We arrived in Sydney in the late afternoon and had arranged to stay with emily's brothers friend - Simon. Simon very kindly picked us up from the airport (in an open top, vintage BMW - oh so backpacker!) He gave us a driving tour of Sydney before taking us to the apartment. It was so surreal seeing the Opera House and bridge for the first time, but unbelievable. We just couldn't believe where we were. We got the apartment in Bondi, and from the balcony you can see views of the bridge and the Opera House as well as the whole of Sydney city centre - it is stunning. On our first night in Sydney we went to Surry Hills, a cool, laidback but colourful suburb of Sydney just minutes from the city. It is full of restaurants, bars, cafes and vintage shops. It was christmas eve so we decided to splash out a little and go for a Japanese meal and it was so delicious. We then walked around trying to find a bar to go to but everywhere seemed pretty dead. Christmas Eve is Sydney isnt like it is in London, people just don't really go out. We walked down Oxford Street, through a predominantly gay area and back into a straight area, and through to Paddington and still everything was quiet. Except for an Irish pub which was jammed packed with the Irish, we walked in, made one round and walked back out - we were nowhere near drunk enough for that.
Simon picked us up and took us to Kings Cross (are any of these names ringing a bell?) and we went to a bar called Kit and Kaboodle - it was recommended to us. This was a really nice bar and busier than most, although still not busy. We chatted to the bar man who told us he was alone on Christmas Day so we invited him out for a drink the next day with us.
Christmas Day! We woke up quite deflated that it was christmas and we had no family around us but we made the most of it and headed out to Bondi beach. We got the bus down and seemed everyone else had the same idea as us. The weather was cold, and raining, however everyone was still in beachware - crazy people. We eventually found a table in a restaurant as it was so busy, we sat outside under an umbrella in the rain but we figured we were only going to be at Bondi Beach once on xmas so wanted to make the most of it. We had a traditional xmas dinner of pasta and salmon with a strawberry daiquri. We were going to stay out until the evening and keep drinking but we both just wanted to go back to the apartment and cuddle up on the sofa watching a movie like we would have done at home so we did, but instead of a movie, we watched carols at candlelight, which lifted out christmas spirit. We got ready and went back down to a bar in Bondi to meet Greg the barman for a drink. We had a great night at the bar, meeting lots of people and celebrating but the bar closed at 10pm so we had to find somewhere else to go - the casino! The casino was open 24hours a day and I ended up staying there with some friends I had met until 5.30 in the morning, it turned out to be a great christmas after all.

Boxing Day was consumed by the sales! The apartment we are staying at is only a minute walk from Westfield shopping centre so we spent 6 hours in the mall. We figured sales was a good excuse to shop but the backpacker budget and backpack capacity put a bit of a downer on the day. That night we went back to Paddington to meet Em's friends from home - good to see some more friendly faces.

The next day we decided to something more touristy than shopping so we got a ticket for the hop on, hop off bus. Our first stop was Darlinghurst Street, we walked for ages to find the Jewish Museum. I thought it would be all about the Australian Jewish community but it was very much a Holocaust memorial museum with some information on Aussie Jews. There was a really moving Childrens Memorial which commemorated the lives of one and a half million children who perished during the Holocaust and there was a glass bowl filled with water and one a half million drops of water for every child that died. There was also a Sanctum of Remembrance containing plaques to honour the memory of loved ones, there was music in the background with a Jewish survivor singing hebrew. It was a really excellent museum with with evocative displays on Jewish history.
We then got back on the bus and got off at the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. We walked around and managed to get on the last tour of the day. The tour was an hour and took us around the whole of the inside of the opera house including the concert halls and studios. I learnt a lot about the architect Utzon and the emotional story behind the Opera House. It was the most stunning building I have ever been into, the concert hall was just incredible. It just amazed me at how much detail there was and how every structure had a purpose. I really liked how Utzon had made the Opera House so that wherever you are, you feel like you are part of the water. After the tour we managed to get discount last minute tickets for the show that night. It was called 'Not New Years Eve' and was being performed by the Australian Philharmonic Orchestra with leading lady Marina Prior. The music treats included 'My Favourite Things' from The Sound of Music, the show-stopping duet 'Music of the Night' from The Phantom of the Opera, 'You Raise Me Up' and many more, as well as 'Amazing Grace' and 'Auld Lang Syne'. It was a truly magical perfomance, we had seats to the side of the Orchestra so we really felt part of the show. It was performed in the biggest concert hall in the Opera House so that was an experience in itself. Stunning! We also had dinner and drinks on the harbour outside the Opera House, watched sunset and just sat taking in the beautiful surroundings.

The next few days in Sydney went by with a bit of a blur, we went boutique window shopping in Paddington, vintage window shopping in Surry Hills. We spent the afternoon at Manly beach, had lunch and wondered around. We took a ferry over to Taronga Zoo where we saw koalas - I am not a massive fan of zoo's and animals in captivity but the views from the zoo of the city were phenomenal. One night we went to look at this revolving bar on the 47th floor of one of the city buildings - this was very cool. We spent a lot of time walking around Kings Cross trying to find good nightlife but not finding it. However we made the most of our time in Sydney and the few days of sun we did have - made the city even more beautiful than it was when we first arrived. It is amazing what a difference the sun makes.

New Years Eve was spent at Bradley's Head - a cove near the zoo on the north side of Sydney, across the other side of the harbour. Our friends had been there since the morning saving a spot so when we arrived at 7pm it was great. We spent the night watching the various firework, light and boat displays and avidly awaited the main event. The atmosphere and fireworks at 12 were incredible, it was nice to be around friends and also quite emotional being in such a beautiful and special place on New Years Eve.

We leave to start out Greyhound adventure up the East Coast tomorrow, a 15 hour bus journey until we reach our first stop - Byron Bay... stay tuned!