---

We didn't have enough time to do Sydney justice, but what we did see we liked. Just a short bus journey from the centre you are on one of the city's glamorous and scenic beaches, or 2 hours away on the train are the stunning but misleadingly named, Blue Mountains.

Sydney is a huge cosmopolitan city. Its foundations were built on a policy of liberal immigration and, although these days the rules are somewhat stricter, you can get a real sense of the cultural diversity by just walking down the main shopping street. People of all races and creeds getting on with everyday life; hurrying to some important engagement; or strolling casually along, stopping to peer inside the various expensive shops and boutiques. It is a boiling pot of mixed cultures and consequently can cater for almost any taste; from the up-market artisan district of the Rocks just by the Harbour Bridge; to the seedy, roguish streets of Kings Cross with its bars, strip clubs and "massage parlours". You should be able to find anything you want in Sydney.

On our 1st day we did the harbour tour, taking a ferry out to see the "must see" sights of Sydney in the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. They were both nice, particularly the Opera house with its crazy design, but I think they are both the victims of their own hype in the fact that they alone aren't worth the visit, beautiful though they are. I've seen more impressive buildings. But the sky was a perfect blue and the sun was shimmering over the waters making it quite a pleasant boat trip, although it lacked the intimacy of our San Francisco Harbour tour. Also, there was a recorded message telling us about the important history of the various little docks "the dock unloaded a few boats in back in 1870 but fell into disrepair in 1871 and was abandoned." Who, honestly, cares??

We got pretty close to the bridge on the boat but we decided to walk across it. They do an official tour where you climb up it and walk across but the $200 price tag put us off so we just took the free footpath over instead. It wasn't what I’d expected. It seems they are so paranoid about people jumping off that the walkway more closely resembles a prison gangway than a public footpath over one of the countries iconic symbols. There is a high barbed wire fence along the sides and security cameras every few yards. Welcome to Big Brother Bridge!

We spent a couple of days in Bondi Beach - well at least that was the intention. We ended up staying for 4 days because it seems to be an addictive place. Most people we met were either locals or travellers who’d ended up staying for months at a time! I can see why. Ian Brown once noted that Manchester has everything but a beach. If we had one like Bondi (& apparently it’s not even the best one in Sydney) it would have no competition as the Best City in the World.

The vibe is uber-cool, with seriously good-looking people, fashionably decked out, strolling the main street or enjoying a beer or coffee with friends whilst enjoying views of the beach with its surrounding rocky clefts and grassy picnic lawns where you can view the surfers riding the waves out at sea. It was supposed to be mid-winter when we were there but the sun was out, the air was hot, and the people flocked to the beach in droves. I found a trendy independent market on the Sunday where people sold their own hand-made jewellery, clothing which they’d designed themselves, or pieces of original art. It has a nice artisan feel.

After Bondi we took the train to the Blue Mountains for a few days of tranquillity. The Blue Mountains, as I mentioned earlier, seem misleadingly named. Firstly they are not blue but rather a sandy orange/red from the sandstone they are comprised of. And secondly they aren’t really mountains in the true sense but rather being more like a canyon in the mould of the Grand Canyon. Unlike its Yankee counterpart, however, the Blue Mountains are quite densely vegetated and have many waterfalls flowing over its rim into the valleys far below. When we first saw it, it held the same sort of wow factor as the Grand Canyon, with incredible views stretching away to the horizon, although not to the same extent because I think the Grand Canyon is probably bigger - and we’re probably getting used to seeing the spectacular shapes the earth can take now. I’m getting spoiled!

We took an incredible walk on our 2nd day there, arriving at Wentworth falls, and following the path deep into the canyon and the bush below. The falls themselves were more of a trickle but what it lacked in power the falls made up for in accessibility. We followed the seriously off beaten track down to the valley floor, at points having to scale ladders and lower ourselves down a 10 foot drop on a specially installed rope. Once there we were completely alone being the only ones to follow the track that far. We were in a sort of large cove with towering walls on 3 sides and dense bush on the 4th. Here the falls ended in a small pool which just begged to swim in, despite being freezing! The feeling of just being away from it all was powerful. We continued to trek through the bush for another couple of hours, through thick forest, past cascading waterfalls and scrambling over large boulders and listening to the calls of strange birds that were alien to my ears. Eventually we were back at the top & again staring over the wonderful views with a real sense of achievement making it feel more impressive. This is a Sigur Ros moment I thought (que the music from Planet Earth). Beautiful.

---