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Arrived in Sydney Airport, very tired but still managed a late night viewing of the Opera House, and fish and chips. Harbour Bridge and Opera House very impressive, even by night. Next day, had a walk in the Botanical Gardens, which has great harbour views too. Saw quite a few people getting married there. Booked tickets for Marriage of Figaro and Opera House, very excited about that. Met up with Pippa, Paul, Peter and Karen at the Vodka bar, then went onto the Ice Bar (-5 Degrees) and then spent the rest of the evening in the Champagne Bar, later meeting up with Jules and Jake. After a very drunken night we spent New Years Eve in bed nursing bad bellies (hangovers?). However, we managed to drag ourselves down to Circular Quay to see the fantastic firework display off the bridge. Watched the London fireworks in the morning on telly, they put on a good show, think it might have beaten the Sydney show! Walked around Sydney shops, bumped into Paris Hilton, and even spotted Branson's catamaran in the harbour. Had a walk round The Rocks, took a ferry to Manly and spent the day watching the surfers from the beach. Took a ferry to Taronga Zoo, which was very impressive, saw the usual collection, plus a red panda and orangutan. Took a nice picture of a giraffe, which also has the opera house and harbour bridge in it. Went to Bondi for the day, very nice, massive beach, good surf. Walked around towards Cogee, on the fantastic coastline. 2nd January, we both got dressed up for our opera night. Had a fancy pre-opera meal in Quay West (lots of people in posh frocks and tuxedos!) and strolled over the opera house to see the Marriage of Figaro - was a fantastic night, brilliant and funny opera, a real highlight of our time in Sydney. We did a day-trip to Katoomba, the Blue Mountains, which was amazing. The eucalyptus oils give the mountains a blue haze, hence the name. We left our nice hotel (Citigate, Sebel near Surry Hills) for the coach to Narooma to see Uncle Charlie and dog, angel.
We left early by coach for Narooma, passing through the most beautiful coastal areas, including Bateman's Bay, and a lunch stop in Nowra, which was an interesting sleepy Oz town, with its own town bench and associated villagers. Eventually arrived at Narooma to be greeted by Uncle Charlie. It was great to see him. We spent a lot of time walking Angel on the beach, and doing crosswords and Sudoko. Went to the cinema, caught Casino Royale and Happy Feet. Went to Uncle Charlie's Bowling Club where he showed us how to lose money on the gambling machines! Had a ridiculously huge Chinese meal there. We tried to get over to Montague Island but the sea was too choppy. It was sad to leave Charlie but we hope we convinced him to come to the UK sometime.
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