Sydney’s wet T-shirt competition

We’ve now been in Sydney for one and a half days and had a pretty awesome time. We arrived at the hostel just as the light was fading. We didn’t think this was the cleanest of hostels, however it was probably one of the best we’ve stayed in terms of communal atmosphere. The staff were great and knew almost everyone by name and it wasn’t long before we were being shepherded down the stairs onto the street for a night out with free club entry and a free drink simply for staying at the hostel. Being a little tired we’d agreed that we’d stay for the free drink and head on back to our beds. How wrong we were to be.

It all started when four random guys and four girls were pulled up on the small stage and told to pair up. The girl then had to give the guys a sexy lap dance. Then the real kicker the guys had to do the same back! It was really very funny at this stage and all the guys whipped off their tops in a bid to impress the jury – the audience. The winning couple got a little carried away with the girl revealing her leopard print knickers due to the thoughtlessly small skirt that she wore (not that Alex was complaining). A wet T-shirt contest followed on after a little while. They’d obviously struggled to find girls to compete as there were multiple requests made for competitors over the sound system. The five competitors that they did find, however, were awesome! We’d bagged some stage front positions with Rach’s eyes at boob level. There was even one Brazilian girl who gave Rach a bit of a motorboat special. The night was a good one and aside from the entertainment the club was the most club-like club that we’d been clubbing in. (Club.)

The following morning we got up and unfortunately Alex was suffering from a horrendous bout of the man-flu and so had to put his little head straight back down for a nap. At lunch we set off (Alex coughing and sneezing all the way) to get to the meeting place of a free tour of Sydney. When Rach’s parents had been in Sydney in March they’d been on the tour and highly recommended it. The tour began at 2.30pm outside the Town Hall. Ross was our guide and he was wonderful. He led us gaily through the wide streets and narrow back passages and tunnels of Sydney, stopping frequently to regale us with interesting historical facts and anecdotes. It lasted three hours and we took in most of the major sights of Sydney’s CBD and The Rocks. Just as a brief summary we covered cathedrals, fountains, rum houses, film sets, parliament buildings, post offices, the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.

We enjoyed it so much that there was another tour run by Ross at 6pm covering just The Rocks and its history, which we tagged along to. He was incredibly entertaining and informative and his tour was free. We couldn’t recommend it more as on top of this they also provide you with an excellent small guide to Sydney listing all the free things to do including transport, museums and cheap eats. Check out their website here.

So far our experience in Sydney has been pretty cheap as we’ve only had to spend money on the hostel room (comes with free breakfast and wifi too). Actually that’s a bit of a lie; we did give Ross a tip after the tour although we could have gotten away without giving anything if we’d been that cold hearted.

Rex’s Rules of the Road

• Check out the free tour here. It’s a really great tour run by people who care about the city. Rach even gave it 5/5 in her review.

• If you’re looking for a cheap hostel in Sydney, expect a slight decrease in the quality of your lodgings. It is Australia’s most expensive city after all. Brados Backpackers was one of many similar hostels, check out Rach's review here.

• A good night out on a Tuesday is at the Piano Room in Kings Cross. Even if you have to pay entry it’s worth it for the great music, $5 drinks and semi-naked girls.