What a cracking day! After a RUBBISH night's sleep (3am drunken stumblings from Irish roomies who turned lights on, crashed into things and talked loudly on mobile phones) we set off to see a bit more of Sydney. First stop was the Paddy Markets which were a bit naff (Jim: "It's like Donny Market") and then we headed through the city to The Rocks and Circular Quay to see... Sydney Opera House! It's pretty awesome though photos were once again spoilt by ...

We've arrived in Australia's largest city! I dozed for most of our journey here, waking only as we were driving into Sydney, past all the skyscrapers and tower blocks. I got really excited when I spotted the Opera House (it looks smaller than I'd imagined) and when we drove over Sydney Harbour Bridge! Unfortunately, it was p*ssing it down when we arrived and the grey sky is spoiling all of my photos! We checked in at our hostel and bumped straight into a load of...

Well my gut feeling about Newcastle was right; it's much better than Port Macquarie! The hostel is fantastic too but, unfortunately, it's right next to a building site. I was woken up this morning at 7.30am by the sound of drills and diggers so, once again, I am severely sleep-deprived! I took advantage of the early start to do boring things like my laundry as I literally had no clean clothes left except for a bikini (and I didn't want to inflict that sight on e...

It's been a couple of slow news days here in Oz. We had a total non-day yesterday, travelling down from Byron Bay to Port Macquarie on the Greyhound for seven hours. The air conditioning was on ridiculously strong on the bus (it was like being back in the design studio!) and Jim and I only just escaped without frostbite. I mostly listened to my iPod before taking pity on Jim's unsuccessful attempts to revive his and lending him mine. I then watched the film ('50 ...

It's our last day at Byron Bay today and we've had a very lazy one. Unfortunately it was overcast for the majority of the day and there was a rain shower early afternoon so we spent most of our time huddled in cafes or at the hostel. I went on a solo shopping expedition for a couple of hours this afternoon which was nice. The weather brightened up a bit towards the end of the day so we walked along the beach to Cape Byron to watch the surfers and the sunset; you...