Ok so we landed in Sydney and took a cab to our hostel which was in Clovelly (20 mins outside of town). On arrival we met Chuck (one of the owners). A nice chap, reminded me of a garden knome. We then met Joey and two Marks who were long term residents of the hostel. A nice bunch who I knew we would have a giggle with. They immediately took to us two babes.
The next day we went exploring. We had wanted to do the Coogee to Bondi beach walk but was still in my cast so put it off. We therefore walked down the hill to find the lovely Gordon's Bay. The weather wasn't the best but we managed to get a hour of rays and some nice snaps too. We then discovered the Clovelly Hotel which done really lovely food and cheap drink. We ended up in here most days for a swift half or two.
The hostel was friendly and there were several Irish girls. Two Claire's and Lisa from Northern Ireland. One night we went clubbing with Lisa and some of her friends. We had goon on the balcony beforehand and she was pie eyed within the hour. She went home early and we stayed for a while in Coogee but came home relatively sober after seeing West Ham lose the FA cup.
With the weather still very temperamental we took a bus into the City to investigate. Here we saw two great filsm. Failure to Launch and Two for the Money - both highly recommended. We had a few drinks, checked out the shops then headed back to the ranch.
Marcia and Chuck were the owners of the hostel and made everyone very welcome. Marcia said that the new name for backpackers with wheely cases were flashpackers. I ended up buying one as my bag was falling to bits so I am now a flashpacker ha. We had planned to move into the City but with the prices so high and the fact that we had now made friends where we were, we decided to stay put for the rest of the time there.
After yet another visit to the hospital for an xray they referred me to the fracture clinic. Yippee finally my cast was taken off. It felt so strange and I walked like a penguin for a few days but luckly it is on the mend now.
Coogee Bay was a nice little place. A small beach but very clean and cosy. With bars, restaurants and Internet cafes there was plenty to see and do. A popular place with the young and old.
Manley Beack was lovely. We took the ferry across from the City giving us lovely views of the Bridge and the Opera House as well as Darling Harbour and other lovely sites. It was a nice town with a cinema, cafes and bars. The beach was lovely and quite long but the wind was so strong on this day it was too cold to sunbathe for long. Definately a nice place though.
Bondi Beach was not what we had expected. For one it was a lot smaller than we had imagined. Although quite pretty it didn't jump out and grab us. Can you believe that 50,000 people have been known to be on that beach on Christmas Day, god knows how.
As you can imagine we checked out all the local shopping centres which I have to say were quite impressive and yes, as usual we made more purchases and had to send yet another two parcels home - like you do.
We then took a day trip to the Blue Mountains and Karoomba. This was a great day out.
The Blue Mountains were fantastic and luckily the weather had turned around by this time so we had hot sunshine all day long. Our guide on this trip was quite arrogant and everyone thought the same. He then realised he had been a bit rude so changed his attitude but noone left him a tip ha. After doing a short walk around the Blue Mountains we then all got the chance to throw a boomerang. Well being the Boomerang Babes it was only polite now wasn't it.
Featherstone National Park - one of the nicest parks we have been to so far and the animals, as you will see from the photos are very friendly and soooooooo cute. Definately worth a visit.
We then went to Three Sisters with a great view from Echo Point. The story goes that the local Witch Doctor was a bout to cast an evil spell on Three sisters so their father turned them to stone before he could do so. He then turned himself into a bird so he could fly away. Unable to then reverse this spell he turned himself into stone so he could be with his daughters. Very sad indeed.
The Steepest Railway - this was mad. You practically stood up in this open air carriage. It went horizontally downwards into a dark tunnel but within minutes you were at the bottom. Strange but amusing to see some of the peoples faces. We wanted it to go on longer but at least we got some snaps of the experience. On this trip we met a lovely couple from Hawaai. Sarah (originally born in England) and hubby Robert. We spent most of the day with them taking the pee out of the guide as he was so annoying. We then took the cable car back to the top of Karoomba and rejoined the bus.
The Telstra Olympic Stadium - very impressive. You can even go there for day trips, use the olympic size pool, run around the track, use the trapeze and all sorts. A great fun day out for the athletic among you. Apparently when the olympics were on all transport was free if you showed your olympics ticket. This worked well and there was no conjestion with people arriving and leaving the stadium.
On our final night us and the boyz had a farewell BBQ at the ranch. They then took us two down the Clovelly Hotel for a drink or two. Then four of us went to a club. We got home about 4am and was going to stay up as the shuttle was picking us up at 7.10am. We had set out alarms but low and behold the next minute Karen was in the shower, I woke up and realised it was 7.05am. Shittttttttttttt. I lept up like a coiled spring. We finished our packing in record time got dressed and hailed a taxi to the airport already having missed our shuttle. We arrived in time to catch our flight to New Zealand. Phewww. We are so crap we really must invest in an alarm clock ha.
