Hello Australia! Sydney to Melbourne and chilling with friends :o)

Day 121 - 4th April

We had a nice leisurely morning in Christchurch, with breakfast at a local cafe. We caught our lunchtime flight to Sydney, which was nice and short, and were met by our good friend Archie at the airport. We took a taxi to Archie and Jenny's flat in Newtown, in the Inner West of Sydney and enjoyed some afternoon beers on the balcony. The weather in Sydney was lovely, very warm and sunny, which made a refreshing change from the cloud on the South Island of New Zealand. When Jenny got home from work, Archie treated us to a tasty dinner and some wine. We had a lovely evening catching up with our friends.

Day 122 - 5th April

This morning we caught a bus into town with Jen and Archie, where we saw Circular Quay, Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, all of which were even more impressive than they look in photos, especially the Opera House, which I loved. My parents had been very organised and sneaky and, unbeknownst to us, had arranged with Jenny to book us in for lunch at the revolving restaurant at the top of the Sydney Tower as a belated birthday present! The food at the restaurant was fantastic and we all enjoyed the spectacular views of the whole city. The beautiful weather continued so we could see for miles and Archie pointed out all the landmarks so we could start to orientate ourselves. After lunch we caught the bus to Bondi beach, which is as fantastic as everyone says, with its long curve of golden sand and crashing waves. We played in the waves for a while and then walked along the coastal path to Colvelly Bay. The walk was very pretty, along the cliffs and around lots of lovely bays. We were hoping to make it all the way to Coodgee Beach but the setting sun beat us and we had to bail out early.

Jen and Me at Circular Quay

Sydney Opera House

Bondi Beach

Lunch up the Sydney Tower

Day 123 - 6th April

The weather was glorious again so we decided to hit the beach once more. We got the ferry across the harbour to Manly, a lovely half-hour ride away.  Many beach is very pretty too, although it was sadly closed for swimming due to the huge waves and very strong rip. We went in for a short dip with some other hardy swimmers, nearly got washed away so gave up and went ashore to dry off. We decided to seek out the calmer waters of nearby Shelley beach and took a lovely short walk around the coast, past surfers and snorkellers. Shelley Beach is very sheltered from the wind and its calm waters are very popular with swimmers, families and divers. We went for a brief swim and lay out in the sun for a while, warming our bodies nicely. After drying off we went into town for fish and chips, which we ate at the other side of the headland at Manly Wharf, watching the boats come and go. We caught the afternoon ferry back to Circular Quay, with great views of the bridge and opera house again. To top the evening off we walked over the bridge as the sun was setting, before catching the ferry back to Darling Harbour, with great views of the city at dusk.

Manly Ferry

Jon relaxing at Shelley Beach

Climbers on the Harbour Bridge at dusk

Jon and me at the Opera House

Sydney waterfront at dusk

Day 124 - 7th April

Today Archie drove us out of Sydney to the Hunter Valley, a couple of hours north, where we spent the day driving around wineries and tasting yet more delicious wine. First stop was McGuigans, which we have drunk before in the UK. The man there was very helpful and explained that most of their wine comes from South Australia and the vineyard in the Hunter produces a small volume of more expensive wine. He happily took us on a tour of tasty semillons and shiraz, costing up to $50, which we enjoyed very much. We even bought a bottle of muscat to keep us company on the rest of our trip. After McGuigans we stopped at the cheese shop and had a lunch of bread, cheese and olives. The next stop was Tyrrells, which was situated in a very pretty vineyard with views out over the hills and a lake. The wine was sadly a let-down as you had to pay for the premium tasting and the free selection was pretty ropey. Our third and final stop was Brokenwood, a small wine producer with the cellar door set in a pub-style building filled with cricket memorabilia. Here we returned to form and tasted a lot of different delicious wines, including a $150 shiraz, which we all liked, although we did prefer the better bargain at $70 a bottle! Even their basic red blend was tasty and we found out that you can buy that easily in the supermarket. Full of wine, we headed back to Sydney, thanks to our chauffeur Jenny, who took a hit for the team and played designated driver for the day. We finished another lovely day with a meal out at a local Vietnamese restaurant.

Wine Tasting in the Hunter Valley

Tyrrells Vineyard

Day 125 - 8th April

Our plan for today was to head out to the Blue Mountains, three hours drive west of Sydney, we we got up very early and left the house at around 6am. We stopped for breakfast at Katoomba, to see the three sisters, an interesting rock formation on the mountains, although the morning was misty and the views where somewhat limited. After breakfast we drove onto Jenolan Caves, a large collection of caves in the mountains. Jon and I took guided tours of two of the caves, courtesy of Jenny and Archie. First up was the Lucas Cave, which is one of the biggest caves there and has three huge chambers. We were on a large group tour but the guide was very informative and the cave was beautiful. Our next cave was the smaller Temple of Baal, which we saw on a more intimate tour with only 25 people. This cave was incredible, filled with crystals, stalactites and stalagmites and other beautiful formations and has to be the most amazing cave we've ever seen. Having had our fill of caves we drove to Govett's Leap, an area with pretty cliffs and views out over the Blue mountains and valleys. There were also two waterfalls, unheard of in Oz! We did a short walk along one of the cliffs but it started to rain and the sun was beginning to go down so we didn't venture too far. We drove back to the Three Sisters, where there was slightly better visibility in places but the clouds were descending and a thunder storm was approaching so we didn't stay long and we drove back to Sydney with the electrical storm flashing overhead. Having been spared for the last few days we finally caught the Easter traffic and the journey took a lot longer than we had anticipated. Thankfully we managed to miss the worst of the storm, which uprooted trees and flattened houses across the area.

The Three Sisters

Temple of Baal

Temple of Baal

Govett's Leap, Blue Mountains

Day 126 - 9th April

We spent the morning lazing at the flat and booked ourselves a flight to Melbourne in a few days time. We went to the fish market to meet Jon's friend Matt for lunch. Matt moved out to Sydney in the summer and is currently working on a charter boat out of the harbour so we were able to spend some time soaking up the sun and drinking a few beers on his boat, followed by a sushi lunch. At the market, which was really well stocked with all kinds of fish and absolutely heaving with Chinese people, we bought some tasty looking fish for dinner, and then walked back to the flat. In the late afternoon we drove into Glebe with Jen and Archie and went for a walk around the park at Glebe Point as the sun was starting to set, enjoying the lovely views of the harbour once again. We stopped in for a beer at an eastern European style bar and headed home to cook up the tasty fish we had bought at the market.

Jon and Matt enjoying a beer

Day 127 - 10th April

Jon got a haircut this morning, and the suddenly short hair was rather a shock after having got used to his long, travelling locks. Jenny and Archie were both back at work today after the Easter break so we caught a bus into Darling Harbour and had a wander around. There was a cool water play area for kids and lots of bars and restaurants and we had a sandwich for lunch on the quayside watching the boats come and go. We walked up to the Maritime Museum and over the swing bridge to Cockle Bay Wharf, and then on through the city to Hyde Park, where we went into the Cathedral. We walked around the botanical gardens for an hour or so, admiring the large variety of nice plants, and the pond filled with huge eels. There were flying foxes (giant fruit bats) everywhere hanging from the trees and occasionally flying off to forage, making a real racket, and other birds such as noisy cockatoos flying overhead. The gardens lead right up to the harbour so we walked back round to Circular Quay and caught the bus back to the flat. As it was our last night in Sydney we took Jen and Archie out to dinner to say thanks for their hospitality and had a lovely Thai meal.

Day 128 - 11th April

We had an early start for our 8:45 flight to Melbourne. Once there we caught the shuttle bus to our hostel in the centre of town but had to wait til 2:00 to check in. We spent most of the afternoon on the internet trying to come up with a plan for how to spend our last 3 weeks in Oz, but just ended up with more and more options! After a gourmet hostel dinner of pasta and pesto we decided to go to bed, rather than join the 18-year-olds in the bar for the beer pong tournament (definitely showing our age!)

Day 129 - 12th April

We went out for breakfast at a nearby cafe and then caught the free tram round the west side of town, past the docks and down to Federation Square. The tram is a great way to orientate yourself and the on-board commentary told us about what we were seeing as we passed. We followed a walking tour route of the CBD, went into the cathedral and Scotts church, walked through China Town, Parliament House, banking district with lots of small lanes choc full of bankers eating lunch at pavement cafes, small arcades and shopping galleries. The centre of Melbourne is a great size, easily accessible on foot and has a lovely bustling feel with all the small lanes, arcades and cafes. We ate lunch overlooking the river and then walked south along the river into Kings Domain, home of the wonderful Melbourne Botanical Gardens, which are free to enter and full of great planting and huge lakes. Although not blessed with Sydney's harbour-side location, the gardens themselves were better, even rivalling our very own Kew, and we enjoyed sitting in the sun by the lake for a while, until I sat in duck poo and we had to go back to the hostel to clean me up! We walked back to Federation Square and caught the tram round the rest of the circle back to the hostel. In the evening we thought we'd head into China town to get some cheap food but that plan was scuppered by the incredibly high food prices in Australia – even Chinese restaurants aren't the guaranteed cheap eat they are back home. So, sadly it was back to the hostel for microwave meals instead.

Melbourne CBD

Yarra River

Melbourne Tram

Day 130 - 13th April

We eventually managed to finalise our plans for the next week or so as, after days of looking and many many different versions of our schedule, we finally booked a relocation campervan to Alice Springs. These vans need taking back to their depot after one-way rentals and are a really cheap way to get around – we're paying $175 for a week with $250 free fuel, effectively making the van better than free! Feeling very happy to finally have a plan and a way to save some money, we walked up to Queen Victoria Market, a Melbourne institution and one of the biggest markets I've ever seen. We spent ages browsing the clothes, toys, food and handicrafts and bought probably a few too many souvenirs. After lunch we walked on to Carlton Gardens, where we saw the Melbourne Exhibition Centre and had a sneaky peek inside as it was open for a quilting convention (no we didn't go into the convention!). We finished our afternoon wander with a trip to the State Library and the Melbourne Central shopping mall, which was constructed around Coop's Shot Tower, a 50m high tower, built in 1888 for the production of lead shot. This evening we managed to Skype several people, including Jon's Dad as it was his birthday. We had another doomed dinner expedition as the restaurant we wanted to go to was closed by the time we got there and we had to settle for pizza instead.

Melbourne Exhibition Centre

Coop's Shot Tower

State Library

Day 131 - 14th April

As our bargain campervan meant we had to stay in Melbourne 2 days longer than planned we decided to change hostel and move to the beach for a few days. We eventually managed to buy tickets for the tram to St Kilda, after much wandering and money-changing. We checked into new hostel and walked down to St Kilda Beach, where we had a paddle and walked along the pier. We had lunch on the sea wall, looking out over the bay towards the city centre. The day had started a little grey but cleared up nicely in the afternoon and we lay in the sun in the park for an hour or so to read our books. We headed back to the hostel to spend the last of the sunlight drinking tasty beer in the garden.

View of Melbourne from St Kilda

Day 132 - 15th April
Today dawned bright and sunny and we had breakfast in the hostel garden (after having to go to the supermarket to buy it, having missed the included breakfast at the hostel!)  We spent some time on the internet trying to decide what to do with our remaining 3 weeks in Asia at the end of the trip, got too confused by all the options and gave up and went to the beach instead.  We walked down to the Sunday craft market on the Esplanade and then walked along the coastal path to Elwood Beach, where we spent most of the afternoon.  The sun was shining and it was very warm, but we got a shock when we went for a dip - the water was absolutely freezing!  Once we'd dried off and warmed up again we wandered along a bit further along the coast before deciding to head back to St Kilda to see the Little Blue Penguins return to their nests at the end of the pier at sunset.  Unfortunately we'd walked further than we'd remembered and by the time we got back to St Kilda it was nearly dark and most of the penguins had already come ashore.  Still we did get to see one little bird hiding in it's nest in the rocks, which was great, and we also got a great sunset as we walked back along the beach.  Back at the hostel we were treated to live music in the lounge, washed down with a surprisingly palatable $2.50 bottle of red wine.

Sunset at St Kilda