Sunny old Sydney

I had decided to book to stay in the YHA Railway as its close to where the greyhound drops and pretty central and modern.  As it turns out Ken’s friend (the manager from my hostel in Perth) works there on reception so he told me to look out for her.  Of course, low and behold I turn up and its her who ends up checking me in.  I was hot, bothered, knackered and stressed from my horrendous journey to Sydney so Mya invited me to join her and Ken for a little drink after they finished their shifts – it was pretty late but it gave me enough time to shower and freshen up and was a great start to my stay in Sydney.

On my Great Ocean Road trip there was a lovely lady I met called Celine who was from France who was also heading to Sydney but a day earlier than me.  I arranged to meet her on the Monday which was perfect timing as it was raining all day and we headed to the Sydney Aquarium.  

The Aquarium was pretty good however I would say no better than the one in Perth but I did have a lovely day hanged out with Celine and wandering about afterwards.Of course I spent plenty of time exploring Sydney, walking all around the Botanical gardens and the rest of the city but I have to admit, its not my favourite place in the world.  I can see that Sydney probably has its charms, the harbour is very nice, but to me, it was just another very large city.  I guess growing up in and around an amazing city like London you are so used to cities that they don’t necessary hold that much interest. 

I’d decided to make plans to head out of the city to the Blue Mountains.  There are many tour operators offering deals to take you out there for a day if you pay $100 odd and take you to all the usual tourist attractions.  Thankfully I had talked to Mya and Ken about it and they had given me the insiders knowledge about what to do.  Simply take a train from Central Station (right by the hostel) for just under 8 bucks, it takes 2 hours and you are there!  The ride is lovely and scenic and they go every hour so it was definitely the best plan.  I was booked to stay at the YHA there which had been recommended.  I checked in and got the low down on what to do as I was only planning on being in the moutains for 1 night. 

There is a great walk you can do that goes from not too far from the hostel all the way along so you get to see everything and it takes about 3 hours so off I headed.  It was definitely the best decision as there were packages you could pay for that took you on a scenic railway and a cablecar and stuff but the views I got were so much better and for free!

I’d kept in touch with Celine who was also in the Blue Mountains at the same time as me so we met up that evening for dinner and a glass of vino.  The following day the weather was appalling.  I decided to try out the tourist bus that’s hop on hop off but it was so crap you couldn’t see a thing!  The only advantage was the driver said that as I was the only one on it – ha ha ha – he would take me down to the bottom of these falls so I could see them as they don’t normally go there.  At least it was worth it for that as they were very pretty but then I headed back to Sydney for the night. 

Alison and Cairon, friends from Perth were also staying in Sydney when I was there but as they had been working I hadn’t really gotten to see them other than the cinema with Ali earlier in the week.  Ali and I arranged to meet up early on the Saturday to do the 3 hour Bondi to Coogee beach walk which was really great – amazing views and lots of beaches!  Highlighted of course by receiving lots of drunken phone calls from Nicola etc on her hen do!  

That evening I met back up with Ali and Ciaron for dinner and drinks.  The plan for the next day was to get up early and head to “summer bay” and then to meet up with Ken for a BBQ and his.  Well of course, as we all went to bed so late we didn’t make it out to Summer Bay but of course, we made it to the BBQ!  It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon and or course, no food was had until late.  We headed back into the city with Ken as he madly had to do the night shift that night and I decided to head to a bar nearby with a girl that had also come to the bbq that Ken knew.  A very bizarre end to the evening as we got chatting to this group of people and she left me looking after her drink and then never came back!  In the end I had to get a guy who I had been chatting to all evening to walk me back to my hostel (no winking please – he was the perfect gent!).  It was a great end really to my time in Sydney but it was time to move on and detox the old liver again.