Sydney

Once again I've failed to blog for ages, so I'm going to give you the highlights of Sydney!

When we first got into Sydney Jamie (a friend from my GDL class) very kindly put us up in his place in Bondi. Bondi is quality - very much the the place to be. So much so that Paris Hilton was there! Rach and I got chucked out of the clothes shop we were looking in one day, so that Paris could have the shop to herself! Clearly she is following my fashion lead - like to think of myself as a bit of a trendsetter! Well i got a few pics (which ive put on the blog) of her through the shop window and a rubbish one as she was walking towards me (I got 1 eye!) Need to improve my camera skills as Al constantly tells me.

NYE was spent in a park in Blamaine overlooking the bridge and the harbour. The fireworks were amazing - though my camera couldnt really deal with them - so not many pics sadly. Had a fun night - went to a house party or 2 after!

Obviously I've done all the obligotory sightseeing - the pics probably show all that so I won't bore you. Manly beach was awesome - wattching all the surfer dudes do their stuff.

One of the highlights of sydney has to be our trip to Hunter Valley for a wine tasting tour. Will put the pics up of this shortly as they are on another disc. We hired a tandem bike and 2 singles and made our way around the various vineyards. Al and I had a bit of trouble on our tandem bike. He was convinced I wasnt peddling (I was!). We were a bit wobbly to begin with, and obviously the more we drank, the more wobbly we became. Like to think I learnt a lot about different wines. We made a few purchases and had most of them on the ride back! Later that night Brendo put on a barby for us. I was able to try a Kangaroo burger - which I loved. We also made him put a few shrimps on the barby. Well, its gotta be done.

Part of the wine tasting day was a trip to a wildlife park, where we saw kangaroos, koalas etc. pics). Was awesome to get so close to them and feed some. We were also able to see a spider 'milking' session, where they milk the venom from the spiders in order to use it as a cure to a bite. Really fascinating to watch.

Rachel and I went for a trip to the Blue Mountains, just outside Sydney. I was able to meet my Great Aunt Avis for the first time. Her and Bill were both very hospitable and gave Rach and I a huge meal! Very much appreciated! It was lovely to meet both of them. The Blue Mountains themselves were spectacular. Really breathtaking. The pics are probabaly the best way of describing the views. Defo recomend a trip if anyone is ever in sydney!

On one of our final nights we had a large one in the city center. Randomly bumped into 2 of my old neighbours from home - Nick and Andrew, along with Nick's friend Phillip. Very very random!! Mum - have a look at the pics.

Next stop New Zealand...... xx