G'day, G'day, G'day, So Rich and I have made it to the land of Kangaroos and Koalas and so far we are both love Australia. We started our adventures up the East Coast with 6 days in Sydney. What an amazing city it is. During our 6 days there we made sure we covered all the major tourist sites, drinking establishments and even ventured out of town to the Blue Montains. Our first day saw us visit the one and only Sydney Opera House. We paid for a guided tour around the area which was well worth it as we got to go inside and see the theatres which are beautiful. We then strolled back to our youth hostel walking along the harbour area and through the botanical gardens which were lovely. So lovely in fact we decided to have a little rest and watch the sun go down. Our youth hostel was really cool - sadly no more guest houses as this is only a South East Asia thing and private bedrooms and bathrooms are a big no no for Australia unless you are a super rich backpacker. The other major difference to Asia is eating, in Asia we spoiled ourselves by eating in restaurants 3 times a day as it is cheaper to eat out than to buy your own food from a supermarket. We were however looking forward to being students again as we headed to the local supermarket and bought dinner and lunch for $2 each. The hostels are great here as they all seem to have great communal kitchens and living rooms so it is really easy to meet other backpackers. Despite having not slept for about 42 hours we headed out into the busy streets of Kings Cross (backpacker ville of Sydney although the main street looks more like the red light district in Amsterdam.) We entered a table football competition and lost miserably (we put it down to tiredness!) On day 2 we went to Darling Harbour which is a really stunning part of Sydney, its really well looked after and is surrounded with cute little bars, restarurants, water features and parks. We saw a digeredoo show and went to the Maritime musuem which was really interesting. Following this we headed to the Victoria Building, a very smart and therefore expensive shopping centre. That night we went clubbing and danced the night away and i was in my element as i could get my hands on some much loved cider (not heard of in Asia). The next day we went to Sydney Harbour Bridge, we didn't pay to climb up it as its really expensive so we climbed up one the pylons instead for a great view of Sydney. We then walked our very windswept little faces around the Rocks which is a really lovely area in Sydney (quite colonial and French looking). The following day we went to the famous Bondi Beach which is very much a surfers beach and has some really cool little bars in the town. We had a drink in a super trendy bar overlooking the sea feeling very classy in our shorts and flip flops. We had an early start the next day as we headed to the Blue Montains for a day trip which are a couple of hours out of Sydney. We trecked around the mountains using a hop on hop off bus to see as much of the area as possible (including the 3 sisters - 3 famous peaks) and ended our day with some lovely tea and scones (what true backpackers we are!) On our final day in Sydney we went to Manly beach and relaxed and topped up our tans. Considering its only spring here we have had amazing weather and hardly any rain. We both felt sad to be leaving Sydney as we had had such a great time there. It is a really beautiful city which has so much to offer and we can now see why so many people plan to come to Sydney for a couple of weeks and end up getting jobs and living there. (Don't worry mum i still plan to come home :)) After Sydney we thought we'd stop off in Port Stephens for 2 days instead of heaidng straight to Byron Bay like most people. We stayed in a backpackers bungalow place located in the woods. It was like being a kid and going camping again except we had cabins instead of tents. We stayed in Anna Bay and walked to One Mile Beach. This beach was incredible - it was totally deserted and kind of in the middle of no-where with no civilisation surrounding the beach only sand dunes. We carried on walking with very sore feet to the well known sand dunes of Port Stephens and took some pics before heading back to our woods to cook a delicious steak dinner on the bbq. On our last day in Port Stephens we went to Nelson Bay and went Dolphin watching. It was incredible to see these amazing mammals swimming around in their natural habitat. We are now in Byron Bay and love it here too. It's a really small town and is really pretty and well looked after. The beach is gorgeous and we are staying in a cool hostel with a pool. Our time in Byron Bay has consited of lazy days on the beach and partying in the evening so we've had loads of fun. We are heading to Surfers Paradise tomorrow for a couple of days and then on to Brisbane. So far we have both found Australians to be really lovely people. So friendly and helpful and they dont seem to want to rip you off like in Asia (always nice). The only thing we have not yet exhausted in Oz is there pies so hopfelly we will change this soon. We hope everyone is well back home Lots of love Beth and Rich