Australia - Sydney - The Opera House, The Harbour Bridge, The Blue Mountains and all topped off with a little bit of wine tasting and not forgetting a random catch up with a friend from Norwich!

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Australia – Sydney – The Opera House, The Harbour Bridge, The Blue Mountains and all topped off with a little bit of wine tasting and not forgetting a random catch up with a friend from Norwich!

After a fantastic time on the great Ocean Road it was time to embark on my first experience with the Greyhound Bus service. I guess it’s fair to say I’ve been spoilt with some brilliant buses in Asia where you could fully recline the seat and there would only be three seats across the bus, so when I got shoe horned into my small seat on the Greyhound bus I knew it was going to be an uncomfortable twelve hours. Thank fully it passed without any major drama’s and I arrived in Sydney a little tied through lack of sleep but on the whole feeling pretty good.

I had five days in total to explore Sydney and its surrounding areas and I also had a couple of day trips planned to the Blue Mountains and to Hunter Valley for a wine tour. Let the good times begin!

Clearly I wasted no time and headed straight down to the Harbour to check out the Opera House and the Bridge, probably two of Australia’s most famous landmarks, they were very cool and of course I ended up with far too many photos of me in various poses with these two equally different but incredible structures in the background. Shortly after my walk round I got a text message from a number I didn’t recognise, but it was a cool surprise once I realised who it was. Donna was in Sydney for her friend’s wedding and we all arranged to meet up by the Opera house and have a drink (thanks Donna the next round is on me back home) and then we headed out to explore and area called the rocks. It was so bizarre to be sitting by the Opera house with a friend from back home, the more I travel the more I realise the world truly is a small place.

Other than hitting all the tourist spots in Sydney and taking way to many photos I didn’t really do anything out of the norm here, it can sometime be difficult to write about spending time in a city because the blogs can be very similar and a little dull so please bear with me. As with Melbourne I really liked Sydney and the general vibe of the place, it’s somewhere where just hanging out or people watching in my case is so easy. Sydney is clearly a very modern city and has some cool buildings within the CBD area and lots of public parks and places to just hang out and watch the world go by. I’ve spoken to so many travellers that have stated their dislike for Sydney compared to Melbourne but I didn’t feel this at all and really like it here.

Other than the two main attractions mentioned above the highlight for me had to be Bondi Beach, this is one seriously cool hangout with loads of people surfing or hitting the skate parks or just generally relaxing on the beach. The whole vibe is so chilled out and no one seems bothered by anything. After topping up my tan for a while and a bit of swimming I went for a small walk along the coast which was simply beautiful, sadly I forgot my camera on the day so there are no photos but if you are in this direction it’s a must see place, you will not be disappointed.

Well that was about it for Sydney but I had pre-planned a couple of day trips whilst here, the first was to the Blue Mountains and the Three Sisters. The story behind the first is very simple the Eucalyptus trees produce a fine oil from their leaves and when mixed with the UV from the sun a Blue haze radiates from the mountains, simple! As for the Three Sisters story it’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard and therefore cannot be bothered to write about it. As you will see from the photos the scenery is stunning and again I have been blessed with the most fantastic weather because so many people have been telling me about nonstop rain everywhere so I’m considering myself very lucky at the moment. The tour was great and we had a crazy tour guide who was a cross between Mick Dundee and Steve Irwin which made it very informative and amusing at the same time. The final part of the day involved a trek to the Three sisters and a ride back up in an old coal mining train, it is the world’s steepest passenger train ride with a gradient of 52 degrees and was very entertaining to hear so many of the group scream in fear as it got under way. Another great tour and yet more beautiful sights from the Land down under.

For my final day in Sydney I went to the Hunter Valley for a wine tasting day, we visited three vineyards in total and by number three it’s fair to say we were all struggling to remember number one which is a sign of a good day I think. I have to confess I’m not much of a wine drinker and I do struggle a bit with the questions they ask such as tell me what you can taste in this wine? Well of course my answer is wine, apparently I should be saying things like, berries, oak, passion fruit, blah blah blah. I guess I’m just a little uneducated in this department and I find going into that much detail completely unnecessary, for me I either like it or I don’t I couldn’t care if I should taste a slight hint of an earthy texture in it. Sorry mini rant over and I know so many of you will disagree with me here but we are all entitled to an opinion. Having said all that the day was great fun and I did enjoy many of the wines and would certainly do it again. With enough wine, cheese and biscuits consumed for a week we hopped back on the bus and made our way back to Sydney where I would simply crash and burn before getting up the next morning bright and early for my next stop, a place called Spot X, a surfing camp midway between Sydney and Byron Bay. To say I was excited was an understatement, I couldn’t wait to learn to surf!!

All in all I loved Sydney, I think I preferred Melbourne more but they both had a great feel about them and loads to see and do. The highlights had to be the Bridge and the Opera House but there is so much more to see and do here than just the obvious. I hope to return someday and see more of the city and get further under the skin of everyday life, but until then it’s goodbye!

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