So this is Sydney, we've been here a while now so thought we'd better put all that we've done down before we forget it, this is only part 1 so look out for part 2, if you enjoy this one that is. Friday 6th After getting off the bus and checking into Wake Up we decided to continue the party celebrations that had begun earlier on the bus. So we all did ourselves up in our finest backpacker going out gear and headed to the bar downstairs, Sidebar. The plan was to start there and move on to another place later on but this never materialized, half due to the lazyiness of us and half because Sidebar was suprisingly good for a hostel bar. The night came to a close and we had our first encounter with 5 Star Kebab, the perfect end to any night I'm sure you'd agree. Saturday 7th All got up together at 1pm mainly due to the bad look the cleaner gave when she came to empty our bin only to find a room full of lazy, mildly hungover backpackers. Thought that due to our late start to the day we should make the most of the remaining 4 hours daylight we had, then we reconsidered and went to an internet cafe. That night we decided to check out what the rest of Sydney had to offer as far as bar go, ended up at Scruffy Murphey's (an Irish pub, what gave it away!), where a rather crap band were playing and seemed intent on killing any good song that had ever been written in the last 40 years. Went home a little disappointed but watched some football when we got back to wake Up and that made it all better again. Sunday 8th Got up at a slightly more reasonably time and found Rob and Aky making chocolate mousse in the kitchen in preparation for Nicks impending birthday celebrations later that day. Finally got ourselves over to the harbour and took an unbelievable number of photos of the bridge and opera house as Beth has already noted (more photos to come, no joke). The view was as you'd imagine though, absolutly amazing. After watching possibly the worst street performer ever, who felt the need to tell the audience when to clap, where to stand and what parts of his were funny and what wasn't, we headed back stopping at the supermarket to get some fajita kits. Unsuprisingly we had fajitas that night, fajitas having been the one food that we had been dreaming of for a long, long time, and it didn't disappoint , a massive feast for 7. Went to Sidebar for happy hour, where during one of our drinkin games, (that consists of trying to bounce a 10 cent coin into someones pint, if it goes in your you have to down it) Rob in his haste to finish his drink managed to swallow the 10 cent coin at the bottom. Cue a rather worried look on Robs face and much laughter amongst everyone else. To be far to him though he can down a pint in under 5 seconds so its no real suprise. Then went to our room, drank some cheap wine known to travellers as goon and ate sweet, sweet mousse. Once we'd made a significantly large mess of our room we headed back to Sidebar, then onto to a bar in Kings Cross, this all in aid of Nicks birthday. Came back from Kings Cross slightly disappointed and went to Scruffy's again but this time went downstairs to the club and there we partied the night away. Arrived back at Wake Up around 5.30am, just in time for the kitchen to open where we had a quick eat before going to bed. A great night I'm sure you'd agree. Monday 9th Got up very, very late and had our breakfast at 3pm, spent the rest of the day lazing around, and took it easy that night so we could actually see some sunlight the next day. Tuesday 10th Got up a little later than hoped but never the less got ourselves to the world famous Bondi beach. Decided we needed some kind of entertainment for the beach so preceeded to buy the crappest frisbee ever. Played with the frisbee for a while before coming to the conclusion it was the crappest frisbee ever, so instead we dug a hole, aiming for England. When this failed we covered the hole with a number of towels, delicatly placed the afore mentioned frisbee ontop and our trap was set. We waited and waited and waited but eventually Andy and Dom arrived. This is where it gets rather ingenius. As soon as Andy had arrived we asked if he was up for a game of frisbee, obviously no-one can resist a game of frisbee and as he leaned over to get the frisbee he went tumbling in. Just goes to show, good things do come to those who wait! Then thought we better venture into the death pit that is the Austrailian sea, if you're not eaten or stung by something you'll no doubt be dragged out by a big rip, but its all part of the fun I guess. Rode some of the wave back to shore minus board and sometimes not always intentionally but enjoyed it, came out unscaved as well which is something of a bonus. Had another quiet evening Wednesday 11th Went off to Manly, another good beach which looked identical to Bondi but had soem shops around it, and played some cards. The ferry across there gave us the chance to once more fill our camara memory cards with photos of the opera house and bridge from numerous different angles. We knew this was to be our last big night out so we were back in good time to get ourselves ready and in Sidebar for happy hour, where we played the bouncing 10 cent game again, mainly in hope that Rob would swallow another one but alas it was not to be. Went up to room again to make more mess and drink more, ended up in Sidebar again before we completed the manditory trip to 5 Star Kebab. Thursday 12th Took a trip to The Rocks which is oldest part of Sydney and from there we walked up and onto the Harbour bridge for a good view down onto the city. Once back at Wake Up all the lads got together to make ourselves a meal, each taking a specific role. The most important of those roles was chief moussers, a title held by Aky and I. The meal was good but the mousse was a little sickly due to the experimental use of chocolate milk in the mix. Went for a quiet drink in Scubar and then met up with the girls in our room to say our goodbyes as they and the band lads were all off the next morning to go to Byron. Friday 13th Friday 13th is a day that many people consider to bring bad luck and for bad things to happen to you. This for us was to be true, we woke up and everyone had left, and it just wasn't the same, the laughter had gone, and suddenly that mousse stain you had on every piece of clothing wasn't quite so funny, it was however a good memory of what had been. Considered doing some washing. Left Wake Up that day as well but just to check into a slightly cheaper hostel down the road, called Maze. The thing with this hostel was that it really was a maze and a few times you could find youself somewhere you didn't want to be, not really knowing how to get to where you wanted to be. Was checked into a room that was almost as messy as our last but this time it wasn't our mess so wasn't as much fun. Spent the whole day lazing about before heading to Base where Tom, Andy and Dom were and joined in the partying.