Happy New Year from Sydney Harbour Bridge!!!

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It was an emotional moment when we boarded the Greyhound for our last bus trip (and hopefully our last overnight journey), but our sadness was overcome by excitement as this time we were heading for Sydney! The journey went quickly and having had plenty of practice sleeping in cramped, uncomfortable positions on buses we managed to catch some zzz's...well at least i did, Ian favored the on-board entertainment which came in the form of 'Cool Runnings' over sleep!
We arrived in Sydney bright and early in the morning, three hours earlier than expected. We weren't quite sure how the driver managed to make up that amount of time, but with a loud "Wake up everyone, wakey wakey, I'm awake so you all should be" announcement over the bus microphone we soon realised he was pretty crazy and most probably his driving was too! The bus pulled in at Central Station, which was conveniently located next to our 'Wake Up!' hostel, and being really eager to get out into the city and see the sights, we quickly checked in and headed to our rooms to dump our bags......we woke up three hours later! So, after eventually making it out of the hostel and deciding to head down to Circular Quay (which housed the famous Opera House and from where you can see the Harbour Bridge) we found ourselves being drawn into the surf-shop sales...so the sightseeing went out of the window and we both spent money we didn't have (although we sis get some great bargains)!!!
We finally made it down to Circular Quay and it was absolutely amazing. The bridge was so big (or as Ian said "an amazing piece of architectural glory") and the Opera House was spectacular to see. We couldn't believe we were there, in Sydney, stood next to the famous landmarks you would only normally see on TV. It was quite surreal!

The next day we set out to do some more sightseeing. It was a little overcast and me being me set out wrapped up in my warm winter jacket as I couldn't cope with the baltic 25 degree temperatures! Luckily it brightened up and we enjoyed walking down to Mrs Macquaries point from which we could see the Opera House in front of the Harbour bridge. From there we ventured round to the botanical gardens where Ian enjoyed photographing the wildlife including the Macaw's, that was until one took a disliking to him and started to attack him! Later that evening we headed to Oxford Street on the recommendation of our friends Jemma and Ian (who we had met on our Africa trip); they had told us it was a good place for shopping. Well, if we had wanted to shop in 'The Daily Male', 'Aussie Boyz', 'The Tool Shed' or 'The Lick-Her Shop' then it would have been fine, but not being homosexuals (well, I'm talking for myself there..I don't think Ian is!) the shops were rather inappropriate for us! The street was full of George Michael wannabes and Ian was being eyed-up left, right and centre! I found it highly amusing, however Ian felt somewhat nervous and clung to me - the first time he has ever held my hand in public I think!!!

The following day we hopped on a ferry to Manly, a small seaside town. It was a lovely town and we both really liked it there, however so did the rest of the tourists in Sydney it seemed! We spent a the day there soaking up the rays... Ian a few too many - he came away impersonating a lobster! That evening we met up with the Lisa and Jody, the girls we had spent Christmas with. Still unsure about what exactly we were all doing for New Years Eve (ie. where we were heading to to watch the fireworks and times etc) we decided to get advice from our fellow Irish friends (who we had also met on the Whitsundays trip) as they had been in Sydney for the new year celebrations the previous year and they claimed to know the best spot to pitch up. Unfortunately for Ian the Irish clan suggested meeting at a bar just off Oxford Street...so Ian had to walk down the street again, this time looking like the token gay guy amongst a group of girls! We sorted out a plan of action and enjoyed a few pre-new years eve drinks with everyone.

Next day...NEW YEARS EVE!!!

We met up with Lisa and Jody around lunch time and headed to the shops to stock up on food and beverages for the day...a task that should have been simple but it turned out to be somewhat of a challenge. All the shops had sold out of cans of beer (we had to buy cans as we weren't allowed to take glass bottles to the site) and as a result Ian came close to suffering a nervous breakdown at the thought of no beer for the celebrations! He gave up looking and sulked with Jody in a doorway, so Lisa and I ventured into China Town where the one and only ching chong off-license had supplies...we saved the day! So with food and more importantly beer in hand, we caught the ferry across to Balmain, a suburb situated on the opposite side of the bridge to the Opera House. We couldn't believe our luck when we rolled up there about 2.30pm - there was plenty of room left where we would have a perfect view of the bridge and the skyline of the city. We reserved ourselves an area, making sure we spread our stuff around in case the Irish clan joined us later in the day, then sat enjoying the sunshine and soaking up the atmosphere with the other thousands of backpackers.

After hours of waiting the first set of fireworks were set off at 9pm. They were incredible and just a taster of what was to come! Everyone was absolutely buzzing...and the drinking went on! Unfortunately after a days drinking, the alcohol got the better of some people and two randoms passed out on our towels not long before the main fireworks - it kept us entertained though and I was thankful I had stuck to the shandys! As midnight approached we headed to the front of the crowds, then suddenly the fireworks kicked off and the sky was lit up with a rainbow of lights. They were firing off the bridge, from the tops of the skyscrapers in the city and from several points on the mainland across from where we were. The display seemed to go on for ages but at the same time it was over so quickly. It was quite overwhelming but an unforgettable experience!

We spent New Years Day at Bondi Beach, again with our favourite Blackburn ladies. Ian was a little disappointed at the lack of surf-babes on the beach (obviously he had failed to notice the three lovely ladies who were with him) but it was a perfect way to recover from the previous evening and catch up with some much needed sleep! We had an early night that evening in preparation for our early start the following day...
...3.30am, yes 3.30 in the A M, we got up and strolled down to 'The Rocks' (an area in the city) where we were to get kitted up to climb over the Harbour Bridge. We had to put on some really sexy jumpsuits and do the old safety talk, then we were off to climb the bridge. The climb wasn't at all scary and we didn't get the adrenalin rush we were hoping for, but never the less we had fun and the views from the summit of the bridge were brilliant. The rest of that day was a write off and we could do nothing other than chill out and take it easy!

The following day we caught a train to the Blue Mountains from central station in Sydney. Two hours later we arrived in the antarctic and figured the train must have made a wrong turn somewhere down the line! We were both totally inappropriately dressed for the freezing conditions; we were wearing just shorts, flip-flops and t-shirts whilst everyone else around us had obviously considered that they were heading to the MOUNTAINS for the day and selected something a little more suitable from their wardrobes! We began our trek along the mountainside and passed a rather unimpressive waterfall (not quite up to the standard of those we had seen in Laos), then took a wrong turn and ended up at a smelly concrete toilet block and subsequently started asking ourselves 'why we had bothered to get out of bed!' However, we finally got back on the track and began to realise there was a reason for us having made the trip there...the views across the landscape were beautiful and as the sun came out the 'Blue Mountains' began to live up to their name.

They appear blue because of the oils coming off the eucalyptus trees giving a blue haze and there was also a train and cable car ride, the train being the steepest train in the world! It was an unbelievably enjoyable 60 second train ride to the bottom. They probably could have dressed it up a bit but I think the world's steepest train ride is about as exciting as you can make it! The cable car on the way up was a bit more exciting but only slightly. Before that we walked around for an hour or two trying to thaw out and warm,ed our insides with some coffee! That was about as exciting as the Blue Mountains got, although we did manage to get our picture taken with an aboriginal guy with toe nails Lloyd Christmas from Dumb and Dumber would've been proud of, minimal clothing, a weight problem and in need of dental cover!

Our final day in Sydney was a hectic one...we got up early and made a mad dash to the Olympic Stadium, as Ian really wanted to have a look at it and so I could just say I'd seen it. Once there we had ten minutes to look around then we had to get on a train back to Central station as we had planned to meet Jody and Lisa again to head out to Palm Beach where the fantastic 'Home and Away' is filmed. We waited for the girls, but they didn't arrive so with a few minutes to spare until the bus was due we pegged it to the bus station, making it just in time to the bus terminal. In Aussie terms Palm Beach was 'just down the road' so we knew we were in for a journey of an hour or so, but it wasn't until 2.5 hours later that we arrived at Palm Beach. We had all of 20 minutes there, so instead of sitting down on the beach and enjoying our last day in sunny Australia we ran around like crazed maniacs, snapping away with the camera. We took some photos of the Alf Stewart's 'Surf Club' and the famous walk-way down to the beach, then hopped on the bus for a return journey to Sydney!

When we got back to the hostel we gathered together our things and again made our way to central station to catch the train to the Airport. Whilst standing on the platform waiting for the train, I decided to pull out the plane tickets to have a look at them...'Flight departure time 17.20'...WHAT?!!!!!
Ian's detailed (and not to mention meticulously anal) itinerary that we had been following for the entire trip had a different time on and we had been going by that (which said the flight wasn't until 18.20). We should have known it wouldn't be a smooth journey, as it never is with us for some reason! Anyway, we started to panic thinking that we would never make it in time. The train arrived and we had four stations until our stop. Each time the doors opened at a different station Ian looked out of the door and said in a rather panicked voice "no one getting on or off here, lets go thank you!". Eventually we got to the station and ran up the stairs to the gates which we had to put our tickets in to pass through (much like those on the tube in London). They wouldn't open though and kept spitting the tickets back out at us. This really unhelpful woman (who was obviously really happy in her job) came over and said "they're not valid, you have to pay more'...different to what we had been told by a guy at Central Station, but we didn't have time to argue, so we just paid the money and continued our panic-stricken dash through to the check in desks...only to find that the flight time Ian had written down on his itinerary was in fact correct and the printed time on the tickets was wrong. I had suffered yet another nervous break down for no reason (and I reckon that this time Ian had come close to one), so after checking in we relaxed by indulging in yet another McDonalds! We reminisced over our time spent in Oz and was very sad to be leaving after having had such a great time there, but it was onwards to New Zealand...to find sheep, serenity and more sheep!

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Photos

Some great photography!
Look at the reflections in his glasses!

Botanical Gardens
...where Ian made some feathery friends!

Later in the evening...
...when it got a bit chilly!