Sunday, our last day in Sydney and Laura took us to see Bondi beach. As it was a hot sunny day ( as has been all week) the beaches were crowded as was the coastal pathway that links the beaches in the area. We walked round to Bronte beach and after a refreshing fruit juice made our way back to Sydney to visit Rushcutter's Quay, a marina not far from Laura's flat. We had a late lunch in the yacht club where you can sign in as a guest and dine with all the yacht...

We were driven to the Blue Mountains yesterday by John. A two hour drive from Sydney and a world away. The landscape is of high stone cliffs and deep forests with dramatic rock formations and waterfalls. We also visited a now almost deserted village called Hartley. Its claim to fame is that the buildings are still as they would have been in the 19th century when convicts were used as a workforce in the area. The village once had around 1000 inhabitants and was...

Arrived in Sydney yesterday afternoon and decided to take the airport shuttle to Kings Cross, the area in Sydney where Laura lives, and who is kindly sharing her flat with us for the next week. Firstly, taking the shuttle was a bad idea but as we landed at 5 pm we were told that a taxi would get caught up in rush hour and take much longer than usual. The shuttle bus took over two hours! However, we did see a lot of Sydney on the way as ours was the last drop of...