A long wait to get out of Bali (and a fee at the airport for something we had no idea about), an overnight stop in Darwin (and a severe lack of sleep), and we arrived safely in Sydney. We had received lots of information on the plane about how no wood or biological materials was allowed into Australia from other countries. We had a whole suitcase full of wooden souvenirs from Bali. Luckily, some one had a quick look through the suitcase and confirmed that we were okay to proceed into Australia, so red-eyed and deliriously tired, we made our way to a minibus that offered to drive us to our hostel, Rooftops in Glebe. The hostel was pleasant enough and we decided to go for a quick walk around the centre and then cook for ourselves in the hostel rooftop kitchen. Well, we had decided on a barbecue on the rooftop, but it seemed none of the barbecues worked. So we ended up trying to barbecue our meat on the hob in the kitchen, which caused a lot of smoke and made a mess, and no doubt annoyed all the other residents. But, undeterred, we ate our overdone burgers and drank some beer, then settled down to watch a DVD in our room. Unfortunately, we had decided to share a room with another couple who, it turned out, were both overweight, grumpy, Beligian, VERY smelly, and weird. The girl was in bed by 8pm, so we had to sneak back into the room and watch the DVD in almost silence. The bloke came back later in the night, got himself into bed and promptly started to snore extremely loudly. We were both kept awake most of the night by the strange noise he made in his sleep, which was almost like he was being strangled. It was not the best night's sleep, and wasn't made much better in the morning when we woke to the whole room smelling of a strong cheesy body odour. Yuk.

However, the sleep had somehow refreshed us. Glad to escape the stinking room and strange people we had shared the night with, we packed our things and left to meet Clout's friend Mark and his girlfriend, Tess. They were staying in a house in Mosman (near Sydney Harbour), so we had to get a bus to Circular Quay and then a ferry to Mosman. It was quite a struggle, as we had acquired so many souvenirs in Bali, we were both overladen with suitcases, bags and a large wooden head. However, we somehow made it to Mosman by midday and were glad to be met by Mark and Tess and shown into the house they were staying in. And what a house! Mark's ex-boss had moved his family to Singapore but left his house in Sydney in the care of Mark. The house had a heated swimming pool, a balcony overlooking the Harbour Bridge and a beautiful interior. We were given our own room with a huge double bed, ensuite with heated floor and a balcony with a lovely view. This was a welcome luxury after our hostel experience. Mark also offered us full use of Tess's car for the fortnight we were there, so we were able to go sightseeing wherever we liked.

The next fortnight is a blur of food, drink and laziness. As we had nearly completely run out of money, we couldn't leave Sydney so we were able to explore the city in full. The main motivation of the Sydneyites seems to be food. Everywhere we went we were surrounded by amazing restaurants, cafes, bakeries, delis etc. and we felt we were piling on weight as we took full advantage of the eateries. Mark and Tess also love their food and didn't hesitate in showing us around their favourite restaurants. We had sushi, Thai, tapas (delicious!) pizzas in the famous Australia Pub, Chinese, and my personal favourite, African food in a restaurant called 'Radio Cairo', where I tasted the most delicious lamb skewers in my life. I ate soft-shell crab, pork belly and lots of other foods that I would never usually touch. On the occasional night when Mark and Tess were both out at work, Clout and I cooked for ourselves and watched the DVDs we had bought in Bali. Even though it was winter in Australia, the sun was out almost every day and we were able to top up our tans on their large wooden balcony.

We made use of the car and drove around Sydney almost daily. We regularly travelled to Manly, which has a lovely beach and we once walked to North Point (a very long and arduous walk) in the hope of spotting whales, but we saw none and promptly got lost on the way home. We also visited Palm Beach, where they film Home and Away. We managed to find Bondi Beach on one day, but it was raining so the beach was almost completely empty and not quite as exciting as we had hoped. We made regular visits to the city centre, which had a huge array of shops and malls. We walked around the Sydney Opera House, went up to the top of Sky Tower (the highest point in Sydney), visited the Aquarium and wildlife centre (where we stroked a kangaroo!). We walked around Darling Harbour and ensured we saw as much of the city as possible. One of the highlights was a bar at the top of the Shangrilah Hotel, which overlooks all of Sydney. We bought Mark and Tess a meal at the hotel to say thank you for their hospitality.

Towards the end of our fortnight in Sydney, we decided to venture into the heart of Australia hoping to reach the outback, but we didn't realise quite how massive Australia is!. We did, however, reach the Blue Mountains and spend a day looking around. The altitude made the temperature very low, and we were inappropriately dressed and therefore freezing! But the Blue Mountains were spectacular. We went for lunch in the nearby town and found ourselves in a cafe run by some sort of religious cult, which was unnerving. We then took the cable car ride into the mountains, and rode on the steepest railway ever. Clout dropped his sunglasses over the barrier in the heart of the forest and had to climb over in search of them. We were then stuck in traffic most of the way home, but it was worth it.

The other activity that dominated our time in Sydney was surfing. We had already spent time in Bali body-boarding, but we now turned our attention to surfing. The Pacific was freezing at this time of the year, so we had to hire winter wetsuits. I dreaded going into the cold water, but the wetsuits were highly effective in keeping us warm. We borrowed a surf board from a friend of Mark's and off we went. I was very pleased that I managed to stand up a few times, but I was also knocked on the head several times and pulled around violently by the strong waves and riptides. Some of the waves were huge, but we persisted and were able to enjoy several long sessions of surfing in various beaches around Sydney. The helicopter that looks out for great white sharks was circling at some points, which was worrying, but luckily we didn't see any sharks!

Our final moments in Sydney, and of our whole trip, were somewhat fraught and stressful. We were all packed and ready to catch our homeward flight. Clout decided to check us in online but it wouldn't work. When we phoned to ask why we couldn't check in online, we were told that as we had missed one of the connecting flights from Bangkok to Sydney, we were no longer assigned a seat on the flight home. Cue much panicking, stress and anger. We eventually had to pay for a flight that left the next day with a different airline, costing more than all our original flights put together. Luckily, we got home in one piece, with more debt than we would have liked, but having enjoyed a memorable and amazing travelling experience.