Xmas has been and gone. Now its time to celebrate the New Year, you don't get better than spending it down by Sydney Harbour....Here is the latest instalment of our BLOG, enjoy my friends...

We arrived in Sydney Airport on Friday the 28 th of December where we got a train into the heart of Sydney.

We were both excited to finally be in the place you hear most about when people speak about OZ, as we got off the train we looked around and there it was our first look at the Opera House and the Bridge...WOW WOW WOW. We both pinched each other when we actually realised where we were and what stood in front of us!

We boarded a ferry at Circular Quay as we needed to go to Manly, that's where we were staying at a hostel for the week. (Manly is a beautiful beach area in Sydney, only 20 mins of the Ferry to the city centre..If you go take note that the beach at the WARF is NOT the main beach) Anyway, after a quick drink in Manly we walked up to our "CASTLE ON THE HILL" to check in. The Hostel was like something from Harry Potter, a big old castle with a cool chapel attached. We had the only 2 rooms in the place with en- suites; Jamie and I had a TV - woohoo!!

For our first night in Sydney we just chilled in Manly, went out for dinner and had a couple of sociable drinks.

The next day (29th Dec) we caught the ferry across to Sydney and walked around the Opera House, there were a few Gasps and the whole feeling of standing next to the Sydney Opera House took our breath away! We also checked out the Syndey Harbour Bridge, we could have spent the whole day taking pics and standing dumbfounded, but we were in Sydney after all so we knew that there was a whole lot more exploring to do!!!

HERE IS A STORY FOR YOU ALL.... Earlier that day we saw a wedding take place in the grounds of our Hostel (Nicole Kidman got married there last year). The Church is as Jamie would say "Perfect". Jamie and KC took it upon themselves to have a nosy in the church as they were curious as to whether or not it was a famous couple! So it turned our that the same couple were obviously having their RECEPTION at the opera house, we knew because their initials were R & T, these initials were everywhere at the church and opera house. It must have cost them a mint! Jamie and Kirsteen were obsessed and spent most of there time looking in the windows at the wedding preparations rather than the bridge and opera house itself - losers!! It was a strange wedding as all the guests were dressed in BLACK and so were the brides maids. I think that Jamie is secretly hoping that she reads about this wedding in her NOW magazine....BORED!!

In the afternoon Neil and Kirsteen went of to the pub to catch up with friends they knew in Sydney, so we went for a walk around an area called the Rocks and grabbed a bite to eat then wandered threw the CBD to Darling Harbour. Once back in Manly we took full advantage of the hostel BBQ grabbed some snags before going back to Sydney to meet up with the Mo Trio who had arrived in shortly before us.

On Sunday the 30th of December Jamie and myself were feeling a little rough but made the most of the day, we decided to get a bus to Coogee Beach after a bacon roll with HP sauce, AAAAHHHHHH MINT... We walked all the way to the world famous BONDI beach. Its about a 4K walk along the beautiful coast, it was a nice stroll to say the least. Half way round we decided to stop off at the bowling club for a lemon squash, the new soft drink of choice.

Bondi was totally bouncing, loads of buff guys and beautiful girls, Jamie and I fitted in a treat!! After a stroll around Bondi we got the bus to Kings cross, it's the sleaze capital of Sydney, lots of strip joints etc... After dinner at the cross we headed back to Manly for the night.

Day 4 in Sydney and its New Years Eve...AKA HOGMANAY! We went to the Rocks for a spot of breakfast then headed down to the Harbour area with the Mo trio about 12 o'clock Midday. It was going to be a long wait for the infamous FIREWORKS! We picked our spot where over the next 14 hours there was going to be lots of laughter, singing and drinking! Laura had made a nice picnic, sarnies, crisps, sweets, boxes of wines and of course the all important G&T. It was a great laugh, we made lots of friends, bought tacky things that lit up and had an absolute BALL! When the fireworks started at midnight it was incredibly spectacular...HAPPY NEW YEAR, HAPPY NEW YEAR...Here is to our WORLD DISCO 2008, woo hoo, we all stood with our sparklers and watched the Fireworks coming off the Bridge, Opera House and buildings in the city, MAGNIFICENT AND IMPRESSIVE, New Year's Tastic!! Probably the most memorable yet.

Marc managed to loose his flip-flops and we got the ferry back to Manly at about 5am (so I'm told) We do apologise for all the drunken phone calls that night!

1st Of January...New Year's Day and we started the year the way we meant to continue with a pub lunch and a pint. Feeling very very rough Jamie and myself retreated to our hostel for an afternoon nap before getting the ferry to Circular Quay to meet KC and Neil for dinner at the Opera bar, a nice bar.... guess where? That's right, under the Opera house. Just before we finished our dinner the nerves started to kick in as we were about to do the infamous Harbour Bridge Climb, although expensive we decided that we couldn't not do it or we would possible regret it for the rest of our lives. However there was a slight problem, not for Jamie more myself, as I'm a man who is slightly wary of heights so I knew that this was going to be a challenge.

We were doing a twilight walk, which started at 7.45pm. We met the tour guide and the rest of our group then all got breathalysed and kitted out with an all in one jump suit, a smart pair of shoes, a hanky, a fleece jacket in case it got cold, a radio headset, headlamp and a harness. We had our little pep talk then had to do a small trial along a make shift steel frame to make sure the harness was working. After all this it was time to make our way to the bridge. Jamie was really excited while I was feeling a touch nervous; the first bit was probably the worst. We were walking along a mesh gangway about 50m above the road. After making our way along the gangway we climbed about 50 steps and were then at the foot of the bridge. When on the actual structure of the bridge I was feeling much better as it was solid steel and you couldn't see directly below you. Jamie was relieved that I had made it as my nerves had settled. PHEW!!

The tour guide was very informative and the views of the city lights as the sun was setting were unbelievable. You weren't allowed any cameras (or anything at all for that matter) with you on the climb for safety reasons. The view of the opera house lit up at night, the harbour and the city view was breathtaking. We were now at the summit of the bridge which was 153m high. We walked up the East side of the bridge crossed at the summit, again the crossing from east to west was a mesh gangway which the tour guide decided it was a good idea to stop in the middle and tell us a few stories, then get his camera out and take a few snaps... I was pooping it! We walked back down the west side, which is the photo with the city lights in the background. We also had a photo taken half way up the east and also one at the summit. All in all the climb was pretty special and deffo a great way to start 2008.

The climb took around 4 hours all together and is must if you are visiting Sydney.

Jan 2nd 2008....Feeling a little sleepy after a busy few days it was time to check out of Hogwarts. We met KC and Neil at reception handed our keys back then made our way down to the ferry port for some breakfast. After brekkie we boarded the Manly to Sydney ferry for the last time and took in the spectacular view of the Opera House and Bridge as we docked at Circular Quay. Jamie and myself still had to find accommodation for our last night which was proving to be hard. We phoned the Mo trio to see if where they were staying had any room, they thought it did so we went to there hostel but with no luck. They took us to a hostel where they first stayed and we got a room which was very overpriced due to it being High season. After dropping our bags off we went to Hyde park for a stroll and said our goodbyes to KC and Neil who were going home back to Melbourne.

In the afternoon we Caught the ferry to Darling harbour for a look in the Aquarium, the queues were rather large so we took some cover from the sweltering heat in a pub where we enjoyed a few cold ones and T. After tea we decided to mono rail it back into town to meet Laura and Jen in a pub next to their hostel, where we stayed most of the night before moving on to the 3 Monkeys to watch some live music.

We had seen a pizza hut earlier in the night which is probably the first one in Oz, so as the drunken hunger pangs kicked in we left the 3 Monkeys and went across the road only to find out it was closed, gutted. It was a hot sweaty nights sleep in our hostel, so when we woke early Thursday morning we had a cold shower and left a.s.a.p.

As it was our last day in Sydney we decided go to Hyde park and spent the day chilling in the sun reading our books. At about 2.30pm we boarded the train to the airport and waved farewell to Sydney.

It was a fantastic holiday and just the break we needed from our hectic lives. Ha Ha Over and out for now folks.

We both want to wish you all the very best for 2008

HAPPY NEW YEAR, let the World Disco continue... xx