Hello again. . . . Well I have been in Sydney now for about 6 days visiting my very good friend Xanthe, but before I tell you all about it, there was a few bits left from Rainbow Beach.

After coming back from Fraser Island and having the party, I was up again early and off kayaking in search of dolphins, manatees and stuff (remember our manatees Jen?). Pete decided to risk missing his bus to come along. . . . To be fair it wasn’t that good, due to the weather conditions. We couldn’t go to the normal spot, so drove up to another spot and basically drifted down stream to where we got picked up. I still enjoyed it, getting out on the water. . . .Needless to say we didn’t really see anything, well up close anyway! We did see some dolphins in the distance and a few Manta Rays, but that’s all.

We ran a little late getting back and Pete did miss his bus, he didn’t seem to bothered as he was having a good laugh with me! We got back and I was off for surfing lessons later that afternoon, so Pete sorted himself out and got on the lesson with me and we were off again! Enjoyed the surfing and yes I did get up there, but had pulled my hamstring a few days earlier (Don’t ask – a drunken incident). So yeah, having a weak hamstring and surfing are probably not a good combination! Needless to say, I ripped it again, so ended my surfing! Aaarrrrgggghhhhhhh.. . . . . . .!

That night, Spot the surfing instructor / Kayaking guy invited us to his for a BBQ, which we kindly accepted. It made a nice change of scenery and we had a good laugh, as ever! We met a lot of new people, new arrivals to the hostel and had a relatively chilled out night, as we were up early again to get checked out and off again on travels towards Brisbane. . . . !

So Sydney! Having such a great time here. . . . Very different again as you can probably imagine. . . . Big city and doing more of the local thing. Meeting up with Xanthe again has been so much fun! She has showed me lots of the usual touristy spots, the Opera House, Harbour Bridge, etc. . . But also we have just chilled out, had a great laugh, some nice food and lots of drinks!

Tamzyn, Xanthe’s sister also visited, so we all went out on Saturday and celebrated Paddy’s day. . . . Yes, I did drink lots of Guinness! Tamzyn bailed too early for us, so we went for a really nice meal, then met up with two of Xanthe’s friends Tara and Rebecca. . . They were cool, we had a good laugh, some more beers and a bit of boogie in one of the pubs. . . . ! I think we all got a little drunk!

On Sunday I went for lunch with the Xanthe and Tamzyn’s ma n pa, was really nice to meet them and we had a good chat and laugh. As something of a momentous thing, Sydney was celebrating 75 years of the Harbour Bridge and as a one off were closing it to cars and letting people walk across, so we did. . . . ! How coolio. . . . . Thousands of people turned up and I felt quite honoured to be there and to be apart of it. We then chilled out around the city and headed back home.

Monday night was fun as Xanthe had got us tickets to go and see the Sydney Roosters play the South Sydney Bunnies. . . Big Rivals in Rugby League! As a treat, I offered to cook for some of the girls before the game, so Leanne and Tara came round. . . . Yeah yeah, the food was excellent and everyone wa happy and ready for the game. . . . Tara supports South Sydney and the others support the Roosters, so you can imagine the banter that was going on!

We got to the game (slightly late) and got some beers before sitting down. . . . We sat close to the pitch, so had a great view of the action. . . . Unfortunately the Roosters were not on form, maybe because it was the first game of the season, but they were not good, within the first 20 minutes or so, they were to try and conversions down 12 point to 0. . . . Xanthe was not happy! Then the heavens opened and it rained on us! Doh! Leanne, however had anticipated this and bought some plastic Ponchos from the $2 shop. . . . Attractive as they were, they kept us reasonably dry! The game continued in the same vane, although the Rooster did get one try and conversion, they lost. . . . Can’t remember the score, but clearly that is irrelevant, hey Xanthe? As we were leaving the stadium, we saw Russell Crowe, yes the Russell Crowe, film star, etc. . . . . Yes ladies, he was looking pretty hot. . . Oooops, sorry didn’t take a photo! Hehehe. . .

After the game and all the excitement of see Russell Crowe we had to drown out sorrows. . . .Our was really feeling it and got into supporting them, so was gutted to see them lose! Many beers were drank and then a bottle of wine when we got home! Hmmmmm. . . . Heads gonna hurt!

Didn’t feel that bad in the morning, so we headed off as planned on a walk from Coogee Beach to Bondi beach, a walk that takes about 2 hours. . . We got some food and had a bit of a picnic on the way at Clovelli Beach (I think that’s what it was called). The weather was a bit up and down, but it was a really nice day! As a treat I promised to cook Xanthe some food again when we got home! We popped to the shops on the way back and I made traditional Bangers and Mash. . . . Well a slightly more posh version. . . . The shops finest sausages, cheddar mash, loads of fresh veg and onion / mushroom gravy! Yum yum. . . . !

We chilled out in the evening and watch a movie before crashing out again!

It’s now Wednesday and unfortunately Xanthe has had to go back to work today. We are going out tonight though as we have tickets to a Jazz thing, so really looking forward to that! I leave tomorrow to head back to Melbourne as Emelie is over for a few weeks, so can’t wait to see her! We have some things planned. . . Me, Em and Chrissie are gonna head up the Great Ocean Road to Apollo Bay for the night, then back to Melbourne for a few birthday bashes! Me and Em will then head up to Sydney for a few days before going to Brisbane to see some other friends. . . !

So Ciao for now people. . . . Sing happy birthday to me on Saturday and I’ll speak to ya again soon x x x