Well I've been to Europe twice and America but I've never made it to Australia before now!
On 2 July I woke up at 3.45am. Yes THAT early! Jo, my darling sister, was kind enough to pick me up at 4.15am to take me to the airport for a 4.30am check-in. There was already quite a line of people, but I eventually got through it! So to cut the boring part short, I arrived in Sydney in one piece. Pam had sent me a SIM card and the phone number of the shuttle service. Now for anyone who has used this shuttle service to get to Pam's will know what a mission it is. They told me to wait by these seats and they'd come and get me in 10 mins when the ride arrived. 20 mins later I found the guy to ask him what the deal was and they had forgotten me! They took the other lady to Coogee but left me. Idiots. I flew in at 8am and got to Pam's at about 11am!!! So dumped my bags and grabbed a bus to Bondi Junction and found the bagel shop! LUNCH!! Then headed back and crashed - what?! I'd been awake since 3.45am, may I remind you?!
Tuesday was the best day as far as weather goes. I had an unlimited bus, train and ferry pass, so thought I'd head into town and see the sights. The first stop was the AMP Tower. It's in the middle of the CBD, and without a map to follow, I never would've found it! It's amongst all these tall buildings, though once you're up it, you can see over them all, right out to the harbour. Stunning views, and gave me the lay of the land. Seeing as I don't really do heights well, I saw the sights and headed straight back down!
From there I headed down to Circular Quay for lunch. My first real view of the harbour bridge. How's this for a view while eating lunch??
To keep enjoying the great weather I thought I'd go on a harbour cruise. Pam told me that you see the same things from the Sydney Ferries, but just no commentary, which my travel ticket covers. So I jumped on the ferry to Manley and enjoyed the sights. The ferry was packed so I stood at the back of the ferry and watched the harbour bridge and opera house. Can't complain! On the way back I sat beside this lady who is from Sydney and she told me about all the sights along the way - free commentary! Now that's my kinda budget!
Wednesday was nearly as stunning a day. I headed down to Darling Harbour for a look around. I headed towards the Outback Centre thing for a free show, but I got stopped along the way for a shoulder massage (heavenly, by the way!) so I missed it by 10 mins. Never mind. It's a pretty walk, so I followed it back around to Circular Quay. Thought I'd head over to the zoo while the weather stayed nice (was to get worse later in the week) but by the time I got on the ferry, it was already 3.30pm and the zoo closed at 5pm, so I hopped off the other end and straight back on the return ferry. I decided to shop instead!! And why not??!!
Thursday was all about me! OK and Pam too! hehe! Pam was "sick" from work so we could hang out for the day. Sadly I have no photos of anything we did together, but I have great memories! Firstly we headed to her salon where Pam treated me to a birthday spa! We had our nails painted, hair treated and blow waved then a light make-up done! We were ready to hit the town! We found a cosy cafe on Oxford St for lunch then we went on a shopping mission. Yes, I do seem to be doing a bit of that! But what the hell, I'm on a holiday! I needed a new handback and that was Pam's mission for the afternoon. Luckily for me, she knew all the right places to go an I ended up with TWO new handbags!
It was a fantastic day, thanks Pam!!!!!!Friday I headed by bus, train and another bus to Featherdale Wildlife Park, just out of Blacktown. This wildlife park has an open animal area so you can interact with the animals. I got to get close to a Koala, though they sleep 18 hours a day, so they weren't overly exciting. The next area was wallabys and kangaroos. They were lounging around in the sun but there were a few lively ones that were happy to eat your food and let you pet them. Of course they were only small ones, as adult kangaroos would be taller than me and could potentially kill me with one swipe. The tallest came up to my waist. I spent about 1.5 hours playing with these animals!! It was fun. There was one kangaroo was really smootchy, like a cat wanting milk!
On the train back I texted Ali (from my Contiki last year) to see where they were at. They'd recently arrived in Sydney so I met up with them in Chinatown. Ali is from Tasmania (1 of the 40 Aussies on the bus last year). She had Steve and Emma with here, who are from England. They were on our bus too and decided to do a trip around Australia. This was the reason I timed my trip for this date. After we walked around, and also waited 45 MINUTES for some creme puffs (!!) we headed to Luna Park. Friday nights are the best night (which I found out is because it's half price!). It's a cool carnival atmosphere! We went on the Ferris Wheel and Carousel plus a couple of other rides (most of which made Steve want to hurl!). I liked the one at the back of the park - no idea what it was called, but it did give me a head rush for a few minutes afterwards! I definately wasn't prepared for going out at night so was freezing my ass off! I hopped on the ferry which took me to Circular Quay and I caught a direct bus home.
Saturday I met up with them at Central Station where we met Chris, Matt and Jo (also ex-Contiki people). Jason met us at the backpackers half an hour later (he was busy with the Live Earth stage - his job was to design and set it up!!!). We all walked to Circular Quay and found a pub at The Rocks where we could enjoy a meal and a couple of drinks while we all caught up. It was just like it was a year ago! Can't believe it's been that long since we saw each other last!
Jason, Jo, Ali, Me, Steve, Matt, Chris, Emma
After lunch we walked over the Harbour Bridge (not one of Steve's favourite moments - worse than me with heights!). Once on the other side, we took the typical Contiki photos!
Jo and her boyfriend had to go after that, so the rest of us headed back to Chinatown for dinner before most of them headed to the rugby game (no I wasn't invited). I headed home, where I met Pam and Kev coming back in from the Live Earth concert!
Sunday was a lazy day, but great none-the-less. Pam and I went to Newtown for brunch (ok it was lunch but we had a late start so it was brunch for us!). Of course there was more shopping involved! This time I was quite reserved and Pam was the one buying things! We then headed to Paddy's Market which is MASSIVE! It is quite repetitive as I'm sure every isle was the same stalls, just a different order! Got a few little things there before we headed home for a quiet night in.
Monday morning was the quickest goodbye as Pam was running late for work, and I'd be gone when they got back. I did a quick mission into Coogee to get my thank you gift as I couldn't really buy it beforehand and hide it (I was living in the lounge basically). I locked the key and SIM card in the apartment and waited patiently for the shuttle to come and get me. Not too well thought out because if they didn't come, I had no way to get back inside to call a cab. Luckily for me, they were on time and it was a quick ride to the airport.
And here I am, home in one piece. Sadly I also brought the flu home with me so haven't really been at work this week as I've been in bed, recovering. Back to it tomorrow though.
Thanks heaps Pam and Kev for having me!!! I had a blast!
