Sydney

After our chill-out time in Fiji we landed full throttle in Sydney, staying at Wake-up hostel, a notorious 'party' place for the first few nights.

Our first night there we headed to meet Neil (yes Neil of South America fame - he keeps popping up in this story doesn't he) for a few drinks and a catch up in Surrey Hills - a cool, boho area of the city.

Our secret rendezvous was in 'prohibition bar' Shady Pines - an underground, Texas saloon where we downed a few 'tinnies' before heading back up the alley to embrace a street party which was the culmination of an exhibition showcasing street art around the city. Complete with DJ, drinks and arts 'dahlings,' we exchanged travel stories and Neil began his 'move to Sydney' campaign on us.

The next day we headed over to Bondi in an effort to get on Bondi Beach Rescue (a promise made to a friend before we left England - sorry Emma after numerous attempts we failed to get noticed). We checked out the coastline (scoping out the surf) and the beautiful people (seriously how healthy and fit are people in Sydney). Suitably depressed by our unhealthy lifestyle we decided to make things better (or worse) by heading to a bar to drink away our woes with Neil.

The next day was pretty much spent wondering around the city, taking in the sites and at Bondi as the weather was fantastic. Of course we spent a day walking around the botanical gardens, over the Harbour Bridge and at the Opera House.

 

On our second night we headed out with Neil and his friends to Double Bay for drinks. Little did we realise that Double Bay is Sydney's answer to Chelsea or Mayfair and Neil's mate Pete was the city's answer to Spencer Matthews. Not that I'm complaining - we managed to get free entry, no queueing into all the bars, namely Miss Sippy which was a retro bistro/bar complete with 1970s style DJ spinning old school tunes. The only problem was that we, in our poshest 'traveller' gear which still involved wearing flip flops looked and felt a little out of place amongst the chinos and Hermes bags. Nonetheless Neil's friends were lovely and made us feel very welcome and it was great to get an insider's view of the city.

After our night out we moved hostels, heading over to Bondi for our last few days before flying to Melbourne for Easter. After a day of body boarding in the swell Mike convinced me that we should buy surf boards for our trip up the east coast and so our first boards were purchased (in retrospect perhaps stupidly but more about the board saga later on).

The rest of our time we spent chilling at the beach, walking along the coast (Coogee to Bondi) and convincing Neil to date the right girl over BBQ's at his house.

 

Our last few days, spent at Coogee Beach we caught up with another friend from our South America travels, Morgan over coffee at a little place called 'Getrude and Alice' in Bondi (go there if you go to Bondi - its a must) and surfing when the waves weren't too big.

As news hit that 'Geordie Shore' were on their way to film their new series at Coogee we made a swift exit to Melbourne.