Week 8

Sydney Harbour

Today we awoke to start our day of sightseeing and exploring. We headed off to the Sydney Opera House and had a good walk around several times, admiring the spectacular architect of it and taking many photos. It took 14 years and cost $102 million to complete but was worth every penny as it’s one of the must-see sights in the world. In Australia they have a few nicknames for things, the Bridge being called the coat hanger and the Opera House the dish rack …. I’m sure you can see the resemblance.

As we had our culture heads on it was off to the Royal Botanical Gardens next. If we are all being honest they were an absolute sight. Very well preserved, some odd but amazing looking trees, picnics, sunbathers, games, everything was going on here. A winding road took us through many different types of plants from all around the world. The Government House is also based here which we had a stroll around. There was also a telescope which aimed at the top of these trees where literally thousands of bats hung upside down sleeping, this explained where they came from when previously seeing them fly through the city at night.

As it was the last night in Sydney of two chaps we had met whilst at Randwick races â€" Jimmy and (Mickey Mouse) Danny we popped out in the evening to say our fair wells. A few quiet drinks were planned but you all know what we’re like, soon it was snakebites and jager-bombs and then back up to the hostel to dress up and play up. We had to give them something to remember us by!