Quick Stop in Sydney...

After a 14 hour drive (that was supposed to take 10) we arrived in Sydney in the evening and checked into a hostel, my first hostel since Vietnam, and Vietnam won hands down!
The place was pretty expensive considering how filthy and basic it was, and I was sharing a dorm with 7 others, along with a bathroom and kitchen shared with a hostel of over 100 people! Thankfully, there were enough of us that we had a dorm room to ourselves.
That night, I got my first taste of the Ozzy night life. We headed to a place called Side Bar, full of backpackers from all over the world. Considering it was a backpackers bar, drinks were still quite expensive, but as we'd had plenty of $15 wine from a carton before we came out, we didn't need much more! It was great to have a night of getting dressed up and dancing the night away to good music, which we hadn't done since Thailand. After we were kicked out at closing around 2am, we happily crashed out in bed after a long day.

Waking up hungover, we dragged everyone out of bed and drove to the famous Bondi beach. It was a scorchnig day and the beach was full, mainly with backpackers. The boys had a burst of energy and were playing ball games etc, while Keeley and I topped up our tans. It's amazing that despite the sun being so strong, the water in Victoria and New South Wales is so cold, like ice.

After the boys had had enough of being kids and tired themselves out, we decided to do the 2 hour walk from Bondi to Coogee, going round all the bays at the cliff top. The walk was beautiful, we went round loads of smaller beaches and saw amazing views out to sea. We also passed some of the most impressive sea view houses i've ever seen, they must have cost a fortune - oh how the other half live! Once we arrived in Coogee we rewarded ourselves with a few beers at the Coogee Palace Hotel.

That evening while most of the others crashed out hungover and exhausted, me, Sander and Tom went back into the city for a night out. In Sydney they have loads of 'Responsible Drinking' laws, such as, no entering a bar/club after 2am. Also, after midnight, for 10 minutes every hour they stop serving alcohol. So anyway, we were in a cool place called World Bar which closed at 2. At quarter to, we hailed a taxi and made a mad dash to the next bar before they stopped letting people in. This bar was pretty empty for a Thursday night, so we left to find somewhere else, but by now it was past 2. The three of us ended up in a rough bar in the middle of Sydney's gay district, where we stayed til about 6am. I found out the following day that we were in one of the roughest bar in the area! It was pretty crap, like a cheaper version of Wetherspoons, but we had a laugh and there was no trouble.
The next morning after a crap night's sleep because of the boys' snoring, I packed my bags and went to meet my mate from home, Louise, who has relocated to Oz.
Louise lives in the trendy Oxford street in a lovely apartment. After lunch at hers, we walked to the main tourist part of Sydney, the harbour. After taking the compulsory photos of Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, we spent the afternoon sitting in the glorious sunshine at Opera Bar, overlooking the harbour.

A little while later the others came to meet us with the good news that they'd bought a stationwagon, including camping gear, ready for our road trip, for only $500 each.

I stayed at Lou's after a Mojito-fuelled night on the town, then went to meet another friend who lived in another part of the city across the Harbour bridge, Collaroy, about 50 minutes away.
I met Becky and her boyfriend Tim in 2007 when i spent the summer working in Portugal.
By the time I got there and we'd spent hours catching up on the last year or so, it was time to get ready for a gig her boyfriend was doing with his band 'Ninjaz with Attitude', back in the city. The band was great, they didn't take anything seriously and spent the whole gig taking the micky out of themselves in their songs whilst dressed as ninjas. Really entertaining!
Back at Becky's later it was like a Portugal reunion, with all the guys who I worked with in Portugal who lived nearby round for drinks, like the good old times!
On what was supposed to be my last full day in Sydney, Becky was showing me the sites around where she lived. First was Palm Beach, aka Summer Bay, the beach where Home & Away is filmed. Apparently all of us 'Pommies' love Home & Away - I don't know anyone who watches it, but that's what the Ozzies think, that, and Neighbours! After the lovely Palm Beach, where I stood outside the surf club (if you don't watch Home & Away you probably won't know what that is) we got a bus to Manly. Manly is opposite Sydney Harbour and a really smart area that reminds me a bit of London's Docklands.
The Wharf bar, Manly, was packed full with all sorts of people from beach babes, to those dressed to kill for a Sunday afternoon in this trendy bar. It was a great way to spend a lazy, sunny, Sunday afternoon with a good crowd.
In the morning, when Becky and her housemates had gone to work, it was time for me to head back over the bridge to meet the others. Rather than get the bus, I jumped on the ferry for a ride back to the city, a much better journey seeing all the views of both Manly and Sydney Harbour.
I got back to the hostel in time to meet the others loading up our new (old) car, ready for the road trip to properly begin! Only a quick few days in Sydney, but I fit loads in and had a brilliant time catching up with friends. There is so much more to do and see there, so I will definitely go back at some point. But now was time to hit the road!