What can we say - Sydney is what we expected and MORE - everyone said we'd love it and we did... We manged by chance at the airport accommodation booth, to find some SUPERB serviced apartments in an area called Potts Point (which we were later to find out is one of the most sought after areas). We arrive a little worse for wear and a tad nervous with the foreign taxi driver telling us whilst laughing "you will likey you will likey" to put it bluntly we thought he was taking the piss - only to open the door to the room and see the most spectacular view of sydney Harbour. We start dancing about - backpacks still on our backs like a pair of looneys - the room wasn't exactly the Hilton but to us it was the perfect start to our time in Sydney! First stop to get pics of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. We have to admit that the views are spectacular and we can see why these are such famous landmarks. Using our scottish instinct we ask the first wee old couple we see to take a picture - SURPRISE SURPRISE - they're from East Kilbride. The wee man cannae work the cameras and after 20 takes and a catch up on Scotland, AT LAST we get our first picture in Sydney (not the best of angles but well worth the wait). To name but a few.. we visited Chinatown, the Powerhouse Museum, Darling Harbour, took a trip on the monorail, walked through the Botanic Gardens, sat outside Russel Crows apartment (tempted to climb the railings but we refrained ourselves), had a pie at the infamouse Harrys Cafe De Wheels where all the stars eat their pies!?, travelled to the top of the Sydney Tower (Kelly nearly had to be restrained to make it up), played piano in the Queen Victoria Buidling (ok pretended) and some window shopping in George Street. Our first big day trip was to Hunter Valley Wine Tasting. Lets just say that no wine was being wasted in any buckets with us about. The chance to taste Dr Jurds Jungle Juice in Wollombi was one in a million - cant say we exactly knew what we were getting ourselves in for (bearing in mind what this can be referred to in some parts of Glasgow - for those of you that know what we mean you can understand - for those of you that dont - lets just keep it that way!!) We had the most fabulous meal at the vineyard restuarant to top of a superb day and a few purchases of the cheaper plonk (Gillian testing nearly all on offer before they could get a sale out of her) to keep us going when we got back to the apartment. Our trip to the the Blue Mountains and Jenolan Caves is up there with the best of the trip so far. The view from the lookout at the Blue Mountains and the 3 Sisters is absoultely breathtaking (not to mention freezing). The Japanese tourists are a site in themselves - all "oooohhs" and "ahhhhs" - hilarious. We then took a trail walk towards the heart of the valley floor and witnessed a double rainbow so close we could almost touch and spectacluar views at various look out points. The drive to the Jenolan Caves was enough to send us over the edge - literally - winding narrow roads with the bus being just a tad too close to the edge for comfort .... The experience however was worth every hair raising moment - surreal springs to mind - to think we climbed to the heart of these caves nearly 800m above sea level. Inside was dark and eery and a tad claustrophobic at times but with views of the most amazing stalactitic formations - we were easily distracted. The day we spent touring the beaches was equally as enjoybale - again Bondi lived up to our expectations - very very cool - not bikini weather but the surfers, skateboarders and BMXers were out in force! We are sooooo looking forward to returning in the summer and getting the bikinis on. The "pierre de resistance' has to be our night at the opera - no cheap seats for us but the premium best in the house - not the average backpackers night out ! It was hard to decide on the performance but once we read the intro for La Boheme - Puccini's heart-rending opera - we were hooked:- This is the perfect way to begin a love affair with opera. Puccini's four young artists are inseparable. They share an apartment, pool what little money they earn and manage to live life to the hilt. But when love enters a rollercoaster of euphoria, jealousy, arguments and break-up follows. Reconciliation comes, but not in time to save the fragile Mimì who succumbs to a fatal illness. Never having been to the opera before we were not sue what to expect - lets just say "emotional" - the tears were flowing (even the guy next to Kelly couldnt hold it in) and in gills case just wouldn't stop - FANTASTIC - worth every penny!