After 24 hours of travelling via Dubai and Bangkok I arrived at Sydney airport with trepidation that I would have a complete nightmare at immigration after watching Border Security (which they were filming when I came through). Much to my surpise I had no problems at all coming through, infact from setting foot off the plane I was out of the airport within 30 minutes thanks to my fast track ticket from business class (thanks Dad). Alicia was surprised to see me so early and was anticipating a few hours waiting for me in arrivals.

So my first taste of Sydney was through Redfern and New Town when we dropped Alicia at the station so she could get to work. As described by Alicia this was the worst areas of Sydney and that when I arrived at Yowie Bay, the southern suberbs of Sydney to would be like "Paradise"! And dispite the rain Yowie Bay is like paradise. The house has a waterfront and the views are stunning. I will get some pictures once the weather picks up so it can do it justice.

Gail (Alicia's mum) drove me around the surrounding areas of Miranda (with a great shopping centre) and Cronulla (amazing beach and nightlife) so I could take a look and get a feel for the place.

My first Saturday was supposed to be at the races at Randwick for the start of Spring Carnival, but the weather was so bad that it was cancelled. Instead it was decided that we'd head to Bondi for shopping and lunch and then to Double Bay for drinks and then into Kings Cross for the nightlife.

After our night out we returned back to Alicia's for my first experience of an Aussie BBQ. I was not disappointed. There had been a change in weather from the previous day so the sun was shining and as it was Father's Day was a big family occassion with 14 of us in total.

As I was beginning to feel a bit braver I headed into the city. The public transport system isn't like ours, the trains are on 2 levels so makes seeing what station your at impossible, and yes, I did miss my stop on the way home once!!!
When coming out of the station at Martin Place in the centre map at the ready I was surpised at how straight-forward it looked. The city is made up of 4 main roads that run in parallel to each other which makes finding your way around so easy.
On my first little jaunt to the city I decided to take in some of the sights as it was a lovely day and I had time on my hands between my meetings at recruitment agencies.
After walking round pretty much the whole of the CBD and with aching legs I had managed to see the Opera House, the Botanical Gardens, Darling Harbour, the Chinese Gardens, the Harbour Bridge (which Alicia and I are planning to climb soon) and Circular Quay.

Friday I met up with Tara, Connor and Sienna and we headed over to Manly on the ferry. Manly is beautiful and I'm intending on heading back there in the summer to explore it a bit more. After lunch on the beachfront, Connor armed with his bucket and spade, we went down to the beach, where everyone must've thought we were mad because the temperature had dropped a bit, but we braved it and spent and hour on the beach making sandcastles and Connor chasing sea gulls with the shovel!
The ferry ride back to Ciruclar Quay let me take in the stunning views of Sydney by night. Unfortunately I didn't take any photo's this time because it was too cold to go on deck on the boat and I wasn't much fancying being totally windswept when I was going to meet Alicia in the CBD for drinks.

The CBD by night is fantastic. We had drinks at the rooftop bar where there is a roof terrace and views over the city. I've got a feeling I may be frequenting this place on a regular basis.

Hopefully I will have some more stuff to tell once the summer arrives and I get to experience some more of the Sydney life.....but so far so good!