This is going to be a bit of an epic blog so i'm going to do it day by day to make it easier to write.

TUESDAY 26TH MAY - John was arriving in the evening so after i'd moved into a new room in the hostel, I went to meet a girl I did Surf Camp with down in Bondi. We went for posh tea and cake at this little book shop called Gertrude and Alice then sat on the grass overlooking the beach for a bit. Soon enough it was time for me to make my way to the airport. Arrivals was pretty busy and loads of people had balloons and flowers and banners, and people were screaming and crying. It was quite funny to watch. John eventually came through and it was so nice to see him again after so long. Even if he was sporting some comedy facial hair! We got the bus back to Bondi and had a nice walk back to the hostel. John unpacked, we ate some food then played many games of cards. This was to be the theme for the next few days; eating and playing cards.

WEDNESDAY 27TH MAY - We decided not to venture into the city today so instead we had a lie in and attempted the Bondi to Coogee Clifftop Walk. It was raining a bit but we were armed with an umbrella so it was fine. The views were pretty nice but I imagine they'd be even better in the summer. There were also some construction going on at certain parts so the walk was diverted through a random graveyard and along streets. We finally made it to Coogee after what felt like hours, and got the bus back to Bondi Junction where we went in search of headphones for John and then to the supermarket so we could make fajitas for tea. I was very excited about these fajitas as I'd been looking forward to them for ages but couldn't just make them for me. They were as good as expected and, after a few games of cards we went to bed.

THURSDAY 28TH MAY - We got the bus into the City for the first time and got off at Circular Quay so we could get the ferry across to Luna Park, a carnival/fun fair type thing. When we got there, however, it was closed as it's only open 4 days a week during winter. Instead we got another ferry over to Manly as everyone had raved about how amazing the beach was there. We went for fish and chips and had a look in the tacky souvenier shops that lined the main street then walked up and down the beach for a bit before getting the ferry back across to the harbour. The beach wasn't that good but it's probably nicer in the summer, or at least the sun! Back at the hostel it was more food, more cards then bed.

FRIDAY 29TH MAY - John got up pretty early and went for a run and just after 1pm we got the bus into the City after a leisurely breakfast. We walked round the harbour to the Opera House, took lots of touristy photos, then wandered round the Botanic Gardens. It started raining after a bit so we went to the gift shop,and tried on hats before walking back to the harbour for hot chocolate and muffins. We went back to Luna Park as it was actually open and had a look round seen as it was free to go in. It was dead and the weather was pretty bad so we decided to not bother paying to go on any rides. We got the ferry back across, bought some and bussed it back to the hostel to write postcards, eat pasta and play yet more cards.

SATURDAY 30TH MAY - We intended to get up early to go to Paddington Markets but it was pouring down so we left a bit later after waiting for it to stop. It was a pretty classy market. None of the cheap tat you normally find! We got some artwork by this aussie guy which will look nice in my house when I eventually get one. We then went for hot chocolate in 'Chocolate by the Bald Man Max Brenner' and wandered down Oxford Street looking at overpriced Diesel clothes and going in many, many book shops. Once we'd made it into the city we went in search of the Aquarium which proved harder to find on foot than we first thought. Finally we found it. It was pretty late by this time but it was open until 10pm and it was really quiet so it turned out to be a good thing. Afterwards John was going to treat me to a steak at this steakhouse nearby that his friend had recommended as part of my birthday present, but we couldn't find it anywhere so we just went back to the harbour and went to a nice little restaurant there. We then called it a night and went back to the hostel.

SUNDAY 31ST MAY - Bondi markets were on today so we went down there around 11ish. I bought too many clothes and jewellery and John managed to find the three Lord of the Rings books for $8 so that was a bit of a bargain. Afterwards I took him to Gertrude and Alice, where i'd been for posh tea before. It started rainging really bad on the way back so we decided to just have a lazy day at the hostel playing cards and eating pizza.

MONDAY 1ST JUNE - The weather was a bit rubbish again today. We walked around the Rocks which I think is the oldest bit of Sydney with cobbled streets and the like, then we went to the Queen Victoria Building which is a really classy shopping centre. We couldn't afford anything to eat in there so we went across to another shopping centre, The Galeries, opposite for $5 noodles and chicken which were really good. On the top floor was this amazing book shop selling loads of chinese/japanese books and loads of comics and graphic novels so we spent a fair while browsing in there before going back to the hostel for food and cards.

TUESDAY 2ND JUNE - Birthday day today! John woke me up with breakfast in bed and cards and presents from a few people from home. It was really nice having him here for my birthday as it would just have been another day had I been on my own. We went into the city around dinnertime and John paid for us to do a tour of the Opera House which was really interesting. We got to hear the rehearsals of this school orchestra that were performing that night. We thought about getting tickets for it but it said it was sold out on the poster which was a shame as it would have been really nice to actually go to a performance there. We then went to a free exhibition called 77 Million Paintings by Brain Eno where artwork was projected onto a wall and it really subtley changed colour and shape over time. Back in Bondi we walked along the front trying to find somewhere to go for a meal that night. We decided on a Tapas restaurant so we went back to the hostel to shower and get changed. The meal was really nice. We had sangria and wine and the most amazing dessert. The place had a really good atmosphere and it was nice to dress up and put make up on for once. And straighten my hair!!

WEDNESDAY 3RD JUNE - We were mocing on the Blue Mountains today which are about two hours out of Sydney on the train. We checked out of the hostel and made our way to the train station. We'd just missed one so we had about an hour to wait. The train was pretty cool though. It was three storeys so there was loads of room. They should make trains like that in England! After arriving in Katoomba we walked down the high street to our hostel which was absolutley amazing! It was so big but still homely and it had a log fire and was just really cosy. Our room was better that the one in Bondi aswell and, best of all, it had a radiator! After dumping our stuff we went for an explore up the high street. There were loads of little antique shops and book shops and we spent ages just looking around. It eventually went dark so we got a chinese takeaway for tea and took it back to the hostel. That night we drank tea/coffee and played cards next to the open fire. Lovely!

THURSDAY 4TH JUNE - It was lovely sunny day today which was so good as this was our only day to actually see any of the mountains. We walked to the start of the Price Henry Cliff Walk, admiring all the houses and how nice Katoomba is in general, along the way. In certain lights the trees of the mountains look a little blue because of the eucalyptus and they really did when we were there. It's probably a bit hard to see on the photos though. We made our way along the track stopping at every lookout to take in the breathtaking views and take pictures. Finally we made it to Echo Point where you got the best view of the Three Sisters. We then carried along the walk to see the Kattomba Cascades and Katoomba Falls. By this time it was getting dark and we had lots of woods to walk back through so we made our way back up the many, many steps we'd just come down to find the road that would take us back to the hostel.

FRIDAY 5TH JUNE - We checked out at 10am and decided to have another wander around town. We weren't in any rush to go back to Sydney so we chilled in the hostel for a bit and got the 2:40pm train back. We'd booked into a hostel in the centre for our last night as it was a bit of a trek to Bondi and I needed to be at my bus stop early the next morning. The hostel we were staying in was an absolute palace! We even had an ensuite! Dad had insisted that we put another meal on the credit card with it being our last night, so we went to the harbour and saw the Opera House all lit up which was part of the Luminescence Festival being held in Sydney while we were there. We went to a restaurant on the harbour for dinner and drank cocktails and ate kangaroo, crocodile and amzing chocolate for dessert. Back at the hostel we drank tea/coffee and played our last game of cards while in Syndey.

The next morning my bus left at 7am. Luckily the stop was literally round the corner from the hostel so John came to wave me off as his flight wasn't until 5pm. It was so nice having him here. I can't imagine what it would have been like on my own.

And so started my 3 day trip to Melbourne...