Sydney

We arrived in Sydney on the 21st Aug and found our new home for 6 days in Colloroy, which is just outside the city. We turned up at my dad's, best mates, sisters house and had a cup of tea with her husband Tony, he wasnt really sure who we were which is a bit crqazy but was very welcoming never the less! We thought we were going to park on his drive and sleep in Carlos but he very kindly let us stay in the house which is a lush house and in a great location, it was amazing knowing that there was a hot shower and a toilet right next to us!

That evening we wandered down to Colloroy to see what was going on and went for a schooner (beer) at a local bar, we must of looked bored of each others company because randomly this lady came over and invited us to join their works do! It was quality talking to loads of people and having lots of banter. They kept buying drinks for us on their tab!! The boss (MD of the company!) thought he was a big shot at downing beer so I took him on and won a couple of rounds! On the way home me and Mish got a bit lost and Mishee had so much wine she kept rolling up into a ball on the path by the side on the road! But we got home in the end.

The next day was run day and I didn't feel like running at all but couldn't disrupt my routine of running every other day so went for my hours run along the beach hard life!
We did nothing all day as we had very bad hangovers, but the free tab was hard to resist, so we pretty much slept in the van by the beach all day. Luckily it was a cloudy day so we didn't feel so bad.

The next morning after bacon and eggs and a chat with tony we drove to Manly which is not to far from the city, and caught the ferry to Circular Quay, (Sydney's transport hub) and arrived to the views of the skyscrapers, the Oprah house and the harbour bridge, stunning! (return on ferry to Manly $12- bargain!). We then had a picnic in the royal botanic gardens right next to the water, after lunch we visited the art museum and enjoyed some 19th and 20th century Australian art and some aboriginal art. We veered into the city centre, wandering around the streets including George street, trying to find Mish some cheap UGG boots for 4 hours. George street is shopping paradise, just like 5th avenue in New York! We didn't have any luck with the UGG boots.

The next day we had a surprise rainfall and it was cloudy all day so we hung around Manly and drove up to North Heads to get a great view of the city. And drove across the Harbour Bridge into the City, Carlos did not enjoy this one little bit, he was scared of all the cars and the skyscrapers and got very stressed so he headed out as soon as he could!

The next day we caught the ferry back in from Manly, we bought a day tripper pass for $17 which allows you to use all buses trains and ferries around the city network. We headed straight for Bondi beach. This is the place to be in Sydney, it doesn't feel like you are in the city at all, with its white sand, good surf and lots of fit people running up and down the beach! We laid around the beach for a few hours then headed back to town for a wander through China town (which is tiny!) and headed to the Rocks. This is where the first European settlement was in Sydney and was the old centre. We enjoyed a few beers here in the oldest pub in Sydney, we met a couple of German travellers who were heading up to Cairns. They were planning to do the trip in 2 weeks, we wished them luck! The next day we went for a nice long run around Collaroy's gorgeous golf course in the baking heat. In the afternoon we took a trip up to Palm Beach, rumor has in Leighton Hewitt lives here, if I knew where I would knock on his door and challenge him to a 3 setter and kick his ass!! Yeh right!

Tony was so great taking 2 strangers in and mae us feel so welcome, on the last night we took tony our for a meal to the local Indian, had a great laugh and me and Mich tried Tonys vindaloo, very hot!

Our East coast trip has been amazing as we have had so much independence, from driving miles in Queensland without seeing a soul and hugging a wombat, to getting battered by 8ft waves in New South Wales and sipping wine in the Hunter Valley. A stupidly big place and me and mich only covered about 20 percent of it, oh well will have to come back very soon!!

We drove about 4,500 miles from Cairns to Sydney it was an epic adventure.

Tomorrow morning we are off to Fiji so we have to bid farewell to our beloved Carlos, 50 days of blue sky and sunshine one day of cloud and day of rain! Unreal!

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