Sydney was crazy - our hostel was located right in Kings Cross, the main party district and there wasn't much sleeping going to happen… We tried to keep up with the young 'uns as well as making the most of the $10 steaks! Kings Cross itself was a bit dodgy - but nothing that living in Manchester hasn't prepared us for!

The first night we met up with some of Dave's mates from Stratford who live out in Oz. A couple of quite ones at Bondi Junction turned into cocktails, shots and dancing into the wee hours. It was good to go to a club - it's been a while as NZ was so chilled…

The next day we went on a walking tour of Sydney - it is surprisingly small and in 3 hours, we saw the Central Business District, the Rocks (the old part of the city), the harbor bridge, Hyde Park and the opera house! Not bad for a day with a hangover… That night, we went to a big market in Chinatown and picked up some food.

On Saturday (30th March) we met up with my mate from King's Lynn, Adeola, who lives in Canberra with her fiancée, Anthony, and travelled to Sydney for the day to see us - amazing effort, much appreciated! We had such a fun time - we met in the Rocks (one of mine and Dave's fave places - perhaps because it's like old-school England!) and went for dinner at the Lord Nelson hotel, the oldest hotel in Sydney. The food and company were excellent and we then took a walk down to Darling Harbour, Anthony acting as tour guide as he's from Sydney. After they left, Dave and I headed to O Bar as a treat - it's a revolving bar on the 27th floor with amazing views over Sydney - it was much cheaper having a drink here than the Sky Tower, with equally good views!

Our last two days in Sydney, we spent exploring the beaches it has to offer. First off was Manly Beach - the ferry over to Manly was excellent, and we took in some amazing views of Sydney harbor and the surrounding islands. Manly Beach seemed quite crowded as it was so small but we had a good sun bathe and paddle. Next stop, was Bondi Beach, which was packed with surfers. We arrived and explored the beach and then followed the coastal walk down to Tamarama Beach (New South Wales' smallest beach!), where we stayed for a while and relaxed. We had a few drinks back in Bondi and then headed back to King's Cross.

It was then time for us to start the next chapter of our Oz adventures - travelling up the coast with a camper van! We picked the van up and familiarized ourselves with how to work it, having never done anything like this before. Within an hour, the battery had died on us (through no fault of our own!) and we were stranded in a rest area. A mechanic soon came to our rescue and 2 hours and a new battery later, we were back on the road. Unfortunately that meant we arrived at our planned campsite on One Mile Beach near Port Stephens, quite late. We got ourselves settled in the van while we still had some light and settled in for our first night in our new home.

After a surprisingly good nights sleep, we got back on the road to Coffs Harbour - 6 hours later we arrived. The holiday parks here are surprisingly good, with excellent facilities and usually a pool and direct access to the beaches. We are enjoying our campervaning adventures so far - and have even survived our first thunder storm in it. Next stop - Byron Bay!