We're just about to depart the amazing Sydney for Byron Bay after a fantastic week here...

On our first day we were shattered after a 12 hour bus journey from Melbourne and very little sleep sow e caught up on some sleep and then on the second day we went on a sightseeing mission- seeing the impressive Opera House was definitely a highlight. We also had the particularly exciting task of handing over $70 to the Vietnamese embassy for them to sort out our visas before we arrive (if you don't you have the pleasure of spending a night in a Vietnamese jail). We then caught a train to Newport- where Amy's friend from Camp America lives- and our home for the nect two days. He took us to his gorgeous beachouse and that night his friends came round and we played drinking games and swam in the pool.

The next day we went to Manly Beach and Palm Beach- Rhys is really lucky and lives right by both of them. Whilst we were at Palm Beach we saw Home and Away being filmed and were trying to get cast as extras- to no avail though! That night we went for a cheap Mexican dinner which was made even cheaper by being given a free round of Margaritas- good times.

The next morning we made our way back into the city and checked into a hostel for the night. We then wandered around Paddy's Market in the hope of finding some cheap shoes as we were told by the hostel that bars in Sydney have a no flip flop rule and seeing as they were the only shoes we have with us apart from walking boots we thought we'd better buy some. We managed to find some bargains and then wandered around Darling Harbour and went to Sydney Wildlife World where we got to see koala bears and kangaroos (so cute) and the not so cute snakes and spiders, eek!

The following day we picked up our visas from the Vietnamese consulate (no jail for us then!) and went to meet another of the girls friend from Camp America- Rose. We headed over to Bondi Beach, where we had lunch and watched the surfers do their thing and then did the clifftop walk from Bondi to Coogee. We then went back to Rose's house in Berowra Heights (in the bush just outside Sydney) and had an incredible barbequed feast with her lovely family.

It was Amy's birthday the next day and Rose took us out to the Blue Mountains for the day- we did some walks (we were out of breath after 10 minutes) and had lunch at a really nice cafe. We then went back to Rose's and got changed and headed into the city. We spent the evening in Australia Square, which had a brilliant atmosphere. It was basically a big bar with fountains etc in the middle of all of the skyscrapers. We then went for a midnight feast at Pancakes on the Rocks and then headed home.

Yesterday it was Anzac Day (kind of like Rememberance Sunday except all the Aussies use it as an excuse to have an all day party). We got up and went to Rose's friends house for a barbeque and then got the train into the city. We spend all afternoon drinking champagne on the roof terrace of a bar that overlooks the Sydney Opera House...life is good.

We're now waiting for the bus to Byron Bay- apparantly it's a 'hippie haven' so maybe next time I write I'll be a fan of rainbow patterns and dreadlocks...maybe not.