Down in Oz

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As I write this, I sit in a crazily expensive internet cafe in Honolulu, Hawaii, it may take a while to write therefore, as I do a bit a day, whilst also checking other websites, so I apologise for the delay. We arrived in Sydney on the 19th, early in the morning, getting to the hotel around 10, where we were told to wait until one in the afternoon before our room would be ready. To pass the time, we took a ride on the subway to the Central Quays area, which was right next to the world famous Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. We spent a few hours exploring the area, visiting some of the many souvineer shops across the Quayfront and getting some photos and before we knew it, it was time to head back to the hotel to check in. We got back and Sarah got a couple of hours sleep (as the Virgin IFE managed to distract her during the flight), and I thought about sleeping, but as I was reading the 6th James Patterson book I have got through whilst being away, I was otherwise distracted. In the evening we headed to a nice resteraunt reccomended by the guidebook, but hidden away a bit, and got a great Pizza, although they managed to serve me someone else's order - I didn't complain, it was a nicer, more expensive Pizza.
The next day was a total washout, with torrential rain, pretty much all day. As I had misplaced my cash-card, we were close to being completely out of cash. Therefore, at about 11, Sarah volunteered to run down, in the rain, to the nearest ATM to get some cash out for the day. However, the nearest 3 ATMs were all out of cash and it had rained so much whilst Sarah was trying to find one, the water was getting close to a foot high in some of the dips in the road - meaning she waded, rather than ran back. So after drying out for an hour or two, we headed round the local area, relying solely on the credit card. We didn't get much further due to lack of liquid funds and a scattering of rain every now and then.
The third day consisted of two main events. The first was a walking tour of some of the parks in Sydney. We had a look round Hyde Park and the Botanic Gardens - which housed bats living in the trees. This was all very pleasant and a bit of an oasis from the busy city of Sydney, but it really was a lead up to the main event of that day. Sarah and I went to different attractions at around 2pm, and I headed about 45 minutes west of Sydney to the suburb of Belmore. I was going to the Belmore Sports Ground to see Sydney Olympic FC (Home) Vs Penrith Nepean United. The football was good quality, probably around League 1-League 2 level in England, as Sydney Olympic play only one step below the Australian A-League. However, the crowds were only Ryman Premier League standard, with an attendance of 615. The game itself was one of the most exciting that I have seen in a while. A host of good chances were spurned by Sydney Olympic, before a great cross allowed them to go 1 up. However, sloppy defending allowed Penrith to take it to 1-1 at the break. A goal for both team in the second half took the scores to 2-2, and it truly was end to end football throughout the game. The match was made even better when in the 94th minute, and with the last kick of the football, Sydney Olympic crossed the ball into the middle and their number nine connected with his head to make it 3-2, queing massive celebrations.
The following day, calming myself down after the match, we headed to Sydney Aquarium and Syndey Wildlife World, which gave the opportunity to get close to some of Australia's wildlife, including a glass-bottom boat ride in a shark pool, sitting beside a kangaroo and stroking a Koala Bear. Whilst this was more for Sarah than myself, it was fairly interesting, and gave a good insight into Austrlia's wildlife.
The last day, however, was really the highlight of our trip to Sydney - a forage into Sydney's blue mountains. Avoiding the over-priced tour-companies, we took the 2 hour train journey out there, and took busses around the main walking areas. The included walks overlooking the vast mountains (see above) from high cliffs, and walks around waterfalls. We also had the opportunity to ride on the world's steepest railway down into the rainforest, which went down at such an angle that the seats had to be point upwards from the horizontal - so you didn't slip off when it started going down! After exploring the lush fauna of the rainforest, we took an amazing cable car ride back up. Our trip to the Blue Mountains was truly spectacular scenery, and one of the best things we did in Sydney.
The next day was time to move on, so we got a few more snaps in front of the opera house, and then got the last two available seats on our Qantas flight to Hawaii, where I am now.

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