Well today was the day of my first ever snorkel... since Kimberley (a geordie who had chased me out here after hearing of my voyage) couldnt cope with the breathing technique and kept freaking out everytime she saw a little fish swim by, me and Tania went to explore life in the corals around Shelly Bay! Within seconds, it was like entering another secret world, full of schools of calamari, squid, 2-3 foot shark bait and even a few colourful parrot fish! I was ast...

Well after being intrigued by the thought of spotting my first few species of native wildlife and being nowhere near the outback or any other nature hotspots we went to wildlife world by Darlig Harbour to explore! To my immense disatifaction i had my first encounter with a sluggish koala, the backend of a wombat and about 10 sunbathing wallabies! So although its a start (and actually cheating seeing them in a zoo), i cant wait to see animals out in the wild... lo...

Well we left Sydney momentarily up to the shorelines of the Northern Beaches to an isolated little beach in Colloroy! The beach is unbelievably nice but is littered with Bluebottles 'Blueys' which are cheeky little jellyfish... of which Paul the Glaswegian warrior took the first sting to the chin then another to the bicep later in the same day! Been down to Manly Beach for a night out, helped a friend move house and had a little surf/bodyboardin session ...

Well we've checked into the worst hostel i've ever experienced (not that's there's many) but the delectable 'Surfside' has to be up there with the worst of 'em... a 12 man dorm, 4 scumbags from Cork, the Bear and many a cockroach that makes a cameo appearance when the sun goes down! However, the beach and little surf community is immense... a few little surf shops and a cosy wee beach which is beautiful! The weather's still not gr...

Well we arrived in Sydney after being picked up at the airport by a Bruce and a Shiela from IEP and checked into the best hostel in Australia with a pool, steam room, sauna etc so its all good! Its positioned right on the main street, George Street so we quickly went in search of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge! The weather's surprisingly overcast but the sun'll get his hat back on pretty soon! We've had an orientation chat talking about the s...