Hellooo,

Well quite a lot has happened really in the last few weeks so i'm writing it down now before i forget..

Last weekend was particularly good. On the Friday after a stressful week of work (crazy busy on the phones!) we headed off to Kings Cross and had $10 steak, chips and Salad and $3 Schooners of beer! Bargainous! And tasty too! From there I just had a chilled out evening as i wanted to have a productive Saturday. Happy Birthday to Mother for this day also! Hope you had a good day. We wont mention anything about the pies though.

Saturday and me and Kate went to the amazing breakfast place across the road.. so good and the BEST milkshake i've ever had. Did i put that in my last blog? Probably but it was so good it deserves another mention. We then went down to Darling Harbour and had a wander round before getting on one of those little trains (the ones aimed at kids that take you round parks) and we sat on the back seat waving at people like Royalty. Then it all went a bit wrong and a kid fell off the train and the train stopped but the kid was ok so we carried on fooling around.

After this we did a mad dash to the Opera house where me and Kate fell out as she wanted to get the ferry and i told her not to be lazy and walk. We walked. Kate wasnt happy. But we got there and we saw a Shakespeare play called 'Titus Andronicus' - Sheakspeare's Bloodiest work! It was great! It was very violent though and they had a bucket in the middle full of red paint which they threw around the stage. It worked very well.

Later on we went round to Gavin's house and sat in the garden having some beers. It all got a bit silly though and we all put on different hats, got 90's classics on the go and had a good sing-a-long!

On the Sunday it was Newtown Festival which was cool. First there was a dog show (including a disadvantaged dog show which i missed darn it!) and while I was engrossed in taking pictures a dog wearing a tie came up to me and urinated down my leg. A dog. Wearing a Tie. Everyone found it very funny, myself included. It was such a cute dog I couldnt get angry. The rest of the day was fun. We saw a mad band called the Bakery who were crazy, all dressed in gold and glitter and danced all over the place playing trumpets and sax's. We all had a dance. Me and Liz bought matching cowboy style hats for our canoe trip up north - expect to see very special pictures of us canoeing in them in the not too distant future!

The last couple of days I decided to do some exploring so yesterday I went with Gavin and Meagen to Manly Beech. We got the ferry across and as soon as we got there we got ourselves Chips and ate them by the beach. Then we buried Gavin in the sand which amused us for some time. From there we went on a wander and looked like complete tourists - all clutching cameras, guide books and wearing hats and getting burnt. Was fun. On the way back we took another several hundred pictures of the Opera House just in case we havent already got enough then sat in the Botanical Gardens and enjoyed the views. All of a sudden hundreds of bats flew around everywhere. We all got very excited and got our cameras out once again.

Yesterday me and Gavin went on a road trip again.. stopping first at the Lindt Chocolate cafe for a milkshake..mmm! Then we got the Bus up to Watsons bay - about half an hour from Sydney. Up here we got hate crime from the woman in the cafe who was friendly to everyone else but when we asked for food she gave us the stare of death. I even dared ask for sauce after and she just went 'Dollar' and stared at me. So i handed my dollar to her and quickly escaped. It all went better after that though as we went up the the "GAP' - which is a hot spot for either 'Canoodling' or 'Suicide' according to the lonely planet book - due to the cliff edge and ace views. We sat there with beers and waited for the sunset and when it came it was the most amazing sunset i've probably ever seen. I felt very happy at that point. Probably something to do with the beer also. We got obsessed with taking pictures though and between us both took nearly 200 pictures of the same sunset ha! PHO-TO-GRA-PHY!!!

That sums up recent events really - oh apart from most days when i walk home from work I have to go through this park and this crazy tramp keeps takings pictures of me! The first time he did it he scared the life out of me! He just turned round and thrust his camera in my face! Then he did it again the next day.. then did it to me and Liz when we were walking together.. i dont even think he has film in it!

I only have a little bit of work left now - Mark is leaving in a couple of weeks so we are all finishing a bit earlier and doing a couple of road trips before he leaves. We want to make the most of our time in Sydney. I love it here now.. even more so since the sunsets last night. We just dont get those kind of skies at home which is a shame.

One last thing which I found quite amazing - I was speaking to an Australian woman on the phone yesterday and she picked up on my accent and asked where I was from - so i said near Manchester. It only turns out she has family that live in Macclesfield! What a small world! We both got very excited!

Its friday today woop! After work I am meeting Marko and Liz and we are heading up the Sydney Tower for a classy drink. There is meant to be a thunderstorm later - i sooo hope there is as the views would be amazing from up there!

Laters x