Sydney

Now, we thought Singapore was expensive and prices were high but it is nothing compared to the extortionate prices of Sydney! We had booked an AirBnB at a guys house called Stacy, yep, it already sets up a picture of him (sorry if you know any Stacy's), he answered the door looking as though he had just jumped off his surf board, with just shorts on and enthusiastically greeted us "Hey guys". A pleasant man who thought he was younger than he looked! We had an action packed itinerary for Sydney as we were only there for less than 48 hours! 

Our flight from Singapore was overnight so we arrived in Sydney at 1000 with only a couple of hours sleep. Our room within Stacy's house was based in Bondi Junction, so we threw our bags in our room and walked to Bondi Beach to be unpleasantly surprised. I think we had both got preconceived ideas of what to expect; a golden beach which stretched for miles with surfers riding huge waves and a general 'surfers paradise'. But we thought we had arrived back in England, at a cold rainy Brighton! There was nothing remarkable to state about Bondi except the sea was very clear and clean and has a swimming pool directly fed from the sea water which was full of locals teaching children to swim. 

We had planned to see friends that had emigrated from the uk, Guy and Helen and their daughter Layla. Guy kindly picked us up and we went to their house for dinner which overlooks Rose Bay. A fantastic and beautiful view which Rosie and I admired whilst there. Great company as always, Guy and Helen welcomed us to Australia and we had a wonderful evening.  

The following day, our last in Australia, we wanted to do some sight seeing which we combined with meeting Jan and her husband Stuart, friends from work. We met at a bar which overlooked the Sydney Harbour bridge. They were spending three months in Sydney as their daughter, Lisa had recently given birth to their second grandchild. 

We walked around the harbour, the Sydney Royal Opera House and ate some lunch. We caught up with each others lives and it was great to see them both. 

Ironically just after parting ways with Jan and Stu we came across a food and wine festival just the other side of the Quay. It's a shame as we would've loved to have explored it with Jan and Stu but it wasn't to be. So finding our two favourite things in life; food and wine; meant we were delighted! 

We spent the next few hours sampling wines from around the world and unbelievably, it was loads cheaper than in a bar so that made us even happier. 

We hopped on a ferry and went to the next Quay; Darling Harbour. 

We wondered round and made our way to the Westfield Tower where at the top, a revolving bar and restaurant slowly showed 360 degrees of the city from the highest point. We had a drink and some olives and watched as it took 45 minutes for our view to return to our initial sighting.

A whistle stop tour of Sydney where we will return when we have more expendable income to enjoy the prices of Australia. The next morning was an early flight to New Zealand where we will be spending the next six weeks in a Camper van!!