Hi Guys,

As you can see I have now made my way down to Sydney. I left Byron as planned last Sunday morning and made my way down to Coffs Harbour. I am sure this place would have been lovely but as it rained non-stop throughout Sunday and Monday I saw very little. On Monday I moved onto Port Macquarie, a nice little town, roughly half way between Byron and Sydney.

On my first day in Port Macquarie I opted for a nice stroll along the coast and finishing up at the Koala Hospital, which was very moving and sad. The next day as the sun was shining, I decided to hit the beach for a lazy day sun bathing. Had to be done!

On Thursday morning I got up at a ridiculous 4am, to catch my bus down to Sydney. Upon arrival in Sydney I wasted no time and put my now unbelievably heavy backpack into storage and made my way to the Opera House. I am sure I am not the first person to see this great landmark and think, oh is that it! Regardless I was keen to learn a little more about the place, so I signed myself up for the obligatory hour-long tour. The tour was very interesting although our guide was a tad annoying and kept repeating every few seconds in a rather squeaky voice 'any questions', I swear it was bizarre, this man must have been in his late twenties at least, but his voice apparently had not yet broken! Still it made me chuckle!

After the tour I checked out the trendy Circular Quay and the Rocks and made my way to the bridge. Apparently for a mere $200 you can spend 3 hours climbing up and down the bridge, I decided that as a man slightly frightened of heights and a well-known tight-arse, that my money was better spent climbing up the Pylon Lookout, which had some nice views of the skyline, the Opera House and of course the Harbour Bridge. After this I bumped into a friend of a friend from back home, where we traded travel stories for about half an hour, before I had to make a mad dash across the city to meet my good friend Tongy. That evening as Tongy had locked herself out of her house, we went for a lovely Indian polished down with a delicious but cheap wine, before retiring for the night.

The following day, Friday, the sun was once again shinning and the sky clear, I made my way to the famous Bondi Beach for a bit more sun bathing. I could certainly see why Bondi was so popular although, I did not once hear and Australian accent; only Brits, Irish and Germans apparently go here. Still the beach was nice and I enjoyed lazing here for the afternoon. That evening we went out for a school disco boat party, which was a lot of fun! Although any place with "all you can drink" would almost certainly lead to a monster hangover.

True to form the next day my head was splitting and my mouth as dry as a buzzards crouch, we made our way to a nice restaurant whereby we eat the poshest fry-up I had ever seen. Then Tongy and myself went into town for a spot of light window-shopping and an amazing hot Chocolate at this chocolate store, which was heaven! That evening we had a nice BBQ (my first in Oz, believe it or not) before we were dragged kicking and screaming by James (Tongy's boyfriend) to the pub!

Which leads me onto Sunday, a day where we all got up early for a days surf lesson. The day was so much fun although, unbelievably tiring. For those people that know me well, and for even those who perhaps don't, know that I am arguably the world’s biggest pessimist! So I started the day, knowing full well that there was no way I would be able to stand up on a surf board. Well, I am pleased to say I did, albeit briefly (average 0.5 seconds) three times out of about 200 attempts! The rest of the time I was seen, nose-diving, falling on my arse and generally being swamped by these huge waves. Each time I went out, taking me an average of ten minutes to work my way with my board to a reasonable position to catch a wave. Poor Tongy, who at 5ft, took even longer and was regularly pushed back by the current. All in all though it was an enjoyable day, which was finished up at a restaurant serving monster portions of ribs, I was quite literally eating a pig. It was a carnivores dream (Jac you would have loved it!), but it was a great way to end our day, where we had a good laugh about our arguably lame attempts at surfing.

So once again you can see I have written a book. I was due to catch a bus this morning to Canberra, but after being totally knackered from yesterdays exertions I had no energy to pack my bag. So I am spending another day in the city, tonight I am going to attempt to cook Tongy and James a meal (poor them I hear you say) and tomorrow I am catching the night bus to Melbourne. In Melbourne I am staying with a few more friends Manny and Ang from my Vietnam days, whereby we are also reuniting Ben, Emma and Jimbo! I am very much looking forward to our little reunion.

Better be off before I send you all to sleep, that is of course if I have not already done so.

Take Care

Jon