Australia, Back to Sydney and Out (photos)

5 May - 15 May

We woke up in Emerald Beach the next day, 5 May, and then drove in to Sydney. We went back to the same guesthouse as we stayed in before in Kings Cross, which is near the car market. We went over to the car market to get a sense of competition and prices and were a bit disappointed by what we saw. Lots of cars and everyone said it was very slow. We had the newest car and the only shiny red one and the only one with a spare tire on the roof so we thought we'd be OK. That night we went to a car wash and polished up Betty and then had canveyor belt sushi for dinner and beers on the guesthouse terrace.
The next day, 6 May, was our first day at the car market. It is in a underground parking garage and filled with people selling cars and cold and smelly and dark and miserable. We were in good spirits the first day, even though only one person looked at our car. That night we bought manila folders to make signs for our car, showing off the model year (1994) and the Western Australia registration (the best one to have).
The next day, 7 May, the second day we finally had some interest. An Irish guy actually asked to see the engine. I think he bought someone elses car. At the end of the eight hour day another Irish guy, who I could barely understand asked me what my "rock bottom" was. I wouldn't tell him. No cars sold and everyone was despressed. A couple vans sold though, and since the custom is to buy a carton of beer when you sell your car and hand them out to the other sellers, we had a couple free beers. That night we saw "Kingdom of Heaven", which was just like every other movie I've seen.
The next day, 8 May, the third day, we spent eight hours down there and there were maybe two buyers walking around the whole day. It was pretty bad. At this point our price was dropping one to two hundred dollars a day. We had the highest price since we had by far the newest car, but nothing was selling. We had pizza for dinner.
The next day, 9 May, the fourth day, a young Swedish couple looked at the car at the end of the day. Ohhh OOhhhh. Nothing. I expected them back the next day but never saw them again. It wasn't exactly fun, but we were having a pretty good time hanging out with all the other sellers. Conveyor belt sushi for dinner and beers on the terrace.
The next day, 10 May, we sat there all day and nothing happened. A car behind us failed inspection with almost no compression on cylinders 3 and 4. We had full compression on four cylinders, and 80% or so on the other two. We knew this. What was wrong? Price drop. Then, an English guy came up and asked about the car and took a look at the engine and, can you believe it, asked me to start it up. He went upstairs to ask about registration and came back and wanted to get it inspected the next morning. We knew it would be fine. Then, he made an offer, magically hitting our low and I countered for fifty dollars more to pay for the carton of beer, and I told him that the price would not change after the inspection and that he should not pay for it if he was going to try to get an even better price. We shook on it and arranged to meet the next day. We were pretty psyched. The price was AUD$350 less than what we paid for it. Just as we were leaving, an Irish couple (tons of Irish) came by and asked us about the car. They had just had another car inspected and it needed AUD$1600 worth of repairs. They were very interested but were too late since I had already shook on a deal. They wanted us to call them if anything changed. It looked like we were in a good position since I had a back-up if the other guy tried to lower the price. We went back to the guesthouse and ate dinner, soup I think.
The next day, 11 May, we met the car inspection guy, who had done the inspection for us when we bought, and the seller. The inspection went great. We had fixed some of the things that he had suggested when we bought and nothing else got worse. In fact, changing the fuel filter, or something else, brought our compression up from the previous inspection, so we had full compression on all six cylinders. The buyer had to go downtown to get money so we went OUTSIDE and ate lunch in the SUNSHINE. Then we waited around, he came back, signed some papers and then we got the money and Betty was no longer our car. We went out and bought a carton of beer, went back down and handed them out, hung out for just a little bit and then left the horrid place forever. That night we went out and met our Irish friend Helen that we had met in the Whitsundays. We met her and her boyfriend and two other Irish folks at a pub in Paddington and then went back to their place for dinner. We had a great time and drank a lot of beer and I learned some great jokes, which aren't as funny without the Irish accent but still work.
The next day, 12 May, we packed our stuff and got out of Kings Cross and moved to a nicer hotel downtown. Here is a view from the window.
The next day, 13 May, we confirmed our Air New Zealand tickets, took a bus to Bondi Junction and bought some jeans since NZ is cold. Then we headed back to the room and then to the subway station to meet John, our friend from Noosa, and went over to John and Larah's place, had some beers, went out for Mexican food (cheap at home, expensive in Australia) and then back to their place and then back to the room.
The next day, 14 May, we walked around an art market at The Rocks and then took a ferry to Manly Beach. Here is a surfer on the beach, and here is the beach. We came back toward downtown at sunset, which was crazy orange.
The next day, 15 May, we got up early, took a taxi to the airport, got on a plane and flew to New Zealand. I slept until the end, when Dara woke me up to see the view as we were landing.