Day 83 and we were ready to leave Kerrie and Peters place and head into the the centre of Sydney and stay in Maze Backpackers on Pitt Street. We would be spending about 12 nights there into the new year. After a brief stint at packing we had breakfast and then got a lift from David and his mate to the train station. At Hurstville we got a train to central and then walked to Maze. It is called Maze for a reason, there are loads of corridoors and it is very easy to get lost. We checked into room Blue 26, a 6 bed dorm, with an empty 6th bed. At check in we paid a modest $324 for the 12 nights, plus a key deposit which was a fair bit. Once we had all unpacked we went for a wander round the city. We walked to The Rocks which is near an area called Millers Point which we were all keen to see. After getting slightly lost we headed towards circular quay and the opera house. We had what is now becoming a customary Pie from the Hole in the Wall Pie shop. We ate the food in Customs House where my Mum used to work when she was out here in Australia. After a while we walked back towards Maze, via Woolworths and bought some food for dinner, Chicken Stir fry. It was still earlyish so we sat around and chilled out before the girls cooked dinner. It was awesome, as Coops and Helen kept up their excellent run of meals. After dinner we sat in the TV room (well us 3 lads did) and watched South Park with other people (the Cartoon Wars episode). Before bed we each went on the internet to send a few emails, and a thank you to K+P. We got to bed about 1am in the end after a long day.

Day 84 and it was Christmas Eve. Though it didnt really feel like it to much, it was slightly overcast, not to many decorations and not the same Christmas spirit you get in England. We all awoke by 9ish, and we told Coops about her crazy Sleep talking. This time she shouted "No No No No!!" in her sleep in the middle of the night. Mental. We also had a new room mate. Ben from Swindon had turned up. He seemed like a quality chap but we didnt see much of him all day. Me and Burns went to the TickeTec outlet and bought tickets for the 3rd Test between Australia and South Africa on the 3rd January. While we were doing this, the other 3 bought some food for lunch, and food for Christmas day. We also got some beers and some Gin. After all the food was stocked away we walked to the Opera House for a tour but when we got there we realised it was shut, which was a bit annoying. While we were by Circular Quay we got yet another Pie (well Sausage Roll) and then went to the Apple Mac Store. Its a 3 storey glass building with hundreds of Mac's which are free to use and people just use the internet, so we all did. After this we spent a few hours dossing around the hostel drinking some beer with Ben before we left for our Christmas Meal at the Shark Hotel which have an agreement with our hostel. About 200 people descended on the Shark and had drinks while we queued up for the food. It was a buffet but you were only allowed up once, so had to grab as much food as possible. We all stacked our plates really high and had an almighty feast. Coops couldn't finish hers so we ate the remains. After a few games of P&A we played some pool and watched as there were a number of Christmas games going on the stage and the girls even took part in 'Pass the Present' which Coops nearly won a bottle of wine on! At about 1am we headed back to the hostel and went to bed knowing it was already Chrismas Day.

Day 85 = Christmas Day and just like Christmas Eve it didn't feel like it! Though this time the weather was good. There were no cars on the road. For Breakfast I had Cheesy bread and a cup of tea, classy. After Brekkie we exchanged Secret Santa gifts. I got a bracelet, a rubix cube key ring and a Toothpick Holder... Long story! Everyone did well though on Presents, Burns got a Backscratcher and some Visors (which he always goes on about), Luke got 2 litres of chocolate Milk and a small Checkers game, Helen got a Hand fan, some earings, and a card game, and Laura got a Coffee book and something else I cant remember. We headed for Hyde Park and got the Bus to Bondi, complete with our Santa hats and shorts (so didn't feel like Christmas). It was packed with people all doing the same and when we got to Bondi it was manic. The beach was packed with people with picnics and santa hats. We started out on the grassy bank and had a few beers and some sarnies. After we finished the beers we went onto the beach (where no Alcohol was allowed) and started chilling out in the sun. The weather was awesome, really hot. After a while we needed to cool down and all headed for the sea. It was freezing and the girls struggled to deal with the cold. Helen was really funny and we almost had to push her in! The waves were huge and kept wipeing us out, espec when we weren't ready for them. The day followed the same pattern of eating sarnies, sun bathing and charging into the sea, aka The Hoff from Baywatch. A plane in the sky also wrote the words "Call Mum' like the red arrows do by spreading White mist over the skyline. We got the bus home about 6-7pm and all showered realising we all were slightly burnt. After the shower Laura and Helen cooked a superb Christmas Dinner consisting of Mash, Turkey, Carrots, Green Beans, and Stuffing. After dinner we all went to seperate phones to phone home (which was about 11am UK time) and speak to family and friends. Before bed we played some more cards in the room and hit the hay.

Day 86 being Boxing Day, and yet again it was a scorcher, not a cloud in sight. We got up early as it was the start of the Sydney to Hobart boat race which began at Circular Quay. We made it down to the Opera House about 830am but alas, there were no boats about. On the way back we stopped by the Pie shop, and got Ben in on the act, though he was not impressed with his Sausage Roll. Him and Luke had a small debate about whether it was moist or not. Back at Maze we packed our bags for a day at the beach and headed for Coogee on the bus. The beach was perfect, and the weather was even hotter than Bondi. We didn't make the mistake of not applying enough sun cream this time and all were covered before we got there. We settled down to some quality book reading, Ipod listening and general lazyness in the hot Christmas sun. The sea was just as good as Bondi with massive waves crashing down and taking everyone out. Whilst on the beach we saw the boats from the race go past on the horizon, which was quite a sight, also whislt another plane wrote the 'Call Mum' message in the sky. The plan for lunch had been to have a BBQ on the free grills on the beach, but as the queue was so long we decided to have another Aussie tradition, Fish and Chips. The place we got this from was called 'Chish and Fips' but was well worth the $9. After a wander around the surf shops, where Luke bought yet another set of shorts, we all got ice cream / milkshakes and got the bus back to Pitt Street. Once back about 5pm, we decided to nap, me and Burns especially as we would be up all night watching Boxing Day football. After what felt like 5 minutes, the girls woke us at 8pm when we had the hotdogs and onions from the Lunch we never had. After dinner me and Burns headed to the local internet cafe where we placed a small wager on the football, and accumulator which could have won us nearly 2k from a 2.50 bet! We headed into the shark hotel about 11pm and started the footy marathon. Man Utd won the first live game, which kept our accumulator bet alive, but on the other screen Spurs could only draw which ruined our hopes of lots of money. Liverpool easily beat Botlon and by the time 4am and the Arsenal game came around we were pretty much the only people left. This was a massive hotel and only 2 people in the entire bar designed for hundreds. Arsenal were 2-1 up with 10 minutes left when a stupid security guard kicked us out. Burns rushed to the hostel to hear the end result and unluckily for him, it ended 2-2. We bought some food and drink and got into the room about 7am which is when we were due to wake the others as we were heading on a road trip to the Blue Mountains.

Day 87 and after no sleep all night, me, Burns and the others with our packed bags, headed to Thrifty rent a cars and got our Suzuki Swift for the day. The plan was to drive to the Blue mountains, about 100 miles west of Sydney. As soon as Luke started driving, Me and Burns started sleeping in the back with Helens shoulders being used as cushions. I awoke to find us at a place called Wentworth falls. We stopped, and had a picnic Brunch and saw some epic views across the valleys. You could really see why they were called the blue mountains as the Blue tinge was seen all over the hills and horizon. Our next stop was a sort of theme park called scenic world which had a cable car and sky train. We asked the security guard what the prices were like but he was a proper red neck and didnt know. We went in anyway and bought a ticket for the railway and cable car. The train down the valley is the steepest train in the world, and was actaully really good. It felt like a theme park ride as you were going pretty vertical face first down a cliff. We walked the route around the bottom of the valley and got the cable car back to the top (in 2 seperate trips as the girls for some reason didnt get on the first car so only Luke and Burns went up). Burns bought a t-shirt from the shop as he finally was getting over the fact he only had about 3-4 to wear. A short trip later and we were in a town called Blackheath where we had a tea/coffee and recharged the batteries (I was starting to feel exhausted). Another short trip and we took some photos at Govetts Leap where the best view of the day was found. AS we drove out, we realised Luke had gone the wrong way up the entrance road (which was one way) - he kept on driving though as he couldn't really turn around. The drive back to Sydney took about 90 mins and was filled with thunder and lightning. Luke and I dropped the car off, having let the other 3 out near the hostel with the bags. Once the car had been signed in, we had the task of walking about 10 blocks in a thunderstorm in shorts and a t-shirt. We resorted to 'Borrowing' an umbrella from the car company and walked back, hunched under a tiny umbrella. For dinner we offered to cook the girls baked potato and beans. This didnt go as we planned as we had a few beers and got sloppy with our cooking skills. The kitchen had 3 microwaves, 2 of which barely worked so our timings were all out. To make matters worse we didnt have a can opener for the beans, so we spent a good 20 minutes plying them open with a pen knife. After about an hour! we managed to serve the food and the girls didnt seem to mind to much bless them. I headed to bed as I was exhausted whereas Luke and Burns played cards until the early hours and had far to many beers.