So first stop in New South Wales was Newcastle (way aye man!)! Arrived courtesy of another overnight greyhound but unfortnately without a comedy bus driver this time. Finally checked into the IBIS only 18 months late after a slight mishap in booking a hotel in Newcastle, England in January 2008! Some might have found clues like the hotel address stating it was in NSW, the confirmation coming from Sydney Travel or the fact the currency had to be changed from Australian Dollars to pounds prevented them from doing this but not our Linz! Unfortunately we realised while sitting at waverly station awaiting a train to Newcastle! After checking in we hit the sights of Newcastle which included the sandwich shop, Irish pub and supermarket for caramel Magnums (we've moved on from the cornetto addiction)! There was however a lovely beach and a walk called nobby's head to entertain us!

The next morning we got up early and headed to the Hunter Valley. We reached our hostel after they picked us up secondary to a call from a random shop owner who spotted us complete with all our belongings heading in the vague direction of our hostel down a country road! Apparently its not walking distanace! Joined a tour of the wineries a little late so had to play catch up, not easy with red wine at 10am! Had a lovely day touring the wineries and even spotted some wild kangeroos!

Next stop Sydney, where two of Lindsay's physio friends, Lucy and Laura, very kindly put us up in their very lovely flat in the very lovely Manly. Spent 5 days enjoying the sights including the Sydney Opera House and Bridge, Bondi Beach, The Rocks and the Manly walks with amazing views of the city. Lucy and Laura showed us some of the nightlife where a very good night ended up in us eating pies and listening to Scotland actually win a football game! We also spent some time catching up with Georgina from our tour of Asia which involved a few drinks, a lovely Thai meal and getting absolutely drenched after being caught in a thunder storm in one of Sydney's Parks!

From Sydney we headed to the Blue Mountains where we spent our time walking and taking in the views including the apparently famous 3 sisters. Slight blonde moment from Emma when she was spotted trying to figure out where the 3 sisters had gone before realising she was actually standing on one of them! On the final day we decided that we would do one of the longer walks which involved way too many steps but some lovely views!

Back to Sydney then onto Melbourne courtesy of our last overnight greyhound bus.............