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It took us a few days to finally get out and see some of Sydney, but first let me tell you about arriving here and getting aquatinted with Sydney nightlife!

When we arrived we took a shuttle bus which dropped us off at our hostel where we met up with Michelle and Dan(!!), Michelle’s friends from home. They had booked us into a hostel in Kings Cross, Sydney. Luckily we had a 4 bed dorm to ourselves and it wasn’t long before clothes were thrown all over the place. Mainly mine and Michelle’s. After chatting for awhile we went to their friends house while they were playing cards and then on to a night club. On Sunday we hit a few more Irish bars where we could get Taytos! We have promised to return and buy a few for our travels up the east coast. We had two good nights out and will be happy to refrain from any beer for awhile. It was great to meet up with people and even better that they were from home and we knew them. It would have been cool to travel with them for a few weeks but unfortunately we are going in opposite directions as they are gone to New Zealand. Michelle said she did contemplate following them to New Zealand but decided to stay with me!!
After they left we had to get our act together and decide on our mode of travel up the east coast. We settled on a camper/car that we got at a good price. Its with a good company so no worrying mothers! Its green though and has a fair bit of advertising on it. Pictures will follow as we are picking it up on the 10th. Keeping in tradition we have decided to keep the Fr. Ted theme going. Ted has moved on and we’ve already had Fr. Jack the snowman so we have decided to go with Mrs. Doyle. We’re afraid calling her Dougal is out of the question! Still tired from the previous few days we took it easy. We got our weekly transport pass for Sydney and now we are free to move as we like.

First impressions are good. Clear blue skies, 20 degrees and easy on the eye. The harbour is beautiful and we have already seen the world famous Sydney Opera house and the Sydney harbour bridge. A means of transport around the city is by ferry, which is very handy, as it gives us cheap cruises around the harbour. A favourite of ours is Darling Harbour, probably named after my Grandmother, Darling. Its full of fancy cafes and restaurants and surrounded by lots of yachts. The cafes don’t seem that expensive either compared to Irish prices and a meal in one of these places back home could set you back a fortune. Food here is very reasonably priced, just like everywhere else we have been!

We got up early this morning and after breakfast we went on a long day out around Sydney’s sights. We got a ticket allowing entrance to three sights, the Aquarium, Wildlife centre and Sydney Sky Tower. The main attraction at the aquarium was the Dugongs. For the who don’t know them, they are related to the Elephants but swim in water. There were also lots of sharks and giant turtles and it was a pretty cool aquarium, as aquariums go. The wildlife park was very interesting and we got to see, Koalas, Kangaroos, Wallabies, Wombats, Snakes and spiders to name but a few. The Sky tower was good but not as good as the one in Auckland. The crowds were a bit unbearable in all places and this is meant to be quiet season.

Katy (South America & New Zealand) is arriving tomorrow for a few days so we will get in another bit of sight seeing and maybe even a bit of beach time. Apparently its cold here too. 20 degrees, blue skies and the beach to ourselves. There is a lot to see and do here so we will have our work cut out for the next few days before we hit the road again.

In a bit. DH

Song of the Blog: Cara Mia - David Whitfield with Mantovani (No.1 Single on Aug 4th of a certain year)

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