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Published: November 26th 2009
Sydney, 12 - 19 November We arrived in Sydney just as the thunder started and the heavens opened. This was not good as I had only had my hair cut and blow dried that morning in Christchurch.
Fortunately we managed to get to our accommodation without getting too wet or frizzy. The Alfred Park backpackers was chosen on price as it was only $20 a night, much less than most of the other hostels. But it turned out to be more than adequate and the people staying there were all friendly. Plus there was air conditioning which we definitely needed. Australia may only be in spring but it is already well above 20 degrees. Lovely.
After the rain stopped we walked down to the harbour on our first evening to take a look at the iconic bridge and the Sydney Opera House. It's really stunning down there. I've been to Sydney before (nearly ten years ago now) and it was great to be able to share the sight with Simon. There's something special about seeing such iconic images in real life. Like many world famous landmarks the Opera House and Harbour Bridge are ingrained into our conciousness so
that when you see them in real life it is like stepping into a picture.
We spent the first couple of days just mooching around the city. There are so many people it is a huge contrast to New Zealand. And the shops! Well, there's obviously loads of them and they open later than 5pm! It is so vastly different from New Zealand it feels as though we're on another planet not just a short plane ride away.
We caught up with a friend from the Africa tour and spent two nights blowing our daily budget on alcohol. It was a lot of fun though and I can highly recommend a karaoke bar called the Pickled Possum! It is hilarious in there - instead of a DJ the music that everyone dances to is whatever song is being sung on karaoke. Then the night ends with a mass singalong of American Pie. Too funny.
Eschewing the overpriced organised tours to the Blue Mountains we got up at ridiculous'o'clock (5.30am instead of the agreed 7.30am due to Simon not changing his clock from NZ time) to catch a train to Katoomba. This is the gateway to the Blue
Mountains and is about 2 hours away from Sydney. Leaving the city behind we passed by mountains and acres and acres of forest. We chose the hottest day to go to the Blue Mountains and walking up and down hills in +30degree heat is not something I want to do again in a hurry. The Blue Mountains aren't really blue and you can't really see mountains because there are trees as far as the eye can see. It's a bit like the Grand Canyon but instead of rock all you can see is the green shades of trees. One of the highlights of the region is the rock formation known as the Three Sisters. These are three huge rocks in a line. We walked down to one of them which was a really steep climb and sitting in the shade of the rock all you can hear is the constant hum of thousands of insects living in the trees.
As huge fans of Home and Away (ok I know it's a bit shameful) we got up early (another 5am start!) to go to Palm Beach which is the home of Summer Bay surf club and where they film the
beach scenes. As the bus pulled into the beach area my heartrate started racing as I saw film crew trucks parked by the surf club. I was very excited at the prospect of meeting any of the hotties who star in the show but my dreams were dashed when we found out they weren't H&A crew at all but filming an advert. Rubbish. So Simon built a sandcastle then we headed back to the city to catch a ferry to Manly beach and treated ourselves to fish and chips.
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