Bondi, the Botanical Gardens and a very scary dorm mate

---

Sydney Jan 1st - Jan 7th

Following the excitement of New Year we had a few days left to explore Sydney before beginning our jaunt up the well-trod backpacker route of the east coast.

We moved from our double ensuite room at Wake Up (booked and paid for before we left on our trip because New Year in Sydney is notoriously busy) to a four bed dorm at the new YHA in The Rocks. This hostel is amazing as it is situated on an archaeological dig and there are lots of artefacts within the hostel that have been recovered from the site. As it is brand spanking new the kitchen and living areas are all pristine but the best thing about the hostel is the view from the roof garden which overlooks the harbour and the city skyline. It is rather expensive though at $41 for a dorm - most hostels are around $28. But in a savvy bit of planning we bought a pack of 15 YHA nights that work out at $25 each otherwise we would never have stayed there. It was at this hostel that we encountered the most bizarre room mate we have come across. The chap seemed quite normal when I spoke to him before The Incident which made what happened later to be even more disturbing. Me and Simon were heading to the room to get something at around 9pm and as the lights were all off and there was snoring sounds we figured the new guy was asleep so we left the light off and crept to our side of the room. As I walked past the guy’s bed he sat bolt upright looked at me and shouted “who the f*”* are you?” Now, I’ve read things about sleep shouters and how they can attack their partners because they mistake them for burglars or whatever so was a bit startled but kept calm and said “I live here, we’re at the YHA” then he laughed a crazy laugh and went back down to snoring. What a freak! I don’t think people like that should be sharing dorms and I only hope the mild-mannered Taiwanese girl who had the bunk above him was not subjected to such an outburst because I think she would’ve wet herself. These are the perils of sleeping with strangers people.

We spent our last few days in Sydney hanging out with friends and walking a lot. We traipsed round the Royal Botanic gardens which offer a fantastic view of the harbour with the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge in sight. Needless to say we took another 76 pictures of the Opera House before enjoying a picnic lunch in the shade of a tree and dodging the hundreds of ants that carpet any outdoor area in Australia.

We also caught the bus to Bondi to check out the world famous beach. It was rammed. As beaches go it’s pretty standard really, nothing out of the ordinary. We did the coastal walk from Bondi to Bronte we were going to go all the way to Coogee but it was really stiflingly hot so we succumbed at Bronte to the lure of fish and chips before getting the bus back to the city.

---

Photos

Sydney
As seen from the Botanical Gardens

Sydney
From the Botanical Gardens