Hi everyone. I've been quite busy since my last post when I arrived in Sydney!. On the first day we were in town our hostel, Wake Up!, put on a free city walk. We took in quite a lot of the key sites, including Paddy's Market, the indoor arena, Chinese Gardens, Darling Harbour, Queen Victoria Building and Circular Quay (which is home to the Opera House and Harbour Bridge). The weather was pretty sunny so after we'd had a walk around the Botanical Gardens, me and Steve decided to go on the jet boat. The boat was better value for money than the one we did in New Zealand down the Buller River - everyone got drenched! Luckily didn't take too long to dry off in the sun. In the evening there was a live band on at the hostel so we just watched them sing some cheesy numbers.

The next day we went on a ferry to Manly and just relaxed on the beach. Manly seems a great place, very relaxed compared to the city. The beach is pretty impressive and on the way back we timed it just right to see the sun set over Sydney Harbour Bridge. On the Friday (May 9) the hostel did another free walk, this time from Coogee Beach to Bondi. Some of the beaches are pretty spectacular along the coast. There was also a huge cemetery right on the coast which we had to walk through. The walk was around 6km and I'd definitely recommend it. In the evening we met up with Daz who works at Deloitte Sydney and went out for a few drinks to talk about whether it's worth moving over!

In the morning we went to the seafood market as recommended by Julie and Graham. We got a bit lost on the way but it was worth the walk. Never seen such a massive selection of fish! I had ½ a lobster, king prawns and oysters for $18. The food was fantastic. We then got on the ferry to Watsons Bay as Daz said it's a great place to see the sunset (agreed mate!). One of the best fish and chip restaurants is also there so we had some more fish in the evening (it's called Doyles and is excellent, including their plum sauce).

The Sunday was our final day in Sydney and we were supposed to do a 10km walk from Manly with Daz and Neil, but it never happened as we were distracted by a few drinking establishments en route! The following day we were picked up from the hostel by the Mojo Surf team about 7.30am. They organise weekly trips where you learn how to surf. The first stop was Crescent Head which was a 6.5hr drive! The camp was literally in the middle of nowhere with no communication with the outside world. That evening we went into the water after a quick lesson for our first taste of surfing.

We spent the next two days at Crescent Head, doing a morning and afternoon surfing session. On the second morning most people had managed to stand up, as did I (not for very long though). There were a few minor injuries as well from some crashes and getting bashes about by the waves/board. All food was provided, we usually had a BBQ and party in the evening around the camp fire. On the Wednesday we had a morning surf and then headed north to Camp X at Arrawarra beach. On the way we stopped off at a surf museum and the man who runs it told us a few horror stories. He's been bitten by a shark a couple of times (he now proudly wears the shark's tooth around his neck) and was almost eaten by a crocodile. He's 77 now but certainly led an interesting life. All the girls had to give him a peck on the cheek on the way in as well which was a bit strange!

Spot X was great fun, the waves were a bit slow at coming at times but everyone had plenty of time in the water. After the final lesson on Friday we headed to Byron Bay which is where I am at the moment. It seems a bit hippy-ish around here. We went out last night for farewell drinks with the surf camp people and tonight we are planning on watching the FA Cup Final which starts at about midnight. We plan on staying here until the middle of next week before heading to Brisbane and getting a camper van. Not sure how much internet access will be available once we leave Brisbane so I'll try get another blog up before we leave there! Hope everyone at home is well.