Sydney

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We left Sydney back on the 1st September after a long weekend of jam-packed sightseeing!

We decided to visit the worlds second largest fish market (after Tokyo) so had to get up at 5am to see it in full swing. We were able to stand on the balcony behind the 'buyers' at their electronic bidding keypad stations but how they knew what they were bidding for we had no idea, we couldn't figure out the big screen with the countdown! Apparently they go down to the 'floor' early in the morning and peruse the fish on offer before taking their seats when the bidding begins!

Next we visited the (Las Vegas style) casino, and got our first $100 notes out of the cashpoint! We only went to have a look and ended up becoming members! Membership was free and we each got free drinks and $10 to spend on the 'pokies'. We left with $14, so made the trip worthwhile!

We did the usual touristy things, visiting Hyde Park, the ANZAC memorial, the monorail, Paddy's market, The opera House, Paddington Markets, the Manly ferry to see the harbour at night, the botanic gardens, the Rocks and Chinatown where we feasted at the food stalls.

We went out to have a look at the Olympic Park and we were a bit gutted to have missed the last segway tour of the park! Oh well, we continued on foot and saw the stadium (the walkway to the stadium is pretty cool with poles displaying facts and figures about the games and the names of all the volunteers etc), the pool, the archery field and the equestrian centre and then got the ferry back to the city centre via a couple of the islands (again some with a lot of convict history).

Obviously, no trip to Sydney would be complete without visiting the bridge. We weren't content with just visiting the bridge, we walked across it, climbed it, drove across it, sailed under it and climbed the pylon just to be sure we'd seen it from all angles possible!!! The climb itself was really good. It took about 3 and a half hours and we climbed inside the structure instead of the top to really see it but obviously stood on the top too!

On leaving Sydney we decided to take a detour to Fox studios where they're currently filming Wolverine - I had hoped to get a sneaky glimpse of Hugh Jackman but no such luck! Did however see the entrance to where they film Australian Idol - WOW!

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Photos

Fish market
Second biggest (after tokyo) in the world

At the casino
Didn't think they were going to let us in looking like such hoons!! (hoons are Australia's equivalent to hooligans)