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We have been in Australia for 6 days now, and cant believe how quickly it has gone, and how much we have done so far. We arrived in Sydney, after another long plane journey, we should be getting used to them by now but we think its getting worse!! When we arrived in Sydnay at 6am, we couldnt believe how cold it was - we were freezing!!! It is still much warmer than England but we have clearly got used to Asia temperatures and was not prepared!! Its Australias Spring, which means the days are gorgeous, but just a little cold. It took over 2 hours to go through customs at the ariport in Sydney as they are really funny about bringing food and different objects into there country and we had to declare a Cococ*** frog lamp we bought in Thailand!! Out of all the countries Sydneys had to be the worst for organisation, it took ages.
We took a shuttle taxi into Syndey centre to our first hostel, which was in a fantastic location, we were right next to Darling Harbour and a short walk to the main streets and main tourist attractions. There were some really nice people in our dorm room, and the hostel was huge, thought this is not always a good thing as too many people come and go. That day we spent walking around exploring the city, which is great. We went to the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the opera house, both are brilliant up close and we took a walk around The Rocks with nice cafes etc and through the Botanic Gardens which are beautiful. We found out Sydney was extremely expensive, but at a minimum pay rate of $16 per hour, they can afford it!! Here a pint of beer is $10 equivalent to 6pounds, small chocolate bar is 2.50 and even water is 2 pounds!!)
The following day we booked a day trip to the Blue Mountains which are amazing, it was a really clear day so you could see for miles. WE visited all the main sites and walked down 1000 steps down a very steep mountain into the rainforest, and decided to take the cable car back up!!! We saw all the main sites including our first view of the wild kangaroos. Anyone visiting Australia, we highly reccommended this trip it has such amazing views.
Our final day in Syndey was spent on Bondi beach which is a gorgeous town, we would have loved to stay there a little longer. Sydney were experiencing the biggest waves in years, so the waters were a little dangerous for swimming, giving us the excuse not to go in as it was freezing! Even the surfers didnt want to take the chance. The waves were so strong they were sweeping people of their feet even when they were paddling. We took a long walk around the headlands to see lots of smaller beaches, and had the best fish n chips in a long time!! Still not as good as the barbican!!
The next day was our first bus trip on the oz experience and it was brilliant, we had a small group who were great, we all got on really well. Our guide was brilliant making many stops on our journey, showing us the weirdest things such as the big banana, the big prawn etc!!! We arrived in spot x surf camp, and was directed to our rooms which were in metal shipping containers, quite funky. After a walk on the beach we headed back for a barbecue and a camp party around a camp fire, drinking lots and having a good time with our group.
The next morning we were woken up at 7am and had a fry up for breakfast before starting our surf lesson. We had lots of time in the water, but again the waves were huge. Martin was brilliant, managing to get up on his board, where as I had many falls!! Think we need to take it up when we get home, shame we are so close to cornwall and never use it. Was a really good laugh, loved it.
We are now in Byron Bay and have just booked our fraser island trip and the whitsundays. Its raining today unfortunatley but still having a nice time around the town, off to cheeky monkeys tonight with the rest of the group for mexican and free margaritas!! Lovely.
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