Rooftop Travellers Lodge Sydney

... and have walked most days. Unfortunately the weath** has not improved much so are having to wrap up warm! Similar to that of the trees in Kings Cross!
Trudy has a new hobby - rating hotel toilets!! At present the Hilton is coming out trumps as it not only off**ed a comfy seat, soft tissues, it also had good sound proofing walls! (You could blow off without making the p**son in the cubicle next to ...

... staying at Dave’s, too. Later we went to KFC and picked up Doro’s sister Karolin and the Finnish girl Hanna. So whereas Dave had had seven people staying with him in one week, he would now be having seven people staying with him in one night.. Luckily Dan who came over too offered me to stay at his place.

We had a really fun night at Dave’s, playing Singstar. I actually did quite well which is why I had a battle against Dave in ...

... turns out to be on the same road, yay!) and then go grab some dinner (at Pizza Hut).

We get back to the hotel for a short rest before getting ready to go and see Harry Potter 6 at the Imax. The film was really good, I don't think Rob really had an opinion of it though. We even got to see the first part of the film in 3D. We get out of the cinema just before midnight and so head back to the hotel as we've got an early rise as our bus to the Blue Mountains is picking us up at 8am!

May 4th 2009. The date I'd been anticipating for months, time to board the plane and say goodbye for a couple of years. I was nervous, as always, when checking in and going through security. I'm always convinced that I've forgotten about something liquid / sharp / explosive in my luggage and I'm going to be hauled away by some bulky security guard with nothing better to do that day.

But after ...

... search of somewhere more lively and came across backpacker club "The Gaff", which was dingy, not an Aussie in sight and was about to hold a wet t-shirt contest... On our last day in Sydney we had brunch at Bill's...the Aussie and slightly camp version of Jamie Oliver. Picked up our hire car and Luce had a drink with an old colleague from JLL. Next morning, it was an early start and off to the Hunter Valley!

Herrlich, jetzt habe ich meinen ersten Roadtrip hinter mir. Es ist doch von Vorteil in Hostels zu uebernachten. In meinem Zimmer waren 2 Lehrerinnen aus Canada, die am naechsten Tag mit dem Auto von Newcastle nach Sydney gefahren sind und mich mitgenommen haben. Das war sehr unterhaltsam. Auch wenn es mir nicht so gut ging, weil ich in der Nacht statt zu schlafen ...

... definitely was heavy. After familiarising ourselves with the campervan we take a walk around the campsite; very nice and had a great location right on the water (not so great after the rain though, as the mozzies had a field day on our legs and arms)










The evening was very chilled, a few beers and a couple ogames of cards then early to bed.

Today was my first presentation! I have learned many things today, so please take note of these pearls of wisdom:
1. Speaking loudly all day makes your throat hurt.
2. Lizards are sneaky and distracting.
3. Putting more equipment into a car will mean there is less space in it.
4. Big bags are heavy.

Got all that? Great. :)

Today I went to present 3 ...

... beneath you!
After Luna park came
the Rocks, and then the Opera House. Which cost way too much to look
inside the auditorium, so we checked out the foyer and sat on the steps
while I had a couple of emotional melt downs (that Andre was very good
about) and then we moved onto the gardens, highlights being (for me)
the dead fish in the pond, next to the abandoned rubber duckie, and the
Flying Foxes/Bats.
Mark arrived back in time ...

... in at our hotel, the Swiss Grand Hotel, which was going to be our home for three nights. It was cosy and had all the things we needed. The afternoon sun was blazing so we had a rest and only ventured out at about five when it was cooler. We strolled along Bondi Beach enjoying the cool sea-breeze and watching the many people there who had either come to stroll along the beach or swim in the sea.