Well here we go, my first blog entry. So I'm a week into my trip and it only feels like a few days also I cannot believe im actually the wrong way up on the otherside of the world.

It all kicked off on Monday 6th May at Heathrow airport where I said my goodbyes to Mum and Adrian and headed through airport security. The 24hr flight wasnt as bad as I thought. Probably due to the fact that for the first leg of the trip to Dubai not only did I have the 3 seats next to the window to myself, there was no one in the 4 seats in the middle nor the 3 windows seats on the other side, leaving me with a whole row of 10 seats and just enough room for someone my length to stretch out.

I landed in Sydney around 11pm the following day and caught a train straight from the airport into central station, convienently opposite my hostel. Due to the jet lag I managed around 2 hours sleep in the night. But was up at 8am knowing that what I had been waiting to see for 8 months was only a 15 minute walk away. Of course, as any tourist would I headed straight to the harbour for some views and then headed back to the hostel for some breakfast and to meet the poeple in my dorm.

My first day was spent with a tour guide from the hostel and a bunch of other backpackers on a sunny walk from Coogee to Bondi Beach which was incredible. Later that day the guys in my dorm introduced me to goon and then headed to side bar, the night club underneath the hostel.

With a slight goon hangover the next day I was still up early and my dorm decided they wanted a day at the beach, I however with little time in Sydney and with such great weather wanted to see some sights so headed to Cirqular Quay for a better look at the bridge and the Opera House with bright blue skies and then caught a ferry across the harbour to Toronga Zoo. Where i managed to see all sorts of animals including Wallabies, Kangaroos, Koalas, Zebras, Elephants, Lions, Tigers, Gorillas and many more. After walking around the city all day and barely sitting down I spent the evening watching a film with some guys in the hostel.... Asleep.

My last day in Sydney I started early and was the first one to wake and so headed downstairs to check into my flight for the following day to Auckland The night before, whilst having dinner I started chatting to a Welshman called Gareth who had spent 8 months travelling SE Asia and the whole east coast of Australia. We ended up spending the day together both being lone travellers and so walked through Darling Harbour around The Rocks and through the Royal Botanical Gardens where he suggested we went to get pictures with both the Opera house and the bridge in (Excellent choice and well worth the trek from the otherside of the city). We headed back to Darling Harbour to see the acquarium and then back to circular quay by which time the sun had gone down and managed to get the night photo of the harbour bridge pictured above.

The guys in my dorm decided to head out to The Rocks for a night out however having to be up at 4am to check out and get to the Airport in time for my flight To Auckland I decided and early night was probably what I needed. By the time 4am came, I was in the lobby checking myself out and in walk the rest of the dorm from the night out. From the sounds and sights of them coming through the door, it was a good one.

I arrived in Auckland around 1pm and was picked up from the airport by my cousin Karl and his wife Alice who I had last seen just over 2 years ago back in England before they emigrated to NZ. On an awful NZ winter day of blue skies and 19-20 degreesC, Karl and Alice showed me Mission Bay via One tree Hill (incredible views over the whole of Auckland) for a beer and some late lunch overlooking the Sea. In the evening we headed to Eden Park to see a Super Rugby game between the Auckland Blues and the Melbourne Rebels. Where the Auckland blues won 36-32. A really great start to NZ.

All in all I've had an incedible time in my first week of travelling and very much looking forward to catching up with Charlie when he arrives in NZ next week.

Another blog will be coming shortly and some more pictures hopefully.

Much Love

Olly x