Byron Bay, Sydney, Blue Mountains and a Big Red Rock...

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G'day folks and welcome back to our Australian journey. When we left you last time we were beginning to dry off in Brisbane after our soaking in Queensland. We decided to go to Byron Bay for a few days and had our fingers crossed for some sunshine, but Byron Bay didn't want to break with tradition, so when we got there we were welcomed by a spectacular thunderstorm and a downpour which coincided with our food shopping trip. Excellent work. But, things did begin to look up and we spent the next 4 days basked in glorious sunshine, lazing on the beach, jumping in the waves and, of course, getting monumentally stoned with all the cool hippy surfer dudes. Well, maybe not the last bit....

We actually stayed a little bit out of town, up the shore on Belongil Beach which was a little quieter with less people, but only a 15 minute walk down the beach to the main town. We splashed out on a private shack in a good hostel there, and it was very nice to just chill out, drink some beer and wine, cook some good food and wander up the beach. The waves roll in all along the bay and it was good fun to just jump around in them or with a body board. The sun was shining and we had a great time. Byron Bay is a pretty cool place it must be said. Its just a nice laid back town with plenty to do, beautiful views all along the bay, and a nice little walk up Cape Byron to the lighthouse.

Alex got a bit carried away and decided to get her nose pierced. We went to this place and the guy had her sat down with a needle through her nostril in no time. The guy's abrupt nature didn't go down too well with Alex who got a bit stressed out because she was scared and she couldn't decide whether to have a ring or a stud or which side to have it in. Of course, it all turned out to be my fault. This is (roughly) how the conversation went:

Piercer Guy - "Ring or Stud?"

Alex - "Oh god, oh god....I don't know, what do you think?"

Me - "Well, I've been saying for weeks that I think you should get a ring."

Alex - "Really....oh god, oh my god, I don't know......what do you think....BABE....WHAT DO YOU THINK?"

Me - "I've already told you, I think you should get a ring, I think a ring looks better, and if I were you I would get a ring."

Alex - "Yeah, but I'm not sure....oh my god....WHAT DO YOU THINK I SHOULD DO? BABE, What should I get????"

Me - "For fucks sake, just get a ring, how many times do I have to say it?"

Alex - "Well, thats great, thanks for your fucking help, you might as well not be here... (to Piercer Guy) Can I have a stud please?"

Anyway, after Byron, we went all the way to Sydney on a long, overnight Greyhound ride. We really enjoyed Sydney, there is lots to do and its a really cool city. The first couple of days we did all the main touristy things, so we walked over the Harbour Bridge and went to the Opera House. We got a ferry to Manley Beach which allows you to see the harbour in its full glory. We walked around the Rocks, which is like the Old Quarter of Sydney where there's lots of nice buildings and little cafes and stuff. We stayed in Kings Cross, which isn't the nicest part of town, but its where a lot of the hostels are. Its just not so nice when you have to get up to catch a flight at 5am and there is a very scary old witch looking tramp lady screaming at you at the top of her lungs. And that is exactly what we had to do when we went through with our slightly berserk plan to go to Uluru!!!

Neither of us are really sure how this happened, but basically because we were pissed off at all the rain we became adamant that we were going to go to the outback and see Uluru (or Ayers Rock as it used to be known), partly to get away from the rain, and partly because we were going to make the most of Australia at all costs. And after much research it turns out that the very cheapest and easiest way to do it (given our circumstances) is to fly with Tiger Airlines from Sydney to Alice Springs, and then do a day trip from there to Uluru and back which makes for an 18 hour day with a flight the day before and after. The flights were about $180 each and about the same for the day trip each. And thats what we did, and it was a very long 3 days, but overall it was definitely worth it.

Now, Alice Springs is more or less in the middle of an arid desert, and it doesn't get much rain. And apparently it was in the middle of the driest wet season in living memory with no forecast of rain at all. So, when we got there and started to feel the spittle come down while we sat by the pool, we decided that we were definitely cursed and Australia is just taking the piss really. But the day trip to Uluru was great. We got picked up at about 6am and the bus takes you to Uluru National Park where we went to see these other rocks called Kata Tjuta (or The Olgas as they used to be known), then in the afternoon you get to walk around parts of Uluru itself and learn about some of the traditional aboriginal stories and beliefs etc. Then you have a BBQ while the sun sets on the rock and you get to see all the colour changes, and then you get back on the bus and arrive back in Alice at midnight! So yes, it was a long day, but Uluru is very impressive and it gives you a bit of a different side to Australia that we wouldn't have got to see otherwise. And I also learned the startling fact that with a population of 700,000 Australia has the largest number of feral camels on earth! And we saw one!

When we got back to Sydney, the plan was to go to the Blue Mountains that are just an hour away. The cheapest way to do it is to get a $7 train to Katoomba and then explore by bus, but we wanted a bit of freedom so we decided to hire a car for a couple of nights. It was quite expensive, and rental companies are such hard work, but having the ability to drive where we wanted was great. We stayed in Katoomba and in 2 days, we easily got to see all the main look outs, including the Three Sisters and Govetts Leap etc. We did a few short walks, which we would have liked to be a bit longer if we had more time. But it was a lovely couple of days. Up in the mountains is much cooler and the weather is perfect. The Eucalyptus trees give the mountains a bluey kind of haze (hence the name) and the views are just spectacular, some of the best we have seen really. It would be perfect for a longer walking, outsidey kind of holiday, and being a short drive or train ride from Sydney makes it a perfect side trip for anyone visiting there I reckon.

After Katoomba, we went back to Sydney for what felt like the millionth time now. Dropped the car off and had to wait until about 10pm for an overnight bus down to Melbourne. There isn't many more stops left now until its time to come home, but at least things started to look up in Australia, we got some sun and really started to enjoy it the way we thought we would before we came out here.

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