Well....here I am! I cannot believe that i have almost been here 2 weeks and I am loving it.

This is how the story goes.... after many tearful goodbyes I jumped on the plane, London to Dubai then Dubai to Bangkok and then onto Sydney! When looking to transfer to my next plane in Dubai I met Rach..we ended up going for a cuppa tea in Costa and chatted etc and got on really well. On arriving at Sydney airport we met her mate Laura and they ended up coming to stay at Base with me. They were visiting their mate who lives out here and on the first day i wandered to the Opera House and saw the bridge etc and then went for the nicest pizza and beer at the "Australian" What a mental start to the trip...met some mates already!

The next day i was feeling a tad weary as jet lag kicked in, I couldnt barely remember my own name! (sounds like a normal Friday night!) I monged out pretty much the whole day but didnt really eay anything..BIG MISTAKE. I went to the TV in the evening and met a nutty Irish lass called Noreen, we hit it off and exchange numbers, which was cool. The next day I had a little accident in the shower...(not what you're thinking you minging people!) Due to the fact that i hadnt eaten I managed to pass out in the shower and bash my head and nose...no blood but decided to get some breakfast! This is where I met Noreen again who was with Gem. We ended up wwandering around Darling harbour, scoffing ice cream and messing about. That night we went to Cheers and Scruffy Murphys or should I say scummy murphys....an irish bar that never seems to close! We left there at 6am and headed back.....the partying starts already!

At the Opera House Gem had met a guy called Ryan who was also travelling by himself and we went to Bondi with him.....there was a shocking storm and we were stuck under the bloody cover for over an hour whilst it passed..Tracy was not impressed! It has been cloudy and crap weather for most of the time we'd been here! We still managed to have a giggle! I didnt really want to tell everyone that the weather has been crap but I shall be honest...mostly anyway ;o)

Gem and I decided to go to Kings Cross in the evening, Prositute city should I say..everywhere you looked it was knee high boots and short skirts..bit like a night out in Harlow! We met up with the girls that I had met at the airport (Laura and Rach and some of their mates) went to Mansions, World bar (which was fab as you get alcohol in teapots but the Jaga Bombs finished me off good and proper!) we then went to a club called Moulin Rouge to meet Ryan and his mate...the club was a tad odd and smelled strangely like cheese..worrying! On our way home we spoke to a few random people and had a laugh...still not met hardly any Aussies! ha ha

I should have written this as i was going along as I am sitting in my hostel typing this and I cant remember what I've done! Every day is like a Saturday!

I then met this fab bird called claire, travelling by herself too and staying in Gem and Noreen's room.....since we met we've done loadsa stuff together. We all went to Manly on the little ferry from Circular Quay...how gorgeous! The dream would be to live in Manly and work in the city..i keep going past NAB thinking...this is the possible dream! We went to the beach in manly and wandered around the cutest little markets and the BEST shops...cant buy stuff as cant carry it or spend money on stuff....bloody torture! That evening the girls went to Darling Harbour with my swedish roomie Magnus..what a cutie! I went to Opra Bar with Ryan and the views were fab....overlooking the Harbour Bridge in all its glory....this is when i realised I had arrived! ha ha

After getting home at 2am I had to be up at 6am to go to the Blue Mountains...I had heard that this is the most amazing place etc but the weather was awful and it rained and was cold and we couldnt even see the famous 3 Sisters or as Gem called it 7 sisters which i had to explain that i could take her there in London for far less than it cost to come to Oz. The walking was lovely but we ended up looking like giant condoms dressed in those stupid rain poncho things...we met a fab girl on the bus called laura and she is from Scotland....nutter with a fab sense of humour so she fit right in! We even went on the worlds steepest railway and I kacked myself! We were staying in katoomba which is the largest town in the Blue mountains.... what an experience. The YHA there was lovely and Gem and I shared a room with Laura and another lady called Sarah. We went out to their local Thai restaurant and soon realised that this place was like something out of a scary movie.......the fog hung over the town and you felt as if tumble weed was gonna go past ya....it was like the land that time forgot. After our dinner which was GORGEOUS we went to the supermarket to get our breaky for the next day and I kid you not, there was no one about. Walking through the fog covered car park we saw no one.....waiting for the axe murders to come and get us.... and then.....we saw the worst tranny I have ever seen in my life....imagine your 80 year old grandad in a dress! We practically ran into the shop and ran out again as we were petrified that we were in some zombie film and that they were going to cut us into little pieces. The next day the weather was shocking but we still went for a little walk and then ended up back as the hostel and played cards with Gems porno looking cards, which certainly lightened our stroppy moods as the weather was so horrible. We were so glad to be picked by our Oz expierence driver as by this time the weather was so bad you could hardly see in front of you....i could've stayed at home for the crap weather!!!!

When we got back we had all decided to go out so Gem and I got ready quickly and went out with Claire, Noreen and Magnus. We had a brilliant night and ended up in a bar called establishment which had a salsa night on...an amazing atmosphere and fantastic dancing..loved it! This was also Noreen's last night and we were all a bit sad as she was going back to ireland after being here for 3 weeks. Another late night.....5:30am or so. So Magnus and Noreen then left that morning and we were feeling like our group was shrinking! Gem was also leaving to go and stay at Bondi but she hang around and we bonded whilst doing our washing! ha ha. Claire and I were feeling lonely! That night we went to China Town for dinner, cheap good chinese food what more could you want?! Claire, myself, Laura the scottish nutter and sarah from the trip had a chilled night and ended up in bed by 11 which was the first time since I'd been here! shocking!

Claire and I were now pretty much alone....she's northern by the way.. they get everywhere! ha ha. We went to the botanical gardens and had a mooch about which was lovely, we had taken a german girl with us was staying in her room and showed her about a bit.

We wanted a quiet night so we headed to the Rocks with Martine, a lovely dutch girl staying with Claire. We went to a bar called The Argyle, lvoely place and full of city slickers! Ended up meeting more irish people and went to a god awful place called Jacksons which was full of perverts! Not been spending much money on going out as all the blokes by drinks for girls out here...note that boys!

Yesterday Claire and I got up and decided to go to Sydney Aquarium....it was amazing! I even touched some fish which scared the living crap out of me but did it anyway. we spent almost 4 hours there as we were mesmerised by the fish and we were so chilled out it was like we were on drugs, hilarious! we also picked up a random bloke called Neil who is travelling back to the UK today. Proper geezer from Essex. We seem to have a thing about randoms....

Today claire and I decided to sunbathe in Darling harbour as the sun decided to come out. We scoffed an ice cream and tonight we're going out for a couple of drinks locally as it's Friday night. Lovely Jubbly!

I didnt realise I had done so much stuff and you are probably asleep by now but rest assured that i am loving this soooo much and have met sooo many random people! I will not leave it so long to update again as i have left soo much out of this! Will catch up with you soon kiddies! Will put piccies on soon but cant be arsed right now cos I want to go and make some dinner! Love you all lots and please keep sending the messages as they always make me smile! x x x

As I am still in Sydney I have decided just to tag onto the bottom of this one! I think I over did a lot in my first few weeks and a nasty throat infection decided to attack me....off to the doctors....all in all it cost me 100 bucks!!! STREWTH SHEILA!!!!!As if that wasn't bad enough my phone decided to stop working and I was phoneless for 5 days...it was like losing an arm and then the bastados lost all my numbers and photos off my phone......another 100 bucks down the friggin toilet..how come you dont budget for crap like this??? Tracy had her grumpy pants on severely!!!!!!

It''s been a funny few weeks as loads of fab people that I met had to go to Byron for xmas etc as there was no accomodation in Sydney. There have been loads of goodbyes and over xmas it was not really the sort of thing I wanted to be doing....but hey ho ho ho! Within a few days of eachother Laura the scottish nutter and Northern Claire were gone. it was probably quite a good thing in a certain sense as it gave me a kick up the bum to book my trip up the coast and actually sort myself out...it's really easy to get lazy and not bother with stuff cos you feel as if you have all the time in the world...but you dont! Lonely, unloved, deflated and not yet tanned (properly) I moved to Wake Up hostel last Wednesday (19th) and shared a room with some cool randoms (unlike me I know) there were 3 irish people who were travelling together and a girl called katie. Straight away Katie and I were out and about together but she was moving to Kings Cross for Xmas which I was a bit gutted about! We went to Coogee beach which is gorgeous as they is a little cove where you can swim, it was brilliant as Gem met us there too and we made a good day of it.

Being at Wake up means that you spend half your life in Side Bar and those of you that have been to Sydney will know the place well...if you can remember your nights that is! As Wake Up is such a massive hostel it has been a bit crap in meeting people....although I have managed it! It's all about the randoms...even met a girl from Cheshunt and a guy stopped me the other day and said "I recognise you" I thought this was a cheesy chat up line but it turned out that he was from Hodessdon and went out in Ware quite a bit! Mentalist.

Once Katie had moved to Kings Cross and Gem had moved out of Bondi I felt a tad screwed as the Irish people in my room were also leaving...As if would have it i got 2 nice roomies the day before xmas eve called Sara and Ryan, a nice couple who are as mad a brushes...right up my street! PHEW i thought. Anyways, Sara was fed up of travelling with boys so we had a girly afternoon which finished with us treating ourselves to coffee and cake....it was amazing! Little things keep you going out here...sad but true.

Xmas eve was an eventful night,...couldnt stop thinking about how you guys would probably be going to the Chavigator and then Sky and here I was in Side Bar drinking Snakebite like it was going to run out! Xmas eve was fantastic, thing is, it didnt even feel like xmas. Everyone was in there and so many randoms that I had met out here were in there, it was brilliant and I couldnt believe that I was really going to wake up on xmas day with no friends, no family and no presents....reality hit me a bit there but as everyone is in the same boat you just get on with it! what was I doing??

Yesterday (xmas day) was a bit odd to be honest, but still sooo good. Waking up with random people who you have know for a few days with a hangover...no turkey and xmas pudding to look forward to...the day seemed bleak! ha ha. Sara's parents had flown over from the UK for xmas so it wasnt even as if her and Ryan were going to go to Bondi on the bus that the hostel had organised...I was actually ALL ALONE getting the hostel bus to Bondi where we were having a bit of a bash and everyone had their Goon all ready to drink (I like to call Goon s*** in a box as it is that horrible boxed wone that skanky people drink!) but then as if luck would have it I met these fab girls from Rayleigh (yes Mazza and G would you believe it?!) we clicked instantly and before I knew it it was like I'd known them for years. We had xmas dinner together but there was a big hoo haa as the police banned us from drinking even inside Bondi Surf club thingy...which we did anyway but had to stop as we were going to get warnings and probs kicked out of Bondi. As the hostel had told us that we could drink they gave us free tickets (worth 60 bucks) for the sunburnt party which was at the pavillion. Having spent all day lazing around Bondi (the weather was cloudy and Tracy was not impressed) me and the girls hit the party at about 7:30pm, it was only on til 10 but it was fantastic, the atmosphere was electric and I saw soo many people that I had met since I'd been here. The girls left before me so I was partying on with some of my other randoms , it was the perfect end to my xmas.

Today (boxing day) the sun was out, bloody typical! Went to Bondi to meet Laura and Rach who I had met in Dubai airport on the way out here as they are going home tomorrow. We had a fab day monging out on the beach! As Laura lives in Brussells we have made a pact that when I am back in the UK Rach and I will visit her, which will be fab.

I am looking forward to new year and cant wait to leave the city now, Sydney is amazing but its soooooooo expensive its eating my money up! I dont have proper accomodation for New year and I get kicked out of my hostel on 30th Dec so I am staying for a few nights which Martine (dutch girl) in Manly and then I will go to some irish girls apartment until I get my bus up the coast on 3rd Jan....this would never happen at home and I am learning to take people up on what they say as they do mean it!

I apologise for being so crap with this blog, I am having too much fun to keep updating it regularly! Will upload pics soon, promise! xxx

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Well, Happy New Year everyone! In between Christmas and New Year was great, it was one of the girls birthday so we all went to Side Bar (funnily enough) and had a really good time. The weather also picked up so Coogee was like a second home again! On 30th December I moved to Manly for 3 nights to stay with Martine, It was brilliant, I love Manly anyway but it was nice to be staying in a flat with all her sailing buddies. .. 5 mins walk from the beach...what a killer! ha ha. We had a few lazy days and then it was New Years Eve...one of the main reasons for me being in Sydney for such a long time and it was amazing! One of Martines Sailing Instructors was having a bit of a gathering at Cremorne Point which is on the opposite side to the Opera House...perfect spot for seeing everything. After a troublesome bus journey from Manly we arrived at around 2pm in the afternoon and I can honestly say that it was an amazing day from start to finish. They had got down there really early and reserved a good spot. We had a BBQ, laid in the sun, went swimming in the pool and also in the harbour water and it was so surreal Martine and I were pinching ourselves contstantly to make sure that we we're dreaming!

After Queuing for nearly an hour for a wee it was time for the family fireworks at 9pm, they were lovely but nothing can compare to the midnight fireworks....it is something that I am never going to forget. The atmosphere was brilliant and the people who I was with really made the night too. There is no way that I can now go to crappy 5th Nov display without saying...wont compare to Sydney!!! There were fireworks coming off the bridge, big buildings and all the way along the water edge...I get goosebumps even just explaing it! We played twister with randoms, drank champagne at midnight and ended up getting back to manly on one of the night buses... we met the funniest people on our walk back to Queenscliff and we just had such an amazing time. I dont think any New Year will ever compare but I'm sure I'll have fun trying!

After New year the weather was still gorgeous and we lazed on the beach a lot. Unfortunately I had to leave Martines after 3 nights and the 4th night I had to go back to the city so that I could catch my Oz Experience Bus wat 630am!!!!! I stayed with one of the nice Irish girls I'd met at Base Backers in Sydney, Lindsay. It was like we were a married couple as I cooked her dinner whilst she went to the gym, we even had pink champagne which she had bought...nothing like travelling like a traveller! ha ha. In the evening a couple of her mates came round and we all ended up sleeping on the floor.......my last night in Sydney.....this is where the coast trip begins..........

I will add my photos as soon as I get somewhere that I can download them.

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