Sydney, Bondi, Manly and The Blue Mountains

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The good old Greyhound drove us into Sydney over the Harbour Bridge giving us a good view of the Opera House and Circular Quay - a pretty good intro to the city! We arrived on Friday 25th Jan - the day before Australia Day - perfect timing! On the friday we had a wander down to Circular Quay to see the Opera House and Harbour Bridge and in the evening we ended up in Thai Restaurant - surprise surprise (!) as we couldn't afford any of the fancy places down at the waterfront!

Australia Day!
Having picked up loads of info about what was going on for Oz day we went straight over to Darling Harbour, which wasn't far from our hostel - it was mostly kids stuff and food round there but we found a ferris wheel so jumped on that for a good view of the city - it was a really sunny day so we got some good pics! We then wandered over to Hyde Park found ourselves some lunch at one of the many stalls there and sat in the park for a bit - it was really busy, there was a stage with a guy playing guitar and parked around the edge of the park were loads of vintage cars. There was a fighter jet flyover and a red arrows type flyover which were pretty impressive! By the time we were down at Circular Quay again we saw the parachutists land in the Harbour! The fireworks in the evening over Darling Harbour were absolutely amazing!

On Sunday we got the bus out to Newtown to meet up with V's cousin Hannah for lunch - Thai food again! It was great to have a catch up! In the afternoon we went up the Sydney Tower for a 360 degree view of the city - see pics! Saw a bit of live Australian Open Tennis on an outdoor screen - great atmosphere! Then we found ourselves at a beach party - no idea where it was! Our friend DJ Aladdin came and picked us up! Such a random night!

We spent most of Monday at Bondi Beach. It was packed! So overated! We didn't stay long on the beach itself - did a really nice coastal walk then caught the bus back.

On Tuesday we went on a bus trip to the Blue Mountains - stunning views from King's Tableland... then to a lookout over Katoomba Falls, and later we took a scary cable car off the edge of the cliff! - great views of the 3 sisters rock formation... and jumped on the steepest railway in the world to get back up to the top, just in time before a storm hit - massive hail stones that turned to steam when they hit the ground because it was so hot! When back in Sydney we met up with Hannah again in Star Bar, saw a huge rat before we left and wondered if we should've eaten there!

We spent Wednesday in Manly Beach - got the ferry over there from Circular Quay. Went to the beach and in a few shops - yet another Quiksilver shop! In the evening we caught our Greyhound bound for Melbourne....! (Sel had a bit of a fight with the seat in front - woke herself up having just punched it!! apparently some crazy dream where she was trying to get away from someone!! fortunately no one noticed.....!)

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Photos

Darling Harbour
Oz Day Finale - see the massive crowd of people on the left - awaiting the fireworks!