Ok so this is long overdue & I apoligise for the delay! This isnt going to be as detailed as before because Im so far behind but hope you enjoy reading it anyway!

We spent our first week staying at our friend Petes place in Manly. He was the perfect host, taking us on a tour of the Northern beaches & also setting us up some free cricket tickets. We saw NSW Vs Tasmania in a one day & Ponting played. We did our christmas shopping at Paddys Markets in the city & organised all the parcels so they would get home to you guys in time for the festive season!!

My 22nd birthday was great fun! We decided to dress in 80's neons and went to The Gaff in Sydney. Cam sorted us out with some free champers & somehow I ended up playing go fetch on the stage in front of everyone. I couldnt go through with the last dare though, drinking a pint through some random guys sweaty dirty sock! So Jo (thanks hun!) did it for me but we still lost, up against a guy what do you expect? We had to wait 2 hrs for the train back home to nan & joans place so slept on the platform before we could finally start our journey home (very classy I know!)

In between my birthday & Dad & Roxanne arriving we didnt do anything excpet hang out with nan & Joan. We went shopping & played bingo! Even winning occasionally, much to the annoyance of all the old biddies that go every week & come away with nothing! we had a lovely time with them and Carol & I loved going out with them.

When Dad & Roxanne arrived on 20th December we collected them from the airport armed with balloons & lots of hugs! By the time we got back to Joans house it was like we hadnt been away fom each other at all. We spent the next few days taking in some of the city sights, the harbour, Opera House, Botanical Gardens & the markets and did a day tour out to the Hunter Valley for wine tasting. Lets just say we got very drunk and had a great day! We spent christmas day with nan & Joan and went out to the club for dinner, Dad won a few hundred dollars on the roulette!

Jake arrived on the 28th early morning and fair play to him he went out straight away to Centre Point Tower & to the Aquarium at Darling Harbour. By the end of the day we were all knackered! We went to Manly beach which was so busy with crowds you could barely see any sand then went to taronga Zoo which again was fantastic. Highlight of the zoo was seeing the chimps going mad & putting on a bit of a show for the crowd.

We spent New Years Eve in the Botanical Gardens, getting there at 10am to secure 5 spaces out of 15,000. We got a good spot and i think everyone enjoyed the picnic myself and Roxanne made. The fireworks were out of this world, kind of put kempton park to shame! As soon as the midnight show was over we made our way home through the huge crowds. New Years Day we went to a fabulous restaurant at the rocks at the harbour, definately not a backpackers joint!

The boys went to the cricket on the 2nd whilst jake, Roxanne & I went shopping & to Luna PArk before chilling out in the botanical gardens next to the Opera House. The nxt few days were a treat as we went to Coolaroy Beach, one of the Northern Beaches for a few nights. We spent the days at the beach & the nights in nice restaurants & bars.

We did the Bridgeclimb early evening on the 5th so when we started it was light and by the time we were coming down it was dark so we got the best of both worlds in our photographs. We spent a day at Bondi beach and also did a day trip to the Blue Mountains stopping at Featherdale Wildlife Park & the olympic sight also.

Sadly Roxanne & Dad went home on the 9th. We met the girls for a picnic in the park and spent a day in the city before booking a little trip down to melbourne. We had a long journey down but it was definately worth it, we met up with Jo & Katie and of course did a day trip on the Great Ocean Road. we also took a helicopter ride over the 12 Apostles which was only $60 and an amazing experience!

back in Sydney we hung out with some friends, shopped some more & then said goodbye to jake, nan & Joan when we flew out to New Zealand!

Also won $100 at bingo the day before we left!