We arrived in Sydney and caught a train straight to Gosford. My Uncle Mark and all the family came to pick us up and took us back to their house. They had already set up a bed downstairs which we would have assumed was for us, but instead they gave us their bedroom, so they didn't wake us in the mornings. We felt bad taking their room but they insisted and it was very much appreciated.

We had some lovely meals with them all and then on the Sunday we all caught the train to Sydney with a picnic to tuck into later on.

We went to look at the Opera House and then ate the lovely picnic on the grass. Then we got the ferry to Darling Harbour had a drink, then got the ferry bac kto Circular Quay and took a walk around to the Rocks. The weather started off a bit cloudy but by the afternoon the sun was shining and we'd had a really lovely day. The kids were so well behaved and didn't complain once about having to walk around. We were all pretty tired by the time we got the train back but a good day was had by all.

The following week was our 3rd anniversary, so we hired a car for a few days and went to the Blue Mountains. It was absolutely stunning and really nice staying in motels for a days. On the first day we went for a quick walk around and then chilled out in our room watching tv (a novelty these days!). We bought everything to make tuna, cheese and baked bean jacket potatoes, which we had to eat off of tiny side plates (beans in cups!) all washed down with a couple of bottles of white wine! Classy...

The next day we went to Jenolan caves and took a tour around. It was all so amazing and weird to think they've been there for over 340 million years and are made up of coral and fish. In the afternoon we went for a walk around the 3 sisters. We started on the 1000 steps down and back and I instantly regretted having gone down so far, because what goes down must come up and we had to stop about every 10 to 20 steps because we were bright red in the face and feeling like we might even be sick! lol... oh so fit and young...!

In the evening we went for a really nice meal and Ant tried Kangaroo. He liked it and it was pretty much like steak, but I wasn't so keen. After seeing so many stinky dead ones on the sides of the roads, it kind of put me off. So I had steak and king prawns instead washed down with a lovely bottle of Cabernet Merlot.

The next day the weather wasn't too great so we just headed back to Gosford and looked around the shopping mall. We went for a walk along the beach and then headed back to Mark and Mandys for our last night in Gosford.

After saying goodbye to them all for at least a year, we headed up to Sydney on the train. Luckily we'd booked a hotel already so once we got off the train at Kings Cross we only had to walk two minutes round the corner. On booking the room I'd made a bit of a boo boo and we ended up with two sets of bunk beds but it was fine. We had a tv and our own bathroom and it was all nice and clean, so all good.

We met up with Liz Vibert and a load of her friends later on that day and went for what was meant to be just a couple of drinks. We were all a little bit more than tipsy when we left at 12 and we felt less than amazing the next morning!

We had arranged with Liz and her boyfriend Robbie to go Kayaking the next morning so they came and picked us up at about 10. We had a right laugh in our two Kayaks and to be honest me and Liz didn't really do as much as we could and stopped frequently for breaks! lol... At one point the guy said that they might not have two doubles so suggested the boys had one each and me and Liz shared. Luckily we were both agreed that we'd rather sit on the beach, obviously knowing that we both couldn't be bothered to paddle too much, but he found another double and we went on our merry way. By the time our hour was nearly up, we were all so hungry that we only paddled fast to get to food!

We jumped back in the car and headed for brekkie, where everything was served in the biggest portions I'd ever seen but we weren't complaining!

After breakfast we went to a BBQ at Mark and Barry's house (Liz and Robbies freinds) and had a really good day sitting in the sun and having a laugh. We left early evening to freshen up before heading into Sydney for a night out. By the time we got out, everyone else in Sydney seemed to have been drinking all day and it was all pretty hectic. After a few hours and a few more beers we were all having a great time and decided that we didn't really fancy standing in the club not being able to hear each other, so we went to a house party down in Bondi. Everyone we met was really nice and people were going out of their way to come and introduce themselves. Bit different from some of the parties at home! We made plenty of new buddies and had a really good night before heading to Raj and Sasha's house to finish off the night. By the early hours, we were both pretty ready to head off so we caught a taxi and spent the rest of the day sleeping and watching movies from our bunk beds. Luckily it was a really crap day and rained the whole time, so we didn't feel too bad about wasting a day in bed!

The next day we went to the Aquarium as we hadn't seen a Platypus yet. When we got there there were too many people around so we headed round to see the rest of it and came back to the Platypus later. By the time we got back, they'd all gone into hiding and unfortunately we didn't see any despite having waited an hour. Nevermind, maybe we'll see one along the way or we'll have to come back! ;O)... We went for a Mexican in the evening and just chilled out in our room for the rest of the night.

The next day, our last in Australia! Booo, we sorted out a few things like hotels etc... Then we went to the Sydney museum where they had a Dinosaur and Crystal exhibition. That pretty much took up the rest of the day and then in the evening we went for a stunning curry before meeting Liz and Robbie for a few farewell drinks. All in all we had a great time in Sydney and we felt like we had to leave some good new friends behind. luckily Liz and Rob are coming to Jersey in the summer so not too long till we see them again.

The next morning we had to get up early to make our way to the airport for our flight to NZ. We're looking forward to getting our camper and heading off to see some old friends their too.