Day 91 - Thurs 29th Jan - Sydney

I had decided　to move to a different part of the city as a didn`t really like where I was staying and wanted to go　somewhere quieter. I moved to a place in Kirribilli which is on the other side of the harbour (and where the Prime Ministers house is). Took me most of the morning　to check out and in and move locations. The place was really more like a hotel than a hostel, but it had a four bed dorm room and was quite nice. In the afternoon I headed back　over the harbour and out with a couple of girls that I met in the Blue Mountains and went to the aquarium. Sydney aquarium is one of the largest in the world and was really good. They sneakily charge you extra to see the great white sharks so I didn`t bother going into that bit. Headed back over to Kirribilli in the evening, been nice to get the ferry back and forth which only takes 5 mins, and Kirribilli is a nice quiet leafy area but still has a few shops and cafes.　Just the contrast I needed after being in the central area of Sydney. Day 92 - Fri 30th Jan - Sydney As I wasn`t going to do the Harbour bridge climb as it was too expensive,　I decided just to walk the bridge instead. So I walked from　Kirribilli along the bridge and over to The Rocks on the other side. Had a quick stroll round the observatory and then explored the Rocks area a bit more. I think The Rocks is probably my favourite part of Sydney, and you could easily spend a whole day wandering the streets. I also noticed they were building a YHA hostel right in the middle so that would be a great place to stay in future. Went back to the hostel and went out for some food in Kirribilli with my room mate Suzanne. The Australian Open tennis was on in Melbourne this week so I watched the semi-final between Nadal and Verdasco on the TV in the hostel - an absolutely incredible game of tennis!! Day 93 - Sat 31st Jan - Hunter Valley Today I did a day trip to the Hunter Valley wine region. Got pick up near the hostel at about 8am then it was about a two hour drive into the valley. Was nice to see some of the country side and get out of the city. After New Zealand and Argentina this wasn`t the best wine tour though. We went to about three vineyards (Iron Gate, Audrey Wilkinson and I can`t remember the other one) and then got dropped off at a place called The Village for lunch, which has lots of little shops with wine, cheese, chocolate, souvenirs etc. I have learn`t that the Aussies like to drink Verdehlo, and I am yet to find one that I think is drinkable... Didn`t find anything that I felt inclined to buy, which is a good job as I also couldn`t find anyone that did shipping to the UK at a reasonable　price. Day 94 - Sun 1st Feb - Sydney Sunday is market day. First of all I went to Paddy`s market which is on the edge of Chinatown and is full of Chinese produce (mainly cheap knock off clothes and nothing very interesting). The I headed back to The Rocks to the market there which was great. It was quite touristy in terms of what they were selling but there　enough to keep me occupied for a few hours. It was the final　of the tennis tonight (which I have become a bit addicted to here) and they had a seating area and big screen up at circular quay, so Suzanne and I headed there to watch the game which had a great atmospehere. The tennis had also been hindered over the last few days by the heat wave that had hit Melbourne which is where I was headed to next so I was hoping it was going　to cool down a bit!