July 6, 2011

On the 6th of July we went to Bondi Beach. The voucher we've got from our backtracker railway passes had also a voucher for a return train ticket to Bondi Beach. Unfortunately, there were no signs that led us to the beach, and we went outside the railway station, spotted the water and went for it! Downhill, about half an hour of walking, we reached the beach! But it was a very, very small beach - was it here the reality show about the lifeguards was made? We didn't believe so. The surroundings wasn't what we had imagined either. There were no surfers, no hang-arounds, not anything that could symbolize the post card beach we had heard about. Instead there were a pretty village-like feeling, with a lot of families strolling around - and not in the 'we're on vacation'-way, but in the 'we actually live here'-way. Then we spotted a taxi and asked the driver if he could take us to Bondi Beach, and so he did. Up the hill again, and about twenty minutes of driving later, we reached the correct beach! And strangely enough, they had a winter-festival, with ice skating, bratwurst, hot chocolate, a kælkebakke (just it was water not snow you slided on), Christmas trees and a Alpine cottage. And in the sea, the surfers were still out surfing. Very strange combination!

July 7, 2011

This bright day we went to some vintage shops and Marie-Louise bought a nice purple suit, and we all tried lots of funny hats. Rebekka then had a haircut, which she was really happy about, and upgraded by the others to über-babepacker (we are the babepackers - or so we believe ourselves).

In the afternoon we went swimming in an outdoor pool in the middle of Sydney, and afterwards we went to a big shoppingcenter with K-mark and Target, which Nina was very fond of (because it is American… - we will be there soon enough, Nina.)

July 8, 2011

On the 8 of July we took the train to the Blue Mountains. Just the day before there had been an accident, because of the windy weather. A tree had fallen down on the train and broken it, nobody died - one had an injury, but wasn't badly harmed. Nevertheless, we didn't know at that time, so we just went. And everything turned up all right. We walked from one look-out to another and the views and the mountains were stunning.

July 9, 2011

At this Saturday we met Peter and Colleen and went for a lovely lunch at Darling Harbor. At the restaurant there was a spectacular view of Darling Harbor. The sun was shining bright and the tourists were taking a small train around to see the sight. We had a lovely smoked salmon salad and tasteful glass of wine. Again we experienced the joy of knowing Australians who know where the good places to eat are.

Afterwards we all saw the Chinese Garden in Sydney, which was quiet and beautiful, stoic and controlled as Chinese gardens should be.