Finishing line

What a week!Ah Neighbours Tour what a day! I checked out of my hostel with every intention of moving to the truck at the campsite in preparation for rejoining the truck for the final week to Sydney. But it didn't happen. I knew in my heart that I wanted to finish things on my own. Had I not have known anything about the trip then I would have done OZ on my own and since I've travel ed through Oz on my own it seemed only right to continue in that manner. That aside I headed of to Ramsey street with Stuey! It was wicked! We got to meet Susan Kennedy and have a nose behind the scenes! We also visited the infamous Ramsey Street actually known as Pine Oak Court in reality. It's tiny in real life! Oh the manic of camera!Back in the city I met Sos for lunch and shopping. That done we joined Grant and Caitlin (who used to work with Grant and Sos in the UK) for an afternoon Bevvy by the river. What happened next is one of my favourite things about travelling, a completely random and unexpected day/night out! We were later joined by LJ Caitlin's boyfriend and we all ended up going for dinner down at the rather nice docklands (after we'd popped home to put on something a bit nicer and straightened mine and Sos' hair!) It was a great night!Next day thinking I should check back into my hostel having spent the night at Caitlin and LJ's I was not quite sure what to do rather than go with the truck. As I had waited for the truck to arrive thinking I would rejoin I didn't have time on my side. I had another lunch engagement this time with Tom, Alex, Dave, Nick and Jen (Well I hadn't seen people since Darwin!) I had a great time catching up! Tom and Alex had me in stitches! We then met up with more folk in the evening for Jock's birthday! Again it was good to catch up with everyone! The truck left the next morning...again I checked out of the Nunnery. And met Nitya and David for a picnic lunch! (I've since stopped meeting people for lunch!) We dined in the Botanic Gardens and played Boole after! Great fun! It's been so nice to spend time with Nitya whilst I've been in Melbourne. She's not quite convinced me to go to Uni in Melbourne yet but I'm thinking about it!Feeling a little lost and uncertain of what to do with my final week in Oz I checked in for a bit of luxury and booked myself into a posh hotel! (At a cheap price!) I wangled, by the magic of last minute.com, a 4.5* hotel for just 50quid! I had a humongous bed which I couldn't touch both sides of! And a bath full of bubbles! I was so happy! I had room service for tea and fell asleep watching a cheesy romcom! Exactly what I needed! Especially as my next night was spent aboard an overnight bus to Sydney!Arriving in Sydney at 6.30am on the 13th of November I had travelled for 220 days through 23 countries and on (I think) 14 different types of transportation including elephant and balloon! And I was there! It was all over! I booked in my hostel and made my way slowly o down to the opera house (my official finishing line!). When I got there I indulged myself with a celebratory cornetto and enjoyed the moment. All by myself I loved it. I know it'll sound greedy but I enjoyed it so much on my own I'm glad that I didn't have to share it with 30others. I sat there for quite a while before joining a tour of the opera house and pushing the boat out by buying myself a ticket to the Australian Ballet the following evening. Well you only live once! I also visited the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Barracks Museum. According to the records there was one Perks deported to Australia. A William Perks arrived in December 1820 for life. It didn't say why but one individual received 7years for stealing curly hair so it was probably fairly bad! I'm gonna have a nose on google and see if I can find out!Yesterday after a very good nights sleep (I'd gone straight out after arriving on the bus after a quick shower of course!) I headed off on the ferry to Manly for a day by the beach! Dave met me there his brother lives there and we had a great day body surfing the waves, eating sushi and drinking tea! I got a wee bit sun burnt (even though I was putting on factor 30!) but I'm so brown at the mo I'm almost the same colour as Nitya!) and missed the ferry back in time to nip home before the Ballet so ended up going in a little cargo skirt and long sleeved black tee. Not what I would normally wear to the ballet but hey ho. It was so cool to see something at the Opera House! the Ballet was Destiny and 20th Century ballet with lots of interesting moves. I loved it!Today I woke up early again, I thought it was 10.30am but it was only 8.30! So I headed down to the Paddy's Market, the powerhouse museum and Darling Harbour. I'm doing so much I'm getting quite tired lol! It's really quite hot at the mo so I'm stopping for lots of spots of people watching, book reading and naps in the parks along the way! hehe!Tomorrow I'm heading to the Olympic Park where I'm gonna hopefully swim in the Olympic pool! Saturday I'm off to Bondi Beach and Saturday night I should be catching up with Kate Dalton who I used to work with at Elan! Then the truck arrives on Sunday so I'll be there to greet everyone and join them in their celebrations!I head to New Zealand next Wednesday and my final adventure begins which has come around all too soon! Ah well next thing I'll be on the flight heading home! Crazy!!!Lots of love Nicole xxx