Sydney and Coffs Harbour

Arrived in Sydney and it was 13 degrees!! Bit of a shock to the system after 30 degrees and humidity of Singapore. Checked into my hostel and went for a little wander around the city, along to the Botanical Gardens and round the harbour to see the Sydney Opera house and the harbour bridge! Was a bit breezy but in the sunshine it all looked pretty stunning! Walked through town and Hyde Park back to Kings Cross where my hostel was. It’s really odd to see so many English names of places as you wander around! The next day I walked over the Harbour bridge (bit scary but great views) wandered around the rocks and some of the more touristy bits of the city. The following day I got up early to catch the train to the blue mountains which are about 2 hours outside the city. You get off the train in a really quaint town which feels a bit like its still in the 1960’s and get a hop on hop off trolley bus which takes you to the main interesting spots. The blue Mountains are beautiful and although not as high as the grand canyon it, the views were similar and equally stunning. I did a one hour bush walk (turned into 2 hour as I got a bit lost!) along the cliff to a waterfall and then hopped back on the bus. The next stop was Echo point which gives the famous view of the ‘3 sisters’ rock formation and from there you can continue the bushwalking depending on how brave you’re feeling (one takes 2 days!) I just did a ½ hour one! When I got back to the city they were having a bbq night in the hostel which was very tasty. Went out that night in the ‘interesting’ area that is Kings Cross but had a good time despite the sleaze!

The sun was just about shining the following day so took the subway to Bondi beach which was beautiful. Unfortunately, it soon got cloudy again so walked along the coastal path to Bronte beach and back again stopping off at the little beaches along the way whenever the sun came out! Checked out of the hostel the next day and spent some time in the botanical Gardens again (avoiding the giant spiders) and then in the courtyard of the hostel. That night I got the Greyhound bus over night up here to Coffs Harbour where it did rain a lot and it’s the type of seaside place where it’s hard to do things when it’s raining! Did meet some lovely people from the west country there randomly and tried a 2 hour surf lesson. Turns out I’m definitely not a natural surfer (more of a surfing disaster!) but I did manage to stand up for about 2 seconds!! Now I’m in Byron Bay for a few nights and then up to Brisbane at the weekend! The internet is really dodgy in the hostels I've stayed at which is a pain as you have to pay for it!! Hopefully will be able to upload some pics in a minute though....fingers crossed!!

Speak to you all soon!

Love Ro

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