Christmas and New Year in Sydney.

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The finale of my travels was spending Christmas and New year in Sydney. Paul arrived on December 19th and we checked into our apartment on Bondi Beach. I bought a small Christmas tree and mum sent my stocking over with Paul so it started to look like Christmas! On 21st December after showing Paul a quick tour of the city sites we went to Coogee beach Christmas Carol service. which is 5k from Bondi to the It was held next to the beach and it felt very strange sitting in the sunshine singing Christmas songs. We spent the next day on Bondi beach and then caught the ferry to another beach called Manley in the evening. I has five seconds of fame on 23rd December because GMTV were filming and sending Christmas messages back home. I didn’t get to speak but mum saw me (and apparently started waving at the tv )
On Christmas day we opened our presents and listened to Christmas tunes before heading to the beach with our Santa hats on to join many other Brits! The weather was overcast and it felt vey surreal. In the evening we went to a Seafood restaurant on the beach. The food was lovely but it poured with rain. I am pleased I experienced Christmas in Australia but I missed our traditional Christmas day. On boxing day we climbed Sydney bridge. The views were fantastic and are guide made it very interesting. After the climb we went to ‘The Australia hotel’ for kangaroo pizza. On December 29th we moved from Bondi into a hotel in Darling Harbour for New year. The next day we had surfing lessons on a secluded beach. I really enjoyed it although it was hard work and I now have bruises all over my legs. We also went on a jet blaster ride which I naively thought was just a speed boat ride around the harbour but turned out to be a terrifying very fast speed boat ride with spins and lots of turns. On new year’s eve we went to the ice bar on Circular quay. We arrived at 2pm and there were already crowds of people lining against the barriers. Some people had even been camping there! We had a great day and met some nice people. We watched the 9pm family fireworks and then were amazed by the fireworks at midnight! I missed Christmas at home but the New Year celebrations were definitely worth staying in Sydney for. On our last night we went to Luna park which is across the harbour from the opera house. It is an old fashioned fun fair which was given to he people of Sydeny as a thank you for putting up with the disruption of building the bridge. We went on the rollar coaster which felt very, very unstable. We also had a lovely dinner withcgood views of the city.
I started my long journey home on Friday and am now snuggled up in my cosy bed at home. I have had a great experience and enjoyed many things but am pleased to be home. I have been spoilt today with Mum’s great roast dinner.
Sorry if this last blog seems brief but I am struggling to keep my eyes open!
Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2010 and looking forward to seeing you soon.
Hayley is home sweet home....
Night night x

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