Sydney part 2

I caught the overnight bus from Melbourne to Sydney which was nowhere near as comfortable as half the bus journeys I have taken and ive been on a few at this stage. I miss the sleeper buses from Vietnam. Anyway the Greyhound driver's have a tendency to turn on all the lights and loudly announce when we arrive somewhere which is a tad annoying at 4 in the morning. I did learn of a small town in the middle of nowhere in Oz that has a submarine sitting in a park. This town is inland and its a proper submarine (from what I could tell in the dark as we drove past it at 1am) which is quite bizarre. I got to Sydney early in the morning (like 8am I think) and began making my way out to my digs for the next few days. I have a 2^nd cousin in Sydney (my mother's cousin) and he and his wife were going to put me up for my last few days in Oz. I managed to get out there ok and was treated to breakfast by Fionola who is Brian's wife and who was at the time quite heavily pregnant with their first child. Later on in the morning Brian arrived back from a business trip and I got to know the two of them a little bit. In the afternoon I made my way to the city for some souvenir shopping as this would be one of my last chances to visit the cheap markets in the city centre. With all this done i got back to the house and had some dinner and a few drinks while watching a movie before heading to bed. This was a badly needed night's sleep after my bus trip and a reasonably active day.

I was awake early in the morning because I was going to skype with my mates from home. They were having a party and were going to set up a webcam to let me participate. It was great to see and chat to them again even though I was barely awake and they were mostly drunk. Then it was time for breakfast with Brian and Fionola after which they brought me to the Blue Mts. This is one of the main touristy things to do around Sydney and something I had missed out on the last time I was here so they kindly brought me out there for the day. It was a good 2 hour drive from their house so it was late in the morning by the time we got there. We visited the '3 sisters', Leura Cascades and Wentworth Falls and I got all the typical touristy pics. The reason they are called the Blue Mts is because the gum trees that fill the valleys give off a blue haze and you could kind of see it. For mountains though they are a bit more hills and valleys but lets not quibble. We were a bit restricted a bit weather and timewise but we still had a good day. I got to walk down to the top of Wentworth Falls and get a cold shower as the spray was being blown back up. The wind was pretty gusty that day which isnt ideal for a day walking along cliff edges. We had lunch in the small town of Leura and that was pretty much it. By 3pm we were on our way back to try and avoid the worst of the traffic. It was a Sunday and a lot of people from Sydney would be in the Blue Mts for a day out. Brian then cooked us up dinner later in the evening and we watched a movie called “Into the Wild”. Its a total backpacker film and kind of weird but still pretty good.

I was up early again the following morning as I was off to Bondi Beach. It was a lot more impressive this time around as I got to see it in the sunshine. From there I walked along the coast to another beach, Coogee. This was a great walk in the sun and the views were pretty amazing. I had plenty of time so I took it easy, unlike all the joggers that passed me by and offered some eye candy when I wasnt looking at the scenery. It was about lunchtime when I got to Coogee so I sat down and had some food in the sun in the park and even treated myself to an ice-cream! Feeling mightily pleased with myself after all this I caught the bus into town. Taking advantage of the nice weather I walked across the Harbour Bridge again and got some sunny pictures of the city of Sydney. Then I got the ferry back over and sat by the Opera House till sunset. Sitting there watching the play of light on the white exterior of the Opera House was really nice and so was watching the sun set behind the Harbour Bridge. Then it was time to hop back on the ferry and get shipped over to Cremorne (where Brian and Fionola lived). One more bus and I was back at Brian's house. I had dinner with them again and we chatted the night away.

This was going to be my last day in Oz and it began with a lie in, something I hadnt had in a while. I eventually got up and got my bag organised as well as doing some planning for New Zealand. I got some accommodation sorted in Auckland. I would be traveling around NZ by Magic bus so I put together a bit of an itenerary for what I wanted to do and see while there. This needed to be a bit more specific than I have done in the past as the buses only go about twice a week, it being winter. I put something together and hopefully it will do the trick! I had some lunch then and made my way into the city one last time. I was due to meet up with Uncle Paddy a little bit later for a drink. He had kept in touch while I was off touring the country and I had promised I would meet up with him again before I left. So we met up in the Rocks in an Irish bar and had a few drinks in a few different places in the area. It was a pleasant evening but neither of us could stay too late as we were both off early in the morning, him to work and me to the airport.

So Sydney the second time around was pretty enjoyable. I did some things I hadnt done before and I met some family I didnt know I had. The weather was also significantly better. All in all a pretty good way to finish off Oz. I dont know if Oz was quite what I expected. Sure it is full of amazing things to see and do and I havent seen or done all of them. But it has seen so many backpackers that things are extremely expensive now as people just look to bleed you dry. That is the impression I got with a lot of things as a traveler is that I was simply a bag of money to tour companies and hostels. If you are reading this and planning to visit Oz then be aware that its expensive and getting more so. That said I may be back here before too long looking for work is things in Ireland are as bad as people say. Still, i did really enjoy my stay in Australia and did some really awesome things - driving a big ass jeep over rough terrain, a trip on a sailing boat and snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef among others.

Im now down to the last leg of the journey. 4 weeks left of an 11 month journey that has taken in SE Asia and Australia and culminates in New Zealand. Its hard to believe I left Ireland 10 months ago and its nearly time to go back. I'm kind of looking forward to it to see family and friends again but what everyone says is that after returning home from a big trip you get itchy feet by the second week. Better make the most of the last month on the road then!