After what seemed like days and days of traveling we arrived down under! When we reached Balmain, we finally met Kerry and Bess and settled into our apartment. For the rest of the day we got our first ferry, under the Harbour Bridge and past the Opera House into circular Quay. We then walked around the city, visiting the Rocks and many Bakeries (and there are loads). We got the ferry from Darling Harbour and arrived back to the first homemade meal in so long! The next day we went to Taronga Zoo where we got to see our first Australian animals and fell in love with the wombats. Later we ventured into the hectic city, packed with hundreds of people to see the Mardi Gras - which was interesting. We then decided to go to the beach the next day, to Bondi. Unfortunately the weather was rubbish and cloudy, but luckily the market was on! We went back for an early night to prepare for the early start the next day…when we did the Bridge climb! So we got into our climbing gear; the fetching grey and blue jumpsuits and headsets, and set off for 3 and a half hours with Michael the guide, right to the top and back. The rest of the day we visited the Opera House and the Botanical Gardens. On Tuesday we took the ferry to Manly and had another beach day. Later we planned to go up the Sydney Tower, but weren't 'appropriately dressed' so went and had the most amazing pancakes ever in Darling Harbour to make up for it. Another early start, we caught the train up to Katoomba to see the Blue Mountains. Here we went to Scenic World, where we got the steepest railway in the world! We then took our trolley bus to the Three Sisters for the amazing views across the valley. It then took us hours and hours to get home due to train delays. After a well deserved lie-in, we packed and sadly left the flat and went for our first night at a hostel in Bondi, with our fish and chips on the beach. Before we left for Melbourne on the night bus we met our friend Tom from Salisbury for a day! We took him to our favourite cake shop for a mud torte and chocolate strudel (yum). After too long on a very air-conditioned coach to Melbourne, we were picked up by our friend Tom (a different one from our tour in Thailand). He gave us a tour around the city, including the Memorial Shrine, Botanical Gardens and every single sporting ground in Melbourne. We caught a tram home to have an Australian evening - our first Barbie, watching Aussie Rules with Australian beer, eating Tim Tams and Milo and watching the classic oz film The Castle. The next day we had vegemite for breakfast before heading down to Federation Square and doing a bit of shopping. That night we went to our friend Claire's 21st - retro 60s/70s. The next day was Labour day, so we spent hours cooking a huge breakfast/lunch on the barbecue. After, we walked down Brunswick Street - a slightly different part of Melbourne. 27 hours after leaving Melbourne, we arrived at our next destination, Byron Bay, ready for 3 days of relaxing on the beach. We stayed in a really nice hostel that we loved, where we saw a fire show and one morning took us up the most easterly point in Australia to watch the sunrise. Right now we're in Brisbane for the week, staying with Neil and the kids!