I have to leave here soon; Rina is trying to kill me with food. Before I wasn't eating too much and was walking a lot. Now after a few days living with an Italian Australian family I feel like I've put on an extra stone, and there seems to be a brand new fold around my belly when I sit down. The food is lovely though and at least I'm not starving. She's making tiramisu for a couple of days' time...mmmm....
Today I'm feeling a bit better although still have lots of gooey rubbish in my chest. I decide that it's a good idea to register for Medicare, Australia's prescription system. I thought I would need to do this in order to see a doctor but apparently it's just used for funding treatment. Basically it varies from doctor to doctor but some will issue patients with a prescription. The patient pays for this with their own funds, then takes the receipt, their Medicare card and their claim form into a Medicare centre where basically it gets reimbursed back. It seems like hassle to me and I wonder why they don't just have the subsidised NHS system in the UK where all prescriptions are at a fixed rate. On the other hand, if this system works as I think it works it basically means that all medications are effectively free and completely paid for by National Insurance revenue. The other option a doctor has is "bulk bill" where basically your Medicare card is simply swiped and all medicine costs are claimed back periodically from the Government.
The Medicare centre nearest to Kogarah Bay is in a big shopping mall in Hurstville. Unlike the UK, where each shopping centre is owned and operated seperately to the others (although of course they carry many of the same shops and concessions inside), here it seems all the shopping centres are owned and operated by a company called Westfield. In fact, they even issue special "Westfield Cards" and you can use these cards to pay in many of the shops inside. It's a really strange idea having the shopping centre a brand in it's own right.
Rina drops me off at the entrance and I get lost walking amongst the different retail outlets. The mall has many levels but it has sloping walkways so you can walk around the whole thing climbing the floors without needing to use the escalators. At one point I take a wrong turn and find myself outside in what appears to be a sort of mini Chinatown. I draw some money from an HSBC ATM and then walk back in. Finally I find a directory and then make my way to the Medicare centre. Inside I queue up and wait until I can get to a kiosk. There a friendly Chinese lady takes my passport and driving licence and gives me a form to fill in. It has standard stuff; name, address (I give her Sarah's), date of birth, date of entry and exit of Australia. The UK has a reciprocal health agreement with Australia so any cost incurred to keep me healthy Australia can bill the UK government and get the money back. Unfortunately I find out that the card takes up to three weeks to arrive...nadgers! In the mean time I have a little piece of paper with the card number that I can use but it expires in a month. Hopefully the card will come quickly as I will really like to have that before I start travelling as it could come in handy.
I leave Medicare and go and explore the mall. Up on Level 3 is a food court; I strongly fight the urge to buy a KFC but its force is deadly and I have to push myself right across the other side. I walk down a little side corridor and come to an outdoor opening. Clustering around the doors are lots of Asian schoolkids. They seem particularly enamoured by one particular shop. I take a closer look and realise I have finally found something I have been wondering about for months...a bubble tea shop.
Bubble tea is amazing. I came across it quite by chance while web surfing and have been intrigued ever since. We don't get it in England, or if we do it is probably hidden somewhere deep in London (maybe Chinatown / Soho). Basically you have this iced tea and these little gelatinous pearls made of tapioca. You suck up the tea and pearls through a wide straw. There are absolutely loads of variations, you can have green or black tea, with milk or with fruit and with or without blended ice.
I take a look at the menu and I am a bit unsure of what to choose. You have to select a base, then a fruit flavor or whether you want it milky or creamy. Then you choose a topping. I explain to the cashier that I am from England, have never seen anything like this and ask her for a recommendation. She asks me whether I like black or green tea; I choose black (milk tea). Then she asks what fruit I want. I take a look at the list and go for kiwi. Then she asks me what topping but recommends me pearls. The options include marshmallows and gum drops but I guess (correctly) that the pearls are the tapioca balls for the hardcore bubble tea and I roll with that. I pay and then walk around to collect my drink. There the guy is making up the drinks, adding tea, blending ice and fruit, and pouring it all into a cup. Then he takes each cup and puts it into a machine which appears to put a plastic translucent seal on top. He hands me my black tea-kiwi-ice-tapioca mix. I take a straw from the counter and start to peel off the plastic. It takes me a few seconds to realise that the seal isn't supposed to come off, and I'm supposed to pierce it with the plastic straw. I do and start drinking; it's absolutely delicious but the weird gummy tapioca balls is a strange sensation as they climb the straw and enter my mouth. It's enjoyable but it's the sort of drink you'd want to take your time over or you could choke. Then it's off to the donut shop for a quick pineapple-glazed donut before I buy a few presents.
I pass a cookie stall and buy a bag of mixed cookies for Rina for $7. I understand that Robert likes Southern Comfort but it's a bit of a nightmare trying to find alcohol; the licencing laws in Oz are very different to England. You can walk into almost any supermarket, even petrol stations, and you are pretty much guaranteed to find alcohol. In Australia, none of the supermarkets seem to stock alcohol inside their main section along with all their other goods. It is either in a separate shop maybe next door or completely removed altogether. I wander into a couple of supermarkets before wising up that it is a bottle shop that I need. I follow the signs into the big multi story car park; it seems they are keeping the booze well away by hiding it right at the bottom of the car park, well away from the other shops. Inside I spy a bottle of So' Com' for around $34.
Rina picks me up and we have steak and leftover pizza for dinner. Then Matthew comes over and we head off to the St George club, the private members club of the Aussie Rules football team. Inside it is basically one big automated casino; there are tons of "pokies" which are like fruit machines but a lot more baffling. I understand that you can have up to twenty winnable lines but to me there are only 5 rows; apparently the lines go left to right but on their way they can go up or down to the next line. I'm confused and not able to help much while I watch Matt sink a $20 note and lose it all.
We buy a couple of schooners (a bit like pints but slightly smaller) and sit down at a little table. This place is massive, very bright with all the flashing lights but not too noisy. It is quite clean and well ventilated and glitzy. Tonight there are only a few people milling about; I spy a lot of older people gambling away their pensions. On our table is a little collection of betting slips. Matt takes one and asks me to select ten numbers. Apparently this is Keno, which is basically a type of bingo and is played in symphony with all the clubs around Australia. There is a board attached to the wall which says which number game is being played. There are two tables, yellow at the top with numbers 1 to 40 and then red with numbers 41 to 80 (or something). It periodically flashes up which club in Australia is doing the best that evening. I choose my ten numbers and Matt heads over to the Keno counter to pay. We are doing 20 games at a dollar each, and like the lottery you win set amounts depending on how many of your numbers come up each game. The games are run by computer and take a little while to play out so we head into the outside lounge to drink and chat. We finish our beers and head back inside to check our results; we've won a tenner! So from a $20 bet we get half back. Not too bad, could be worse. Matt drops me off back home and then it's blogging and bed.

Just a few short notes about this one. I am still feeling rotten but my sore throat has gone. Matthew took me to the chemists where I bought Sudafed Sinus Day and Night capsules. Not sure if they're exactly what I require but I'm taking them anyway. Today I woke up late again; seems to be when I'm staying in my own hotel room or in a dorm I'm fine but when I have a comfortable stay in either my house or here in Alex's parents' I just can't be bothered to get up. Mental note: don't get sucked into the comfort and leave as soon as you are better. Matt comes round to grab me and we trot the few doors down to his house. There he has a couple of mates round to play Playstation. They are quite typically hard working Aussie males and are bold and lively. They also give me ridiculously firm handshakes. I start to wonder about how they perceive the quiet nerdy Englishman in amongst their nest of raw Aussie machismo. I decide that the only thing I can do is excel as only a nerd can; by out-playing them at Jackass, their videogame of choice. A game especially designed for fans of the show, I find for my first time I do fairly well and even come third or second in a number of tournaments. Matt's two friends, Matty and Scotty, are also married and it seems that all the wives have gone to some kind of birthday party. I wonder if it is par for the course here that people marry off young.
In the evening we head back round to Rina and Rob's for pizza. Rina is making the dough and toppings herself and Rob has a big brick oven in his yard with a log fire that is especially used for stone-baking pizzas. There are dozens of the things; Rina and Rob have a little conveyer belt factory system going on. We are joined out of the blue by lots of randoms; other Italian friends of the family, Simone's sister and her kids, Alex's grandmother, most likely others but I forget who. I sit and eat my delicious pizza in virtual silence as I watch the family animatedly gabbling away, sometimes switching to Italian then back to English in the middle of a sentence. I feel a bit dwarfed and out of place but everyone is friendly and I go to bed stuffed.

I wake up feeling like Death; I am dripping in sweat, my bed sheets are soaked, my nose is blocked, my lungs feel wretched and my bladder is fit to bursting. I get up at half seven as quiet as I can, so as not to rouse the other inmates. With acute dexterity I quietly take the padlocks off my case and take out my bathroom gear and a fresh pair of underpants. I put on my shorts, making sure I have my room key card, and go out the door. I wander down a long corridor; there are loads of rooms in this place, just on this place alone. Finally I reach the bathroom area; there is a Mens and a Ladies. Uh oh. That means it's not going to be like the lush lockable bathrooms of Eva's. Indeed indoors, there are two toilet cubicles and two shower cubicles. However the sink and mirror are completely public access which I find pretty impersonal. I have slight OCDs about brushing my teeth and coming my hair, generally preferring to do these things alone without some random occupying the sink next to me. Anyhow I get things done, go back to my room, get dressed and then it's off to Campbell Parade for a spot of breakfast. I feel terrible and right now what I need is another big fruit salad. I trot down the road, dodging the early morning joggers, and the people off to surf before work. I buy a big punnet of mixed fruit salad for $7. I walk back up the road and over to the park area behind the beach. Sitting on a bench, I plug in my headphones and listen to some Mark III Deep Purple (Burn and Stormbringer albums), lightly tapping my feet as I eat while watching the beach people.
After the feast I head back up the road and back to the hostel. In my room, most people are up and have already disappeared. I gather my belongings, bring my linen down and check out. Fortunately, I now have the perfect place to convalesce and get away from most of this searing heat and crazy beach fanatics. Bondi is not a good place for ill people, especially if you are staying in a hostel. Thankfully my friend Alex, who my sister brought back with her from Australia, is very keen for me to meet and stay with his family. I am keen to meet them as well, and it seems there's no time like the present. A big white car pulls up; it's Rina, Alex's mother. She is a lovely lady, full of joy and laughter. She was born in Italy and is quite small with blonde hair. She kind of reminds me of my own mum in some respects. I put my case in her car, step inside and greet her grandson Antonio, who is sitting in a special baby's chair in the back. We chat for awhile as she drives us out of Bondi and on towards Kogarah. We make several stops on the way to get provisions; fruit, bread, cooked meats, cakes. She is very keen for me to choose what I want but I am still feeling pretty lousy and I am fully aware than I am coming across as non-commital and hard work. I worry that she is losing patience with me.
After gathering supplies we arrive at Alex's family's house. They live in a road called Payten Street, in Kogarah Bay. A couple of houses up in the same street, Alex's brother Matt lives with his wife Simone and Alex's grandmother (in the bottom part of the house). The houses on this road are magnificent; most of them have pillars and balconies that run the length of the place. Rina presses a button in the car which makes the garage door open; nice. We drive in, I get out and get my case from the boot. Inside the house everything is really bright and clean with big marble flooring and staircase. The room that I am staying in has a big double bed and private balcony, and the bathroom is right across the hallway with lovely marble-lined walk-in shower. Bliss!
Rina prepares the food while I sit on the couch watching FoxTel. This being Australia, it is of course Murdoch country, and his influence is everywhere. FoxTel is Australia's satellite service and it has a mixture of Australian, American and British programming. I watch a bit of Ratatouille while I eat, then after sitting back down in the couch I realise I am still unwell and completely shattered from the previous night. I head upstairs, lay down on my bed and sleep for 5 hours.
At around six there is a knock at the door. It is Matthew, Alex's brother. He is a lovely bloke, good sense of humour, small and rugged and with a kind of tough working Aussie charm. I head downstairs after freshening up and meet Simone, Matt's wife and mother to Antonio. She is bright as a button, pleasant to talk to and has a lovely smile. Her friend Rachel is here; she also seems nice, a bit quieter than the others but then so am I. Apparently her parents are from Felixstowe, in England. After a short while Alex's dad arrives home. Robert is in a word, awesome. He is a lot smaller than me and the first thing he says when he sees me is that I've come from the land of the giants. Over the course of the weekend I've discovered he has a brilliant personality and his sense of humour is spot on. He is of Italian parentage (but born here) and reminds me of a lovable cross between Sid James and Super Mario. He is also sports mad. I myself have only recently come to appreciate watching English football let alone anything else but I do my best to impart the little bit of sports knowledge I have. Also in the house are Alex's two boys, Andrew and James. Apparently they visit here on Fridays and stay over. They are playing on a Nintendo Wii. The game is Lego Star Wars and one of them is brandishing a wireless light sabre, which lights up blue and everything! The next day when I am briefly home alone I secretly pick it up and wave it about when no one else can see me. I had to try it, you understand?
We sit down to an excellent meal of chicken schnitzel, rice and potatoes. After dinner Matthew and Simone take me to their house up the street. It's another really nice, big house; lots of rooms lead off from corridors and there is a bar area near the front door (which is up the front stairs). Dotted around the perimetre of the main room are several cages containing lizards, geckos, snakes. Matthew takes out a small carpet python and lets me have a feel. I let it curl itself around my hands for a short while. Then we sit down and watch the new Rambo movie on dvd (yes it's pirated) with tea and cakes. I'm quite impressed, I thought the film would be worse than it is. I believe it is coming out cut in the UK to get more bums on seats (rather than censorship), but this is the uncut version and it shows. 
They have really gone to town on the special effects for the gratuitous violence. 
Stallone's face and body though still freak me out; he looks like Droopy Dog 
and his veins are showing up everywhere. Serious 'roid abuse methinks.
I am still feeling fairly lousy but definitely happier. There is wind, rain and lightning tonight. I am very glad to be away from hostels and pleased to be in the company of these friendly people. I head back to Alex's house and collapse onto my bed.