Our last stop in Aus... Sydney! Our time started here with a bang at an Aussie Rules footie game. We brushed up on the rules and headed to the ANZ Stadium in Sydney Olympic Park on the bus. The game attendance was just over 23,000 people and the atmosphere was electric. Naturally, we supported the Sydney Swans who were playing the Essendon Bombers, an older team from Melbourne. To say it was an on-the-edge-of-your-seat-game is an understatement. The Swans got off to a bad start, finishing the first quarter 1 - 27. By the end of quarter 3, the score was 23 to the Swans and 60 to the Bombers. We never thought they would catch up! But it was as if the Swans caught fire in Q4, scoring 7 goals and 4 behinds to win the game by 12 points. Everyone, including us, jumped off their seats and screamed when the goal was scored that brought the game to a draw.

On the way home, we realised on the bus that it wasn't going to stop where we had hoped. We weren't the only ones, some locals had made the same mistake. A very nice Aussie couple offered to show us where to go and ended up giving us a lift back to our caravan park out of the goodness of their hearts. What great Aussie hospitality!

The next day we checked into the Mercantile Hotel which was just a 2 minute walk from Sydney Harbour. It's also the longest running Irish pub in Australia and definitely made us fancy a trip to Ireland. In the afternoon we explored Sydney Harbour; the Opera House is as magnificent as in pictures, as is the Harbour Bridge. As it was Easter weekend, the crowds were huge so we sought refuge in a bar on the harbour and watched the world go by.

Sadly, on Monday morning it was time to wash and say goodbye to Otis and drop him back at Spaceships. We headed to the Pylon Lookout on the Harbour Bridge which gave fantastic views of the city and geography of the harbours at 89 metres above sea level. After the trek back down we got the ferry to Manly. Annoyingly, as we arrived to go to Manly Beach the anticipated storm broke out and heavens opened. Cold and wet we had a bite to eat at the ferry port and then got the next ferry back to our hotel. Dinner then consisted of an Irish stew and Guinness in the pub downstairs.

The sun was shining on our last day in Sydney so we had a morning stroll around the harbour and joined the 10am tour of the Sydney Opera House. It was fascinating to hear about the history and uses of the building. We were very fortunate to watch the Sydney Symphony Orchestra practicing in the main concert hall. There's a stand inside where Nicole Kidman used to sell programs. We also learnt about the designs of the building and materials used, such as the tiles on the outside of the building that were chosen to reflect sunlight like the sea does. We finished the day exploring George Street when the rain started once again. Unfortunately, there is no 42 Wallaby Way so we couldn't visit P. Sherman.

And the big finale for us, a special present from Max's wonderful bosses, Paul and Jim at Mellor&Scott, we had dinner at the Quay restaurant. It is the most elite restaurant in Sydney and we were seated in the dome that has views overlooking the entire harbour. A top 50 restaurant in the world, it has a four course menu that included delicate portions of beef wagyu, pig jowl, XO marron, duck, lamb and a snow ball to name but a few! A couple of the dishes had nitrogen smoke (a bit like watching something out of Heston!). A huge thank you to Paul and Jim, it was a truly memorable evening and the food was exquisite.

So that concludes our time down under. Altogether in 21 days we drove 3,335km (that's 2,072 miles for you guys back home). We stayed in 12 different campsites/rest areas and spent 2 nights on a boat and 2 nights in a tent. In total we visited 13 places and stopped at some gorgeous sights en route. And we met 1 Bruce in Sydney.

Now we're jumping on another A380 Double-Decker Airbus to Auckland, New Zealand. We hope you all had a great Easter weekend!

Steph and Max x