MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!!

So i have been in Sydney, Australia for just over a week now. And im lovin it!!!

The day we arrived we were all pretty tired as we missed a whole nights sleep due to the flight and the time difference. Also i ended up in a different dorm to the girls...which was a bit upsetting at first but hasn't really ended up being a big deal as im still with them all the time. And to be honest its a novelty not having to fight for the shower, mirror, hairdryer etc, as im usually in my room at different times to the girls i am sharing with (who r also really nice too).

Since we have been here we have been out quite a few times (well it is christmas!) and done most of the sights (altho we still have lots more we need to do before  we leave). Its nice tho, as we are here for 2 weeks it feels like we can be quite chilled out about doing things.

Our first full day here we looked around the Hyde Park Barrack museum (see, we are doing some things educational!) This was a building built in 1817 to house government assigned male convicts, there was an average of 600 men sleeping on hammocks in 12 (not very big) rooms... and we thought we had it bad at our hostels. Talking about bad hostels, this ones lovely but i feel like cockroachs are just following us everywhere...i had one in my shower the other day..its ok tho we blowtorched it with a deodrant and a lighter...it still didn't die..i sware those things have alien roots- did u know that they are one of the only things on earth that could suvive a nuclear holocourst!!

Any way it was really interesting seeing and reading about the conditions (and gruelling punishments) the convicts had to put up with!!!

The same day we went to see the infamous harbour bridge and Sydney Opera House. It is brilliant seeing things with my own eyes that i have only seen in pictures before!!! And we took a (gauranteed to get wet) crazy speed boat ride around the harbour also, which was loadsa fun...altho a little scary!!!

We have been to a few clubs, like The Gaff and Havana's (which you should come to if you wanna meet other travellers and have a chilled out non dressed up cheaper night) and Cargo's (which u should come to if u want a more posh night out and meet the locals..altho not sure if we can go back there..but thats a story for another time!!) and remember not to wear flipflops..and always carry ID!! After being in Asia where we never needed ID and any 1 who wasn't wearing flipfliops was wierd we learnt this the hard way!!

I have also met up with Bex Waller, my family friend from home, who is staying litterally round the corner form my hostel (Footprints), it was really nice seeing her, and hopefully i'll be seeing her again b4 we leave Sydney. 

Obviously we have done plenty of shopping (secret Santa presents and all that). Shopping is great here, but it jus feels so expensive next to Thailand!!

We have also been to Bondi Beach a few times. We love it there. It has a great chilled out atmosphere. The beach itself is no where near as beautiful as the secluded beachs we visited in Thailand, but it has far more beautiful people on it so that makes up for it...fit surfer boys galore!!!!!

I haven't tried surfing yet as this beach is too busy to learn on and i think i would rather embarrass myself in front of fewer people...but i definatley will give it a go at some point.

Christmas eve myself, Nat, Hayley and Dan were going to do the Bridge Walk...but that was a bit of a palavar!! We arrived for our walk, were put thru the introduction, where we were told about the equipment and had to go thru a simulator of what the stairs are like on the bridge. We had to put on very fetching jumpsuits and very strange head gear (we looked like extra's from star trek!) and even undergo a sobriety test (Yes, we did all pass..was a bit worried about that one tho!). But not even 10 minutes into the walk we were told to take cover because an electrical storm was coming our way (ooh great...jus what u need when standing on a metal bridge!!!!). And after waiting around for 30 mins we were evacuated for safety reasons. But we have got free tickets to do the night climb on the the 3rd (which is more expensive and meant to be better anyway!!!)

That night we had the Harbour booze cruise, which was lots of fun (altho a little messy!!). Its very strange tho as Sydney has litterally been taken over by the brits and the irish....so it almost felt like we could have been at home. We all ended up in Havana's after.

The next day of course was christmas day!!!!

I think we were all a little worried about christmas as we are not at home...and it was wierd but really good as well. One of the best christmas's i've ever had jus becuase it was so different!

We spent the morning eating chocolats and opening our secret santa pressies. Mine was Anne and she got me a pair of flipflops i really needed (i had to chuck mine becuse they smelt so bad!!) and a cute pair of earrings. My rents also managed to sneak some gorgeous Juicy earrings in my bag and currier over a magnum bottle of champagne!!! (What Stars!!). and Heather snuck me a mini xmas cake in my bag (ta bird!!!).

Then we met up with some boys we'd met in singapore for christmas dinner in The Gaff (not as good as how mum makes it unfortunatley..and no bread sauce..or swede!!) and spent the day drinking champagne the barman kept sneaking us and dancing downstairs in the Gaff and generally jus getting into the christmas spirit!

We ended up sneaking some champagne into water bottles and ending our night on Bondi beach, which was great! Every 1 in christmas hats and summer clothing is an odd sight tho!!

Yesterday (boxing day) was also great! We met up with the same boys and a group we'd met in Chang mai ages ago and a couple of boys we'd met on the harbour cruise and spent the day on Bondi annoying the sunbathers by playing very competitive and vicious games of touch american football. There was no '"touching" involved...it was full on tackling!!!! My team won tho of course!

Last night we went to an indie bar, with an amzing live band and tonight we are meeting up with the boys and Karl (the melbourne guy we met in Phuket) to go out so it should be a good one!!

Hope every 1 enjoyed their christmas's as much as i did!!!!!