Katoomba(Blue Mountains) Aus.

We fancied a train ride away from the hustle and bustle of "city life", so, next morning it was off to Sydney Central to take the 2 hour train journey to The Blue Mountains for a spot of walking.

Checked in at YHA (what an excellent change for the better to have good accommodation) and took the explorer bus out to the edge of this mini 'grand canyon' The weather was good so great views were had throughout the day.

We walked for about 5 hours and then caught the excellent explorer bus back to Katoomba.

Today, however(Tues 27th), the weather has broken and so decided to have 'catch up' time in rural surrounds... excellent decision!!

Bondi Beach Aus.

The next day and we were up early to join the 'other beautiful people' on Bondi Beach!! A short bus ride saw us mingling with the surf-boards and slapping on the sun tan oil!(actually we only paddled as I won't swim in anything less than about 30 degs). The weather having taken a turn for the better we walked back to Coogee Beach around the coastal path and caught the bus back to Sydney.

One of the better areas is Darling Harbour and we've rather made a thing about eating out alongside the boats and people-watching until late evening. The restaurants around here cater for every taste and the fish is extremely good so this suits us fine.

Sydney Aus.

Arrived in Sydney to a cold, misty morning and a strong southerly wind. This is definitely not what we were expecting!! Checked in to our backpacker's accommodation which we had to book at the last minute as there was little available and a further shock to the system as it wasn't quite what we'd expected. In fact, it was very basic and we both felt like octagenarians as the scene was a bit like that witnessed by parents when their teenage children have their first party with alcohol(those of you who have had kids will know what I mean..........those of you who have kids not yet of this age.........you have a treat to come!!..........those of you who have no kids.........breathe a sigh of relief!! Added to this , the room was very bare and the toilets/showers were, shall we say, less than hygenic!! and worst of alll we were here for 3 nights. Trying to convince Pam that this was good training for SE Asia was not going down too well either.
Next day went down to Sydney harbour and with 1 night in the hell-hole behind us, things were starting to look up. Had a look around the Opera house,(very impressive architecture at close quarters), booked to see Dionne Warwick in a 1 night only show on our last night in Oz and took a tour around the Harbour , before heading off to the Botanical Gardens.
Beautiful plants, flowers and wild-life greeted us there and we were mesmerised by the sound of birds high up in the trees!!. Actually these were bats roosting(looked a bit like coconuts from a distance!) and we were rooted to the spot watching their antics, clinging on upside down, feeding young and fanning themselves(pictures for you Max, as if I remember correctly, you're fond of bats!!).