Ok, Ok, Ok....I hear the messages loud and clear: "where is the Sydney update?" "slacker" "what's he doing?" etc etc.... hehe. Well I've been in Sydney almost a week now, so I guess it's time to catch up.

I flew in on a 7 hour flight from Singapore last Saturday morning and my pick up was waiting for me at the airport - Greg. Great to be able to jump into a car and head straight off, rather than having to work out which is the best (cheapest) mode of transport to get me from the airport to where I'm staying for once!

A 45 minute drive from the airport in the south of the city, to Manly in the north and we were at Greg's pad. A nice little place it is too, with all the mod cons you would expect in a house with two lads living in it - a massive sofa and a 42" TV.

As Manly is blessed with a great beach, we headed off there for the afternoon on Saturday and did some snorkelling. I have to say I was used to the bath water temperatures of Thailand, so jumping into the sea felt like a Boxing Day dip at Saltburn at first. A few hours later, we headed back and had a BBQ with snags and rizzos (I get snags - sausages, but never heared of rizzos - burgers before) then went for a few beers in Manly with Greg's friends.

Sunday - my first round of golf for a while and it showed. Absolutely awful! But I enjoyed the game with two of Greg's work colleagues, other than the fact we got caught in a downpour for a couple of hours and I had no waterpoofs. Preparation is everything I say. The course was located next to the beach, so the scenery more than made up for my abject performance. Note to self: get to the driving range.

As Greg and his flatmate Steve were back at work on Monday, I took the opportunity to get aquainted with Manly. I went for my first run for about an hour. Yes I know it should've been longer judging by the gut on some of the Thailand photos! Nonetheless, I was pleased I didn't collapse along the promenade and the new sneakers seemed pretty good.

My idea of rush hour is sitting on the A1/M1 in a long queue of traffic in the dark. Rush hour here is sitting on a ferry that cruises into Sydney Harbour with the sun rising and parks underneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge, next to the Opera House. So taking the ferry into the city was certainly a pleasant experience on Tuesday. After meeting Greg for lunch, I wandered around Darling Harbour then visited the aquarium, home to all manner of amphibious creatures, including giant sting rays, sharks, crocs. Well worth the trip.

Since then, I've ventured slightly further afield, taking the car to Bondi Beach and also in a northerly direction along the coastline from Manly. I also took the clubs to a driving range to iron out those imperfections from Sunday. Lots more ironing to do though I think!

Although my legs are permanently stiff, I've done three runs this week and feel good for it. The conditions are favourable for getting out and about here, with great scenery, weather and places to run. I ran around Cenennial Park in the centre of Sydney, next to the SCG and footy stadium a couple of times on Wednesday. I'll certainly go and run there again.

Last night we went to see Shutter Island in a "Gold Class" cinema. The seats were like sitting 1st Class on a plane. We were served beers and food at our seats during the film which I thoroughly enjoyed. The reason I mention this is becasue we missed the first ten minutes of the film! So if anyone has seen it and would care to enlighten me and Greg as to how it began, it'd be much appreciated.

Ok I think that'll do for now. We're off to Kangaroo Valley this weekend and taking the camping equipment to stay overnight after canoeing up the river for three hours on Saturday. Plenty of mosquito repellant required. I'll let you know how we got on next time I write.