24 th July - 26th July

WE arrive in AUSTRALIA!!!!! Sydney here we come! we settle on a hostel where a very good guy picks us up FREE from the airport. We agreed to stay just a couple of days as we had booked a flight up to the Whitsundays - so very excited about it!! well were only here once in this lifetime.

The thought of being in one of the most exciting cities in the world was almost too much but the hours of flying meant that really it was very late in the day! we met kieth in the kitchen for a coffee and decided that wed take the day on strong tomorrow!!
Our first day in the city - what should we do?? well we are located up in the surry hills area north of the city centre. But still that we can see the AMP tower in the distance! mind you through out the day we realise you can be almost anywhere in sydney and STILL see the tower!
We walked on through the city through George street to Darling Harbour - gorgeous waterside marina with restaurents and museums , chinese gardens. A huge 'life on earth' photography exhibition dominated the Urban stream althoough we decided to check that out later in the day. What we did do was confirm tickets for a whale watching experience!! 1pm dont be late!

We left the harbour and soon knew we were definately in Sydney as the Harbour bridge caught our eye!!! its amazing to look at and as we sailed underneath to the visions of the opera house we knew we were back in town!!!! This is great.

We spend the next few hours trying to track the migrating whales down. The boat ride was great but nooone was convinced that after 3 hours of nothing that we would find the giant majestic mammals. we agreed to stay out another hour and not to return until 6 if we found one ( we hoped!!). 4.30 still nothing......... 3 and a half hours now and everything crossed.
Then as if by a stroke of humongous fairy dust luck there was a blow!! But just before that the captain mentioned that there was a dolphin on our tracks too! My ... all the excitement came in one go!!! the dolphin was crystal clear riding the surf ot the bow of the boat everyone piled to the front as you could imagine to get a peek Wow a close up wild dolphin! see ... thats what i had hoped for the day i decided to go swimming with dolphins the oposite of the pamaps tour!!
We almost forgot about the whale in the distance! right .. back on track find that whale! We edged closer, not allowed within 30 metres from a boat. We caught some amazing sights of the humpback whales ... there were two werent we lucky. Well we were patient.
we saw the tails flick up and if we zoom in on our camera we can see a perfect fan shape. well worth the wait. We sailed back much later than antiscipated but nevertheless pleased with ourselves to have caught these magnificent creatures in the migrating waters.
The following day we spent taking the rest of Darling harbour in, the atmosphere soaking in. We walked through cockle bay wharf and generally mooched around. We visited the art centre and learned how to play the didgereedoo!! and listened to a cultural performance. We were due back at the hostel for 3 as we were due to catch a flight to airlie beach for our sailing tour!!! Looking forward to the weather x