Well boxing day turned into more of a sorting out day than going out day. I managed to sort some washing and did my last blog. I also had a huge tidy up which was more of a mess half way through than it was in the beginning but it finished off very tidy in the end. Stuart, my roommate, thought that I had finished tidying because I had gone out half way through to do some washing. That day was all about resting and recovering from the birthay and christmas period though.

I met Suzanne at around 2pm when she had finally recovered from the day before! She needed some food so we got her some Sushi (her regular) and then head to the internet cafe as she needed to do something and I wanted to book my flights. I finally have them booked: one from Cairns to Alice Springs on 30th January; one from Darwin to Christchurch on 10th February; and one home from Auckland on 7th March bringing me home on the 8th! I've now got lots of organising to do to make sure I reach the flights at the right time but it is quite nice knowing when I will be back because I can organise to see people :). So now is the quest to find a whitsundays cruise I can go on which starts at the right time!

That's what I spent Monday morning doing whilst waiting for Beth to come back from a party she had been too on Boxing Day. It was quite good to have the time to research a bit but once Beth got back we went straight to shopping, after she had quickly got changed and dropped off her things. We had to get the train there as we decided to go to a shopping centre just outside the city called Parramatta which was meant to be really good. As it was the day after boxing day I was hoping to get some bits in the sales as well. We got there quite late so only had a couple of hours to get shopping and we needed to get some flip flops, a hoody, Beth needed some nice shoes to replace hers that had broken and she also wanted some nice dresses to go out in.

It started off well for Beth in the first shop we went in she got a really nice top for abour $6!! It wasnt really for me in that shop though, it was very floral which I dont really overly do. I did manage to buy a top in another shop though which will be great with my high waisted shorts for nights out. I also finally managed to find some trousers which are nice and light and I can wear them as full length or knee length which is great.

We had a good search for some nice shoes for Beth but we had no luck. The last shop we went in didnt have any 'nice' shoes but they did have some havaianas flip flops which I really wanted to get. I decided not to in the end though because I would simply be getting plain black flip flops with a pink word on and would be paying $30 almost purely for the name! The clothes in there were expensive even in the sales!!

We had to rush back after that as there was a free BBQ happening at the Empire bar with Brados. Beth wanted to get changed properly and freshen up since she hadnt had a chance to since getting back from the party. We got back at exactly 7 which was when the BBQ was meant to start. I rushed upstairs and put on my new trousers (knee length style) and a top. We ended up getting to the BBQ at around 7.20 and they had finished all the sausages!! Brados though are different to most hostels and actually went out and bought some sausages purely so we could have some!!! In the meantime though, as I was so hungry, I made myself a salad and BBQ sauce sandwich which was actually quite tasty.

When the sausages finally arrived I was pestering the guys asking how long they would be in a joky way. They challenged me to eat all of them (there was about 50 apparently) and I said I probably could!! I didn't because I didnt want to be greedy obviously so I had 2 :) Then the pool competition started just like last weeks. I was out almost straight away although I did manage to pot one ball this time! Beth was on fire though!! The rules are if you get the black ball down you get an extra life and she got it down twice in a row!

For most of the game she was actually winning, the prize was a $100 bar tab which would have been incredible! Part way through the game though she had a really tricky shot and Laurence (from Brados) said that whoever can get it down gets 2 free OzParty bus tickets which is basically a bar crawl but you are taken from bar to bar on a party bus. She didnt manage to get it down but had lined it up perfectly for her mum who managed to pot it and won the two free tickets! She gave them to Beth and me since she wouldnt really be in to going on a party bus so we were dead excited! Then since Beth was the last girl in the competition and had played such a good game she was given a ticket too so now Suzanne could come too!

It was a good night, we just chilled in the Empire bar having chats with different people and then I went off to bed quite early. I walked into my room though and there was someone actually on the top bunk of my bed!! I was gutted because I had got so used to not having anyone on my side of the room, it was really nice. I met him the next morning though and he seemed really nice and strangely enough is from Southam!!! and he passes through Daventry almost every week!! I cant believe how small this world is. We even have mutual friends on facebook. Mad stuff.

On Tuesday the plan was to go with Brados on a walking tour to Watsons Bay. We all met in the hostel at 11am so that we could walk down to Circular Quay for a 11.45am ferry. This should have been plenty of time but it wasnt and we missed it! So we got a slightly later ferry there but we still had plenty of time. The ferry ride was great we could see loads of the harbour and had a great view of the city. When we first got to Watsons bay we went up to a photo point which is one of the most southernly points in Sydney. We all had big group pictures taken and then headed back down to the main park where everyone got some fish and chips.

I had taken salad with me because I had bought lots of healthy food from the shop to cook myself but I still had fish as it was a tuna salad. We sat in a big circle whilst Laurence told us some of the history of Australia which was really interesting. I never knew that they basically started white Australians by bringing convicts over from the full prisons in England. There were more facts than that but I struggle to remember them!

After lunch we went on a walk to South (or it may have been North) head which is at the entrance of the harbour. On the walk there was a nudist beach which was quite funny, obviously we didnt go on it though just had a good peek lol. But there didnt seem to be any naked people on there so it was a bit of a let down. We also saw a Blue tongued lizzard but I didnt get a chance to take a picture of it. We got to the lighthouse which is called Holdenby lighthouse and was put there because of loads of boat crashes happening. We sat on the rock edge for a while watching the sea and looking out for any whales, even though there was a very small chance of seeing one.

On the way back we walked past a spot where two young girls probably around 5 years old were selling home made lemonade on the side of the street. It was so cute and proper old school! A lot of people bought some but I was being stingy and not spending $1.50 on a small cup of lemonade. We got the ferry back and sat inside this time. Once we got back to Circular Quay Suzanne went off to find her friends who were staying in a hostel just up the road. Beth and I walked back with Laurence and Nev and we got ice cream which was goorgeouss!

That evening I had the option of either having a cheap pizza with the girls and Shaun and Nicky or going to have a free BBQ and dance at the Gaff with the hostel. I couldnt decide which to do so I did both! I went with the girls and Nicky and Shaun to Dominos who have a cheao Tuesday where they do a large pizza for $5.90! We sat on the steps outside under the Coca Cola sign eating pizza and then I head back to the hostel where I met everyone in the reception area.

We walked down to The World Bar where the BBQ was. They had said that any guys that dress up as girls get 4 free Champagnes so two guys had gone down dressed in girls fancy dress; one was Supergirl and one was a bumble bee. We decided to all get a teapot whilst we were there because we had it on offer for $12 from our hostel so split between 4 of us it didnt cost too much. Teapots are basically a jug of a cocktail that you get given shot glasses with. We had a Skittles flavoured one which tasted exactly like skittles!!

Once we had finished there we got a bus to the Gaff and got in for free and skipped the queue. It was absolutely boiling though so we didnt stay for very long though; Rachelle and Lewis left a little before Sam and me but we didnt bump into them again on the way back. Whilst walking back we went past Dominos again and since it was cheap we decided to get one!! That was a fatty day, I was still full two days afterwards! For the rest of the night we just sat in the dorm and had a good chat with Stuart and Craig.

Wednesday was the blue mountains trip! As Brados love me so much they let me join their trip which was going for half the normal price. We were picked up in their friends new coach who had also been an Oz Experience bus driver before. It was a long and early bus journey up there so I had a good old snooze; I can finally sleep on public transport!! They were beautiful though, even though they werent particularly blue! After going to one national park called Govetts leap we went to the three sisters where we were given some BBQed chicken and rolls. It was a lovely lunch and all for free :)

We then went to the look out to see the three sisters. There is a story from the Aboriginals which says that there was a witch doctor who had three daughters who used to come down to near a lake which some sort of monster or gremlin lived in. He used to stand them up on the hill so that the monster wouldnt see or get them whilst he was collecting supplies. One day though he disturbed the monster by accident who then saw the girls and ran towards them so the witch doctor turned them into stone so that it couldnt get them. As the monster was angry he had a fight with the witch doctor who then lost his magic stick and couldnt turn his daughters back to normal again. The three rock formations are therefore meant to be the three daughters.

After we had spent some time there we head over to Scenic World where we had a walk through the Jamison Valley. We got to the first look out point which was looking up at a waterfall and there were people actually playing on the edge of it. It made me literally feel sick, I couldnt watch because I actually thought they were going to fall off. We carried on the walk after that but when we got to the bottom of the waterfall they werent there anymore. There were no bodies at the bottom though which was a good sign.

Half way through the walk we stopped at an overhanging rock where we were told a story about aboriginals. They used to use the cliff walls to make their voices echo when they shout. We tried it out by getting all 30 of us to shout 'kkoooooeeee' into the rocks which echoed like crazy across the whole valley. Then Laurence jumped out all acting like an aboriginal with paint all over him saying 'this is my land'. They are such great laughs.

When we got to the end of the walk we came to the worlds steepest railway which had an absolutely huge queue so we went on a little walk to let it go down. We saw all of the old mines and where the miners lived amongst the trees, including an example hut. When we got back to the train the queue had actually grown! We got into it anyway and it didnt take too long. The train was quite good and it actually went really quickly up the hill. I wouldnt have paid an extra $11 for it though. Thankfully it was included in the price of the whole trip.

On the way back to the hostel i fell asleep on the bus and apparently had one eye half open. Nev moved his camera equipment so that I could stretch out on two chairs and I slept like that for most of the journey. It was great.

When we got back I had decided not to go out because Im trying to save some money and get some energy back from the last week or so! I decided to go up onto my hostel roof to have a chilled night in but it turned into a bit of a party and I ended up going out to a club called the sugarmill after a while. I didnt have to pay to go in though and I didnt get any drink so it was free still. I didnt stay there long as it wasnt that great and I came back to the hostel and chilled out with a few people in the TV room. I started talking to this lad who had been out dressed as a girl a couple of nights ago and I actually found out that I had met him already on christmas day as he had got a tattoo on his leg when he was drunk that said 'I love cock'. Its not a small tattoo either!

Thursday was the day for Manly. The plan was to go down with the girls after doing a bit of shopping but they were taking a lot of time and I wanted to spend a full day down there. So since people were going from the hostel I decided to go with them but Craig, Sam and I actually missed them as they were meeting in reception at 10. We thought we would catch up when we were down there but after catching the ferry and getting to the beach we found that it was absolutely packed and it would be almost impossible to see them.

Beth was coming down to meet us later on at around 2ish so whilst I waited for her I sunbathed for a little bit and played in the sea for the first time since Ive been in Australia. It was good fun but I have found that I am far too short to go in the big waves! The lads went off a little later for an explore which they claimed was to see if they could find the rest of the hostel but really it was so they could see what girls were about. Whilst they were away Beth showed up and thankfully we were quite easy to find. We had a bit of a chat and then went and played in the sea for a bit again where we were absolutely battered by the waves!

As I had the party bus later that day I had to start heading back at around 4pm so that I could get ready. On the way back to the ferry we met Mitchell and his friends who had just got down to the beach. The ferry ride home turned out to take longer than expected and we had to power walk back to the hostel which we did in an impressive 25 minutes! That was when I discovered I had actually burnt my legs. Quite badly. When I got back I had the quickest shower ever and put on my trousers again as I needed to cover up my legs as I didnt want all the wow your red comments.

I didnt have time to get anything to eat so when we were waiting for the bus I wasnt really in the mood because I felt trained and burnt. But when we got onto it I tried my hardest to get into it and it started to get pretty good. The first stop was a bit strange though as normally they went upstairs to the club area but since it was New Years Eve eve I think it was closed off in preparation so we ended up sitting in a restaurant which wasnt quite what I expected after the introduction of the party bus. I did manage to get some chips though which gave me some energy. After there we went to another 5 bars, each with a free drink, and danced the night away. At one of them there were games where there was about 5 couples who had to play a game sort of like musical statues but they had to get into positions like a knight and a piggy back. If they were the last one to do it they were out or had a forfit of taking off a piece of clothing. Im very glad I didnt go and do it! If they won they got a free trip to Fraser Island.

The bus was an absolutely incredible night and it was all for free which made it even better. I did see Mitchell and Craig out in one of the bars as well which was good. When we got to the final bar, which was the Gaff, we decided to stay for the one drink and then head back to the hostel. Suzanne got a Hungry Jacks (known as Burger King in UK) and then we walked back whilst I was in pain with my legs.

The next day was New Years Eve. As everyone else was going to see the fireworks they all head down to the Botanical Gardens really early so I had no idea what I was going to do all day. I went up to the roof later on where a lot of the hostel people were having a few drinks. Their plan was to go to a carpark where you could see the bridge really well. I had a really good day just sat on the roof chilling with everyone, and having them laugh at my legs. Later on I had to go down to Bondi as I was seeing David Guetta. As I had been having such a good time on the roof though I didnt actually want to go! I did the journey down to the beach and when I got of the bus there was a man that had a sign saying he wanted to buy tickets. I was like sorted I will sell my ticket and go to see the fireworks with everyone! I got $130 for it and then had a mad rush back to the hostel as I didnt know when everyone was leaving.

I literally ran through the train stations and was so on edge when I finally got back to the hostel. Thankfully they were all still there; I was soo relieved. I definitely made a good decision because Sydney fireworks are like a once in a lifetime experience whereas I will probably have the chance to see David Guetta at some point in England. We had a dance on the roof then, and then head down to the car park. I got a good spot on a wall looking over the Botanical Gardens and could see straight through to the bridge. I didnt realise they had started though when they did as I didnt see a big countdown or anything, but they were absolutely spectacular! I tried to video it as much as I could but there was so much to see and I didnt want to be looking through my camera the whole time.

Once they had finished we head up to the Soho Bar where we had free tickets to get in. I danced there for a little while but my legs started to really hurt to the point that I couldnt dance properly so I decided to head back to the hostel. It turned out I actually had a huge blister probably the size of a 20 pence coin! No wonder it hurt so much. I did stay up for a bit after that and just chatted with a few people in the TV room. When I got to bed it was heavenly. I smothered my legs in lotion and just fell asleep.

The next morning it took a while for everyone to rise from the dead. I actually went down to breakfast at 9.15am and there was full packets of cereal and bread left! Normally at that time you get the leftovers. As reception was closed for New Years Day I couldn't get any internet for my room so I decided to head to McDonalds so I could speak to everyone at home since it was almost their midnight. It was nice to chat with them properly since it had been such a long time! Whilst I was in there I got a call from Suzanne asking if I was coming to the Irish bar to celebrate the new year coming in in the UK. They met me in McDonalds and we started walking down there at about 10.30am ready for 11am (midnight at home).

When we got to the bar there were some lads sitting outside the front of the door because it wasnt open yet. We waited for a little bit but we wanted to find somewhere with the celebrations in London on TV. There was no where which I found shocking! We ended up sitting in Brados Backpackers with Beth speaking to her friend in England doing a countdown that seemed to skip a lot of numbers. It went from 2 minutes down to 10 seconds in about 30 seconds time and then stopped at 5 when they said HAPPY NEW YEAR!! I will now say next year 'this time last year I was sat in Brados Backpackers!'.

Once we had finished the countdown I went back to the hostel to pack whilst Suzanne did some washing and had a shower. We met up later to go onto the internet to look for hostels for one night as right then we were going to be homeless for a night. We didnt find anything online as they all had minimum nights stay since it was still classed as the christmas period. We decided to go and ask around in the hostels but for most of the time we had luck.

One hostel sent us to their sister hostel which they said had availabilty so we went straight there. There was a queue for reception but we were third in line and the two girls in front got beds easily. Just as we got to the front the reception phone rang and the receptionist answered. The funniest words ever came out of her mouth at that moment 'Ah you're very lucky you just got our last two beds'. I was in hysterics after we had been going to every hostel asking and we even joked saying she would say that. Thankfully though they called another hostel for us who said they had availability so this time we ran to it!

It's quite handy really as the hostel is across the road from my hostel now. We got there and they rememberd the phone call and was like yeh we have availabilty. I was soo relieved but we then had to deal with the price. We braced ourselves for it but it was fine; they had reduced their prices early for after christmas so it only cost us $24 each for the one night. And they gave us a free chocolate orange segment!!

We went back to the hostels after this as we had decided to celebrate New Years Day by going out for a meal. Due to my leg being blistered I had to wear my only trousers again (I have worn them to death!!) but thankfully they are not too scruffy. We met at Brado's Hostel and went over the road to The Sugarmill which claimed to have the best steak in Sydney. They did it on offer for $10 which included a rump steak, veg and chips or mash which is an absolute bargain!! It was soo tasty and really nice to have a proper meal cooked for me again. Whilst we were waiting for our order to come out Toby and his friend came to join us and their meals came out. I get terrible watching other people when Im waiting for my own food so I tried my hardest not to stare at it.

Claire and Jenny had decided to go to the cinema that night so they left a little earlier than Suzanne, Beth and me. Suzanne and I had decided to have an early night that night since the day before had been quite long. Beth was meeting people from her hostel for a drink so I said I would stay with her until she found them. We waited outside The Empire Hotel but apparently noone else had gone inside yet so we went up to the hostel community area and I left her there with a few people so that I could go and get myself sorted, especially since I had to change hostels the next morning.

When I got back to the hostel I went up to the roof to see who was there that I could chill out with a bit but most people were out at the Space festival which was a big thing on on New Years Day. I did find Jason and his mates though and we went and sat in his room whilst they were playing on his Xbox. He is ridiculously loaded because he is living in Aus with an Australian passport since his mum was born here or something so he can stay as long as he likes and is working as a scaffolder on $40 an hour, with double pay on weekends!! In his room he has a 32" TV, DVD player, Xbox and Wii!!

We sat (well I stood as I couldnt sit down still due to the burn) in there for a little while until a few people came back from Space and started getting ready for the afterparty. I left around then and went up to my room to finish off packing my case and to start writing this blog. I was absolutely shattered anyway; I think the whole Christmas period had finally caught up with me. I fell asleep whilst writing something on my phone!

The next day was the last one in Sydney :( I was so upset! I had decided that since I hadnt done the bridge climb i definitely wanted to go up the tower so I got a few people together to go that day. The morning started off with me having to check out from the hostel though. I had the fun of trying to get my case up and down stairs again! Thankfully this time I knew people to help me this time though. I had breakfast and went and checked out and then just used Craig's key to get into the room again to get all of my things. I couldnt check into D'Lux Hostel until midday so I left my stuff in a locker room. It was absolutely packed so I had to put my case on top of other peoples'; Im so thankful it didnt break!

I was then waiting for Craig and Amit to get ready so I went and met Suzanne in the internet cafe whilst she was trying to kill some time before being able to check in to D'Lux. When Craig and Amit were finally ready we went to Craig's old hostel where we got some discount tickets for the tower. Then, since I had bought a bus pass with 10 bus rides on it that I hadnt completely used yet, we were lazy and got a bus down the road.

When we got off the bus I was looking everywhere for the tower and was asking the guys where it was. It turned out I was standing right underneath it! I didnt realise that the bottom of it was actually a really fancy shopping centre with designer shops like Gucci in it. We went up to the 5th floor where the tower started and we met Craig's friend Leanne who was an Aussie local! Once we had exchanged the voucher for tickets we went to the queue for the OzTrek show which is like a simulator of a trip around Australia. The story was meant to be that an inventor had found a way of sending us through images and bits like that to go to the actual places really easily. I was slightly worried about it though as I hadnt sat down properly yet and there was a bar to come down over our laps! Thankfully the bar didnt push down into my legs but I hadnt really prepared myself for being thrown about everywhere...it was slightly painful to the point that eventually it went numb.

Next was the lift up to the top of the tower. It was a lot quicker than I expected and my ears popped a bit on the way up. It was so high up, its the same height as the Eiffel Tower, but it didnt feel too bad as it was inside. Or my fear of heights may be improving! I think I must have walked around the whole tower about 50 times! Craig and Leanne were trying to be really creative with their photos so Amit and I had a lot of time to kill. In the end we just went down to the coffee shop on the floor underneath where I resisted a lemon cake and just had coffee. Am so proud of myself!

The other two finally came down and we go the floor to the ground which I must say I was quite relieved about! We went for some lunch where I had a Subway salad; once again very healthy! There was live music being played outside the food hall on the way in and out. On the way in it was a violinist who was playing extremely depressing music and i actually nearly shed a tear thinking about leaving Sydney. On the way out thankfully it was more upbeat and a lad was actually playing really good music with just buckets and sticks! It was really impressive.

We had planned on going back to the city that night because I wanted to see it all lit up from across the harbour. Once we got back to Kings Cross I checked into the hostel and took my stuff up to the room; thankfully there was a lift to get to this one! There was one lad in there at the time who was really friendly and easy to talk to. Another two came in later and they were both lovely as well. After getting ready for my night out I went up to the roof with them where the hostel was giving us a free BBQ. I got to the front of the queue where I was given a sausage and waited for a piece of chicken. They started moaning at a few of us though saying that there was loads of people waiting and that we were only allowed one piece each which is fair enough but I wish they would have said before as I would have had chicken rather than a sausage, and all of the potato and veg mix had gone as well! So all I had was a sausage. Yum.

Once my huge meal was finished I ran down to McDonalds. Not because I was really hungry but because I wanted to speak to mum and Neil before I left Sydney as I didnt know when the next time would be that I could get online. Whilst I was in there it started thundering and heavily raining so that was my trip to the city centre cancelled! I decided to go back to my old hostel then to get my food from the fridge and finish off my veg with a can of baked beans since I had only had a sausage for dinner. Once again very healthy!! I'm doing well on my New Years Resolution of being healthier again but it is turning out to be a bit expensive!

I ate that whilst sitting in the TV room watching a bit of Avatar with Rachelle and Lewis. I then did a round of goodbyes including one to my French friend who I asked how to say goodbye in French. I probably should have known really. I then went to find Suzanne, Beth, Claire and a few people from Brados Backpackers as we were going to go for a goodbye drink. We sat in Brados for a while and then head to The World Bar to see whether it was free or not to get in. We asked a bouncer at the end of the queue who told us it was $20 so I was like no way! It turned out he was from the next door club and wanted to discourage people going in there!! Cheeky thing!

So we went in there and it was free but the drinks turned out to be really expensive! $7 for a glass of wine which probably doesnt seem much but since we could have bought a bottle for cheaper than that in a bottle shop i refuse to pay it for a glass. I got tap water. Whilst we were sat in there I saw a load of people from Funkhouse that hadnt been in there when I was saying goodbyes so I ran over to say it then. Its weird leaving everyone behind that I have been with for 2 weeks!

Just before 12 we decided to head back up to The Empire Hotel so that we could make the most of the Brados rates which was $3.50 for a glass of wine before midnight. That is the most I will pay for a glass of wine so I had one and that was me done for the night. I didnt want to drink too much for many reasons; one that Im trying to save a bit of cash for my healthier food, two because I want to be healthier, and three because I had to be up in about 4-5hours.

After sitting in there and having a chat with everyone for one last time, I went with Suzanne to get her some food and then went back to the hostel to go to bed. I had tried to sort everything out so that I could come in and everything I needed was there ready for me to get ready for bed. It worked well and I crashed out in bed thinking about how I may never see Sydney again :(.