When we arrived in Sydney we were the first drop off from the bus. Seeing King's Cross I don't think it seems as bad as people say, it just has a few 'adult' shops and bars but you just ignore them! Our hostel was easy enough to find and it turned out that Cam new the owners of it because they used to be tour guides with him.

We got to the entrance of the hostel and I was horrified to see loads of stairs!! So began the struggle up them with my HEAVY suitcase. It wasn't too bad in the end but I'm not really looking forward to having to get it down. At the reception the one of the owners was there with a bag of food and told us we came just in time because they were having a free BBQ at the bar opposite. We even got a reduced rate because we are from Oz Experience so it has only cost $20 per night which is amazing!!

This was when I met Beth, Suzanne's friend from her Thailand trip. She is really nice and is travelling with her mum which must be lovely. She helped me up the next set of stairs with my bag which made it so much easier. When we got into the room there was only one other girl there at the time. She is called Laura and seems nice too but she is a little older I think. The room isn't the best I have stayed in, it has ripped curtains and not the comfiest bed but it is clean enough and at the price I can't really complain. Plus the owners give you so much free stuff and organise activities that it makes up for it.

We head over to the bar where the free BBQ was and had a couple of portions. They even bought everyone free chips from a chippy! Next up was a pool competition where everyone had a go at potting a ball, if you didn't pot it you got a strike and after three strikes you were out. It went round everyone one go at a time and typically enough on every one of my goes I missed. I did get a free drink card out of it though because I just whacked the last ball to see what would happen and it was soo close to going in.

We just sat in that bar area having a chat; I have heard lots about their Thailand trip and it is actually the one I was thinking of doing last summer so I think that is next summer's destination.

Once it got to about 11 we decided to go and catch up on what had been happening in the world over the weekend by going on Facebook in McDonalds. Beth had her own laptop too so she came down. The internet connection in McDonalds is always ridiculously slow it's annoying! Whilst just sitting there these two foreign lads started coming up to us and bugging us. They even touched Beth's leg even though she made it clear she wasn't interested! Thankfully they went away after I said they could buy something easily enough from outside if that's what they were after.

Since we were so tired out from the bus trip with all the late nights and early starts we got to bed by 12.30 which is really good. On the way back to the room we did meet two scousers who wanted us to come out, one even offered to buy me my drinks all night if I did so it is blatantly obvious he wanted me to owe him something! I said no I was too tired but they invited us down to Bondi Beach the next day because it is apparently the last sunny day for a while. Let's just see if they even remember as one of them was completely out of his face. Or he was just mad.

The first morning in Sydney was interesting. As we didn't have breakfast included in the hostel, Suzanne and I went out to buy some things from Coles. We got there though and it seemed really small; all it appeared to have was bread and fruit. Little did we know that there was an escalator to go downstairs to the main section. If we had known this then we wouldn't have now got lost.

As we thought there would be another supermarket somewhere we started wondering around the streets of Kings Cross, however we ended up in the residential areas and what I think is their version of a council estate. Since we didn't want to attract any attention we had to make out as if we knew where we were heading which meant we were basically walking forward right to the end of the street! When we got there there was a boat so I automatically thought 'Oh my gosh we've walked all the way to the harbour!!!'. Turns out it was just a little docking place.

Since we were out of the dodgy area we whacked out a map and found out how to get to the hostel; it involved a lot of stairs!! When we finally got back we still hadn't had any breakfast though! So Suzanne settled with Sushi and I went around the corner and bought a juice/smoothie drink which are very popular over here.

That day we wanted to just go for a little wonder around the city to get our bearings a bit. We decided to get a map from reception though because we didn't want another fiasco like that morning. The guy drew us a route on how to get to the opera house and bridge which was good. I was navigator and we actually got there smoothly!! The route took us back to where we got lost and then up to the Botanical Gardens to get to a good picture spot of the opera house and bridge.

It felt so surreal to see it though; in a way I felt really overwhelmed and I could officially say I have arrived in Australia. Typically there were busloads of Chinese people with their cameras out but we managed to get a good spot. The Opera House is a lot smaller than I expected but still spectacular.

We walked around the outskirts of the Botanical Gardens to the steps of the Opera House and then walked around to Circular Quay. I think this is when I realised I love the city. It's so hustley and bustley and has such a great atmosphere. It reminds me a lot of London but is much prettier. That's when I saw my first double decker train as well which was really strange!! They are such a great idea!

At Circular Quay we got an ice cream, because it just had to be done on such a gorgeous day, and looked at all the ferries and their prices to see if we fancied a trip. We then decided we wanted to walk across the bridge, but of course with no map we got lost. When we finally found the road crossing the bridge we began the walk. Obviously many pictures were taken of the views of the Opera House and city on the way over! We did see a group climbing the bridge which I was thinking of doing but have decided against as it doesn't look that exciting and costs a lot of money.

At the other side of the bridge we found a cheap food place that wasn't actually unhealthy! I had a Sweet Chilli Chicken Salad for only $5! We had a picnic on the grass underneath the bridge and with views of the Opera house and the city. It still felt so surreal but it was so lovely.

The next stop was Darling Harbour. We decided to study the map a lot for this to try to prevent getting lost again. It actually worked which was lovely and we got there with no problem at all. It was beautiful around there as well and I saw another PWC building which would be perfect for me! We went to a bar that Suzanne had been to with OzIntro and luckily enough for me I got a free drink as they made Suzanne and regular Coke instead of diet.

The road back was easy enough, it was practically straight across the city through Hyde Park. We had been told by Cam that if we met him at The Gaff at 7.30pm he could organise us free food and drinks so that was the plan for tonight. I text Rosie, Emily and Elaine so that they could meet us and we would all walk down together. We met at 7 at the bus stop and took a slow stroll down (with a map so that we didn't get lost again!).

When we got there we couldn't see Cam anywhere so we asked the barmaid who didn't seem to have any idea about who he was. We had been stood up!!!Luckily enough there was a deal on where we could buy one drink and we got a free meal, 2 free drinks between 9 and 10 and then free entry to the club afterwards. So I bought a glass of wine using Suzanne's VIP card that she had been given when she was with OzIntro so the whole night only cost me $4!!

The next morning I had to check out of the hostel and was moving to the opposite side of the road. I decided to leave my things in the room as Suzanne was still in there so I could move them later. I booked my tickets that morning for Sunburnt on Bondi Beach which is the Christmas Day party and also my ticket for the harbour cruise party on Christmas Eve. Since the harbour cruise party is fancy dress we decided to head to Bondi Junction to go to the fancy dress shops and then carry on down to the beach.

So I went on my first double decker train!! Of course we went on the top deck just for the novelty of it. It was only two stops until Bondi Junction and we had a little mooch around looking for the shops. They were quite expensive but I managed to find some cheap bits to make a Hula outfit, along with a party hat that says 'Birthday Girl'. I also experienced my first Sushi which was OK but not fantastic. I didn't go with the fishy one of course I had some sort of chicken.

We then got the bus down to the beach which was absolutely packed! I managed to find a seat after someone had moved and this lad who had been sat almost opposite popped over to say hi. He was a bit of a loud mouth, and the sort of lad that uses 'bad' instead of good because apparently I have a 'bad' accent! He seemed pretty nice though underneath it all.

The beach was absolutely packed as well. We managed to find a nice spot in the middle and had my first proper sunbathing session. I think I actually fell asleep for a little while because it was just so relaxing. After the sunbathing session we got the bus and train back and went to Coles to get some dinner, we had decided to make Fajitas between 4 of us. It worked out at only $6 each and we had a good meal. It was a good shared effort between us in the kitchen and was a great meal.

I had taken my things to the new hostel just before dinner but left them there. Since I had been given 1 hour of free internet I decided to use it to organise my flights and bus trip so I got home on time. I also found out where I will be moving in the summer and it turns out it's a place called Champagne in North Eastern France. So can't complain really, nice and close to home and Disneyland! The internet was a bit temperamental so I decided to go down with Suzanne and Beth to the internet Café where I got 2 hours for $2 so in that time I worked out how long it would take me on my bus trip and booked some flights from Darwin to New Zealand. I know when I need the flights from New Zealand to London but have got to book them still. It's nice to know that I will be home on around 11th March and have just over a week there.

It was an early night for me which was nice, I was in bed by 11.30 which was nice. I was woken up in the night by a text from someone I know in the city asking me to come and meet him but I was like no I'm sleeping!! Today the plan is to do the Bondi to Coogee walk which should be great J. Suzanne had heard from some friends who she met on her OzIntro week and it turned out they had got to Sydney so were going to meet us and go to Coogee as well. We didn't end up meeting them until about 12 midday and then got the bus over to Coogee where they needed to go to the OzIntro office to pick up some things they had left there and ticket for the Christmas day event.

We met them on Oxford Street which wasn't too far away from Kings Cross; one is called Matt and the other Kristian. They seem pretty nice, proper laddish lads though; I had been warned before meeting them to take them with a pinch of salt. Suzanne even said, when we first saw them from across the road, that they had just said something rude about one of us. That's how well she knows what they are like!!

The bus journey down to Coogee didn't take long and we were quite close to the office when we were dropped off. The office was such a good base for when you're travelling in Aus. It's so laid back and they can leave stuff there, have things posted there and book all of their travel bits. When we were in there they didn't even do anything, just sat around for ages chatting with people. The girls from their group showed up and even started lying on the floor! Since Suzanne new how long they would be in there for she said we were going now because we wanted to head down to the beach to have our picnic.

We had made sandwiches from the left over chicken we had bought for the fajitas and I had brought bread over from the free breakfast in my hostel. It was a really good idea and we sat on the grass just behind Coogee Beach. Then we began the walk from Coogee to Bondi; the other way round to the original plan. The walk is an approximately 6km coastal route taking you around little bays and ending up at Bondi beach.

Once we got to Bondi we decided not to stay on the beach as we were going out that night for a free Christmas dinner at the Gaff. So we got straight on the bus and then the train back to Kings Cross to get ready to go out and party.

I had decided that since it would be my birthday half way through the night I would extend my birthday celebrations and wear the party hat I had bought for myself that says 'birthday girl'. As a result of wearing that everyone was saying happy birthday and one of the owners of Brados hostel (the one I stayed in first in Sydney)tried to help me find a big birthday badge.

On the walk down to the Gaff with everyone Forest (the owner), Suzanne, Beth and I went to a card shop to try to find one. They didn't have any in there that said 19 it was either 18 or 21 so we decided to make a badge out of cards. They didn't have any 19 cards either so it was going to have to be a creative job. We bought a card that said you're 1 today, and a 6 card that we could turn upside down. Those along with a card with a big happy birthday star on it and some safety pins came to $25!!!

When we got to the Gaff we had our own private room hired for Brados which was amazing. We all got tokens for a Christmas dinner and pudding and lined up to be served. It was quite nice, not as good as at home obviously but was great to have some veg. We then went to line up for pudding but as soon as I got to the front of the queue and even had my fork in my hand ready, Beth came and pulled me away and said we have to go over here right now. Since I like my desert so much I said it best be worth it, what's so important that it can make me line up twice for pudding!

It turned out that the guys from Brados had bought us 3 cocktails to celebrate my birthday; one each for Suzanne and Beth and one for me. Mine said happy birthday on the top which looked like a big blob really but it was amazing!! It taste more like milkshake than a cocktail and had baileys and chocolate in it I think. Then to make up for me having to queue again for my desert they gave me 2 tokens so I got 2 deserts!! Lovely!!

The rest of the night involved lots of dancing and there was even a foam party downstairs! Unfortunately though my phone had got a bit wet from the foam and started playing up. It meant that nobody could get hold of me so Suzanne and Beth got a bit worried because I had walked home with other people and I couldn't let them know. The next morning I had a knock on the hostel door with the owner asking me if I was Lucy. Turned out Suzanne and Beth were waiting for me downstairs because they wanted to check that I was OK. They just laughed when they saw me because I had the top on that I had been wearing the night before on still with drink that people had spilled down me still on it, the badge that we had made was still pinned to it but completely squashed from when I had been sleeping and I still had the string from some balloons that had been tied to my wrist that I couldn't get off so just pulled the balloons off so I could go to bed.Once they had finished with that they shouted 'Happy Birthday!!!!'

I let them know that I was going to go and have some breakfast and open my cards and then get dressed before meeting them to go on a walking tour around the city with Brados. The tour was meant to start at 10 but the guys had gone off to get some clothes so they didn't show up until around 11ish so said we would set of at 12 instead. Whilst I was waiting for them I went to the Vodafone shop to get a new phone. I had planned on getting one of the cheap flip phones that everyone has and we call it theIPhone 6 because it's so simple! I thought when I was there though that since the plan I am on includes an internet allowance I may as well get a phone that I can use the internet on as well. So I ended up getting quite a fancy one that is a Nokia but looks like a Blackberry; apparently people call it a Nokberry or something like that.

I'm quite happy with it; it's even better than my phone from home! I spent the rest of the time waiting for the guys to go on the walk playing with that and setting it all up. I even gave Forest the free hat that came with it to say thanks for my badge. We finally got walking at just gone 12 and head down towards the Botanical Gardens and Opera House. It was the same walk that we had done on our first day here but with people telling us about Kings Cross and the other areas.

When we got down to the Botanical Gardens, the hostel guys started taking loads of pictures of the big group of us with the Opera house and Bridge in the back ground. They took so many pictures it was like a big photo shoot!! They are going to give us all a disc with them on which will be amazing. That happened again when we were outside the Opera House and then we went to the back and tried to get everyone jumping in the picture at the same time with the Bridge in the background. Just like me I managed to be the only one not jumping at the right time in one of the pictures.

After that Suzanne, Beth and I split up from the group and went to find something to eat. I bought myself a lovely birthday ice cream. We then began walking back towards the hostels because we had to get ready for the big harbour party cruise that night!! I got ready and went over to Beth's room to put on the fancy dress parts. Suzanne came round later and looked amazing, she had dressed up as an army girl.

We all walked down to Darling harbour in our fancy dress and there were so many other people dressed up and going down there. When we got to the harbour front it was absolutely packed and all I could see was Santa hats everywhere! I had planned to meet the Beth that was on the Adelaide to Melbourne trip so she rang me when she got off her bus and we found her quite easily. There were so many boats going from the harbour and our boat alone had almost 800 people on it so you can imagine how crammed it was around there.

When we finally got onto the boat we were given a drink and we head straight up to the roof where we found some people from the hostel at the front end with a table right next to the side. I couldn't even tell when we had started moving until I noticed that the buildings were moving away! Beth and I went to get a glass of Champagne each and toasted my birthday before heading downstairs to get some food. It was a very hard task trying to walk back up the stairs on the boat, which were really steep, with a meal in one hand and a drink in the other whilst the boat was rocking and then trying to squeeze through loads of people.

Once I had finished that we went downstairs to see what the party was like. We started dancing with a group of lads dressed as babies, they literally just had a nappy on and had giant bottles. It was such a laugh. I basically was going around different groups of people dancing with them and having a good time! Half way through the night they organised some competitions for people to join in the middle of the dance floor. The first one was for people to find an object, such as a man's belt, from people in the crowd and get back to the middle without being the last one. It was a great laugh and there were just a few games like that.

The boat finished at around 10.30 and we all head up to the Gaff for the after party. I went up with Forest and 2 other girls. Since we were with him he managed to get us in past the really long queue which was amazing. The rest of the night then was just full on dancing!I met a group of Santa strippers which were such a good laugh and pretty hot I must say!

The next morning was Christmas!! It was a strange feeling to be waking up with 2 almost strangers on Christmas morning, but I was soo happy to see that it was sunny!! First off I met up with Suzanne and we head down to the lads from her Ozintro week's hostel. Everyone in Australia on Christmas day is so happy! They all wear Santa hats and are walking around saying happy Christmas to everyone they see. Once we had met the lads and they were ready we started walking towards Hyde Park so that we could get the bus to Coogee again. It turned out that we could have got the same bus from a much closer stop on Oxford Street which was a bit annoying. When we got to Coogee, Suzanne and I went to grab a McDonalds since it was almost the only place that was open with food. I never thought I would ever have McDonalds as my Christmas Dinner!

We sat on the grass for a while whilst everyone else around us had BBQs and had some beers. The girls showed up later and then we started the Coogee to Bondi walk again. It seemed to be such a long walk but I think it was because of the heat. When we finally got there we head over to the Sunburnt event which is right near Bondi beach and has loads of DJs going on inside. I didn't spend too long in there and the lads went out to get some drinks from somewhere else since they were so expensive inside.

Whilst they did that I went down to the beach to meet some people I had spoken to on Facebook before I came out. They had a Christmas tree on the beach and everything it was great! I stopped with them for a bit having a chat and they played some ball games but then I head back up to the Sunburnt event where it was dancing for the rest of the day for me! The DJs were amazing and it was such a great atmosphere. That was only on until 10 but it felt like so much later. We went to McDonalds to get the guys some food and then head back on the bus and train again to Kings Cross.

My Christmas day was over quite early but I was so relieved to catch up on some sleep. I had a good shower before speaking to people from home to say Merry Christmas and then crashed out at 12.30. I have woken up today (Boxing Day) to rain! So I am not happy and that is why I have been able to sit here and write my blog. Right now I think Suzanne is still in bed recovering and Beth has gone off to a party somewhere. The plan is to go to the International Race Day which is basically horse races but I don't know where it is or anything and with people still being asleep and it raining I don't know what will happen. But whilst I'm waiting I'm going to have a good old sort out. Very exciting! I can officially say this has been the best weekend ever though! I loved my birthday so much I couldn't have asked for much better than being on a Sydney harbour cruise party and then waking up to stunning sun! I expected Sydney to be amazing but this has beaten even my expectations!