Wednesday 18th March-

Last Wednesday we did a tour of the Great Ocean Road. We were picked up at 7.20am and taken to the mini-bus. We left at 8am and travelled for just over an hour to Torquay. The driver told us a lot about the area and the history on the way. Our first stop was at Bells Beach. It is a famous surf beach and is also in a film (that we can't remember now). We had a quick stop there for photos and then moved on to our next stop, which was a lighthouse where they filmed the kids programme 'Round the Twist'. We also saw Spit Point rocks here as well. The Great Ocean Road was very scenic and there were amazing views of the coastline. We saw some wild kangaroos at one place, and a couple of wild koalas too. The 12 Apostles were good to see, with nice views along the coastline too. The weather had turned into a nice sunny day and we had a wander around the area. We also saw other rock formations and one called London Bridge. There was a small, nice beach that we had a few minutes to explore as well. By the end of the day we were all very tired. It took a long time to drop everyone off at their hostels (and we were last, typical) so we didn't get back until 9pm.
On Thursday we had another wander around town and we went to 'Chill On'- an ice lounge! We went quite early, so we were the only ones in there. We were given big coats to wear, as well as 2 pairs of gloves, and Helen had to wear some big furry boots. We went into the bar and we had a free cocktail in a glass made of ice. There were a few ice sculptures in there, and the tables, chairs and bar were made of ice too. We didn't stay in there too long because it was very very cold!
On Friday we left for Sydney. Our bus wasn't until 7pm so we had the day to wander around, so we went to a cafe and the library and went round on the free tram. When we got the coach at 7, we realised we had the same driver as when we went from Adelaide to Melbourne, so we had to listen to a lot of the same jokes! We got to Sydney at about 7am. We had some breakfast and then got the train to Kings Cross and walked to our hostel. The trains in Sydney are double decker! We were both surprised when one pulled up! We were staying there for a week and then somewhere else for a week to get cheaper rates. Over the weekend we just chilled out and tried to sort ourselves out a bit. We looked on the internet for our next accommodation and found a cheap hotel so we booked it, but today when we checked it it had changed to be twice the price! We were very confused and annoyed and had to cancel it and had to spend the day trying to find somewhere else to stay.
Yesterday we went to Taronga Zoo. We got a train and ferry over there, with good views of the Opera house and harbour bridge. The zoo was very big and good. We saw lots of cool animals, especially the chimps and gorillas. There were loads of massive disgusting spiders in all the trees hanging over the paths around the zoo, so Helen did a lot of funny bent-over walking to avoid the cobwebs overhead. After the zoo we went for a look around the Opera house, which was very big and impressive.

Tuesday 24th March-

We didn't do much on Wednesday, we just chilled out. On Thursday we had a wander around town anhd went up Sydney Tower. It is the same height as the Eiffel Tower and the 360 degree views from the top were amazing. We saw all the landmarks from the top and were able to view the whole city. Another part of the tower is the Oztrek- a virtual ride that takes you all around Australia and explains the history.
On Friday we went to the IMAX cinema at Darling Harbour. It is the largest 3D cinema screen in the world. It shows special 3D films and we saw one called 'Under the sea'. With our beautiful 3D glasses on it was as if the fish and coral were right infront of us and things were swimming right at us. It was a cool experience and was also quite funny as it was narrated by Jim Carey. Our tickets allowed us to get a gelato ice-cream on a 2 for 1 offer so we got one after the film and sat by the harbour. We then went to the aquarium. It was better than we were expecting, as it had dugongs (like manatees) and a lot of grey nurse sharks in massive tanks that you can walk through.
On Saturday we moved to our next hostel in Newtown, a suburb of Sydney. We sorted ourselves out and then had a wander around the area. There are a lot of crazy and colourful people here, and the main streets has loads of cafes, shops and book shops. Sunday was another lazy day.
On Monday we got up quite early and got the train to Circular Quay and then got the ferry to Manly. It took about half an hour and the views of the city and harbour were amazing. When we got to Manly we had some fish and chips and ate them by the beach. We did some sunbathing and reading and watched the surfers. We had a look around Manly and the shops and then got the ferry back.
Today we posted some things back home and then we went to Market City, a shopping centre in China Town, with some factory outlet shops in it. We also went to the cinema in there and we watched 'Mall Cop', which was quite funny.