Blog time...

After leaving Byron Bay, Ciara and I arrived in Sydney tired and weary after 10 hours or so on the coach. We met up with Ciara's friend Jennie who had travelled an equally long distance up from Melbourne. Together we caught the train out of Sydney Central and up to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, about a 2 hour journey from Sydney. It didnt take long to realise why so many people vist the area. Almost as soon as we'd left the station and the train started to weave upwards into the mountains, the views all changed and the hustle of the city was all forgotten.

Our hostel was a stones throw from the station and we checked in for the next 4 nights for the xmas period. The place was quite impressive in terms of cleanliness and facilities, free internet, laundry and plenty of sofas in a large common space downstairs. Definately one of the better hostels so far. First things first, we hit the bottleshop where i picked up a nice cold case for myself seeing as we were there for quite a while. Stubby holder at the ready! I think the rest of the day was spent just settling in and playing card games over a few drinks on the balcony in the evening. Next day we decided to get the most out of our time in the area and book a tour. We booked a 3 day excursion which involved a hop on-hop off bus tour of the Blue Mountains area as well as a cable car ride straight across the valley, a near vertical train journey down a mountain side and another cable car back up.

First on the tour we went to Echo Point which is probably the best and most popular spot for pictures of the valleys. Once again, the camera can only show you so much. The views are spectacular. You have what they call the 3 Sisters there too, 3 massive rocks which according to aboriginal folklore are 3 sisters who went against their fathers wishes and married men from another tribe. For their sins they were turned to stone. Apparently. Must've been some big women! Miles away in the distance we could also see a bushfire throwing thick plumes of smoke skyward. We were told that it wasnt a real danger, they mostly burn themselves out. After that, back on the bus and over to the cable car. The middle of the car itself is electro glass, the guy flicked a switch and it went clear giving us some cracking views. Only trouble was, the car went from one side to the other pretty quick and due to some small kids being in the way in the car i didnt get half the shots I could have done. They charge $10 a time to go over!

Next was the worlds steepest train journey down the side of one of the mountains, 52 degrees! You have to really lean back to stay upright, it was good fun. It was used back in the day to transport coal/workmen/tools up and down the side when the mining industry was at its peak. Afterwards, we took a 30 min walk round the area where the old mine entrances are, they have one of the original log cabins that the miners used to live in, well maybe a replica but it looked pretty authentic! Along the way are lots of discarded machinery and tools strewn down the side of the hills. Lastly we took a cable car diagonally back up to the top of the mountain where we hopped back on the bus. We stopped off at a handmade chocolate shop wher Ciara and Jennie bought some expensive and very rich chocs whilst I overindulged on the freebies on the counter. I only stopped when the owner asked me if there was anything I would like. I just pointed at the girls and said that they wanted to buy some, ha ha. Afterward we went for tea and scones in a teapot museum. How very civilised eh? The place was like every grandmothers house that has ever existed being rolled into one room.

That evening we did our Xmas shop for what was to be the most different Xmas meal I've ever had (apart from the curry me and Evel cooked a year or two back) and the most obvious choice for Oz - a Barbie!! Later we sank some beers and got merry with it, a bit too merry as my mouth tasted like i'd been licking the inside of my sandals the next day!

Next morning we got up, Ciara and I exchanged presents and had breakfast. It didnt feel at all like xmas despite it being misty and cold outside. We were up in the mountains after all! We all grabbed our food and beers and caught the bus down to a park area with public BBQ's. They're all over Oz in the parks, great idea and easy to maintain if everyone does their bit and cleans them afterward. Unluckily for us, the previous people didnt but no biggy. We sank a couple of cold ones to whet our appetite and got the food on the go, then it started raining! Bummer. We had 'Kissmas', basically we cooked our food, drank beer and listened to Kiss on Ciaras Ipod speaker, good times...The rest of the afternoon was spent sheltering til the rain died off before hopping on the bus back to the hostel. That evening I called home and spoke to everyone pretty much at the crack of dawn back in the UK.

Boxing Day - our third day - we visited the Jenolan Caves, some of the largest limestone caves in Australia. They're a good hour or two's drive from where we were staying and on the way there we could hardly see a thing as it was just mist in every direction. Our coach driver, Garth (yeah, seriously!) was cracking lame jokes all the way there so we were glad to hop off and start the cave tour. Along with 50 or so other tourists from other groups we were led into the cave and our guide talked us through how they formed over millions of years as well as showing us where past explorers from the 19th century had dug steps into the rock and burnt their names - which are still visible today - into the ceiling in places, even with the year - 1869. We spent about 90 mins in the caves while the guide played some atmospheric music and played with different lights for effect, some of them neon, even turning them completely out at one point which was cool, I couldnt see an inch in front of me! After taking what seemed like a million and one pictures we were led outside again. I've got tons of pictures but dont worry, I'll only be putting up the best ones, they could prove quite boring to someone who wasnt there.

The next hour was spent killing time hanging around in the rain before getting back on the coach. I made the mistake of wearing my sandals and shorts and by now my toes were starting to get a chill. I got some more cool pics of the surrounding river which is a murky green from all the lime in the water. That evening I finished the case of beer before crashing out- not bad - 3 days!

Next morning we got the train back down into Sydney before myself and Ciara went to the hotel we had booked and Jennie went to find her hostel. We had left it way too late to book a place to stay for New Years and ended up taking a room in a hotel/convention centre. The place was as generic a hotel room as you can get, I half expected Alan Partridge to leap out - AHAA!! Plus, it was a 40 minute train journey from Sydney city centre in a dingy suburb called Bankstown full of takeaways and grey concrete buildings. We paid over the odds for the room but it was clean and comfortable, fridge, TV, microwave, swimming pool (not in the room)

As the area has a largely Lebanese community it is full of Lebanese takeaways, one of them was right next door. Ciara loves Falafel so we indulged in a kebab on our first night. The next 7 days were mostly spent commuting in and out of Sydney, a boring train journey to do every day. We explored Sydney and tried to find our bearings and after a few days I was still getting lost! One evening we went out for a buffet for Jennies birthday along with a lot of folks she had met in Melbourne, it was a fun night but buffets being what they are, having a second plate didnt leave me with a lot of room to drink! One or two days later the weather picked up and we headed over to Manly beach on the ferry. A great journey with some amazing views of the harbour and boats passing by. Manly beach itself was heaving, everybody had the same idea as us I think! We spent the day just lounging in the sun not really doing a lot before getting the ferry back.

Before we knew it it was NYE and we headed out early that morning to make sure we'd get a decent spot to see the fireworks. We showed up with drinks at 11.30am and sat on Observatory Hill at Millers Point - a great spot to see the bridge. I'd drank all my beers by about 2 or 3ish so then we got started on the goon (cheap box wine that strangely enough states that meat and fish are used in the process of making it - odd...) which doesnt taste too good but it gets you there! The hours passed and after the vintage plane flyby at 5pm which wasnt as good as I had hoped for, the 9pm fireworks started and everyone on the hill was in full swing. A girl that was sat with a crowd next to us had passed out at about 6ish and had rolled down the hill into pretty much everyone by this point, ha ha.

I set my camera on sports mode so I could pick the best shots - I must have taken a hundred or so, half of them were just smoke. Later we headed down to the street nearer the bridge for the 12pm fireworks which were even better than the earlier ones.

The following day Ciara and I both felt dead fragile but had to head out as we'd booked tickets to go and see Avatar in 3D at the Imax. The film was awesome but was murder on my hungover tired eyes, especially in 3D, ha ha. Afterward we went back chilled in our room and watched Family Guy which was showing all day on one cable channel - win!

On the 2nd Jan Ciara and I went out for our last proper sit down meal at a Lebanese restaurant in the area where i must have eaten my weight in Falafel and bread. The rest of the day was spent just chilling in the the hotel pool and jacuzzi. It was nice after all of the manicness of NYE just to do naff all.

The 3rd was spent much as the day before, nothing to shout about really, we just chilled and did nothing and got packed ready to leave the hotel early the next morning as Ciara was flying to Peru. We were up at 5am the next day and headed to the airport where we said our goodbyes. I wont go into it on here but I will say that we've both had an absolutely amazing time away together and we've had quite a bit of an adjustment to make!

From there, I got the train down to Wollongong, about an hour or so south from Sydney along the coast. The train travelled pretty much right next to the coast and the views were impressive. Australia's coastline is some of the best I've ever seen without doubt. I checked into my new hostel in Wollongong, a family run place, not the cleanest but very friendly. In the backyard there are a lot of Balinese benches around a massive wooden table where everyone meets up in the evening, a good place to bring everyone staying there together. It seems that you can have too good a time around the table as a bunch of 9 or 10 drunk Aussies found out one night when they'd been having a sing song with a guitar at the tops of their voices til the wee hours. I think one of the strings went ping when they looked round and saw there were 3 coppers stood there, the neighbours had called them. To their credit they let them have one more song, good on em! My room was OK except for the flys! As its the summer, they're thriving and they'd land on my nose and ear while I was sleeping, irritating...

My first day there I didnt really feel like chatting to anybody, I went to the beach and just did nothing. After a couple of days I perked up a little, made the effort and got chatting with some cool people, a Dutch guy, Max, a Swedish guy, Emil, along with some others. We had some beers in the evening around the table and had a good laugh. I wasnt surprised that I was the oldest one there either! Only thing was, by the time I had met with some good people, I had already decided to go to Melbourne. As I had booked my ticket and accomodation, I was bound to it which was a pity as I started getting settled in at the hostel.. I wont be so hasty with my next move, I need to relax into each place I think. In SE Asia we were moving constantly every 3 or 4 days so I need to break the habit. Wollongong was OK, pretty ordinary city really. I went down to the harbour once or twice and got some pictures of the area and just tried to relax. Its amazing how much free time you have on your hands when you're on your own! I've been used to being busy as a couple and have yet to adjust to filling the day on my own.

So yesterday I caught the overnight coach down to Melbourne which with stops took 15 hours. I saved on paying for a bed for the night but didnt sleep as I was sat upright and I still havent. It seemed a waste to spend the sunniest, hottest day in weeks in bed snoozing. I've been out and had a wander around Melbourne sussing out the layout but I can write all that some other time...

I'm tired and need my bed!

Goodnight!