Sydney
Trip Start
Feb 10, 2011
1
14
15
Trip End
Jul 29, 2011
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
I had an awesome time on my trip but it was hard going on my own - seen some great places in nearly 2 months but it was my time to return to the nest! Had originally planned to work for a while but then I figured that I have plenty of money saved from my many jobs before leaving so why would I want to work!? And I fully intend to finish it off next year...with a friend!
I've put up all my pics now. Just briefly, I decided to do as many spontaneous things as possible for my last couple of weeks! This included skydiving out of an aeroplane at 14,000 ft (as you do!) - this was absolutely terrifying, had I thought about what it involved AT ALL before paying then I definitely wouldn't have done it! However I'm glad I didn't think about it because it was the best experience of my life that I would recommend to everyone! It was a tandem jump, so I had a professional lady strapped to the back of me, I have a hilarious video of my terrified face the whole time - definitely one for whacking out at the next Ozzy bash!
Also had a couple of days in the Blue Mountains - stunning mountain range about an hours drive from Sydney. Did some walking through the wilderness, saw some lovely waterfalls, rock formations and wildlife. Also saw an old coal mine and rode on the world's steepest railway at an angle of 53 degrees or something - bloody steep!! Also showed us some natural soluble rock that the Aboriginals used as face paints. Saw some more kangaroos.
Went to the opera house and had a little wander around, also walked over the harbour bridge in the pouring rain! Had a kangaroo pizza - felt very guilty eating such a cute animal, but they are literally everywhere in Oz and it's as normal as eating a cow! Was very tasty too.
Did a great walk from Coogee Beach to the famous Bondi Beach with 5 little hidden beaches in between. Had a little sunbathe at Bondi and watched the pro surfers.
Went to surf school for a day where I learnt to ride the waves! It is much harder than it looks and I fell off the board and crashed into the sand where I still have the war wounds. I did mange to stand up on the board about 5 times for a few seconds and it felt great when I did!
Met up with my friend Dave from Blackpool for a few days - I had met him in Singapore and we did the scooter tour together. We caught the ferry to Manly Beach where we had fish and chips on the beach then hired rollerblades and skated along a bit of the coastline, had an epic fall near some traffic lights as I never learnt the skill of stopping and made a fool of myself!
Much to my parents disgust I got my nose pierced! I believe my dads reaction was "what have you done to your face!", I walked past a piercing parlour on the way back to my hostel and thought "yeah, cool!!" again had I thought about it, I wouldn't have done it, but I actually really like it and intend it to stay there for a bit!
Had a great shopping session one day where I went to the massive Paddy's Markets and bought lots of aussie tshirts and various tea towels, toy kangaroos etc as presents. Went to Darling Harbour several times and had many a lonely mcdonalds! Went to a few nice cheap museums about the history of Sydney and Australia in general.
That will do for now chaps! Hoping that all friends and family are well and would love to hear from you now I'm home!
Lots of love
xxx
