Sydney, Bondi and the Blue Mountains

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Another nice Emirates flight and we made all the way to East Coast Australia and Bondi Beach where we bought our first Aussie lunch (ouch...so expensive!)

Jed and Hailey, who we met in Thailand, met us and we caught up at their house for a little while before heading out to explore. We had a nice walk along the beach filled with buff people in gym clothes and covered in tanning oil! In the evening we carried on socialising with a few drinks in the RSL with some live music.

The next morning we were off to the market for Brekkie rolls and then headed to the shops so Jord and I could by a new camera as ours broke as soon as we stepped off the plane! The afternoon was spent lounging at the beach followed by a pub dinner then home to bed. A very nice catch up with those two. Seemed like they had settled in well to Aussie life.

The next day we went into Sydney and went straight out sight seeing. The harbour was amazing as you'd expect with the Opera House glinting away, it seems unreal that you are actually there! We stopped and had some fish and chips to let it all sink in. We got on with some boring admin stuff like opening bank accounts but tried to split our time well and we ended up having a lovely time in the Royal Botanical Gardens with a big picnic where we shared the lawn with the strangest looking birds (not sure what they are!)

On our final night in the city we went out with a guy we'd met in the Youth Hostel to Kings Cross which is the dodgy part of town. Really rough area but we had a great night exchanging stories. Turns out he'd lived in the house opposite me a university!

On to the Blue Mountains....

We caught a train to Katoomba. Its a bit like going back in time there. Everything is very Lake Districty! Cafes and outdoor shops and very hilly! We stayed in a really nice YH, it was just like someones home. Very quiet and peaceful. We walked down to the Three Sister view point on our first night which is an amazing view then went home to cook our first homecooked meal in months. Yummy pasta bake 😊

The next day we were up before the sun to catch it rising over the Three Sisters. It was gorgeous, very romantic. From there we did a few hours bush walking. Down a very steep stair case into the valley then along past some impressive waterfalls and back up for 11am ready for hot chocolate.

After a small nap we hiked back down to the veiw point for sunset. We couldn't get enough! This was a fabulous way to end our short trip here and fingers crossed we will come back and explore more.

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