The last few days have been hectic - Yesterday (Weds) we went into Sydney City Centre to get all the admin stuff done (medicare cards, bank accounts etc) and then we went for lunch in Darling Harbour which was great, but kind of like Canary Wharf in London! Was even very windy, so didn't feel too far from home :o) In the afternoon we went to a wildlife world place - and yes, I saw my first real (as in, not stuffed) koala! OMG I was transfixed - they are SO cute looking and all sleepy, just kind of wrapped around the trees. Gorgeous! Just spent the evening hanging out in the hostel with Hesta, Becky and Ffion, and met a Canadian girl called Nicole who is cool. Today we've been to Bondi beach! I thought ... read more

I am back in one piece!!! Went up to Boat Harbour for the day. Had the whole beach for our group as it was a private beach - fab! We got taken in a 4x4 along the beach which was great. Surfing was SOOOOO much fun!!! We had to wear wetsuits though, rah! Looked pretty stupid, but it was a great day - I managed to stand up and surf (for 2 seconds) before wiping out :o) So hot though- but really windy so there were some great waves. The people in my group are so nice, and range from 18-30 so it's a good mix. ... read more

Well, the flight here was bearable, although I have had a total of about 4 hours sleep over the past 36 hours... Changed and Dubai (where they have very cool palm trees in the airport) and then Brunei where I met some Aussies and NZers in the smoking lounge who gave me loads of info on travelling, which was cool. Finally got here at 6.30am this morning. First impressions of Australia/Sydney: Really blue sky Sun is brighter than the UK People are more laid back Was picked up from the airport along with some others - Luke, Nicky (who is lovely), Dan, Faye and Becky. We got back to the hostel at 9am or so, and straight to the beach to jump in the sea! The Ocean is literally 100 metres from our hostel and the ... read more

Can't believe I leave tomorrow - aghhhhh!!! Far too much stress, what with selling my car and everything! Luckily, Mumsy will take over that for me, yay!!! No idea if my phone is tri-band, don't even know if I've remembered everything, and only just found out the time difference for Sydney (9 hours if you were wondering, 10 hours after the clocks go back). I will miss everyone!!! Though more than likely my money will run out way before the year is up, lol. ... read more

I leave in 3 days, and land in Sydney on October 15th, after stopping over for a few hours at Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei). Not looking forward to the flight AT ALL. 24 hours without sleep, and the morning I get there I'm booked on to a cruise around Sydney Harbour?! I have been waiting to see Uluru forever! Though it's in the middle of nowhere, which should be interesting. Right now I have no itinerary.... Think I need to be more organised perhaps...lol. Have no clue where I am going after Sydney!!! I really need to start reading my travel guide to Australia, to work out where I should be going and when... To add insult to injury, I went to transfer my travel money over to my aussie bank account, only to find out ... read more