We were welcomed into Sydney by one of Dave's best men, Ricky, and from the start it was class and sophistication as we took the ferry across to Ricky's pad in Manly. The views from the flat were unbeatable and it was a great place from which to explore Sydney and the surrounding area. The hospitality of Ricky and Courtney was average. Only joking Ricky, it was top notch!

We started off by "doing the Manly walk (Oi!)" which took us along the coastline through gorgeous countryside and lovely beaches. We then went farther afield and took a trip to Sydney Harbour to get a close up view of Sydney Opera House (grubby, Dave thought!) and we whiled away the afternoon in the Botanical Gardens then soaked up some art culture at the New South Wales Art Gallery.

We had a text from Ricky inviting us to the 'Rocks' to watch the Ashes on TV. This quickly turned into an invite to the Funky 'Paddington' where we sat for hours watching England lose the ashes very easily whilst drinking Australia's finest beer.

We had been debating whether to visit the couple, Ken and Desley, we had met in India as Brisbane was a mere 1000 miles away. We decided to go for broke and take a flight to Brisbane then do a road trip back to Sydney via some choice places. So we set off and caught up with the adventures of Ken and Desley in India and enjoyed the warm, generous hospitality of some new but dear friends. Thank you floppyboots!

We did not see Brisbane as we had come to see our friends, so we then set off to Bellingen stopping at Surfer's Paradise on the Gold Coast and Byron Bay on the way. The beaches were fantastic and although the weather was not so great we had a dip anyway. We arrived late night at Bellingen and with miserable weather and non-existent or unopen restaurants we hoped for better weather and luck the next day.

No luck with the weather but we carried on to a nearby rainforest area. The weather disguised the fact there was a mountain about 20 metres away which was very strange! As we left we saw our first wallaby or something hiding in the bush but it scarpered pretty quickly once it saw us. From here we went through picturesque and very olde Englishe Armidale and then stopped at a tiny place just off the highway called Wallabadah where we had a great pot of tea and the friendly owners treated us to some homemade potato cakes - mmm! We drove off again into the middle of nowhere and then got to a place which was even more in the middle of nowhere before we realized the petrol was low. We thought we could last out until the next town about 40km away, Casillis, but on arrival there at what seemed liked a bowles green with a few men in beards as the sum total of the town, we were told that the nearest petrol station was Mudgee, which was our destination for that night anyway. So we coasted as much as possible without the engine on and sat in tense silence when what should appear? A big 'FUEL' sign. We pulled up finally to some petrol pumps but soon realized there was no-one about. After to-ing and fro-ing and wasting more petrol (due to the fact that there was a sign telling you that if there was no-one there to go to the house down the road), we found a girl alone in a house with an empty pint glass who told us they had closed the fuel station 3 years ago. Well take the bloomin' sign down then!!

After more coasting and more nail biting silence we had our first photo and near accident with a suicidal 'roo who bounded towards us. Ironically we would have gone into it if we had been going full, non fuel-saving speed. Finally, with trumpets blowing we freewheeled into Mudgee and pulled into the fuel station..which was open. Phew! We then pulled into the cabin and caravan park and had to rouse the poor owner at the late hour, but then settled down in the cosy cabin for some well earned nosh.

The next day saw us don some cycle hats and visit the local vineyards in Mudgee. Although we were slightly worried about being drunk in charge of a 'cycle it didn't stop us and we sampled the delights of Poet's Corner winery and a nearby cheese place. We were going to go back with the car to pick up some samples until we realized it cost less to buy it from the local supermarket. Sorry Poets!

We then said a sad goodbye to our cabin and headed for the mountains - The Blue Mountains. We arrived in time to see the 3 sisters just after sunset: maginificent viewing for tired eyes. The next day we took it upon ourselves to do a 7 hour walk down the Giant Steps and to the "Ruined Castle" which wasn't actually a castle at all but a load or rocks: they don't have enough history for a ruined castle!! This didn't stop it from being a challenge and another great sightseeing opportunity: the 360 views of the hazy mist of the eucalyptus trees hovering over the mountains was simply stunning. Our camera nearly broke from the amount of photos we took.

We slumped down for dinner and arose the next morning to rain. Didn't matter though as we had to scoot back to Sydney for a date with the Opera House. Ha! We called in on Botany Bay for a view of where Captain Cook had first landed and La Perouse had camped just after (gutted!) . If Captain Cook had realized the International Airport was just nearby he would have kicked himself! We dropped the car off (not before another bit of trouble finding a fuel stop. What is it with these guys?). We then headed back to Manly and dressed up in our finest (well, cleanest was the best we could do) and headed off for a drink and a meal at the Opera House bar before getting in the festive mood Ozzie style with 'Christmas at the House'. A bit of Hark the Herald and a few days of Christmas later we were well in the mood to jingle all the way home.

The next day we decided to have a surfing lesson but they were full! How dare they! So we booked it up and spent the day jumping the waves and getting completely burnt and ended up with an ice cream and feeling very content. We squeezed in a trip to Taronga zoo the next day where we saw the cutest animals in the world (Koalas) along with some other unusual animals such as Bilbys, the massive Komodo dragon, fishing cats, Echidnas and a platypus. We also saw a brilliant seal show with more ball catching, turning over and catching fish than you could shake a stick at.

Despite an exhausting day at the zoo we summoned up all our strength for a surfing lesson the next day: and didn't we need it. This is not easy stuff! After carrying the board for about 3 miles we paddled out which was hard enough then had to try and get on the flipping thing! There was much falling off and water swallowing but by the end both of us had stood on the board for at least half a second and had a brilliant time doing so.

How could we follow this? We couldn't really but we went to the Aquaruim amid howling winds and rain and had a fish dunkingly good time looking at sharks, jellyfish, giant turtles and sting rays from tunnels under the water. We finished the day off by having a cocktail in the Sydney Sky Tower where we had the best view in town all over Sydney.

Our last full day in Sydney was Christmas day. We had pretty much a full Christmas dinner then took some Turkey down the beach with the body boards for a swim and an unusual Christmas day bite to eat. Although cold it was a fun way to spend Christmas but very odd: there were so many people around, jogging etc. Just go and spend time with your families!

Boxing day was down to the airport and off to our next stop: New Zealand.