The City of Sydney

Well - what can I say? Sydney is superb! It's my last day today, for tomorrow morning I'm catching a plane to Hobart, and I've had some good times here.

Although I haven't done much 'culture' stuff or any proper sightseeing, I've learnt the city by just walking around and taking in the city air and grabbing cups of discounted coffee (thank you Starbucks) occassionally sitting down on a bench and reading a book. Yesterday, for example, I was sitting on a bench in front of the Sydney Opera House with my book and then talking to Lionel. There's something liberating about it. I've gone to cafes and sat for over an hour with my notebook and the bible (again, the nickname for my Lonely Planet guide to Australia) figuring out my plans for the next month.

I've noticed, also, the contrast between the state captials. Melbourne was all go-go-go, and had an industrial feel to it. Canberra was pretty, small and had a suit-wearing thing for the people in it. Sydney is a mix between the old and the new. You walk down one street, where the Queen Victoria Building and the Town Hall is and the next thing you see is some bloody great big sky scrapers. The harbours are beautiful - though Sydney Harbour Bridge is a lot smaller then you would imagine - and I could sit there for hours, again reading.

Oh, and if anyone comes here - go to the Botanic Gardens - they're the best ones yet.

So Nic is now travelling on her own and has (sort of) figured out an itinerary for the next five weeks, and thought you might be interested to know where I am and where I'm going...

MAY: -

27th - Flying from Sydney to Hobart at a ridiculus hour in the morning.
28th, 29th, 30th - 3-day tour around Tasmania, including walking up Mount Cradle.
31st - A day in Hobart.

JUNE: -

1st - Flying to Cairns via three planes. *groan*
2nd, 3rd, 4th - Good times in Cairns (maybe including Bungy Jumping and a Rainforest tour)
5th - Flying to Darwin and meeting Lionel.
6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th - Good times in Darwin :) (and happy birthday Mum!)
12th - Flying to Cairns and getting a bus to Mission Beach.

13th - 4th - Sort of a haze at the moment. I'm buying a hop on hop off bus ticket for me to go from Cairns to Brisbane - so these three weeks will be filled with good beach times.

5th - Arriving back in England, jet-lagged and in love with Australia.

Hopefully this helps those curious minds out there :)

I have less then five minutes remaining on the internet now - so got to go...

Nic
xxx