Sydney

Day 23: city tours

Had a pretty awesome flight. No one was sitting on the 3 seats next to me so I had a flat bed in economy and slept the entire flight :)

Landed refreshed in Sydney and made it through immigration pretty swiftly! Got a shuttle bus to the hostel (Base), stored my bags and spent ages talking to the travel advisor there. He's been pretty helpful booking and sorting out the rest of the East coast for me. 

Went on a city tour with the hostel. It wasn't that informative but I got to wander around the city, have a free lunch in the park, and meet people which was basically what I was using it for. But it was much colder than I was expecting! Real wind chill factor :(

Sydney opera house

Harbour bridge 

One of the girls I met on the city tour decide to come with me to do an "I'm free" tour of the rocks. Couldn't find the meeting point for ages and everyone we stopped was an american tourist! Luckily we spotted a large group of people and the bright green top of our tour guide just in time before try set off. It was really cool as we were able to see all these little lane ways and places that you would never have found by yourself and find out loads about the history. We were told to turn left at the next alley and we walked straight past it. That's how small some of these entrances were!

Evening time over the bridge with our guide Russ

Had some 'food' (2 minute noodles) when we got back and used the free drinks vouchers I've been given in Scary canaries next door and then I crashed in bed to get over the jet lag. 

Day 24: whale watching and more city tours

Charlie, the girl I met on the tour yesterday and I went whale watching in the morning. We chose to go on the speed boat trip which was really cool. Once we were out of the harbour we picked up speed and flew over the waves! We saw a mummy humpback whale and her calf. Usually the whales are really playful splashing their tails but the weather had been bad recently so they were using the calm day as a chance to feed the baby. Not that most people in our boat thought it was a calm day! Because we were such a small boat we were tossed with every wave and I think half the boat ended up with a sickbag or leaning over the edge! Luckily I had been warned so had taken anti-sickness tablets in the morning and so felt fine :)

In the afternoon we went for the daytime I'm free tour. The meeting point was much easier to find! We wandered all around Sydney hearing about the history and seeing some really cool spots. We both really fancied some proper English tea so sat by the harbour drinking out tea, eating out muffins and watching a cruise ship leaving the harbour. It was pulled out by a tiny little tug boat. How it managed to pull the massive ship I'll never understand. 

Red Christmas cups are here too!

As it was getting late, we walked up to observatory hill and were able to watch the sunset over the western suburbs of Sydney which was pretty beautiful! 

Sunset

In the evening we headed down to Side Bar to watch a live band play. It was pretty cool. They were playing some great tunes but when they stopped and the music came on it was so loud. You couldn't have a conversation without saying "what" about 100 times. I sound so old moaning about the loud noise.... 

Live band

Day 25: beaches

Today we got the bus to Coogee beach and walked the east coast coastal path to Bronte beach. I tried to go into the sea but the waves were bigger than I expexted so was knocked over completely! Decided to admit defet an spent te rest of the morning reading on the beach. 

We were meant to be meeting the tour from the hostel for luch but we didnt see them arrive so all we had when we got there was a sauage and some ketchup, and no bun :( The people who worked in the hostel then took us the rest of the way along the costal path to Bondi beach. Along the path there were lots of sculptures as its currently 'sculptures by the sea'. There was a really cool one that was a large sphere and in it you could see the view out over the bay but upside down. I'm sure if I thought about the physics and optics I could figure out how it worked but I didn't and I just thought it looked cool! 

Bondi beach

In the evening we went up to the Sky tower. I've now seen the night skyline in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpar, Singapore and Sudney. Unfortunately we missed the sunset as we didn't realise we had to see the 4D film before we went in. The 360 views of the skyline light up at night were amazing. 

Night skyline

Had an evening off and just chilled in bed booking buses and figuring out which hostels I still need to book before my early start the next day....

Day 26: Syndey harbour bridge climb

Got up super early and so was able to chat to mum and dad and then Catherine on the walk to the Bridge climb. 

When I got there there was lots to do to get ready... Had to sign consent forms, remove all loose items, inteoduce ourselves to everyone, get changed into the jump suit, get everything loose attached onto the suit and get harnessed and radio-ed up. We then had a practice set of ladders to climb up and down to get use to how the safety slider worked and to get a feel of what it was going to be like. 

Then the climb began... It was amazing!! We started out climbing inside the bridge and then had about 4 stories of really steep stairs to climb up and then we were on top of the main arch. It was only slightly windy and that was enough for me. They were climbing in 120mph gusts the other day :s

The view from the top over Sydney was stunning!! Couldn't quite believe I was up there, felt like a bit of a dream! 

Even once we had climbed down the other side, taken off all the gear and got the photos I still couldn't believe it. Ended up going to sit Observatory Hill having lunch looking back to the bridge to get into my head what I'd done. That allowed the adrenalin shakes I had in my legs to stop! (The shaky knees weren't fun on the ladder back down. It was so steep but at least it felt much safer than all the ones in Thailand - I was clipped on and there was a hand rail on both sides to hold!) 

"I climbed that!!!"

Visited the observatory whilst I was there, decided I couldn't really not. It was a pretty small museum and the planetarium show was good (I was the only person in there) to find out where the constellations, the Milky Way and the magalanic clouds were but he kept giving me some really basic info about space. Didn't have the heart to tell him that I'd studied physics so knew this stuff! 

Had a free ticket to the Bridge museum as I had done the climb so we up there and had a look at how the bridge was built. 

Wandered around the harbour for a bit then headed into the Botanical gardens. Didn't explore them much but instead just sat over looking the harbour and the opera house reading the Australian equivalent of the metro!

Came back and then Charlie and a couple of guys from her room who I'd met on the Bondi walked went to the Rocks night bizarre. It was really cool, full of these little stands, quirky shows and a silent disco. Went into possibly the coolest bar I will ever go to. It was a pop up bar and you had to wear a bird mask to get in and once inside it was like a house party. Downstairs was the dance floor and a dj and upstairs there was a chill out room with bean bags. And the whole place was white and covered in carpet. I loved it! 

Stopped at another pub on the way back that was showing chariot racing on one screen and the other was showing computerised dog and horse racing! So random!

Day 27: manly beach 

Had a lazy morning and then got the ferry across to Manly Beach. Went for a swim in the swim zone thats policed by lifeguards, slightly outside the flags and you get whistled backed by them. The waves were huge and great fun to dive under. 

Christmas Australia Style

Chilled out on the beach all day with some sushi, a book and then a delicious caramel crunch and vanilla chip ice cream with sprinkles! Decided to spoil myself with that! 

Lifeguard

Had a quick Macy D's for dinner (at least it wasn't noodles) then headed to a bar, then to the fireworks show. It was strange as these were my 5th November fireworks and it was warm. 

Sydney fireworks

Spent the rest of the evening with Matt and Charlie at Scary Canaries (as seen on Geordie Shores apparently). Saying goodbye to Charlie was weird. It's crazy to think how much  you'll miss someone and how much they'll miss you even though you've only known them 4 days! 

Day 28: blue mountains

Got picked up super early so I think I managed to leave without waking up people. Not that I should have been quiet, the two groups in my room decided to have an argument in the small hours of the morning. No clue what it was about. I just pushed my ear plugs in further and went back to sleep. 

Drove up into the blue mountains and had a quick stop in a little cafe for a coffee. Strange to see how far Sydney actually spreads out compared to the tourist area. And got to see the Olympic Park. 

Went to a lovely view point and then went for a walk in to a waterfall. It was raining (of course!). Really think the rain is attracted to me when I'm out walking. We weren't able to actually see the blue mountains and ranges like you image but we did get to see it with cloud coming up the valley which is actually pretty cool. Our guide got us to sit by a smaller waterfall, close our eyes and just listen. He then tapped us and we walked back a way before we were aloud to talk again. It was so peaceful and your ear turned in to all these different sounds in the jungle. Could here a frog croaking. 

View point (a photo of my camera which is why it's blurry) 

Had lunch then we went for another walk down a bit into one of the valleys. Obviously all the other people had only converses on and no rain jacket and I in my waterproof and hiking boots was the one who slipped on a wet knee and crashed down some metal steps. Took most of the impact in my hand an I thought I was okay but I wasn't. Just started crying! The guide was really good a looking after me but no one else in the group asked if I was okay! Felt so lonely at that point. Just wanted a hug from someone I knew as I was in shock but there was no one :( don't remember much of the walk as I was just thinking about my wrist. 

We got the senic railway cart up which had different modes of sitting positions and we obviously went for "cliffhanger" which basically meant you were staring staring down the valley and had to hold on to stop yourself moving forwards. 

Thought I was doing better but the guide got first aid for me at the centre and as soon as the first aided (called Happy!) asked what happened I broke down again. Luckily having someone look after me made me feel so much better and he bandaged my wrist up as a precaution to stop any swelling. Think it may have been a bit of overkill but it was good to have someone look after me. 

My wrist! 

The guide chatted to me the whole way back and we played each other music we liked and just chatted :) think he was trying to keep my mind off my wrist. By the time we got back to Base although it was a big sore it was fine and I was no longer in shock so not crying. 

Just hanging around in the hostel now. Showered and eaten but still need to pack as I'm getting the overnight bus (fun times) to Byron Bay in 4 hours. 

 

Will let you all know how the surf lessons in Byron Bay go next weekend. Hopefully will stand up :)