Leaving Melbourne and heading to Sydney

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Kate and I returned to Melbourne on a late night flight over from Perth, we checked straight into a hostel in Melbourne city rather than returning to halls. We had organised a farewell day together to mark the end of our 2 month meet up on the other side of the world. For the first evening we went to the IMax theatre to watch Ultimate Wave Tahiti 3D. It was a short 45minute film about Kelly Slater surfing in Tahiti, it was great being able to watch this on a massive screen in 3D as you could see his flawless technique as he rode perfect 10ft barreling waves. Tahiti of course is a beautiful island and you got an insight into their local culture too.

Later on we went for dinner at the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant; this was brilliant. We boarded a red tram that was operational in Melbourne in 1927, we sat at a table onboard and were served a four course meal while the tram drove all around Melbourne, past Albert Park and down to St Kilda and back. The meal was great and the views around the city were fantastic; I was amazed at how much ground we covered over the 3 hour meal.

The following day Kate was meant to return to halls and her studies, but we ended up hanging out around Melbourne together all day. In the evening we went to the cinema to watch a film called I Love You Too; this was the best film i'd seen in a while. Its set in Australia about a guy who's never really grown up and has real commitment issues to his English girlfriend. She breaks up with him and the film is about him trying to win her back, its really funny and has a lot of Australian references that people who havnt been to Oz wouldnt understand; we laughed loads.

The next day I went to Kate's to collect my things and bid her a final goodbye... although we were toying with the idea of meeting up at the end of the month for a brief trip to Bali for surfing. With Kate its never goodbye its always see you soon!! I returned to Melbourne and met up with Tim and his mates for another pub quiz. That evening I booked my flight on to Sydney, just after I booked it I spotted on facebook that a girl I knew from home was going to be in Sydney at the same time so I messaged her and she sent me her phone number.

The following afternoon I rang her up to see what she was up to and she said, Im in Melbourne airport about to fly to Sydney... me too, which flight? The 2.30... Same as me then!! We met up and boarded the plane together, small world eh?

Jess goes back a long way actually. I think when I was about 12 or 13 Jess was 10 or 11 our mum's were tennis partners at the local tennis club. Jess and I used to fill in when players dropped out or simply for fun games of tennis or badminton. We always got on but didnt hang out and went to different schools. We didnt see each other again until Jess started going out with one of my mates last summer. We saw each other and clocked it but were both unsure lol.

And now we happened to be on the same flight on the same part of the planet 10,000 miles from home. Weird. Jess' sister is currently living and working in Sydney; she recommends us a hostel so I go with her and check into a YHA in The Rocks district, which is just next to the harbour bridge near the Opera House. Jess goes on to meet her sister and I get my Ipod and go for a wander around town. Sydney is a really beautiful city, obviously it is famous for its landmarks; the Sydney Harbour Bridge and The Sydney Opera House. It also has a really nice Botanical Gardens and parks like Hyde Park. I went for a really nice walk from my hostel east to Circular Quay, past the Opera House, through the Botanical Gardens, south to Hyde Park, west to Darling Harbour, then north up George Street where all the shops are and back to the hostel. Sydney is a really nice city to walk around in the sunshine; the weather was great all the time i was there.

That evening I got a call from my friend Lewis whose grandparents live in Sydney and he was over there looking to start his career and get a place to live. He was sitting outside the opera house with a friend so i went over and said hello. I met Lewis in the surf club in Liverpool about two years ago, he rides a longboard so he's known as Longboard Lewis; we also had some lectures together, and we really get on well. We arrange to meet properly the following day.
Back at the hostel I notice that there is a barbecue going on the roof of the hostel so I go up for a kangaroo burger and to see the stunning view. From the roof it had wonderful views of the opera house and the city lit up, as I sat and ate Jess came over with her sister, Siobhan. Vorny remembered me from my childhood of visiting her house but i had no recollection of her- she was lovely though and so the three of us went out to the pub for a few bevvies. It was great catching up on the years between our last meetup and talking about the good old days lol. Unfortunately I had to say goodbye to Jess as she was heading on to New Zealand having spent a few months in Australia already.

The next day Lewis meets me in the morning and we drive north to see the beaches and beautiful coastline. We made it all the way up to Palm Beach which is a peninsula where you can stand at the top and look down on the beaches on either side. The beach is commonly used to film Home and Away, and indeed on the day we saw a bed on the beach surrounded by lights and props for a set- what kind of scene this was for I have no idea. The hills that led to this point were settings for large, expensive houses that overlooked the vast white sand bays and out to sea. Its amazing to to think that the city of Sydney is only a few miles from here.

For the rest of the day Lewis showed me round the beautiful coastline and one thing I'd never seen before- outdoor swimming pools that were filled and emptied by seawater and the movement of the tides. On the way back to Sydney, Lewis took me to a bridge that overlooked the city in the distance as the sun was setting- a stunning view.
As I mentioned Lewis is currently living in Sydney with his grandparents so he took me back to his house and they cooked me an amazing meal. They are Italian and don't speak much english so I had to use my spanish skills to try and blag it- it went okay actually! The meal was amazing- being that they used to be chefs and own a string of restaurants in the area. Unfortunately Lewis had to leave Sydney to attend a wedding in Naples but it was great meeting up with him briefly and getting to see the sights most tourists would miss.

The next day I had a long walk around the city in the sunshine, I walked all the way through the Botanical Gardens and down to Darling Harbour and then took a boat cruise around the harbour. The Sydney harbour is the second largest natural harbour in the world behind Rio de Janeiro, and stretches for miles. About half a mile south of the city is the naval base and a small island in the centre that was used for defense and then for punishing misbehaving convicts; they were left for days with no food or water to burn in the sun.

I walked down through town into Hyde Park that was really pretty and relaxing, it reminded me of the quiet areas of Retiro Park in Madrid, I sat and wrote postcards in the sun before heading down George Street to see the shops. I was surprised by the posh shopping malls they had, such as the Queen Victoria Building (QVB) which has history as government offices and the municipal library before becoming a shopping centre full of luxury boutiques and tailors. It has a large statue of Queen Vic outside the front entrance.

In the afternoon I returned to the hostel and remembered reading that i have to do the harbour bridge climb- the office was only down the road so I booked it for 4pm and went along. The Sydney Harbour Bridge was built in 1932 and is the widest long-span bridge in the world; it has eight lanes for traffic as well as a rail line and pedestrian walkways. Its known as "The Coat Hangar" for its shape.

Myself and 9 other people harnessed up and set off on the climb, we each had headsets to listen to our tour guide tell us history of the bridge and how some people had got married on this climb at the top of the arch. After climbing a few ladders to the start of the arch we began our climb up the arch to its 134m summit. There are many steel rivets sticking out of the structure that men used for grip before it had any sides to stop your fall. The view of the city and the Opera House below were amazing- it also illustrated how vast the natural harbour stretched out before it arrived at the sea and Manly Beach in the distance. We weren't allowed cameras so unfortunately I have no pics from the top, or of the amazing sunset that we watched as we descended the bridge down the other side.

I haven't mentioned that I got in contact with my stepbrother who is currently living and working over in Sydney. I had only met him once briefly before, so he texts and says he'll take me out to the pub. I meet him at 7pm and we drink loads of local beer and chat til 1am as an Irish band plays- it was a great atmosphere and great to finally meet him.

On the following day I decided to walk across the pedestrian walkway of the bridge to see what was on the other side. There was a large green park area and another Luna Park much like the one in Melbourne. I asked someone which had come first, they replied "Theirs came first but ours is prettier!" Haha i love the Melbourne-Sydney rivalry, it reminds me of the New Zealand- Australia rivalry i saw in New Zealand. In fact Lewis is the biggest Sydney promoter and needs to hear me state for the record that Sydney is way better than Melbourne (there you go mate).

In the afternoon I walked over to Circular Quay and rode a ferry over to Manly Beach- the ferry was a great way to see the natural harbour on the ride over. Manly Beach itself was a really nice beach and because this was a sunday it was packed with people and surfers. There were no waves but still hundreds of people out there searching for waves. I rode the ferry back as the sun set- lovely jubbly.

For my final day in Sydney I met up with my step-brother Steve for lunch and then set off on the double decker train over to the main central station. But where does my next adventure take me? you ask.

Well I'd booked to do a week long surf tour up the east coast to Byron Bay setting off from Sydney. You can read all about that in the not too distant future.

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