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Published: March 4th 2007
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After another sleepless flight, we were both desperate to get off the plane! However disaster struck when the walkway to the airport konked out 3 feet from the plane. Half an hour later we joined the longest queue in the world to get through Sydney customs! What a mish! Tired, exhausted and at this point getting hungry and grumpy(well I (Laura) was!). We set off to find a train, to take us to "the city"!
Getting off at Hyde park we walked to what we thought was our hostel, but were told we were staying in the other one. Back on with our bags and another short walk to our real hostel. This luckily being a lot nicer.
We moved into our 6 Bed dorm and there found a Danish chappy Martin, we think he hated us as he point blank didn't wanna talk to us. Oh well, our heads hit that pillow so fast we didnt notice!
Woke up to free pancakes, a definate selling point to our new hostel. With smiles on our faces we ventured out to the Botanical Gardens which are beautiful. Sydneysiders (apparently people from Sydney) are very lucky to have this in the heart of
their city. We walked round to see the Opera house and the Harbour Bridge which were actually a lot bigger than Laura thought. Strolled around The Rocks and went through a crafts market and guess who jumped out on me!!! LAUREN! That was shock to the system but nice to see a friendly face. After a brief catch up we arranged to have drinks that evening in her hostel.
However that evening the heavens opened and chucked it down just as we were making our way to meet her, so a taxi was quickly hailed. Wake up!(with an exclamation mark) hostel was a lot snazzier than ours and had a great bar underneath.
The next day we had breakfast in the Queen Victoria Building a famous and grand arcade, before heading off to Darling Harbour. There seemed to be a dragon boat racing competition going on between large Sydney companies (ARUPS were leading the field). As it was still spitting with rain we headed into the Aquarium, which was awesome. We sat watching the fishes and sharks for ages, just totally entranced by the weird and wonderful shapes and colours, and Olly even stuck his hand in the Touchy
Feely section of the Aquarium.
We finished the evening off with a brief call home and a drink in Circular Quay, how very civilised!
It was back to Circular Quay the next morning to catch a ferry to Watson's Bay. Just as we disembarked, it once again started raining, so we dived into Doyles for a coke and a VB. Olly was ready to give up and head home, but then it cleared and we went for a gorgeous walk around the South Head. We came across Camp Cove which is a beautiful sheltered beach which was pretty much deserted. We paddled and dreamed about owning some of the houses on the beach...one day! As we carried on our stroll we believe we may have come across a nudist beach, which we hastily skirted past. Back at Watson's Bay we had some yummy fish and chips, from the famous Doyle's(not the expensive restaurant but the cafe).
As we had spent our time so far in cities we decided to have a relaxing few days in the Blue Mountains, just West of Sydney. We took the train to Katoomba which is the largest town up there. We stayed in
the wonderful YHA and were absolutely blown away by how clean and nice everything was! It was also very relaxed and a big contrast to our previous hostel. It was in an art deco style as is much of the town, which we then had a look around. Katoomba was a proper Australian town where everyone seemed to know each other. It was very charming but seemed a little backward especially compared to Sydney.
We spent our time in the Blue Mountains walking around visiting the touristy sites and dodging thunderstorms. We walked along the cliff, through rainforests to reach the 3 Sisters. These were 3 rocky outcrops which held deep aboriginal significance. We also went to see Katoomba falls which were beautiful, although I (Laura) was terrified by the height of all of this. We spent our last evening reading in the vast lounge of the hostel, very cosy while the thunderstorms continued outside.
Back in the city there was one big big big thing we hadnt done, the Sydney Tower. A 360 degree view of Sydney, what could be better. So after dumping our bags in our new hostel we headed off up the tower. The lifts
were tiny and very claustraphobic, but the view was worth it. We sat up there and had a sprite as it was the only thing we could afford with our change.
Next stop was the Oz Trek, a visual journey around Australia, which is basically a big screen and seats that throw you about abit! Very touristy but still fun.
Due to it being Mardi Gras our hostel was fully booked and we had been "upgraded" into a 6 bed dorm instead of 8. However this was actually a family room with space for 6, which had been converted into a dorm for the weekend. We shared our family room with a Danish couple and a German boy who at least talked to us.
That night we headed to the legendary Harry's Pie Stall in Woolloomooloo, (yes that is a place, not exactly Bishopston) and feasted on some awesome pie and mash, while sitting on the Quayside. It was a bit of a mish to get there as Olly tried to short cut through the Botanical Gardens at dusk, not a good plan. Laura thought the bats were gonna eat her alive and Olly just kept taking photos.
The
next morning we missed our free breakfast again, locked our bags in "The Cage" and then set off in search of Bill's (a trendy breakfast cafe). Olly knew the general direction and eventually we found it, it was well worth the walk for the gorgeous food placed before us. I (Laura) had Hotcakes with banana and honeycomb butter which was absolutely to die for! That afternoon we got the bus to Bondi, which was our base for the next few days. With the sight of the beach from our hostel we quickly changed into our "swimmers" and headed across the road to the sand. After some sunbathing and swimming we got ready for the Rugby. That evening we went to watch a Super 14 match between NSW Waratahs and Western Force at the Aussie stadium. Unfortunately it was a draw, 16 all (Laura always likes a winner) but was still a good game. We saw the likes of Loti Tuqiri, Matt Giteau and Brendon Cannon.
The next day we headed inland a little to visit Willis and Naseem and their 3 gorgeous children, who are old friends of Laura's family. We had a lovely lunch with them and talked
about many things, including what it was like to live in Sydney. They have a great view from their apartment overlooking Bondi, which caught a nice breeze as it was baking that day. We were lucky enough to not only meet their cute 3 year old Henry, we also met 5 month year old twins Asha and George, who had just woken up. After giving them their t-shirts with Brizzle slogans on including "Cheers Drive" and "Gert Lush", we headed back to the beach. That evening we went for a nice coastal walk and as it was getting dark we decided not to go all the way to Bronte. Once again we marvelled at the luxurious houses on the cliff egde.
The next day (Olly's last day in Sydney) we got the bus back to the city and were greeted by numourous flamboyant people who were clearly still celebrating Mardi Gras from the night before.
As it was our last day we had a few things to tie up, blog entries, washing to do and sorting out whose is whose passport etc before Olly heads off to Christchurch at some god for saken hour in the morning.
And that
was it from OUR time in Sydney, however Laura does actually have a few more days with the girlies before embarking on their quest up the East Coast.
See you all soon
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George Evans
non-member comment
Really interesting
Hi. Writing this from rainy Reading (at uni) and just wanted to say how great you trip looks. Enjoy whatever else you do.