Sin City

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We got straight down to the Sydney way of life on arriving. We arrived the day before Anzac day and met up with Jo and Ant in Coogee, where we stayed for a few days. We did the beach walk from Coogee to Bondi and began to realise why everyone raves about Sydney - this city has BEACHES! Anzac day was spent in the Coogee Bay Hotel watching games of two-up with some of Jo's friends. After a day enjoying Coogee, we headed out to Bondi to stay with my cousin Breda. She and her boyfriend Bill are heading to New Zealand and South America in a few months and we were able to give them some tips, well one mainly, spend as much time as possible in South America.

Wednesday night was the highlight for me, we went to the ballet in the Sydney Opera House. We saw a performance of La Sylphide. The Opera House and the Harbour Bridge are two amazing landmarks. Visible from the sky on flying in to Sydney, they give this city some extra impact. We got a ferry across to Manly on the Thursday and got some good views of the harbour from different angles. Manly is pretty and we did a walk from there back to Spit Bridge, from where we were able to get a bus back to the city - eventually: buses in Sydney are a mite shabby. Alot of Pete's Aussie mates from London have moved back home so we caught up with Shirley and Chris, and Katrina and Dave for a meal on Thursday night. Shirley and Chris very kindly also put us up for a couple of nights - thanks guys! We headed out to Palm Beach with them for a walk around on Sunday, this is also one of the locations for 'Home and Away' so we of course got a few shots looking out over the beach and at the surf club.

It was also cool to meet up with Katherine (or Kate as the prefers to be called) and catch up on a few old stories - the jokes I used to tell as a child, stranger than fiction.

Monday saw us flying to Cairns for some diving before heading on to Asia...

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Photos

Sydney Highlight - La Sylphide at the Opera House
This is the poster for the performance

Pete and I with Ant and Jo
Having a few drinks at the Coogee Bay hotel for Anzac day

Betting on heads or tails
Two-up at t Coogee Bay hotel, the coins are in the air (circled in red)

Sydney's two best known landmarks
A view of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge taken from the ferry to Manly

Sydney Opera House
It is a city landmark to be proud of

Sydney Harbour Bridge
By day...

Sydney Harbour Bridge
...and by night

View from the Harbour Bridge Lookout
An impressive 8 lanes of traffic, 2 train lines and a pedestrian path

The last picture of the Opera House, I promise!
Pete and I with the Opera House in the background, taken from The Rocks

Meeting up with friends
From l to r, Sarah, Pete, Kate, Katriona, Dave, Chris and Shirley.

Pretty little cove
On our walk from Manly to Spit Bridge

Sarah on Palm Beach
For those closet Home and Away fans amongst you, this is where the 'popular' day-time soap is filmed

Pete and I admiring one of the Home and Away soaps
In reality, not the surf club but little more than a storage shed

Pete and I with Breda and Bill
At there flat in Bondi