Sydney & The Blue Mountains

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I finally decided that the time had come to check out of my Byron haven- And this time, rather than booking another night or two when actually meaning to check out, I handed the keys over and said my goodbyes. I was really sad to leave, but I knew it was time.

I made my way to the greyhound bus stop and prepared myself for the 13 hour long journey ahead of me. With my sleeping bag under my arm and my ipod in hand I found my seat and waited for the next part of my journey to begin. I left the sea breeze and fresh air behind and headed for the smoke of the city-Sydney!

13 hours later I arrived. The rain was pouring, the sky was grey and I could virtually taste the car fumes in my lungs! I had no idea where the hostel was so I got out my lonely planet guide and turned to the map. Yep-that didn't help as I couldn't figure out which way round to hold the map! Eventually, I asked a lman for help and he pointed me in the WRONG driection! Luckily the second man, this time a local, was far more helpful!

When I got to the hostel I was greeted by a somewhat familiar face. For those "Neighbours" fans among you you'll be impressed by this! The man behind the desk was the guy that used to play Bret in Neighbours! We chatted for a while about everything and anything and then I headed to my room. I was sharing with 3 guys which is a rare thing, but it was fine.

That afternoon, seeing as the weather was so bad I decided the best way to see the city would be to buy a monorail pass. I bought a daily pass and hopped on (this of course is after getting lost trying to find the damn thing!), only to find out that there is in fact only 4 or 5 stops on the loop and it takes only 15 mins to do a circuit! I went round about 5 times before jumping off at he exact stop I got on at!

My English room mate and I both planned to go to the Blue Mountains the next day and so booked a trip together for the next morning. My tour group consisted of myself and John (my room pal) and about 12 pensioners! Ha. Still, we saw some great sights throughout the day and seeing as they had to cater for the needs of the group, it meant we stopped to have tea and biscuits on the way! :o) During the day I saw the three sisters which I named Katie, Eleanor and Rebecca; Some aboriginal rock carvings, rode on the steepest railway in the world, sat on the edge of one of the cliffs, went to Olympic park and saw some kangaroos with joeys in their pouches! We finished the day by sailing down the river on a ferry and arriving at the city as the lights were all coming on.

The next day I took a walk through "the rocks" where the harbour bridge is, and the operah house. It was a sunny day so it felt good to be there actually. I looked like an idiot for a little while having decided to get some abstract pictures of the Operah house, all in the name of photography I guess! I decided in the afternoon to visit Bondi BEach, infamous in Sydney yet highly, highly disappointing in my opinion. I cannot believe it has such a high status!

Still, Sydney was a nice place to visit, just not a place I could spend an extended period of time.

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Comments

[Mummy]

Loved your pics of the Opera House! Fantastic. Love you xxxx

[tom poole]

need a little help
Hey, im travelling over to Sydney tomorrow from asia. Im running a bit short on cash and need to find out where the cheapest part of Australia is. Any ideas? Thanx

[Kate]

Think you're doing fab babe-keep going you brave girl you :) xx