Hello there!

Well as we last left off I think we were just about to spend the day at Byron Bay before heading to Sydney on a 13hour overnight coach. Byron Bay was absoultely beautiful, arguably the most stunning place we have seen yet. It helped that the sun shone too (I'm aware you all may have forgotten what sunshine is, just as we cant quite recall rain!). Byron Bay is just a small seasidey town: lots of surf shops, bars, coffee places etc, and there was a nice relaxed atmosphere - reminding us of Falmouth in Cornwall. We walked off our brunch by heading upto the Cape Byron lighthouse; however we gave up part way there as the view couldn't be much improved having just climbed up a steep hill we were going to have to go down it only to climb the next hill to the lighthouse! So instead we strolled along the beach and generally lazed around enjoying the views before setting off for Sydney at 8pm.

We got into Sydney at 9.30am the next day and checked into the hostel. Jo was mildly disorientated by this point and couldn't remember where we had come from when asked by the receptionist! After a shower we headed out for lunch and explored the city centre. We were about half an hours walk from the harbour with all the shops in between which was pretty good, and only 5 mins walk from the main station. After chicken sandwiches at the hostel for tea (dinner says David) we went for a fancy drink at the Opera Bar down at Circular Quay, overlooking the Harbour Bridge, which was rather nice!

We visited the Telstra Stadium on Friday in the 2000 Olympic Park. We went on a tour of the stadium seeing where Jonny Wilkinson sat in the changing room at the world cup final (hidden from the cameras as he is apparently quite shy); we sat in the TV booths...the best seats in the house, in the commentators seats; looked around the corporate areas complete with Russell Crowe's private booth and the platinum lounge; and David spotted a signed Martin Johnson world cup shirt (and Jo was educated as to who he was). We looked around the olympic park too, seeing the cauldron, all medal winners and contirbutors. Seeing it all and hearing about it made us so excited for the 2012 olympics and we are now desperate for tickets, especially for the opening or closing ceremonies so if anyone has any offers on tickets..... That evening we went to Doyles on the Beach for a very fancy, very tasty, fresh seafood dinner. It was gorgeous, and located right on the beach in Watsons Bay giving us a great veiw back to the Sydeny skyline. Excellent, very well recommended.

On Saturday we headed to the shops in time for 9:01am when Harry Potter went on sale. We merely wanted to witness any Pottermaina but we joined in! There was a 200m queue of people waiting to get into Borders and claim their pre-ordered book. Meanwhile, the shop next door was selling books outside, with only a couple of people queuing, and so Jo had her copy by 9:03am! She finished it 41 hours later. We spent the rest of Saturday looking around the shops, eating lunch in a food court. The food courts here are really nice, more like a collection of little cafes and restaurants with a great variety of food, from burgers to make your own salads, and chineses for Dave. That evening we headed up to the Orbit Lounge on the 47th floor, a rotating bar overlooking the city where Jo enjoyed some lovely cocktails.

We had a lie in on Sunday morning before heading to the Aroma festival and the Rocks Market down near the harbour bridge. The Aroma festival was really different, it was just a load of stalls selling coffee, tea and hot chocolate, and the Rocks Market was cooling, selling all sorts. After a Wagamama's for dinner we had a lazy night while Jo finished off Harry Potter.

On our last day in Sydney we caught the ferry out to Manly Beach where we dined on Fish and Chips on the seafront amongst the seagulls. We walked along the beach and explored the town, browsing in some souvenir shops as usual...we have been quite fascinated with some of the things on offer, such as a real Kangaroo claw back scratcher, animal skins, Kangaroo testicle keyrings and purses....very odd!

So...next stop Melbourne! The last coach trip is coming up, we will have travelled 4000km by coach then! Good effort! Hope you are all well and coping with the floods!

Lots of love and hugs, Joanne and David xxxxxxxxxxxxx