Housing in Sydney

Finding accommodation in Sydney is apparently super-easy if you're a female Asian student looking to share a room on a long-term basis.

I'm none of those things, sadly, and that makes my job a lot harder.

I did find a room by myself in Bondi Junction, a conveniently-located transport hub, and almost took it – twice.

I met the people — a British designer and a French "cat-lady" — and got on well enough with them. It seemed a better situation than sharing a room in the industrial back-streets of central Sydney, but I didn't want to jump into anything so I asked for a day or two to think about it.

Actually, I was so impressed by the place that I pretty much took the next day from house-hunting, just glancing over the headlines and thinking how they paled compared to my little winner. Imagine my disappointment, then, when I e-mailed to say that I'd take it and discovered they'd given the room to a Spanish bloke who'd been recommended.

Gutted as I am, I can't do anything about it so I've gone back to searching. I'm disappointed in myself that I don't have anything else lined (and I already let go of the best room-share so far).