WOW!!! What a fabulous Christmas and New Year 2011 has been, probably will never be....on Bondi Beach opening Christmas presents in 30oC heat ever again!!

I arrived at Sydney after 14 hour bus journey from Melbourne which was OK, but the driver kept making announments throughout the night journey when everyone was trying to get to sleep! :( Got to Bondi Surfside Backpackers and met Curt which made me :) as not seen him in a few weeks! The hostel is meag expensive as it's peak season being Xmas and New Year but I have had such an amazing time, i wouldnt have changed anything!!

The hostel was crazy!! The room I was staying in (9) was mental as there was always parties going on in there and I got introduced to goon (basically wine in a box) and I like it! no surprise there really!! Christmas Eve I went out on a bar crawl with the hostel and met up with some others that I had met along my travelsin Asia which was nice :) All the bars are really expensive, but I'm going to have to get used to it!

Christmas Day i spent on the beach opening presents from Hayley (thank you again) as the others didnt arrive in time (still not got them now even). It was a baking hot day, so spent the morning on the beach, then the hostel organised Christmas Dinner which I loved - BBQ'ed chicken, salad and pasta, washed down by Goon from a mug!! haha It was different from a traditional Christmas Day dinner with all the trimmings, but i loved it! :) We were all sitting outside in the hostel garden, eating and drinking together, there must have been about 100 of us! After that, we all went to the beach again for another sun bathing session, then back to the hostel for more goon and party!! I vagely remember skyping home on Christmas Day and I was very drunk and think I made a fool of myself infront of the fam (just for a change) haha

In between Christmas and New Year was really good too! Met some absolutely lovely people from the hostel and we did loads of stuff together! One day we went to Sydney Botanical Gardens and met these 2 random lads which were funny in itself! They the hostel organised a walk to Watsons Bay (which is a popular spot for suicides) ….but it was a pretty coastal walk nonetheless!! haha After that we went over and saw Sydney Harbor Bridge and the Opera House. Another day, there was a big BBQ at Bronte Beach which is nearby to Bondi and loads people from the hostel were there and was a really nice afternoon! The sun was shining, sitting and having a laugh with nice people and it was baking hot J what more could I want!

For New Years Eve, a load of us had bought tickets to Shore Thing on Bondi Beach, so we all drank at the hostel, then headed to the concert. It was a really good night and pleased that I saw Calvin Harris bring in the new year (and I had a cheeky midnight kiss too when the fireworks went off) haha The only thing was that drinks were mega dear, but I suppose even at concerts at home drinks are expensive. When I got back to the room, there was yet another party going on in my room so we all just carried on drinking, chatting and listening to music till it was daylight…whatever time that was!!

A few days later me, Vic, a few of the lads from the hostel, some guys we met in the botanical gardens, and some guys we met in Asia all went for a nice little picnic on the grass in front of Bondi Beach. We all bought loads of snacks and goon and had such a good time! Weather was boiling hot and we bought out the ipod too! Happy days!!

A few days later, I took a trip over to Manly Beach and met up with Sarah & Dan again with another picnic! Manly is a nice beach, different to Bondi and not quite as busy, but still popular with surfers and wannabe surfers (Dan…haha) We all had such a nice afternoon, followed by some cheap drinks (yes we found cheap drinks at last)!! Was so nice, as to get to Manly I had to get the ferry which passed the Opera house and the Harbor bridge too - what a hard life I lead!

I've had a blast in Sydney, met up with loads of friends I've made since travelling and made new friends at the great hostel too! Half of what went on I can't even write on here though!! Constant drinking, laughing, talking and sun pretty much sums up my time spent in Sydney!

Happy days xx Next stop Brisbane to try and look for a job and back to reality