Sydney, Bondi, Manly and The Blue Mountains

Darling Harbour Sydney

Sydney

Me at the fountain in Hyde Park with St Andrew's cathedral in the background.

Some strange statue.....

Chom Poo Moo enjoys a colourful ice cream.....

Can't come to Sydney and not get your photo taken with the Opera House in it.

Views from the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

So I had arranged to meet up with some of the girls who had been on the Outback tour with me to celebrate the New Year - we met at 8am (no that's not a mistype!!) as we had been told that the queues for the park with some of the best views would be busy - too right this photo was taken just after 8am!!!

Luckily we were within the first couple of thousand people and we got entry into a restricted area that only held 3,000 people and the 4 hour wait to get in was worth it for this view. Wasn't too much of a hardship waiting as we went for McDonald's breakie and the sun was out.

We had a good spot on the hill - well good for views but we kept sliding down the hill everytime we moved!!

As expected the park filled up as the day went on.....

As the sun came out we were glad of our umbrella's to get some shade. Oh and we accidentally bumped into Goran and Maryon who were also on the same tour as us so they joined us for the celebrations.

Some people opted to use hats for shade - but there is little chance she was actually Australian as I never heard an Australian accent in the crowd the whole day - the Aussies obviously know something we don't!!

No hat or umbrella - let's improvise.......

The alcohol zone.......

The non-alcohol zone!!!

The best portaloos I have seen at an outdoor event - no not because there was no queue as they did get busier (though no more than 5 min wait all day!!) but they actually got cleaned during the event and their was loo paper - unheard off!!

So the early morning start obviously was too much for some who needed a rest to restore their energy before the big party.

Would you believe we also bumped into Misato who I met on a dive a few weeks earlier - small world!! Only 20,000 people in the queue and 1.5 million visitors to Sydney for the holidays!!

The last sunset of 2008......

Goran and Maryon.

The light parade - lots of very lit up boats sailed up and down the harbour for a few hours.

Misato, Andrea, Goran, Maryon, Minke and Liset wait patiently for the big count down.

The fireworks were worth the wait.

Happy 2009!!!!!!!!!!! :-) :-) :-)

So after a long day we decided on the 1st that some chocolate therapy was required only to find that Max Brenner's Chocolate cafe at Bondi was closed!! No it wasn't to be expected as most places here are open on New Year's day!!

Bondi Beach - we past a pile of paparazzi just along from here and they were waiting - very unexcitedly - for Paris Hilton (who was staying at a hotel near mine - but sure it wasn't as nice!!). They seemed much more amused when I offered to allow them to take my photo instead......well it was New Year!!

After sitting on our butts all day the day before Andrea and I decided to do the Coastal walk between Bondi Beach and Cooglee Bay.

The houses over looking the coast sell for millions so this down and outs house must be the most valuable in the world.

Men swimming in Speedo's is unattractive enough never mind jogging in them with "BRAT' on your ass - yes that's my excuse for taking the photo and I am sticking to it.

One of the bays we passed on the walk.

These guys forced us into the photo - I mean why else would we be there!! Or maybe it was Andrea's idea she is a trouble maker - I won't even go into the story of escaping from the drunk Irish man at the beach - well I never got into these situations until I met up with her........

What a jump.....

Kookoburra, Kookoburra on a lamp post.......

Surf board shop.

I have always wanted to know what santa claus does for the rest of the year.

We had looked at getting tickets to Madame Butterfly at the Opera House - I thought that would be a great place to see my first opera - unfortunately so had a lot of other people who came to Sydney for New Year so I had to be satisfied with a tour of the building instead. The Opera House has a similar story to the Scottish Parliament - millions over budget and finished 10 years after the expected date (still not convinced the Parliament will ever be listed on a must see list though). Interesting fact that the architect who also worked on the building project was asked to leave the project before completion and never saw the finished building in person even though a couple of years ago he agreed to work on the renovations but from afar due to his age - and he died last month so he never will.

Before everyone started leaving Australia we decided to take the ferry over to Manly Beach. Would you believe that we met Misato on the ferry as well......

Manly Beach - the beaches around Sydney were definetely the busiest I saw in Australia - most beaches here have a handful of people if anyone. These beaches were mobbed - though it was a holiday I suppose.....

Volleyball at Manly beach.

Kids cool of in the fountain.

The Street Entertainer at Manly.

Lots of sailing boats in the harbour.

The weather wasn't so nice on the ferry back......but the view of Sydney from the harbour was worth it.

Chom Poo Moo thinks there is a gap in the souveigner market - Opera House hats. If she makes millions she better share it with me or she is going back to the bargain bin in Bangkok!!

The Blue Mountains.

The three sisters - given their name by Aboriginals - supposedly the first of the three sisters of the 'Seven Sisters' who spied on a male aboriginal ceremony and that had to be tracked down by 'Orion' to stop them telling others about the sacred things they saw. The legend says that he changed shape/form and chased them accross the land and continues to chase them in the sky - hence the stars with the same name. The aboriginals believe that the stars are the spirits of the deceased (maybe I mentioned that story already when I did my outback update - oops!!)

Thought I'd try out some tree hugging - but it was too emotional for me.....

This cheeky magpie tried to steal my bag of cookies - but eventually he settled for just one....

There were loads of these big noisy cockatoo's around the Blue Mountains.

No idea what this bird is (might just be a parrot that over endulged at xmas!!). Behind it is the Sky Train that we took over the Blue Mountain valley.

One of the water falls,

Chom Poo Moo got excited at her first trip in a cable car......think the boy next to her thought she was mad!!

The steepest train in Australia - and probably the shortest train ride!! This track used to be used by the miners.

Chom Poo Moo insisted on going on this pony but she was too scared to go on her own - the things I do for my friends!!

And then she had to get friendly with the Aboriginal statue!!

Katoomba - the town that gives access to the Blue Mountains - is really as quaint as the train station would suggest.

Views over Sydney from the Sydney Tower at night.

Some snacks on sale at the airport.....

When I arrived in Sydney I was tired and was a little disappointed to see a big city and my first junkies/down and outs on the city centre streets of Australia. However, after a good nights sleep I went exploring and soon changed my mind - a fun city with lots to do. I had a great time over the New Year Holidays and was nice to meet up with some of the guys I had met earlier in Australia and celebrate the New Year with them. Couldn't think of a better way to finish 2008 which has been a pretty amazing year for me.

Now I have moved onto New Zealand and the next stage of my journey which I am also looking forward to but here are a few things that I will remember about Australia:-

• Crazy, fun, friendly and very hospitable locals - I had offers of accomodation etc from people I just met in cafe's/buses etc should I be passing their home town (or even their mothers/grans/third cousins!)
• Beautiful beaches - most of which were pretty empty as well.
• Long long bus journeys
• It is cheaper to fly anywhere than take the bus - probably becuase of the previous point.
• Good diving spots
• Poisonous snakes/spiders are not as common as people think - I only saw 2 and only becuase I was looking for them!!
• You can eat the animals on the national coat of arms - Kangaroo & Emu.
• Kangaroo & Emu are on the national coat of arms as they can both only move forward and signify Australia as a forward moving country....
• People here are much happier and more laid back than in the UK/Europe and they seem to have a much better attitude to the work/life balance.
• They do drink Castlemaine XXXX
• They do say G'Day, How ya Doin, Mate, Awesome, Fair Dinkum amongst others.....
  
• They love sports - any and all.
• Not everyone is a surfer dude.
• There are lots of people with long ZZ Top Beards.
  
• Though xmas is celebrated it is not as over the top as the UK (I love that fact!!)
• Anything goes in the style department - it is not only NEDS that wear tracksuits, you can go into most places in shorts and T Shirts (I love that too).
• It is expensive compared to Asia - I think I spent almost as much here in 2 months as 8 months in Asia!! And it is not any cheaper than the UK for most things - in fact Fruit and Veg is more expensive here even though it is local produce (I don't love that!!!).
• There are as many foreign accents as Australian accents in certain areas - like the East Coast - in fact it is sometimes hard to find an Australian to chat too in the towns there.
• Beaches, Dessert, Farms, Cities, Ocean, Rainforrest, Small Towns - all different, all proud of what they are and I loved them all....as do the locals who are very proud of being Australian.

So Australia is another country I cannot remove from my 'list' of places to go - it does seem that my list just keeps growing as I travel and meet people - none seem to come off but a few extra have been added on. If only there was not a small issue of a bank balance I could quite happily just keep travelling for the next decade or so!! Maybe I could get some sponsorship going - 'The Chom Poo Moo and Jackie Travel Blog Support Group' - feel free to make donations :-)

I hope that you all had a great start to 2009 and that the New Year brings you all some new adventures and to new places - near or far.

I am off to bed as I start my next adventure tomorrow - a road trip around New Zealand.....


Jack xx