After our 12 hour coach journey to Sydney we were eager to dump our bags and find somewhere nice to eat breakfast, luckily the hostel had a cafe so we ate there and decided what we would do for the rest of our day. The hostel runs city walks twice a week for free but as we'd already missed the departure time we decided to grab a map and venture off ourselves. We walked through the city until we came to Hyde Park and then the Botanical Gardens which were very pretty. A group of three military helicopters kept flying over the huge trees which disturbed the bats! There were hundreds of them and they were massive! Once we came out the other end of the gardens we were greeted by the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge, where we brought tickets to see the Ballet and took some great photos. The rest of the evening was spent taking the long walk back to the hostel and then in Maloney's, a pub that did a great buffet dinner for $7.50 - bargain!

Day 2 we decided to join the hostel on a beach walk. This was a walk that we would start in Coogee and end on Bondi Beach where we would relax and take in the sea air. It turned out that we had to pass 5 beaches/bays to get to there and as it was a hot day we were becoming more and more eager to reach Bondi. The walk was worth the effort as Bondi beach was beautiful, the sand was so clean and white and the water was crystal clear, if freezing cold! Plus we all got a free drink when we got back to the hostel and a load of 241 drink vouchers too.

That evening we went back to Sydney Opera Houe to watch the ballet. The show was split into three mini performances. After the first performance it was clear that ballet was not our thing. We looked at each other and the expression on each others faces said it all - there were a few giggles to follow! Ash was ready to leave but I managed to convince him to stay to see if it got any better, and that it did. The second and third performances were much better and there was even some humour thrown in - great! I can't be saying we'd be rushing to see a ballet again anytime soon but the whole experience was good.

The next day we spent window shopping (ok, maybe there was a little spending but mostly window shopping). There was a free BBQ and a killer pool competition on at the hostel that night which both me and Ash joined in on, it was a good laugh but I don't have to tell you that I didn't get very far! Ash did well though and came close to winning a $100 bar tab.

Day 4 we went to Manly, a small beach town just a short boat journey from the harbour. The weather was scorching so we had a great day just lazing about in the sun. Manly was a really nice place, quite small but the beach was lovely and they had some cool surf shops. When we got back to Sydney we found a great fish restaurant on the front which did the best 'posh' fish and chips!

The following day we went back to Bondi beach and spent the day there, the sea water was FREEZING! We got some cool photos of the beach and even had a short dip in the sea.
The next few days the weather turned cooler and at times we had rain, so these were spent mostly roaming around the city. We walked around The Rocks, on the harbour, where they had a craft market selling lots of different handmade goods, but not quite the bargain prices we were finding in Thailand! We also went jet boating which was hilarious, around 20 passengers strapped into a huge speed boat that does 360 degree spins in the water among other tricks. By the end of it we were soaked but were on a high from the adrenaline.

Our last evening in Sydney was spent at Star City, the local Casino. We walked up to the entrance and were quickly disappointed to be told that we were not allowed to enter without photo ID! So back to the hostel it was to collect them. When we got back we had an amazing 'all you can eat' buffet which we took full advantage of. Ash managed to squeeze Mexican, Chinese, Indian, Italian and English cuisine all on one plate, while I saved myself for a selection of delicious desserts!
We had great fun trying our luck at Texas Hold'em Poker and Roulette but after a few small wins and a few big losses, we walked out empty handed with barely enough for the taxi ride home! Overall we really enjoyed our stay in Sydney even if it was an expensive one!