Sydney

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Had a terrible nights sleep on the way down as it was soooooooooooooooooo cold at night. This time it wasn't because of the ridiculous use of air con but because when we made the 4am driver stop he had to leave the door open so people could get on and off but in doing so, turned the coach into an ice box. Dan managed to sleep through this all but once my toes had gone numb it was very difficult to drift back into dream land!

Arrived in Sydney by driving over the Harbour Bridger which was pretty cool. Also experienced our first minor traffic jam in the whole of Australia. The place felt very much like London as we drove through the suburbs, weird.

Arrived at our hostel too early to check in so although we were very tired we thought we might as well not waste the day so signed up to go on the free coastal walk organised by the hostel. We were very impressed with our choice and even though the 10 bed dorm was a bit of a mess when we dumped our bags, it all seemed really clean and modern and the staff were really friendly and helpful. Got the bus up to Coogee beach and walked along the coast to Bondi Beach. Saw some dolphins along the way and some beautiful scenery. Bondi beach isn't all that I don't think but we enjoyed watching the surfers tackling the big waves. It is winter so again was very quiet but I can imagine it does get really busy during the summer as it is so close to the city. This was the first beach we had been on where the sand was cold - could defo feel that it was winter now!

Next day we decided to get a good overview of the city by heading up to Sydney Tower viewing deck (yeah - we had a discount voucher). This helped us get our bearing and understand the layout of the city better. We managed to hang out there long enough to enjoy the sunset and then experience the city at night - cheapo backpackers!!!

Thankfully some nice new people moved into our dorm and for a change we got along with pretty much everyone in our dorm. We then headed down to the bar at the hostel (which was really nice) and tried to win a killer pool competition. We lost. That night the bad influence of our Canadian room mate meant that we took full advantage of the cheap drinks offer - love archers jugs!!!

Next day (feeling a little fuzzy) we went on the free city walk organised again by our excellent hostel. This was really good as we got to see everything we had seen from up the tower at ground level. Had lunch in and amazing spot in the park overlooking the opera house and the bridge - surprisingly quiet. Also got to see loads of bats hanging out sleeping in the trees around the park. I had never seen so many in my life, they were fascinating.

Next day we had another explore of the city on our own and also went on the Sydney Opera House tour which was a bit rubbish and led by a very odd lady called Pamela - her voice was too high pitched to be normal. It was a lot smaller inside than it looks from the outside. It is made up of lots of small stages and performance rooms. There is one big stage there but it really isn't that big. That night we watched the
football down at the massive screen they put up at Darling Harbour. Unfortunately the England game started at 4.30am Oz time so I went to bed before as there is no way I could stay up that late. As dawn broke and the disappointment of our stupid draw set in we wandered back to the hostel. We were worried we might wake everyone up coming back but turns out everyone in the dorm had been out somewhere to watch it so we all arrived back around 6.30am and went to bed - very strange.

Got up quite late and had a nice cheap day just hanging out in the hostel and then had a little look around the markets nearby. After Dan was nearly poisoned by a mouldy ham sandwich we discovered a games arcade. Had lots of fun there and with lady luck on our side we won loads of tickets so won a stuffed Kangaroo (now named Kevin). He is very lovely but we suspect he may have to be part of our hand luggage along with the little pig we won (Peter).

Next day I climbed Sydney Harbour Bridge which was really cool. You are not allowed to take anything with you as at one point you are over the road that runs over the bridge and dropping anything from that height would not be good for any of the drivers down below. It was very well organised and they took lots of photos for us instead. Dan was off visiting his cousin Fran who lives in Sydney while I did the climb so when I finished I had the rest of the afternoon to myself. It was actually quite a weird feeling being in a city on my own again. Despite the best efforts of our Canadian friend we had an early night and packed our stuff ready to go.

Next day was time to check out. All the nice people in our dorm were also leaving or had left so it felt like the right time to leave. Whilst hanging around waiting for our coach we had a taste of things to come - we met the guy who used to play Brett Stark in Neighbours. He was now working as the quiz master in our hostel - really nice guy. We got the cheesy "i've met a sort-of-celebrity" photo and then it was time to get on the coach.

Sydney was really cool and being in such a nice hostel really made it a great experience. We were also so lucky with the weather. During the four weeks preceding our visit, Sydney had experienced terrible weather and it had rained every day. When we arrived the sun came out and shone all week long - clear blue skies. It was cold at night but nothing like winter in the UK!

We finally met one of the horrible coach drivers we had heard about who made everyone sit in their designated seat. Thankfully he changed over in the night to a nice one who let us spread out and sit where we wanted. Can't believe this was going to be our last coach journey.....

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Comments

[John @ Wake Up!]

Glad you enjoyed Sydney and Wake Up!
Hi Helen, Sounds like you packed as much into your time in Sydney as possible. I am glad you stayed at Wake Up! and took advantage of the activities running around the hostel. You noticed our ex-neighbours quiz master I see, we actually only hire ex-celebrities - we have Bobbi from home and away in the cafe and we have reserved a spot for Alf Stewart on reception ;-P I hope the rest of your trip is fantastic! Cheers, John @ Wake Up!