OZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ and rain

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Trip Start Jan 16, 2008 Previous
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  Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Sunday, June 1, 2008

Well after looking forward to cooler weather for sooooo long we were fed up of the rain after a couple of hours. It did not stop raining for pretty much all of our time in Sydney..... but we didn't lose heart (although there may have been a few grumbles)and walked everyyyyyywhere.
One of the first things that hit us about Australia was how long it took us to get through customs. Everyone had their bags gone through and Becky was not very happy when they confiscated the 2sticky rice hats she had been carrying around for 2months. They even wanted to check our trainers for mud, we found it quite bizarre.
So after settling into our hostel and stocking up on 4days worth of food supplies we went for a wander over to Darling Habour. We visited the Maritime Museumn (for free yay)..... Luke's most interesting fact from that visit is a German guy kayaked over to Australia, it only took him 7years

Becky at Macquerie's Point

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We wandered across Pyrmont Bridge (in the rain of course!) to Sydney's Aquarium where we looked at all the pretty fishies. We saw our first platypus, what a super cool dude. There was also a large female crocodile, watching a crocodile blink is very strange as their transparent eyelid crosses over their eye sideways first (this protects their eyes if they want to see underwater) and then their normal eyelid closes. They also had a huge shark, turtle and ray tank with two tunnels. Becky liked the Ray Shark and Luke the Wollogong shark.
We headed back and cooked our first meal in 4 and a half months, it was spag bol, tasted great as we are talented cooks! Becky loved staying in the dorm for the first night cos she was sharing it with 4 smelly boys, woo hoo.
In Sydney we had.... a little trouble getting out of bed in the morning, we blame the jet lag, we weren't as bad as the rest of the people in our dorm who seemed to be hibernating. Eventually we walked up to The Rocks, where the first European settlement was established. At that time it was a squalid, racous and notoriously dangerous place full of convicts, whalers, prostitutes and street gangs. The old buildings look good against the backdrop of skyscrapers. At the point of The Rocks is Sydney Habour Bridge, we couldn't quite figure out how to get up there and the rain was a definite disincentive

Luke in a biiiiig treeee in the botanical gardens

. We walked round the corner to Circular Quay, past all of the posh restaurants, and sat on a sheltered ledge eating our jam and peanutbutter sarnies with a great view of Sydney Opera House. A group of seagulls joined us and kept us amused for a worrying amount of time. Walked round to the Opera House, took some piccies outside but decided to return for the tour once we'd found a 20% off voucher. We resigned (but didn't really resign) to going to the cinema to see Indiana Jones. They don't have sweet popcorn in Australian cinemas, it is absolutely shocking, who likes salt? We would like to know who votes for salty popcorn, please leave your comments.
The 3rd was not an incredibly productive day although we both bought a pair of jeans, Luke had previously managed to break every zip on every pair of trousers he had but one. We also went for our tour of the Opera House (with our voucher), it was fascinating to learn about the Danish architect John Utzon, how he became the architect after winning a competition. In 1966 Utzon quit after the government stopped all funds, he has never returned to see his masterpiece complete. We also caught a little of Sydney Symphony Orchestra rehearshing, it was spine-chilling. The organ in the concert hall has 56front tubes (?) in sight, our guide told us the rows go back 8metres and there are over 2000 of them. We returned to the cinema to see 21.
Next day we visited the Botanical Gardens and the rocky ledge of Mrs Macquarie's Chair at the tip of Mrs Macquarie's Point. The rocky chair was carved for the wife of the Governor (Mrs M) as it was her favourite sitting spot as it offers fabulous views across the habour. We had lunch sat in a huge tree to shelter from ..... you guessed it...the rain. We fed the ibis some bread. We visited the imax to see a whales and dolphins film, the glasses were groovy. It was informative with some great footage but unfortunately an irritating American narrator.
On the 5th we checked out and caught a coach to Port Stephens about 3hrs away. xxxxx

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Luke on bridge in Darling Habour	Sydney Habour Bridge at night	Sydney Habour Bridge in drizzle	Sydney Opera House + seagull
Sydney Opera House at night	Us looking sexy at the IMAX

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