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Published: June 13th 2008
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We left South America after 3 months but not without one hairy moment just before we left. Heres what happened. When we crossed from Argentina to Brazil at a land crossing for our we gave our passports in at the border and they gave them back but we only realised after that the had not stamped them. In addition we were not asked to complete an immigration form at the border either. We thought that it was a bit odd at the time but didnt worry about it. So, when we were flying out from Rio on our Journey to Australia we arrived at the emmigration desk. The emmigration offical at the desk started to look puzzled when he saw no stamp and no immigration form in my passport.He started quizzing us about it and we realised that he was quite serious about the matter. He could not believe that our passport was not stamped on entry to Brazil and told us that we have been illegal immigrations for 3 weeks in his country. ( I dont know did he think we arrived in some freight container from Leitrim or what... ) He spent some time deliberating over us and then
told us get out of his sight before he changed his mind! We grabbed our papers and scampered by him breathing a sigh of relief that we werent on a deportation flight back to Ireland.
So after that unwanted excitement and a very long journey we arrived in Sydney and we spent 6 days here. All be it a little jetlagged we managed to do and see a lot in the time we were here. It was a big culture change from South America , and it was nice to be back in an English speaking country before we head onto Asia. We like Sydney a lot especially the trendy bars and cafes, so much great food to be had and its so easy to get around. The weather was not great unfortunately and it rained a good bit while we were here. We did all the touristy things while we were here. On the first few days we just explored the city including harbour bridge, which we didnt climb ( too many mountains in South America), the Rocks, China Town etc.
On the third day we took a ferry to Manly, across the harbour, which was a
really nice place. Maire said we "Had to " visit Palm Beach ( the set for Home and Away) so we took a bus out there one of the days. We took some photos outside the surf club, which was closed unfortunately, and took a wander around to see if there was any filming going on. We did find a Home and Away production vehicle which was just pulling off so on Maires insistance a chase ensued and it became a case of "follow that Van" Unfortunately it was all in vain as we couldnt find them filming anywhere.
We spent a Day in the Blue Mountains which are about two hours by train, outside Sydney. The rain just about held off for the day and the visibility in the Mountains was good when were were there. I wont bore anyone wiith the reason behind the Blue Mountains name but suffice to say that eucalyptus particles in the air around the mountains give them a Blue complexion. It was a really nice place to go for a day and the "Three Sister" rock formation which are a world heritage site were worth seeing and we walked on a foot
bridge all the way out to the tip of one of the rocks, where there were great views of the valley below.
Maires grand uncle was a priest in Sydney back in the 1920,s so we went out to the his old Parish church outside Sydney to see if we could dig up any information about him but unfortunately while we did find the church and the current priests house keeper we didnt get much information. We'll never make it as historians Im afraid. On our last evening we went to see a show at the Sydney Opera House. It was a contemporary Dance show of Edwards Scissor Hands touring from Londons West End. It was a good way to experience the opera house especially as neither of us would know an Opera song if it bit us on the Arse.
So unfortunately our short stay in Sydney is over already. Time is really flying. We're heading onto Bali now which is our first stop in South East Asia. Hopefully the sun will be shining there !
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