocked back almost immediately for most of them.

I then went back to leaflet dropping. I always went back to leaflet dropping. Le sigh.

In the Thailand jungle I met Zayla and Cheeky, I spoke about them in a precious blog. Well they had come to Sydney in December and we met up. More about that in a future blog post but when they were in the city they got a few days work sorting some product recall for an airline. Anyways, Zay called me up one day after they had left the city and asked if I needed some work as the bloke she got the job with before and had called saying he needed help for some further work. My number was passed and I got work near the airport in a warehouse for about 7 days. Paid OK and it was pretty straightforward work. I worked with some Finnish girls and another British guy for the most part of it. The girls are Jenna, Suvi, Tuulia & Emilia. Regulars will remember how I met some Finnish people, particularly Miiko in Thailand back in November, and he stood out as a character that I've met, well I hadn't actually met any other Finnish people since then until these girls. They have cemented their places in my heart. We became very good friends very quickly. They were so much fun to be around. There were no issues with language, their English was exceptional, as was their sense of humour, they seem to get me which few people do really,meek without thinking that I'm a bit weird. Work was a breeze with them, once the work finished we hung out a bit and had drinks. They've since left and I'm gutted. I had left the city for Kiama but I got to spend one last night out with them before they headed off to whatever was coming next. I miss them and I will absolutely be heading to Finland at some point. 

❤️ FINLAND! Tuulia, myself, Emilia, & Suvi!

Fooling about in the pool.

The job basically involved going through airline packs that contained; socks, toothbrush etc. a complaint had been made by a customer that the pen in the pack had a rival airline logo on it which then required us to go through all the packs to check the pens in them and then re-seal them in a production line manner. After the work ended we stayed in contact whilst we were in the city, albeit staying in different parts. That was probably the best job I did whilst staying in the city.

Serving tradie realness. 

The packers! Great group! Tuulia, Jenna, Emilia, Chris, & ???

Through this work I got an opportunity to work in a coffee shop/café where Suvi, one of the Finnish girls, worked as a barista was leaving and they required someone else. I got a shift there after an initial meeting with the owners mother. She was a Thai lady, seemed pretty sweet. So on my first, and transpired to be my only shift, she tells me two hours before I was due to finish that I was only being paid $50 for a day's work, 8 hours work. I kicked off naturally, and she ended up paying me $80 and I never got asked back....wonder why....I was furious, they were clearly taking advantage of backpackers, and I'm not a typical backpacker, I will stand up and be heard when someone is going to take the absolute piss. I didn't want to go back there to work anyway after that but anything really was better than leaflet dropping, which I just kept going back too. As I said before, needs must. 

I even put an ad for myself on Gumtree, not just once but twice. Advertising my assistance in anything reasonable. I did this on recommendation, I had met a few people who had done it and got some casual gardening work for people amongst other things. I posted a few photos and my working background. I didn't get any 'serious' offers, none that I considered serious, however I'm sure the guys that messaged me were serious about their offers. I got various messages about cleaning their houses, massages, sexual relief. Needless to say I wasn't THAT desperate. 

I'm happy to write I am currently in employment and there'll be more of that in a future blog post but I should state that I am loving my job.

The next chapter of my Sydney Chronicles will be more activity based. There will be more about Dom, Zay & Cheeky, Matt & Vince, my birthday, Christmas and particular focus on Sydney at Christmastime in the summer. 

As always thanks for reading! X

TROUBLE IN PARADISE // OBVS

WEEK ONE 

I arrived at Sydney Kingsford-Smith Airport (named after Sir Charles Kingsford Smith who was a pioneer in Australian aviation) on 30th November 2014. I arrived with anticipation, excitement, fear, anxiety, hope and an immense amount of pain (courtesy of Chiang Mai mountain biking). The flight was smooth and comfortable considering it was an Air Asia flight and up until recently I had only discovered they have one of the worst safety records in public aviation. I had paid about £270 for the one way flight from Bangkok to Sydney via Kuala Lumpur, and I had paid a bit extra for a quiet section of the plane. A very good price. Asia are pretty hot on low budget long haul flights, something that is coming over to the west with airlines like Norwegian Air. There were no screens, entertainment, or goody bags. Everything has a price, including all food and drinks. I prepaid and preordered my food when I booked my flight, speaking of which the food was pretty good. I had my iPad, my iPhone and a couple of magazines, I was pretty sorted on entertainment but if you don't have such items the airline allows you to rent iPads which are preloaded with TV shows, Movies, Music, and games on.

I arrived in the morning and made it through security and customs unscathed, no Border Control filming was going on, it turns out I would have to wait for my Australian television debut for Bondi Rescue no doubt (turns out that my television debut was not from Bondi Rescue but partially Eurovision and soon to be Food Safari - both SBS broadcasts). Whilst waiting for my baggage a member of airport staff was coming to check our completed immigration and Ebola forms. I had ticked a box about being in a remote area due to the jungle trekking. I was challenged on this, and you know that feeling where you know you've done nothing wrong but someone of some importance and power questions you and your heart basically falls out of your bum hole nevertheless, well yeah that was kind of it.  A bit ridiculous given that I am a man of some sort of power at home, not that I abuse it of course, but you know people do have this uncomfortable and nervous look about them when talking to you. The officer was asking me about my choice of footwear in the jungle and clothing and whether these had been washed etc... all formalities that they go through. Australia are concerned, rightly so I should say, about contamination of some sort crossing their borders. I made it through that encounter unscathed and collected my baggage, just about, I managed to drag it with one hand, baring in mind I am carrying about 30kgs of uneven distributed weight. Armed with a trolley, my baggage and my sense of trepidation I proceeded through the 'Nothing to Declare' corridor and made it out to a sea of welcoming faces. Somewhere out there was one special welcoming face, arms and voice, my dear friend Camilla. I've known Camilla for a number of years, we worked together when I first joined the Metropolitan Police as a PCSO about 9 years ago. I have remained in contact with her once she left for the Australian sunshine and I visited her 3 and half years ago when she lived in Canberra & I went to Australia on a holiday to see Leanne and Jo who were travelling for three months.

There Camilla was, so happy to see me and I her, armed with compassion and concern due to my injuries but not too much so as one of the first things she said to me was that she was going to keep me awake all day, just so I could be aided into the right time zone, not that there is anything that can prepare for that transition. I had had a night flight from SE Asia and it was about 11am when I met Camilla. I was down for whatever, I was just happy and relieved that I was finally here after months and months of dreaming and not quite believing I would actually make it here. I always said to people prior to going that I wouldn't believe I would be doing it until I stepped foot on Australian soil, as there was no going back at that point. I had prearranged with Camilla that I would be staying with her for 6 days to settle in before heading to the city (Sydney) and thankfully I did do that. Due to my injuries I would have really struggled on my own in a hostel, and I think we all can share that common feeling of when you are unwell or in my case injured, you crave support or the care of someone you're close to. Camilla had pretty much my first week planned loosely with a number of 'must dos'. Camilla was more than just the support I needed physically but also the support I needed for administration purposes. Things like the medicare card, driving licence, bank accounts, tax file number, and mobile phone set ups. Camilla had been through this process herself and has assisted others in the past also.

We had arrived in Kiama, NSW, where Camilla and her husband, Steve, live. I had been here the last time I came to Australia, prior to C & S moving here and at the time the town wasn't on their radar. Camilla had taken Leanne, Jo and I back to Sydney from Canberra several years ago and we stopped in Kiama to see the 'Blow Hole' - a bit more about that later. I settled myself into their beautiful renovated home and relaxed for the rest of the day, we took the boys (Hugo and Taco - the Dogs) out for a walk. I knew from previous experience that the jet lag would be hard to overcome, I suffer with it badly.  When I think of jet lag now I in turn think of Dorothy Wang (Realty TV star/LA socialite) and what she once said about it, she describes jet lag something that the poor or the lesser travelled person only suffers with. Always makes me chuckle a bit. My first week was relaxing with the exception of having to open up my dressings, cleaning them with the forsaken IODINE and then redressing. Camilla did this for me in the first week. I completed the administration jobs with Camilla with ease. I will write a further post in due course with handy tips for people who are coming to Australia and just don't know where to start when it comes to the admin side of things, it can be a tad daunting if you're doing a Jason Derulo (riding solo).

It was on my second day in Australia, 1st December 2014, that I logged on to www.cashpassport.com to reload my cash passport with my November's pay packet in my UK account. When I logged in it came to my notice that I was in a minus figure. I could not compute. It didn't make sense as I hadn't used it as I had been in Thailand and I had an entirely different cash passport for my Thailand trip.  As far as I was concerned I thought I couldn't use the Aussie one aside from in Australia. I had about $2,500AUD on this card and now it was minus. I looked at the transaction history and I saw that just two transactions had been made, both on 19th November 2014 and one transaction straight after the other. They were taken from a Chiang Mai hostel. A hostel which I had not booked or even heard of, the hostel I was due to stay in was completely different and besides for $2,500 you could own a bloody hostel in CM or rather live there for about 3 years. My heart sank, literally sank, it felt like it had not just sank but it had taken the rest of my organs on it's way down and just my sphincter was keeping it in my ass. Graphic I know but just imagine that feeling nevertheless. I was devastated, it was half of my savings. I wanted to not worry about looking for work immediately when I arrived, I wanted to relax a bit, do some experiences, tour the city and casually look for work. Everything I wanted to do was now officially on hold. Soon after devastation came the anger. I was enraged. 

Now, I don't know if you know anything about cash passports? Well, they are advertised as the safer way to take your currency abroad. It is a prepaid Mastercard with your chosen currency, so you can make use of a great exchange rate on credit card without incurring charges from your bank or even a poorer exchange rate. I have always experienced problems with them, for example; you can't withdraw every penny/cent if you use it to purchase items online or in store as there will come a time where you can't withdraw $20 or less. Also, most ATM's charge for withdrawal. The online registration process is not user friendly at all, even less so when you have two different cash passports.  Another thing is that when you purchase your cash passport, like I did from TRAVELEX, if the cashier doesn't enter the details correctly from your form on to the system then that brings another set of problems. I was soon to find out just how difficult the process was going to be when a cash passport had been used fraudulently. Even writing about the issues connected with CP's tires me.

I contacted TRAVELEX to dispute these transactions. I was concerned as these transactions occurred on 19th November and it was now 1st December. I had no reason to check my cash passport account online until I got to Australia, although whilst away in Thailand I got paid from work in the UK and I very nearly 'topped up' the CP and then I'd have had no money at all. TRAVELEX emailed me a dispute form and explained that I should also forward any evidence that would assist in their investigations. I challenged the person on the telephone to a few issuues;

1. How has someone got away with two large transactions to the same place one straight after the other?

2. How was it able to take me over the available funds? (after all it is not a credit card nor a debit card with an overdraft facility)

3. Why didn't this get flagged up as unusual activity? 

4. Why was the transactions authorised and funds removed?

The staff member on the phone wasn't able to clarify answers on all of these questions, they explained that it's not monitored like a bank card, it's our money basically to spend how we wish. So already I fail to see how the cash passport is any safer than taking your own bank card? So I completed the form, in it the basics of course are noted and they request a explanation as to how the card could have possibly been used fraudulently and where/what/who/how/when/why details. All this was fine. I knew that it had been used on the 19th November, I also knew I still had both cards in my possession. You loyal readers will already know that on said date I was traveling from Bangkok to Pai via Chiang Mai. What I recall from the journey is that I had my valuable personal effects on me in my rucksack.  I fell asleep on the bus, my rucksack was padlocked, I got off the bus for twenty minutes and the bus was locked, and when I got my iPad out of my bag at about 4am on 20th November the zip broke, I had thought that this was my doing due to over packing and I didn't think anything of it. So in my train of thought at the time of completing my form that this is when the card must have been used. I completed the form and scanned it, I sent three emails in the end to TRAVELEX, due to the evidence I was submitting. In my first email I attached the completed form and wrote that this was the first of three emails, the other two includes my evidence. Due to the time difference I would not hear back until the following day, at least, or so I thought. Just four hours later I received this reply;

"I regret to inform you that after careful consideration we were unable to refund the disputed charges on your account. Please refer to the contents of the attached letter." - The letter basically states that they didn't believe me, and that they were not satisfied with the validity of the claim. In the very same email the 'investigator' states;

"We didn't receive a second email with evidences and pictures as advised in your first email" - So instead of replying to me and stating that they did not receive such evidence and asking me to resend, they took it upon themselves to close the investigation at that point. Not even basic customer service skills covered here.

So naturally I resent everything. This time I got automated responses for each email I sent ensuring that they had been received. I received nothing back. Not a thing. My next step was to take to twitter, I sent tweets to TRAVELEX, about ten in total. Someone from the social media team responded and the issue was relayed. I received an email from someone else explaining that a decision had been made by the disputes team and that if I had not been notified of this then they would resend the letter. This was literally like smashing my money maker against brick wall. This came after two days of not hearing anything from them. The investigation was then eventually passed on to the disputes of disputes team, basically the team that deals with challenges of the decision that the first dispute team made. I continued to resend all my evidence as well as extra bits that I had left out the first time around. At this point I made a point of explaining that I am a Police Officer, and that I had investigated various Fraud offences and I know what is involved, and not only that but if I was committing fraud would I have really valued my career at the amount stolen? No. I wanted to avoid playing this card because it is a bit douchey however given their treatment towards me thus far, I was raring to play the whole deck, I wanted them to know that they will not be able to palm me off.

This money REALLY mattered. This whole experience with TRAVELEX has caused a ridiculous amount of stress, loss of sleep, worry, tears, fear, my anxiety issues raised it's ugly head more than usual. It turned out over the coming weeks and months JUST how much that money mattered, due to the lack of work, the expense of living in Sydney etc etc.

The new investigation was commenced on 4th December 2014. It was due to conclude on 24th February 2015. So I knew I had quite some time without the money at least, besides early on I talked myself into the fact I would not see it again. Thankfully I had money in my UK account to get me by, and I had prepaid for my 5 weeks accommodation in my Sydney hostel. The issue I had using my UK account was that the bank charges you a fee for withdrawals and usage, but you also don't get the best exchange rate, which does matter when it's large amounts of money. Nevertheless I had no choice and it was light relief that I had some sort of funds. I contacted the chap from TRAVELEX who was investigating early January, after a no reply, I tried again and he replied, he explained that he had not heard from the merchant that took the money and that a charge back process was being conducted. 24th February arrived and I sent a polite email checking in. It was explained that the merchant did eventually reply and provided further details of the transactions and that it would take a further 10 working days to look into, 9th March 2015. On 4th March it was requested I sent a copy of my drivers licence and passport for verification, which I did, it would take another 48 hours. This time had elapsed to the 9th March where I was asked to view a document which had two receipts on it, I was asked if they were my signatures, I explained that they weren't. I asked the investigator to call me, which he did. It was actually a relief to finally speak to the person handling the situation. I was able to clear up, hopefully, any confusion. Turns out that both my cash passport cards were used, but not the PIN numbers. He confirmed that the actual cards had been used, as in the chips had been read on both of them. We couldn't understand how that was when I wasn't in Chiang Mai at the time yet I have the cards on me. Still don't understand this. Anyway, he believed me and the funds have been returned to me. I received them on 16th March 2015. Actual factual relief. 

My point here is NEVER use a Cash Passport. It is much safer to use your credit card or bank card. The banks and financial institutions know your spending pattern, they recognise unusual activity and if fraud is committed you are likely to get the money back within hours, not months. I still fail to see how a cash passport is safer. I am continuing to escalate the issue with TRAVELEX and complain regarding their initial handling of my situation.

The saga continues, slightly, when they card was fraudulently used it actually took me over the available amount on the card, because of this the company sent the details of my account to a debt collecting agency who were making demands via letter to my UK home address to pay. This has had a negative impact on my credit rating in the UK and I was only aware of this when Mum sent me all my mail from the UK over to Australia.

I appreciate the above makes for pretty boring reading however it is important to highlight the negative side of using cash passports and also the incompetency of a major company who runs them.  

My first week into Australian life involved a fair amount of recuperation and relaxation after the eventful times in Thailand. It was definitely much needed. Camilla & I walked the dogs every day, usually in different places; Minnamurra, Bombo, Jervis Bay, and Kiama of course. Bombo is a place near to Kiama where dogs are allowed on the beach. Taco is hilarious, he has no qualms about getting into the sea a bit and chases the waves and tries to eat them. Hugo is an old boy (15yrs) so he is not so adolescent but he does what he bloody well wants to, if he wants to go into the sea he will do it in his own time. It is such a beautiful beach, yellow sand, and the sea has some big waves and whenever I have gone past on the train it has always got several people just waiting to catch the next big surf. Unbeknownst to me at this stage I would find myself back in Kiama...

Here are some photos of my first week in Australia;

Camilla & I in Minnamurra. Really beautiful part of the South Coast.

Kiama Lighthouse - very near to the Kiama 'Blow Hole' - a hit with tourists and No! I'm not the new Blow Hole, you filthy buggers.

Minnamurra.

 An injured me in front of Kiama's Lighthouse with Taco & Hugo.

I actually took more photos than this in my first week, other than the Lighthouse and Minnamurra but not sure what I've actually done with them.

Camilla was concerned about me moving into a hostel in Sydney. When you think of hostels you clearly don't think of boutique guest houses, you do think; grotty, disgusting, repugnant and smelly, maybe thats a bit of an ancient view point to take.... Given my inability to be able to look after myself without something going wrong, concern really wasn't a far fetched feeling to have. I assured Camilla I would be OK and that if I wasn't I would come back. I had stayed at the hostel before and from previous experience, it wasn't any of the words I used above to describe the common thoughts of hostels. Obviously that was near on four years ago, a lot can change in that time. Camilla drove me into the city and dropped me to the hostel door which was very kind of her, but that's C through and through. 

I met C again later that day at the hairdressers she uses on Oxford Street. Those that know me well will know that my hair is probably the most important part of my 'look'. When you find an amazing barber/hairdresser you stay loyal. Mine at home was Pall Mall Barbers (@pallmallbarbers on Insta and Twitter // Pall Mall Barbers on FB) - they are sensational. I used to travel into central London especially for my cut and my last one before arriving to Australia was 5 weeks ago and it was the day before I left. So naturally I was in dire need for a fresh cut and there was no way on Godney's green Earth I was going to have on in Thailand ( ed - tattoo yes, haircut no!? Dafuq). Anyways I've digressed yet again. I met C and the owner gave me a great cut actually, I'm not usually a fan of hairdressers as they cut and style differently to a barber. New hair, new me....right?! 

I remember parting with C at the hairdressers, and I remember too well that feeling of 'Fuck my life' it's just Steve vs Sydney. Thoughts took me to back to the days where I was stuck in my office at work in London, in a job I had lost my purpose in, in a team who didn't know what my purpose was either, dreaming of what was to come and life on the other side of the world. It really hit me at this point that I was actually where I was and that I achieved the very first thing I denied myself 3 years prior. 

So armed with my fresh look, a weak bank balance, and various ailments that would get me a blue badge for my car in the UK I took to Sydney's streets as a lone wolf searching for his pack...