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Hello everyone!
I hope you all had a great christmas and new year. Me and amy arrived in Sydney on the 17th to beautiful sunshine. We went to sleep anticipating more beautiful weather for the weeks to come but the next day we woke up to...well, england really! There wasn't a speck of blue sky to be seen and it was pouring with rain. Everyone I have since spoken to or been emailed by has informed me that of course Sydney is very prone to terrible weather - this was not something of which I was aware of! Refusing to be disheartened we got a train to Katoomba in the blue mountains. Unfortunately on walking through the drizzle to the look out point for the 3 sisters we were met with a blanket of impenetrable fog! Luckily the next day the weather picked up quite a bit. We managed some good walks in the semi bush which were great. After a slight panic on thinking that the tail of a big lizard was a large snake we avoided any worrying moments. We did decide to turn back at one point when scaling a rocky decline in what seemed like the middle of nowhere which proved a good decision given the subsequent thunderstorm (good call Amy 2). We also decided to go and see the christmas carol to try and help us feel more christmassy which wasn't such a great idea (not as bad as Vitner's luck which we saw in New Zealand, but not a classic if you're over 12!). We also went to the nearby town of Blackheath for a day which was nice. However, whilst the place itself was pretty uneventful the train journey introduced us to a few of the more eccentric members of the community - a slightly crazy man started talking about his rather eventful life only to be scared off by an even crazier man who tried to join in!
We headed back to Sydney on the 24th to meet my brother Laurie and his fiance Hannah. On christmas eve we went down to watch the fireworks at a lovely bar overlooking the harbour and then ended up at the hostel bar 'scuba' - rather a class step down admittedly but very christmassy (people dressed up as santa dancing to Mariah Carey and giving out presents is surely a must for christmas eve!) The christmas period was very like christmas in the UK - lots of charades and rain! The weather ended up making the time really feel like christmas though which was actually quite nice. We managed to go and see harbour bridge and the opera house on christmas day before retreating for coffee and chocolate! In the periods of sunshine over the next few days we walked round the botanical gardens and Hyde park (loving all the huge bats in the former) and walked around museums when it rained. Our hostel also had a free movie theatre which was a bonus! There was one lovely sunny day and we managed to take advantage and sunbathe on Bondi beach like proper backpacking tourists! During the day on New Years eve we had a wander around some of the lovely shops in the Darlington area (full of clothes which would have been a tad too expensive even if the exchange rate wasn't so shocking!). In the evening we went to an party in a great apartment looking over Harbout bridge which was fantastic. The place was lovely and the view of all the fireworks was amazing. Sitting in the grass watching the fireworks in the botanical gardens would of also been nice but I was glad that Laurie's friends got us tickets somewhere in the dry!
Unfortunately Amy 2 had to return home between christmas and new year because her nan was taken poorly so it was especially nice to have Laurie and Hannah around. Despite Amy's early departure I really wanted to have time to see some of the East Coast so I moved my ticket from mid-January to mid-February. I am now in Melbourne (after a slightly tiring night bus trip) which I really love. It is nice and sunny (quite a novelty!) and seems really relaxed. I went to a food market on my arrival which was great and found the lovely library. I am hoping to take a day trip to see the little penguins on Phillip island whilst I am here. I am will then head back to Bondi beach for a few days before starting up the east coast. I'm really excited about the next month but very aware of how quickly it is going to dissappear! I have banned myself from extending my flight again though so I will definately be returning by mid-February. Hopefully the freezing weather in England will have calmed down by the time that I return (not that February is know for being the warmest of months!). Thank-you for all the christmas good wishes, I hope everyone had a wonderful time. Sorry to have to reply to all the enquiries of whether I was having a bbq on the beach on xmas day and whether I was nice and tanned with negatives to both! I am spreading joy to other though: someone said passing me on bondi beach one day that 'it is nice to see people who are whiter than me - it makes me feel much better'. I considered running after them to try and educate them on the beauty of porcelain skin but thought that I might hit the self tan instead!
Amyx
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