Written 10th September 2011

Hello Sydney!

I arrived in Sydney at around 6pm after my flight from Adelaide. I got the shuttle but from the airport and checked in at Base hostel, Kent street. I saved $7 a night by standing at the check in desk and booking it online… good job I did my research!

I chucked my stuff into my room and headed out. I went to darling harbour, sat looking at all the boats as I read through all the info about Sydney. I then came up with a plan for the next few days! I then walked all the way from Darling Harbour heading for the big 2! It took about 30 mins and I didn't really know where I was going, but then I saw it! I turned around a corner and in the middle of the street I let out a very loud, 'WOW!' It looked awesome! Sydney Opera House lit up and reflecting of the surrounding sea. I was well impressed, the reason I came to Australia lived up to my expectations. A little further down the road the Sydney Harbour Bridge came into view! It is equally impressive! I walked all the way around Circular Quay and then took some great night pictures. After taking it all in I headed back to the hostel and stopped by at a pub for a Chicken Schnitzel… all good! Back the hostel in the club next door it was Wednesday night Wet T-shirt competition. Needless to say I stayed for a few drinks…

The day after I woke up pretty early after a rough nights sleep due to the noise from the club. I then met one of my room mates, Alex from Germany. We had breakfast together and then made a plan. We walked to Sydney Tower first to get our bearings from the top. The view from the top was great, I didn't realise how much sea there is around this place! We wondered around taking pictures for ages before heading back down and back to the hostel via a visit to Darling Harbour in the day time. Back at the hostel we joined the OZ Party bus day trip to Bondi beach! For FREE they took you to Bronte Beach, cooked a BBQ, guided us on a walk to Bondi and then took us back to the hostel! Bargain! The bus was well cool, full DJ stand, lights and massive speakers! A great laugh! On Bronte Beach me and a few lads from the lakes played football after dipping our toes in the freezing cold water! We then walked around the coast along a path next to the cliff edge to bondi. The coast is fantastic! We arrived at Bondi and it was massive! The whole beach is in a really big cove and waves fly in… perfect for surfing in the summer! Then it was back to Base where we had a few drinks in the club and a bit of a dance before bed.

The next day, Day 3 in Sydney, we decided to get up early to join a free walking tour. However it was chucking it down! After breakfast I walked it back down to circular quay and on to the Opera House. I walked all the way around the fascinating building before going inside and booking a ticket! What better way to experience the Opera house than see something there. I managed to get a ticket smack bang in the middle of the stalls, usually a $115 ticket, for $30 because I am a student! Awesome or what! It was for Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony, Roman Holiday. After getting my ticket I was well chuffed, I then booked myself on the Opera house tour and was guided around for an hour. We went in both the smaller Opera hall and then bigger Concert hall. The Opera hall was pretty small to be honest and so was the Concert Hall. Both were impressive though but I couldn't wait to see it in action! One thing I did learn however was that after winning the design race the architect who finally started to build fell out with the government due to running over time and budget! This led to him resigning and returning to Denmark. The building was finished and unfortunately he never returned to see his masterpiece finished! Unbelievable! Now though, bridges have been built and his son is heavily involved with the building and its future. It really is an incredible building both from the inside and the outside!

After the tour I got the ferry over to Luna Park. Mission Uncle Mike (Toby's Uncle who lives in Sydney) was in full swing! I had carried with me around the world a family picture of the English Ropers on a mission to surprise Uncle Mike who is the chef at The Deck restaurant right under the bridge. I walked in and asked for Michael Roper and he appeared. Spitting image of Simon, Toby's dad! We had a good chat, I told him all the gossip about Toby at uni and about my time in York with the Ropers while I ate some great Squid from the menu. Just to prove I had delivered the picture we had a picture and he signed my flag! We both agreed that Toby should fly out to join me in Washington!... Get it booked Tobes! I then decided to walk up to the Bridge. I walked all the way across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, how cool is that, looking at amazing views of the city and the Opera house along the way. While walking across I decided that I wouldn't bother to do the bridge climb due to the fact I have a SKY DIVE booked for Sunday! Nobody at home knows about that though at the moment! How crazy am I, scared doesn't even enter the frame! I decided the views off the walkway were just as impressive and when I paid $6.50 to climb the pylon, instead of $208 to climb the bridge, the views got better. The sun even popped out at one point! I then managed to get a free bus drive after talking to the driver for a while and went back to the hostel for tea. I got a free meal voucher when I checked in so Steak and chips with a 'Scooner' (Small Pint) it was! I ate this as I watched the Rugby World Cup 2011 opening ceremony! My time in NZ is going to be crazy! So after tea I met up with 2 girls I met on the Opera House tour, they bought tickets too! So we all got changed and got the bus down. The Sydney Symphony Orchestra was brilliant, in the first half I sat in the stalls right at the front and second half I sat just over the stage so I could see into the orchestra. It was a great night and great music. A fantastic experience!

So I have just been chilling out in the TV room at the hostel and writing this before bed. An update on my tour is that I am changing my flights tomorrow to land in Auckland and then I will travel south instead of the other way round. I found a half price bus deal so I will save loads! J

Bed time now so ta ta for now!

X

Ps. Dave Kelly

So after a good nights sleep, one better than the first night anyway Alex and I got up early to do the Free walking tour of Sydney. It was a fantastic 4 hour tour of Sydney for Free! We saw everything from the Rocks, where some terraced houses are considered 'History', to beautiful Botanic Gardens with lots of bats and fantastic views over the city! Unfortunately during the tour I did one of my jumping pictures and out of my coat flew my sun glasses. Although I didn't know it at the time and now I have no sun glasses L I then went to the Sydney Aquarium, it was cool but just like any other aquarium… a place with lots of fish! In the evening Alex and I went to a revolving restaurant for a drink! Although $8.90 for a bottle of bear it was great to see the city from above in a very posh bar! We then walked down to the harbour to get some pictures and ended up having a full 1 hour convo with some French people I decided to speak to! I could actually have a conversation which was good to know!

Then it was back to bed before a big day on Sunday! However, we were convinced to go out for a drink, didn't take much, and we ended up in a pub full of Liverpool fans watching the football! Great!... not! So then it was time for bed as Sunday was going to be one hell of a day!

Tom x