The overnight bus to Sydney was not nearly as bad as we thought it was going to be. The time went by quite quickly and we were asleep for a lot of the way. Our hostel was called Big (though it wasn't particularly big one) and it was really good with big dorms and a huge TV in the lounge (for everyone to watch Neighbours on). Despite the lack of sleep we took Sydney by storm during the day, and managed to see quite a lot, from the Anzac Memorial, Town Hall, Victoria building and Darling Harbour. I've never seen many pictures of Darling Harbour, I think it ranks second in harbours-to-see behind Sydney Harbour so it was a pleasant surprise. We had a quick water fight near the oriental gardens and then headed back for tea. Despite being extremly tired we thought we'd go and check out the Opera House by night and were totally blown away. It looks so spectacular, anyone who visits has to go and see it when the bridge and the city are lit at night. A quiet beer down by the waters edge was the ideal way to end the day.

The next day we headed out to the Blue Mountains (So called, I think, because of all the eucalyptus trees). There were busloads of tourists everywhere, but a few good viewpoints get you away from the crowds. They're pretty nice, but I think that there is a lot better scenery in Scotland. Best thing about the day was the custard and almond croissant that Sheona had (I helped her out), it tasted amazing... So good we even took a photo.

On Thursday we went to The Rocks, where the first settlers arrived in Sydney Harbour many moons ago. A wee story here: The settlers thought that the island on which Sydney Opera House now sits would be ideal for their cattle. So they left them all on the island. Only thing was that at low tide the island became a peninsula and so all the cattle ran away. Idiots. We did little shopping and then we were booked into the lunch sailing of our boat around the harbour. She was called the "Svanen", an old Danish cargo ship. What followed was 2 hours of sipping beer, eating steak and sausages from the BBQ, fresh prawns and salad whilst watching the beautiful harbour sail past! On the way back into the harbour the sails were let out and we travelled back towards the bridge with no engine, really peaceful and quiet. For the record, I had 10 sausages. Very good indeed. When back on dry land we walked across the bridge to Luna Park and went on the Mousetrap, which had ridiculously small carriages going round what felt like a very unsafe track! Really good fun!

Friday was our last day in Sydney as our overnight bus left for Byron Bay in the evening. We took a local bus to Bondi Beach for some sunbathing and swimming in the water. Apart from the pretty minging changing rooms and toilets at the beach (you'd think that with thousands of people going there every week they'd have good facilities?!) it was really good and the sea was refreshing but not too cold! No sign of sharks either. Although there were some pretty odd little jellyfish that looked like floating cornish pasties. Bright purple, transparent cornish pasties...with long tails.

-B