No more cockroach incidents during the night, so we were all set to go for day 2 in Sydney. Ash and I had great notions of hitting a bus tour first thing in the morning but sleep put an end to that. So the four of us headed off for Circular Quay and the Manly Ferry. There was a huge passenger liner docked in the bay, blocking the view of a lot of nice restaurants. We took up some great outdoor seats and were soon on our way. The views from the ferry were stunning, you get a great vista of both north and south Sydney. The shores are littered with houses, very pricey ones I’d imagine. It would be a great daily commute on the ferry, much better than two hours on the N7 Naas road.

It look less than half an hour to get to Manly and Ma forged a direct line to the beach. She was a woman on a mission. The beach was busy but not too pack. We were all paddling in the Specific Ocean in no time at all, having great fun jumping into the waves. I could see a big one coming and could barely get a warning out before boom we all went for a tumble. The lot of us went right under the water and finshed up far from where we started. It was the biggest one we saw all day and it hit us within five minutes of getting in.

Drying off in the sun was quick and easy and we were getting peckish. We headed for Whitewater restaurant on Ruth’s recommedation. I spotted Christopher Biggins sitting a few tables away as we sat down, so I reckoned it must be a good place. We had a great lunch, during which Pa struck up a great friendship with the Polish waitress.

We ferried back to Sydney and headed out for some grub. After another great meal overlooking the Opera House, myself and Ash headed off to join Cat and Donovan for his welcome home party. We were in for a surprise. I wandered up the steps into the bar in which we were meeting the guys, past the bouncer, Ash didn’t make it that far. The bouncer, on some sort of power trip, was demanding ID. Ash and I pleaded the case that were tourists meeting a few friends but he was having none of it. Half an hour and fourty dollars later we were back with our passports. Despite the poor start we had a great night and didn’t have any more incidents before getting home.

Saturday is set for shopping and then dinner with Cat, Donovan, Ruth and Ronan. We leave Oz on Sunday and finally make it to NZ!!

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After myself and Ash’s fifth flight in ten days we were in Sydney. The views on the way in to land were absolutely incredible. We flew up along the south coast and could see loads of little beaches that looked totally inaccessible by land. I got a little worried because we got very low before the runway finally appeared below us. We found a taxi big enough to take all our bags and headed for the city. 

Ma did a great job with the hotel. It is in an ideal location in ‘The Rocks’. Just at the south base of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. We are looking out over the water and the Opera house is just around the corner. The weather was warm and sunny so, after dropping the bags, the first port of call was a cool drink by the sea. We went off for a little wander and the girls found a lovely fish restaurant overlooking Circular Quay and the Opera House. After a couple of bottles of NZ white and some of the best prawns I’ve ever had, we waddled on down to the wharf at Circular Quay.

We stopped off just in front of the customs house to have a drink with Cat and Donovan, friends of ours who have just emigrated over here a couple of days ago. They are in Sydney for a couple of days to find jobs and a place to live. It was very strange sitting out in Sydney with friends from back home, made it all a bit unreal. We headed back for the hotel and I lead the gang on some unnessecary detoours which I was sure were shorter! Ruth, another friend from home who lives over here, popped in to our hotel to say hello. We were all wrecked and decided to have a bite for dinner and then hit the hay.

Just when I was brushing my teeth, getting ready for bed, I heard a blood curdling scream from the bedroom. Ash was stood up on the bed pointing at the wall. When I looked over there was a massive cockroach. What I did next I am not proud of. I called reception and told them. I guy came up to the room, looked at the roach, looked at me, then simply grabbed him up in a piece of paper and flushed him down the loo. I felt like such a wuss.

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