Last time around I had stayed in the northern beaches of Sydney for most of my trip. This time I had planned ahead a bit more and booked West End backpackers in the centre. A lot closer to all the action. The hostel wasn't really very good. Not the worst hostel I have stayed in, but it was not in the same league as Urban Central or the Wake-up hostel, where my sister was staying.

The first night Laura & I headed to the Sydney Opera House bar where I met up with a group of friends. It was like a mini Urban reunion in Sydney! We ended up heading to World bar in Kings Cross where it seemed the whole of Sydney was trying to get in. The night became very surreal. Firstly we were in a taxi and the driver took us the 'long' way. One of my friends decided to argue with the Taxi Driver that he was trying to blag us and annoyed the driver so much that he refused to take our money when we finally arrived at the bar, telling us just to 'Get out'! Then, when we got to the bar, the queue was huge. Something happened that has never happened to me before when queuing to get in a club. The bouncer asked us how many of us there were (there were three of us) and then marched us to the front of the queue and let us in. Amazing. Maybe it was my amazing charm and personality that got us in. Another version could be that I was with two girls and he fancied one of them. Either way we were in! The others in our group did not get in unfortunately, but it would have been rude not to go on for a drink after all that and we ended up staying in the World Bar for the rest of the night.

Laura went off and did her own thing during a lot of the days. I had done quite a lot of the tourist stuff and was more interested in chilling out and going out in the evening. We did go to Manly together one day which was nice. I had spent a few weeks u in Manly last year so it was nice to go back.

The main reason for going over to Sydney was for New Years Eve and the Fireworks. Last year was fantastic, this year was promising to be even better and more organised! A mate of mine was heading over to a place called 'Bulls Head Reserve' and watch the fireworks there, complete with BBQ and alcohol. I suggested to Laura that we go there as the view was apparently excellent. A few of Laura's friends from the hostel also came along. Last year I didn't know where I was going to be watching the fireworks, even on the morning of New Years Eve. This year it was timed to military precision. Too much military precision perhaps. We had 64 cans of beer and enough food to feed an army but we needed to get all this beer and food over to the reserve. I had heard it was a short walk from the train station so I came up with the fantastic idea of getting a 55 litre container to put the food and drink in and a massive bag of ice to keep our beverages nice and cold. A great idea you would think? Well it would have been if it would have been a short walk to the reserve. Walking from the hostel to Sydney central station was difficult enough. We had two cool bags full of beer, a 55 litre container full of beer and food and a rucksack between two of us and a 15 minute walk to negotiate. That 15 minute walk took about an hour with all the stuff. The container had wheels at the start of the journey but by the end all the wheels were broken off. I don't think it was designed to carry half an off licence in it! We eventually got to the reserve. I was sweating profusely and aching all over, but it was all worth it when we got there and saw the view. It was awesome. It rained a little bit but not enough ruin the day. If anyone does go to watch the fireworks in Sydney, Balls Head Reserve is a great place to watch them! Definitely the best New Years Eve I have ever had. Oh, and I know what you are wondering - did you finish all the beer? Of-course we did!

After a fantastic week in Sydney, I jumped on a plane and headed back to Melbourne…….