In the dodgy bit of town.....

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Despite recommendations from the daughter of a friend of a friend (Tammy).....we still managed to end up in backpacker accommodation in the red light district - still, it makes for interesting stories doesn't it!

Not wanting to peak too soon in Sydney and thinking we may be committed to a few more days than the recommended 2, we avoided the bridge and the opera house on the first day. Opting instead, for a walk around the city taking in sights like Darling Harbour, the Botanical Gardens, Harrys Cafe de Wheels, Victoria St and the general city centre plus the all important and rather funky aboriginal centre in Darling Harbour! Digeridoos to try, outback music, aboriginal paintings - all very very cool!!! Also got to 'do' Darling Harbour as well! The evening's activities were very kindly taken care of by Tammy (the niece of a friend etc....) who took us around the suburbs of Sydney for some spectacular views! We visited Bondi Beach, the Olympic Park, crossed the ANZAC bridge, went to some rather stunning look out points and got some cracking photos of Sydney Skyline - who needs postcards when you have friends like that hey?! Ace!

Day 2 saw us off to the real sights of Sydney up close! Mrs Macquaries Chair, Sydney Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Sydney Harbour and Circular Quay and their multiple wharves for trips out and around the area! We didn't end up doing the Harbour Bridge climb due to the astronomical price for a steep yomp in incredible temperatures and in safety gear that wouldn't get a mention in Thailand and would be doubled in the UK!!!

Day 3 Saw us out and about around The Rocks where Sydney's first european settlement was - it was quite twee really....little cobbled lanes, colonial buildings and multiple over priced eateries - we also ended up in an Art Gallery where I truly 'appreciated' both national and international art work....some of it though was just plain weird! Honestly, the things they consider art nowadays!!!

Another day of pure laziness was now on the cards and we spent virtually the entire day in the Botanic Gardens, appreciating the harbour views, sea breezes and a good book.....in between repeatedly up and moving into the shade - although Jen wasn't totally on the ball and did end up with a rather red raw stomach....for me it was under my arms, though they weren't nearly as bad as Jen - oh the places you forget when slip, slap, slopping!!!

The Australian Museum was to be our next day trip and was our best museum visit yet! Really, really interesting - as far as museums go! Largely as there was a total dearth of coins!!!! They have the coolest skeleton, animal and bird displays ever - this could be because they are such unusual animals - mostly marsupials and animals not seen anywhere else in the world! A pretty amazing statistic was that 7% of the world's species are found in Oz which is more than those found in the TOTAL area of Europe AND Northern America!!! Incredible! They also had the WIldlife Photographer of the Year display which was enchanting to say the least - some of the entrants have the patience of saints!!! Apparently sitting in unbearable conditions day after day to get their 'perfect' snap! Saddos hey?!

That evening was to be spent making the most of Jazz in the Park - a free (thats the all important word there!) concert where we decided to picnic for dinner - unfortunately we hadn't entirely grasped the popularity of the festival and turned up a little late to say the least, to find acres of people, blanket to blanket in true gourmet picnic fashion - naturally I headed for the outer reaches until I could get atleast a 5 metre uninterrupted circle to myself! ALthough this did mean we could no longer see the stage...but hey, we could hear it - what more do you need?!

Sunday was a delightful day - and quite unlike anything I have EVER done before - we joined a motorbike cruise for a trip south through a beautiful national park to a delightful location next to a beach! ( I should add at this point that we were in a car - as I didn't particularly fancy 'perching' on the back of a sports bike) The drive down was stunning through some absolutley beautiful scenery, although I did commit the cardinal sin of driving in Sydney - I know, I know...I forgot (Rebs & Simon) I was warned NEVER to do it! 5 minutes into the drive and at the 10th set of traffic lights this came flooding back to me! oooooops! Anyway, I survived it both there and back, and we spent the rest of the day doing the countryside North of Sydney with Tammy and her partner, David. Again we saw yet more spectacular scenery! Going up the Hawksebury river to take a sweet little ferry across and come back down to complete the loop (and the day) with some pretty delicious fish and chips!

The highlight thus far in Sydney was still to come......in Sydney Opera House where we went to see Stomp, the Lost and Found Orchestra! Where strings were replaced by a bowed saw section, bellows, bottles and kettles fulfilled the role of woodwind and brass, kitchen cauldrons were fashioned into those drums like they have in the Caribbean, and they made rather novel use of hoovers and those huge space hopper - bouncy balls! It was amazing! The sounds they recreated from cleaning products, kitchen utensils and huge blue anti-freeze barrels were unbelievable! It was so well put together, we left the opera house more than a little gobsmacked at their abilities and flummoxed as to how they kept in time with each other!! (I think though that that may say as much about my total ineptitude when it comes to percussion, rhythm and tunes as it does about their skills!)

We also sampled a delicacy recommended by Simon, Sushi....which had been avoided like the plague thus far. Tammy, however, was adamant that it should be tried at a place she knew.....and so, it was with some trepidation that we rolled up to a restaurant called Sushi Train where a continuous circle of plates of sushi went around on a little rolling carousel! And believe it or not...it was lovely! We only had one or two completely raw dishes, but we sampled things from octopus balls (not their balls, but balls of their meat!!) to fish flakes that moved on their own like those chinese fortune telling fish to proper sushi-ie looking rolls of rice, salmon, prawns with a little bit of roe thrown into the equation! And I have to admit it wasn't bad at all! We really are getting our education out here! P.S Thanks for the recommendation Simon, hope you are well, Happy New Year!!!! xxx

To fill our remaining days in Sydney we opted for a day trip out to the Blue Mountains, to see sights such as Wentworth Falls (and yes, thoughts were immediately drawn to Prison Break - MAN am I missing that bit of eye candy!), Katoomba, The Three Sisters, Echo Point, the 'Grand Canyon' of Australia, made up of deep gorges, steep cliffs and spectacular lookouts as well as a trip up to the Olympic Park (again!) The scenery was fantastic and the blue hue that gives the mountians its name quite eery! (Apparently the Eucalyptus trees give off a chemical to cool themselves, which, when viewed from a distance has a blue-y tinge - so there!) This trip did involve a bit of bush walking amidst a guide who kept saying look out for snakes at every occasion imaginable, in heat that was not only hot but also sticky and up virtual sheer cliff faces! Despite all this it was a marked improvement on the Rainforest in Malaysia, helped largely by the Air condiditioned van at the end of each tour!!!!

We also took a boat out of Sydney's Circular Quay to Manly, which was the gateway to........the location for Home And Away Filming, at Palm Beach!!! This was even more exci ting than the Neighbours St as it actually looked like it does on the tv! Naturally we opted for some of the classic pensive poses looking out to seaas you see in the soap! as well as going for the shot with the Summer Bay SurfClub and lifesaving prop! The trip to Manly also lead to some pretty uncomfortabe walking around the headland to look out to sea and watch some suicidal looking surfers! Rather them than me!

Our final day in Sydney was spent 'out' of Sydney in the Hunter Valley on a rather impressive wine tour! We went to 4 vineyards with free tastings of atleast 5 bottles (though (un(luckily)) only thimble fulls!) We also managed to get a chocolate and a cheese factory in there as well and sampled some rather splendid Australian specialities! It was a thoroughly enjoyable day, if a little blurry! Discovered that I am a white wine person and Jen a red! Tended to opt for the sweeter ones as well - like me I suppose!!!! What a joke! Anyway we finsihed Sydney on a definite high, topped off with dinner with our rather superb 'guide to Sydney' Tammy! Thank you!!!! (Superb Spag Bol!!!)

The next morning was the start of yet another road trip, in yet another camper! This time Sydney to Brisbane!

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Photos

Sun setting over Sydney Skyline
One of the brill lookouts Tam took us to!

Sydney Sights!
The only reasons to go apparently!