After a week of staying with Bentley the time had come to leave him behind (and let him get back to work) and set off further up the coast on my own. I was so sure I was confident enough to go away on my own, but as I said goodbye to Bentley I found myself filling up and feeling very scared. How would I meet people? What if I didn't meet anyone and ended up wandering around on my own? What if the people weren't friendly. Travelling without Bentley, who had fast b...

For my first week in Australia I was lucky enough to stay with my friend in Manly, using his place as a base point from which to go on day trips to Sydney and the Blue Mountains. A bit like Reading, Manly is a commuter town for business men and women who work in Sydney. Unlike Reading though, you don't have to commute to work on the packed underground with people's armpits in your face. Here they get the ferry from Manly over to Sydney, which leaves every 15 mi...

So all the people that I knew who had come to Oz said the Blue Mountains are a must - and they were not wrong! About a two hour drive from Manley, myself and Bentley got up early to start the drive. On route the clouds ascended and heavy fog took over the roads. Not what you want when your abou the go on a day trip completely orientated around exceptional views. But I was soon to learn that the climate out here changes incredibly quickly, and as we got out of th...

So after months of planning on the 7th June I finally land in Sydney Australia, feeling oddly excited and very tired all at the same time. My good friend Bentley was there to collect me from the airport and so I soon forgot that I was on the other side of the world and got completely caught up in catching up on all we had missed with each other. On Saturday 8th June we got the ferry from Manly, where Bentley lives, over to Sydney. Being the keeno tourist that I...