Sydney is a trendy and very cosmopolitan city and of course has some great features such as the Harbour Bridge, Opera House and Darling Harbour area. However, that was it for us, a nice city. We enjoyed our time there but we probably suffered a reverse culture shock after the energy, buzz and excitement of Asia, especially Vietnam. This definitely gave us a shaded view of the city as we were probably still in 'culture' mode. We would have probably enjoyed it more if we went there first on our trip. It also didn't help that it was so bitterly cold...moan...moan. Anyway those are the only major negatives as it was a very clean city with lots of good bars, shopping and restaurants and it served its purpose for us as a stop over place for us to recapture our breath ready for our hectic month of adventures in New Zealand.

We statrted our time in Sydney with a tour of the 'rocks' area. Starting fron Playfair street (The Rocks Wajking Tour office), this helped us to get our bearings, was a really interesting walk and was very informative. Oh by the way the tousist info places are really good and very helpul. It's really easy to book stuff there, however if you're eligible for discounts such as student or YHA then get the info from there and go direct to the companies for the discounts. We found that out the hard way. We done some of the major things that have to be done such as the Harbour bridge and Opera House and took endless photos. Its really easy to get around Sydney with the ferries, buses and monorail and a lot of the places are walkable. If you're visiting and have time then take a walk between Bondi Beach and Bronte Beach for some good coastal views, also look out for the 'shanty house' on the cliff. We didn't manage it beacuse of time but we were recommended by a friend to visit the nearby Blue Mountains for great scenery and activities and also to get out of the city for a day. For Christine and Nick head down to Darling Harbour for lots of nice restaurants. Also take a ferry to Manly for a good beach and Taronga Zoo. You can get conbined ferry and activity passes. Enjoy!!