Following our last sleep in Melbourne, we spent most of the morning packing and travelling to Avalon airport, a fair distance from the city. After a succession of trams, a bit of walking and a long coach journey we made it to the airport, got checked in and chilled out with some lunch before eventually catching our short flight to Sydney.

At Sydney airport we were met at the baggage collection by an old friend of mine from school, Gary, and his partner Rayes. They drove us from the airport into the city where we parked, then walked through Chinatown to Darling Harbour, an area of fancy shops, bars, restaurants and attractions surrounding part of Sydney Harbour.

We had a couple of beers at a bar with a great view of the nighttime Sydney skyline, before wandering back into town to an amazing Malaysian restaurant where we gorged ourselves on satay, roti and malaysian curries, after queueing outside for half an hour. It was worth it.

After dinner we walked back around the other side of Darling Harbour, stopping for another drink outside a bar but under heatlamps to try and combat the winter chill, before making our way back to the car.

The guys drove us out of the city to their smart apartment in one of Sydney's western suburbs, where they had been kind enough to let us stay while we were in town.

With everyone tired after either work or travelling, we had an early night. The following morning Rayes had to work but Gary had a day off so, after a lazy start we set off west from the city to the Blue Mountains.

After an hour or so of driving, most of which was spent stuck in frustratingly slow traffic thanks to roadworks, we parked up at the Blue Mountains information centre before moving on to our first proper stop, Wentworth falls.

We walked down a path through the bush from the car park to a viewpoint above the falls, which gave us a great view over the surrounding area. Not as mountainous as their name suggested (to my eye at least), the scenery was nonetheless stunning. Sharp cliffs of orange stone dropped off from high plateaus all around and into the distance, with the valley floors and hilltops covered by thick bush, all shrouded in a faint blue haze. The haze, a result of oils from the Eucalyptus trees in the air, gave the whole area a mystical air. It reminded me a bit of the Grand Canyon but more covered in trees.

Taking another path from the viewpoint we made our way down the cliffside a bit, then along a path winding along beneath an overhang which involved some ducking under rocky ceilings, but was worth it to get off the groomed paths up near the car park, and for the views out from the cliffside. Eventually finding ourselves near the waterfall, we opted to take the path down and across the creek just above the falls themselves, getting some more excellent views before heading back to the car.

From the falls we continued into the Blue Mountains region, with our next stop being in the town of Leura where we got some pies and amazing cream cakes for a nice healthy lunch, much needed after our morning spent in traffic.

From Leura we continued along a scenic drive which looped round along near the edge of the cliffs, before stopping at Echo Point, clearly a very popular tourist stop as evidenced by the crowds there despite the cold weather.

We stood at the fenced viewpoint overlooking the dramatic valleys and plateaus of the region as well as the rock formations known as the Three Sisters, three spikes of rock jutting up in a line out from the cliffside.

From the viewpoint we wandered down another cool path alongside wildly shaped rock walls to a viewpoint closer to the three sisters. Beside that was the Giant's Staircase, a steep staircase built into and onto the cliffsides descending into the valley below. We descended part of the staircase and across a bridge to the first of the Three Sisters where we braced ourselves against the strong, cold wind and enjoyed the view.

After climbing back up the steep stairs and along the path to the car, it was about time to head back to town so we made our way east towards Sydney, thankfully in lighter traffic than on the way out.

We met Rayes back at his and Gary's apartment then all headed out in the car to a nearby Korean BBQ restaurant. It was our first experience of Korean BBQ but we really enjoyed the food, and cooking it ourselves on the little BBQ built into our table was good fun.

After dinner we went back to the apartment and played a few games of cards before our hosts went to bed as they were working the next day. Lucy and I stayed up, trying to make some plans for the rest of our time in Australia. We couldn't decide whether to get buses and stay in hostels or pay a little more for the freedom of a camper van. In the end after a bit of web browsing, we decided to go for the latter option after finding a good deal on a budget camper van. With that weight off our shoulders we called it a night, knowing we'd be exploring Sydney the following day.

After an inadvertant long lie, we had a quick breakfast the next morning in the apartment before making our way from the apartment to the nearby Cityrail train station. Frustratingly missing a train by about 30 seconds, we had to wait at the station for about 40 minutes before catching a train into Sydney's central station.

From the station, we made our way into downtown Sydney and grabbed a Subway for lunch, eating it in a park in the centre. From there we wandered up through parks, and streets of skyscrapers enjoying the bright sunny weather, a pleasant change to the previous few chilly days.

We were impressed by how clean and smart the downtown area was, especially the parks. We made a stop in the civic centre at Martin Place as Lucy fulfilled her pilgrimage to the Lindt Cafe. After a plate of strawberries with a pot of melted chocolate and various dips and a cup of amazing hot chocolate each (just a little pot of melted chocolate and a jug of frothy hot milk) we were chocolated out, but had an energy boost to continue our walk through the city.

Continuing up through the city, we wove our way between the billions of joggers puffing about all over the place, and into the excellent botanic gardens. We meandered through this big and beautiful park in the sunshine until we eventually reached the waterfront and got our first view of the opera house and Syndey Harbour Bridge.

We made our way around the waters edge through the park before heading up to the opera house itself. Having seen the opera house innumerable times in films, pictures and Tv programmes, it was still really impressive to see it in the flesh. We hadn't realised how intricate the tiled roofs were and it was good fun getting interesting photos of the building from different angles, its unique shape resulting in some fun photos.

We walked from the opera house around the posh-bar-filled Circular Quay with the Harbour Bridge looming over us, then made our way through the historical Rocks district at the foot of the bridge, home to some great old brick buildings and fancy shops.

From there we climbed up some steps and a bit of a hill to find ourselves up at the Observatory with a great view back over the city and out over the harbour. We rested here for a while just enjoying the view, after quite a bit of walking.

Deciding since we'd come this far, we might as well walk out onto the bridge a little bit, we crossed back under the bridge via a subway and out the pedestrian walkway to the first pylon of the bridge, where we had a great view of the opera house below us and the rocks off to our side, with the modern downtown skyline behind.


We made our way back from the bridge and down through the city, taking a different route than we had earlier as we walked between the skyscrapers and fancy clothes boutiques, before entering the slightly grimier areas of the town near Central Station.

With an arranged meeting place and time for dinner with the guys, we knew we had to catch a train back out of town. Finding the right platform, with a train just about to leave, we were about to step onto the train when I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around to see Rayes who had just happened to pick the same platform and train out of the numerous ones available.

We rode the train out of the city before heading to a Burmese restaurant in a neighbourhood near Gary and Rayes' apartment. Gary met us there and we all got tucked into some amazing food. Lucy and I had never tried Burmese food before but loved every dish and could have gladly eaten more, despite having a bit of a feast between the four of us.

After our dinner, we went back to the guys' apartment where we had a drink and introduced Gary and Rayes to our game Backpacker, which they soon picked up and got into. After a few games it was once again time for bed.

The next morning the guys were up and out to work early again. We managed to get up a bit earlier and got to the station, this time in perfect time for a train. We transferred at Central Station and got another train out to Bondi Junction where we got some breakfast in a big fancy shopping mall, before catching a bus out to the famous Bondi Beach.

Sadly, the bright sunshine of the previous day had gone, replaced by an overcast sky and chilly weather. It was still fun to see the famous beach with its big breakers but we didn't linger long before setting off on foot, taking the path winding down along the various beaches and coves to the south of Bondi.

The coastal path was fantastic despite the weather, alternating between clifftops and beaches, with every turn of a corner giving us another great view of huge waves pounding against cliffs or breaking onto sandy beaches with surfers doing their best to ride them.

After an hour and a half we arrived at Coogee Bay, to the south of Bondi, where we took a rest on a bench by the beach and waited for Gary who was going to meet us after an early finish at work.

Once Gary arrived and picked us up, we picked Rayes up from his work nearby and went for lunch at a Chinese restaurant for Yum Cha which was great.

After lunch, we dropped Rayes back at work and Gary drove us back across the city to their apartment where we managed a quick game of Backpacker before heading back out again.

This time we drove to the nearby Olympic Park, once again getting stuck in a bit of traffic, and parked the car just in time to sprint out a jetty and catch the ferry into the city.

The ferry ride was great, as we cruised past fancy houses along the water's edge out in the suburban areas, with the city's brightly lit skyline growing larger. Eventually we were sailing between the tall buildings, past the gaily lit Luna Park funfair and under the Harbour Bridge into Circular Quay, past the opera house looking incredible lit up at night.

Once off the ferry we made our way to the Opera Bar right along the waterfront and enjoyed a beer with a fantastic view of the Harbour Bridge and opera house while we waited on Rayes meeting us after his work.

Once Rayes arrived we walked up into town and had our last dinner in Sydney in Wagamama, before making our way back to Circular Quay and catching the ferry back out to the Olympic Park.

By the time we got back to the apartment it was fairly late so we said our goodbyes as Gary and Rayes would be off to work early the following morning before heading to bed.

Our time in Syndey had been a lot of fun and it was great catching up with Gary and meeting Rayes. Our banter about Basset Hounds and thinking up puns involving TV shows with animals and food in the name, as well as our games of Backpacker had kept us entertained as much as looking around the fantastic city, but we were already excited about picking up our camper van the following day and starting our journey up the east coast.