After a 13 hour overnight bus journey - during which the driver insisted on having the air con blasting our faces off - we arrived just outside Sydney and were collected by Jean and Bob - Alyx's Great Aunt and Uncle. We spent 2 nights with them, and again it was so nice to be in a proper home with a lovely bed! We had a bath (not together) which was heavenly after grotty showers!

On the first day we chilled out as we were so tired from the bus journey, but that night Ray and Jenny - Alyx's other Great Uncle and his wife - came over for dinner. It was really nice to catch up with the family, and have a civilised meal at a table with a nice bottle of wine, rather than a box of goon.

The next day they took us up to Palm Beach which is where Home and Away was filmed. Alyx was very excitable, but unfortunately we didnt see anyone famous, but it was a sunday so its not surprising! Got some good pictures of the beach and the surf club though, and we had a nice lunch of fish and chips by the sea!

The following day it was time to move on again, and we jumped on a train and headed into the city centre. We were both really ill with colds, so our first day was spent chilling out watching films, and desperate housewives! after a refreshing nights sleep we moved onto Bondi beach, where we had already decided to spend 2 nights, and were hoping for a surf. Unfortunately the hostel was cold and grotty, as was the weather, but we had paid for 2 nights so had to stick it out. We went to the cinema one night, and the next day we'd had enough of Australian tv, so went to the video shop and rented a friends dvd!

The next day it was time to head back into the city where we were happy to be in a much nicer hostel. we headed out and did a bus tour of the city and saw all the amazing touristy things like the Opera house and Sydney Harbour Bridge and went up the Sydney Sky Tower. The next day we had a lovely lunch - steak and chips on Darling Harbour - with the sun shining and and a lovely setting it was a perfect way to dine.

Sydney was a great way to wrap up our Australia leg of our travels, would definitely recommend you pay it a quick visit!