Short trip to Oz

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We were very sad to leave South East Asia behind, but very excited about our Sydney pit stop. It was fantastic, but a little on the expensive side. You could travel for a month in Asia for what we spent in a week. Life in Sydney seems very chilled out, you work in the day then straight to the beach afterwards!

When we first arrived it was cold, grey and raining so we almost turned around, walked back into the airport and demanded a refund. Fortunately we had glorious weather over the rest our stay. Our hostel was like a home away from home, with a big comfy bed (amazing after suffering Asia beds) and a big kitchen where we prepared most of our meals including one evening eating 'Kanga Banga's'.

After catching up on sleep we went straight to Sydney Harbour and it was spectacular. The Opera House and Bridge were as great to see in the flesh as they had been in magazines or on the telly.

We took a day trip to Manly bay. We hopped on a ferry at Sydney Harbour and got a stunning panoramic view of the harbour from on deck as we pulled out. Manley reminded us of British seaside town, almost Margate beach, only sunny, clean and friendlier. We did the usual chilling out, Jim went for another run and we ate fish and chips out of the paper on the sand! Whilst lazing on the beach we also watched a programme called 'The Amazing Race' being filmed (backpackers racing around the globe), the contestants looked exhausted running across sand wearing backpacks.

We wanted to take a city walking tour and found that you could go on one for free. An entrepreneurial Australian student and his girlfriend started a free Sydney City tour and they work purely on tips. The tour was interesting, fun, took us to all the sights and told us about Sydney's comical/criminal start. They even provided a map of the city with free and cheap things to do - perfect!

On our last day we had time to squeeze in one last outing. There's a gorgeous costal walk all the way from Coogee Beach via Bronti and several other beaches and bays to Bondi Beach. It was a relaxing stroll with the odd stop on route to take a dip, cool off and soak up the sun.

South America next, I really wish we had learnt some Spanish...

Lots of love, Beach Bums Jim and Carla.
xxx

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