Bondi, the Blue Mountains and the RSL

Bondi beach, Sydney - Hel and I arrived off the greyhound and as we were going over the harbour bridge we became incredibly excited to finally be here, Sydney! Our first big city in Oz, my first big city since Jakarta (which i hated) and before that, Kuala Lumpur which is such a long time ago now. We got off at the central bus station and could immediatley feel the city vibe, people walking fast down the street to their destinations, the hubbub of a citys traffic, coffe mugs clinking and chatter. I didn't think I'd be so excited to be in a big city again...but I have a good feeling about Sydney. But, first things first, how to get to Bondi since this is to the north east of the city and about half an hour away from the centre. We got a train (that went underground for most of the way) to Bondi Junction the got a bus to Bondi beach where we walked up the hill to our YHA.
After a bit of a crap check in (don't think much to staff here) we met our room mate Lisa, sweedish, 26. We instantly got on and chatted away (you know what I'm like). Anyway we had arranged to meet up with Steven, one half of the couple we met at on the Fraser Island tour...and he drove us round Bondi in his VW Country Buggy (limited edition) which you could fold the windscreen down on it! I sat in the front and waved my arms in the air as we zoomed downhill. It was such a cool experience and many a spectater gave us a second glance, wave or smile as we zipped past

The following day (Thursday) was the blue mountains trip. I am glad I went but I definatley got to see why the mountains are blue, although I think it's from fog not eucalyptus. They should be called the misty mountains, although that sounds American. And from a geographic perspective they look more like canyons not mountains. We walked down to the top of the oldest sister, and walked across a scary bridge to stand on her head (Im not keen on bridges over deep nothingness) which I did...and saw more fog! Back up the steps and Into the car to new location to see the sisters n valleys from new perspective. Still foggy! Anyway we ended up doing a walk to a waterfall (massive waterfall drop) which took us along a ridge in the rock with no railing n forest and drop to our right with moss above and to the left of us and mud on the floor so it was very slippy. Water was dripping off the moss overhead onto us as we walked along but it was a cool path and I really enjoyed that part of the walk. Then we walked down to the waterfall where there was a bridge running across it (with a railing thank god!) so we took some photos n hel had a paddle (i just couldnt be bothered to take my walking boots off). Then we headed back home to Bondi!
But not before Steven showed us a few city sights as we drove through. He drove us to the botanic gardens telling us to focus on a massive crane on the right hand side so me n hel are looking through the trees going 'which one?', 'what?', 'where?' and then bang! He says turn left n we see the harbour bridge n Sydney opera house, ha ha! It was pretty cool view. We drove through kings cross which doesn't look so bad in the day, not sure about the night...then onto Bondi.

We keep getting told to eat and drink at 'clubs' in oz cos they're full of locals and do cheaper food n drink, or more probably that the food is worth the money cos it wasn't so cheap there... Anyway hel n I went to the RSL club to the north of the harbour for dinner n drinks. We sat outside n watched the Bondi lights whist eating dinner. I had chili calamari with salad n chips - yum! Best squid I've had yet! So soft n yummy. Om! So I'll def be eating in one of those again, the servings were huge. And it was $15...and for desert (once we'd taken advantage of the free mcdonalds wifi) I got an icecream - Ferero Roche flavour- yummy! Then back to the hostel for sleep...

The following day we sunbathed on the roof terrace of our hostel, overlooking the sea I has an ice cream craving in the afternoon so Lisa n I took a walk into Bondi to get one, mint choc chip n hazlenut - yum! Sat by the beach trying to spot hunky lifeguards but they were too far away- note to self, take monocular next time Then we went to a cafe for a fruit juice (balancing out the icecream see?) then explored the backstreet of Bondi with Hel for a bit. BBQ dinner that eve at the hostel and onto the film festival by the beach (open air) to see a range of films made by internaional film makers. All very good, and an enjoyable night. The following day was similar, sunbathed on the terrace, then shower n headed into Sydney central to the Botanic Gardens for a free music festival and picnic it was great fun, we met two of lisas friends and went for a drink after with them.

Then Sunday came all too soon, we checked out and go a taxi to our next hostel in the city, Wake up! (name of hostel, not me telling you to wake up- this is an interesting blog... Right?!).