Saturday 27th Dec 2008

So Xmas was over and that ment moving on from Perth! We slummed it at the airport in the night as our flight was at 5am! Sleeping on plastic chairs has now become a specialty of mine!! Good flight over to Sydeny, however we arrived to dark dull clouds and humid. After arriving at Bondi YHA a huge thunderstorm broke out and Daz took some wicked photos! The cloud formation was unreal....we will get them up soon I promise!! We just familiarised ourselves with Bondi on our first day....it was pretty cool and it was the first time i felt cold (but then again it doesn't take alot for me to be cold!) We walked down the famous Bondi beach and had dinner on the front. In the cold, dark drizzle...it didnt look like much....we were like 'whats all the fuss about?'

Hoorraah we woke up to beautiful sunshine the next morning! Our room has great views over Tamarama beach, a little cove beach around the corner from Bondi. The coast is completely different here to Perth. Sydney has beaches like Gower, little coves and beautiful coastal paths with some sweeping bays like Bondi and Coogee and little inlets like Tamarama and Bronte (these two much quieter and Daz and I prefered them!) We headed into Sydney on our first day....the anticipation of seeing the major sights was killing us so we bought a weeks travel ticket (bus,train,ferry) and headed towards Sydney Harbour! Awwwww we fell in love!!! It's amazing and especially with the sun shinning and lots of people about, there was a great buzz about the whole place. Much busier than Perth but we expected that! We took a walk through Hyde Park and then into the Botanic Gardens where we saw fruit bats (Daz excited yet again about wildlife!) There were lots of people doing exactly the same as us so we didnt feel out of place and for once I enjoyed the long walking around! In the botanic gardens there is a path that follows the River Parramatta to the harbour and above the trees we could see the top of the Opera House!! So we walked a bit faster around the corner (Mum/Dad...you gotta do this walk, its beautiful) and there it was.......most probably the most famous landmark in the whole of Australia! We went up close and its really weird but the white tiles are ceramic and could easily be found in your bathroom, didnt expect that! But it was beautiful and as we walked around it, on the other side you are emersed in the harbour and the view of Sydney's Harbour Bridge...an architectural structure that they are most proud of! We took a stroll through 'The Rocks' where settles first arrived in Sydney and called home back in 1780 odd and wandered around their weekend market where you can buy anything! It definately had a colonial feel with little brick buildings and cobbled streets, The Rocks is right at the foot of the bridge, so everything is close together. So that was the day that we saw the major sights of Sydney......and we loved it! This city is wicked!

In the evening we took a walk along the beaches in Bondi.....headed past Tamaramma to Bronte, it really does feel like home with the house on top of the cliff edges and the big waves crashing on the sand! Yet again though...the water here is turquoise blue....something we dont have! :-( We then walked back towards Tamaramma and around the cliff edge to Bondi (just like going from Caswell to Langland).....it was a bit windy but much nicer than yesterday! And when we finally reached Bondi, it looked to big and bold...its a really deep beach and with it being so close to central Sydney, we could now see its attraction! We took a walk along the front again, past lots of restuarants, bars and shops and found a bar with sangria for $10....all i can say is it was lush! We walked alot that day but it was definately worth it! We both slept well that night!!!!!

Sydney has so much to offer....there are lots of tourist attractions and places to see, we really tried our best to do as much as possible! We took the ferry to Manly on the Monday, north Sydney, where they have a lovely high street of shops (surf shop galore!) and pretty beaches....unfortunately by the time we headed onto the beach the clouds came over and it actually went quite chilly! (I bet your all thinking poor us!...not!) So instead we headed back to the harbour and took another ferry to Darling Harbour. Lots of restuarants and bars suuround this old docks/port which was transformed into an entertainment area a while back....very modern, lots of skyrise hotels, casino and museums. Its still very central and we took a nice stroll around stopping for a coffee.

Tues 23rd we headed to the Blue Mountains on a tour! An early start, we were picked up by our tour guide Jim, about 14 of us on the tour and off we went! Daz and I were lucky enough to spend the entire journey there in the front seats by good old Jim, who did not shut up! We stopped at the Olympic Park to start with on the outskirts of Sydney and then headed 90 mins west to the beautiful mountain range. We reached 1000m above sea level and arrived in Katoomba, the main town. On the way here we could see why they were called the 'blue mountains' as the haze in the distance was definately a distinctive blue! Many of you may know why this is, but I was keen to find out the answer on our trip as i didnt know before hand!!!!! The mountain range is made up of predominantly eucalyptus trees and the heat from the sun mixes with the oils produced from the eucalyptus and creates a blue haze! Very pretty and as we drove along....the views of the valleys were outstanding, We were blessed with fab weather too. After an early lunch we headed to the Jamison Valley where the three sisters rock formations are found. We trecked down into the valley admiring beautiful waterfalls, valley views, amazing sandstone cliff structures that have formed over thousands of years, one being the three sisters. After falling 400m, we reached the scenic railway (you can carry on further into the valley but this was our limit) The railway is the steepest in the world and it took us back up to the summit! Only lasted about 45 seconds but its mega steep and scary!! Dont be too scared mum, you wont fancy walking back up the valley thats for sure!!!!!!!!

We took the bus to Wentworth Waterfalls over the otherside of the which was very pretty and took a walk to a fantastic viewpoint of the falls and valley. We had a great day....Jim was a bit of a character.....I wont say anything else! We caught the ferry back into Sydney Harbour and after doing some food shopping, eventually arrived back at the hostel 14hrs later! Long day but worth it!

New Years Eve......what a day!!!! Another long day to be honest!!!! We headed out to the Harbour around 10am to get good views of the bridge as an estimated 1million people were to be in Sydney's CBD today! Crazy! We went to one recommended view point to find the queues huge so we headed closer to the bridge in the botanic gardens and got in straight away! Couldnt take any drink in, but it would of got warm in 10 mins as temps that day soared to plus 35 degrees! We parked our towels in a great spot (in the sun..oops!) and waited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and waited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Got friendly with our neighbours from Leicester and just waited!!!!!!!!!! (and caught a tan at same time!) We did a lot of shade swapping..one min I was in shade, the nxt Daz was! It was flipping roasting!!!!!!!!! We bought a few drinks once the sun had gone down and at 9pm the family fire works went off!!!!!!! And finally at midnight the bridge was alight!!!!!! It was a brill day, the display cost $5million apparently and some felt the money could of been better spent! We had a great day...the atmosphere was electric and there were so many people from all over the world doing the same thing! Sydney is the prime new yrs eve location in the world!!!!!! We ran out of the park as soon as the fireworkd were over, purely because we didnt want to get stuck in a queue with 6000 people and also we were both wrecked! We actually got into our hostel at 12.45pm! the fastest journey back to bondi ever!!!! haha....im afraid we're too old to go out partying afterwards! There was a big concert on bondi beach but we wanted our bed!!!!!! It was a great day, so glad we did it, but cant see us ever doing it again!!!!! lol!

New Years Day was a day down the beach with the rest of Sydney people!!!! Bondi was packed so we headed to Tamaramma most of the day!!! Just a lazy day, and no hangovers which was fabby!!!!

What else did we get up to?......did some shopping in Bondi Junction a great little area. Tried to go and watch the cricket but the tickets were too expensive. Walked around Centenery Park and met some horses, we walked across the harbour bridge and climed the pylon.....spectacular views of the city! On our last night we met up with Jason who was in Thailand.

We loved Sydeny!!!!!! Maybe couldnt live here as its so busy and expensive...we compared it to London. But we loved the sights and it definately has a charm that no other city has vet to have!