On arrival to Sydney we headed straight to Manly for two nights where we spent our time walking along the coastal walk (well a short distance of the way anyway) and lazing on Manly beach and the coves on the other side of the peninsula. All in all it was a good few days of relaxation!
Back in the city we spent our first day doing the rock walk and visiting the Harbour Bridge and Opera House. Although we didn't do the Bridge Climb we did go up the Pylon lookout and walked halfway along the bridge. At lunch time we lazed in the park overlooking the Opera House - it was very peaceful and relaxing, and a great view!! Finally we finished our day with a walk through the Botanical Gardens and Hyde Park via St Mary's Cathedral and the Anzac memorial. In the evening we headed up the Sydney Eye where we watched the sunset and got to see the city both in the light and dark.
The following day we met up with Sandra, a friend we had met in the Elephant Sanctuary. She took us round the Olympic Park which was quite interesting, especially for Em who could see how it differed from the London one. We also got to see the rowing course and the canoe course.
From here we headed to Featherdale Wildlife Park which was awesome!! We got to feed and stroke Kangaroos and also stroke and cuddle Koalas! =] There were also other animals there like Tasmanian devils and Dingoes etc. It is much more personal than a zoo and was a great experience.
To finish our day we feasted on a 1.2 kg tomalhawk steak which was soooo good and definitely made up for the lack of meat we had had back in the elephant sanctuary.
For our third day we ventured to the fish markets where we managed to sample some smoked salmon. Although we didn't buy any fish, we did buy some big strawberries covered in chocolate!! From the fish market we headed over to Darling harbour via the Chinese gardens. This is a fairly modern complex with lots of attractions nearby.
We decided to go to Sydney Aquarium, which was by far the best aquarium either of us have been to; the Dugongs were really cool!
That evening we decided to head to Kings Cross for a look around before going up to the opera house and harbour bridge to get some awesome photos of them lit up!
The next day saw an early start to get up to the Blue Mountains National Park. Here we went on several long walks, totalling well over 10km for the day! These included walks around Wentworth falls, Echo Point, Gordon falls and Leura cascades. Whilst in Katoomba we also visited Scenic World, which has three rides giving spectacular views of the surrounding scenery. The most impressive of these was the worlds steepest railway, which goes down a 52 degree incline!!
We decided to have a more relaxing day the following day and headed to The Domain, in the Botanical Gardens to set up camp for the Christmas Carols. Arriving at 11am we had 9 hours of relaxation before the show started. It's safe to say that these are the busiest Christmas Carols we have ever been to! They were also the best Christmas carols we've ever been to!
Our final day in Sydney city was spent lazing around and going out for a nice Japanese lunch with Emma and Lee (our friends from Vietnam).
Christmas Eve on Bondi was gorgeous weather and we spent the day topping up our tans on the beach. Of course it was typical that the weather on Christmas Day was horrendous. In true English style is rained all day!!!! Luckily for us our hostel put on an awesome Christmas Day. Emma and Lee headed over from the city and we started the day with egg and sausage breakfast, shortly followed by Bucks Fizz and from then the wine was in constant flow. Christmas lunch consisted of BBQ chicken, salad, bread, chocolate Yule log and ice cream and of course, more wine! The four of us then decided we weren't going to let the weather beat us so we walked down to the beach for a very quick dip in the sea. We were even lucky enough to meet H from Bondi Rescue! After a warm shower and treating ourselves to some Brie and crackers, smoked salmon and cream cheese, pâté, sausage rolls and Christmas cake we headed back to the main part of the hostel for the evening party where there was, surprise surprise, more free wine! It's safe to say that most of Boxing Day was spent in bed! Despite an extremely different Christmas, it was definitely a very good one!
On the 27th we said good bye to Sydney and flew to Melbourne, which would be our home for the next 3 months. After an evening of relaxation, we got up early the following morning as James had kindly treated Em to a day at the MCG! Unfortunately this turned into half a day as a woeful Sri Lanka side were obliterated by Australia. This was time enough to get a sense for the atmosphere at the ground and see several beach balls popped by a rather grumpy man who got showered with beer for his fifth assault on a beach ball by a drunk woman.
For the next few days we were based at a friend of Em's mum and were dog sitting until after the new year. This was more than a fair trade given this house has a pool and spa! We spent the two days preceding New Year's Eve wandering round the city centre as well as St Kilda, Prahran and South Yarra. On the first of these days we went to the Moonlight Cinema in the Royal Botanical Gardens to see Taken 2. Being able to sit outside until 11.30 watching a film and having bats flying overhead was definitely not something we are used to!!
For New Years Eve we went to Flagstaff gardens where we were able to get a great view of the awesome Melbourne fireworks! Unfortunately this was an alcohol free event (Australia and their stupid alcohol bans!) so we started early with pink champagne and sausage and egg sandwiches by the spa before we left!
New Years Day was a very lazy day, again spent by the pool. We even decided to celebrate British New Year at 11am our time with a nice glass of wine. On the 2nd January James moved into his apartment to begin his cricket training and Em went in search of a job in the city after her au pair job fell through last minute.
Here begins a new chapter of our travels which will be motivated by cricket for James and a job (hopefully!) for Em, for the next 12 weeks. Stay tuned to find out how we're both getting on!
Take care!
X x x
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