I have just spent a fabulous week in Sydney! I had an email a few months back from Ali and Amy (friends from uni) who told me they were visiting Ali's brother Scott in Sydney - would I be around at the same time? So I booked my flights up from Melbourne, arriving a few hours after them. They were staying at Scott's in Balmain so I booked a hostel in nearby Glebe. We met that evening for dinner, remarking on how surreal it was that we were all in Australia! Boiling hot in January. Extra strange for them having come from Edinburgh in mid-Winter.

Our first day together we spent walking around the main sights in Sydney: the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, the Botanic Garden, Hyde Park, the Rocks. We had a picnic lunch and a drink on a roof top bar, supposedly with briliant views of the Opera House, but the biggest ship in the world (see photos!) was parked in the way. Ah well. The boat was pretty impressive to look at anyway. We caught the ferry back to Scott's in Balmain from Circular Quay which gave us wonderful views of the Opera House and the Bridge. Ali and Amy cooked dinner and I taught them my new favourite card game, American Rummy. Unfortunately I missed the last bus to Glebe (which had left at 9.30 pm!) so Scott kindly let me crash at his.

The next morning when I returned to my hostel I found a note on the door ordering everyone out by 9pm and to see Reception. Odd. I opened the door to discover the room totally empty except for my stuff and all the beds dismantled except for mine! Spooky. Turns out they were going to paint it, so I just moved across the hall. After sorting out my hostel, I met Ali, Amy and Scott in town and we visited the Sydney Fish Market. We had yummy fish and chips for lunch and wandered around the stores gawping at the fish. We then walked to the Powerhouse museum which was fantasitc! It had a whole downstairs room full of interactive experiments, and a space shuttle which could simulate weightlessness (though we had it turned off just as we were about to start it ).

That evening we went to Newtown and met one of Scott's friends, Mary-Beth, and the 5 of us went out for Thai food on King Street. Our restaurant had a suitably cool name - Thai-riffic! - and Scott had some of the biggest prawns I've ever seen..

The next morning we all got up at 4 am and got a taxi to Bondi beach. Why, you might ask, would we do such a crazy thing on a Saturday morning? Amy had heard of a free event happening on the beach: the Dawn Chorus, a 100-strong choir singing for 45 minutes while the sun rose. It was absolutely amazing, truly magical. We had a good spot for watching the sun rise and although the choir was facing away from us we could still hear them really well. When it finished we had a picnic breakfast then walked the coastal path to the South of Bondi. We had a swim and a doze on Bondi when we returned. It was blisteringly hot by 10.30 so we headed back to Scott's for an afternoon rest. The day was a little out of kilter, having been up so early! In the evening we went out for dinner at a Lebanese restaurant on Darling Street in Balmain.

The following day was Ali and Amy's last day - boo! It had been so wonderful spending time together in Sydney we didn't want it to end! Although they were looking forward to their next adventure - 6 days campervanning in New Zealand. As Scott was going too he very kindly said I could use his room while he was away - so generous! And such a life-saver! He lives in such a beautiful house right by the water, and Balmain is a lovely village-type suburb with good public transport into town. On their last afternoon Amy and Scott popped into town while Ali and I went swimming at the local sea pool. I was very sad saying goodbye to them but grateful to have had these few days together. That evening I watched the Australian Open tennis final (very exciting! Nadal beat Federer in the 5th) with Scott's housemate Paul.

Since I've been by myself I have been exploring the city during the day. I have visited the Australia Museum, which was showing the fantastic Wildlife Photographer of the Year, and the Museum of Contemporary Art. I also managed to meet up with an old friend from Vanuatu who lives in Sydney, who I haven't seen since I was 11! It was lovely to catch up.

And now I am off on my next adventure to Vanuatu! For those of you that don't know, I lived there for 6 years as a kid, leaving when I was nearly 12, and I spent 3 months volunterring there at a school when I was 18. But it's been 8 years since that last visit... I can't wait!