BRISBANE

It was great to spend time with Gemma, who works in the same office as me in England, catching up on the gossip.
I still could not believe the way that we just bumped into each other like that in the kitchen of the YHA on the other side of the world!

Sammie and I went for a long walk along the beach at Byron Bay on our last day there. The weather brightend up a bit so she actually managed to relax on the beach and do some revision.
We then got the bus to Brisbane where we booked into a lovely double room at the YHA. It was great to be able to chill out for a few nights without other people in the room.

We went exploring along the Southbank of the river.
Brisbane has a great feel about it.


Later that night Sammie met up with some guys in Brisbane that she got to know when she went Island hopping in Greece last year with her friend Lily. She arrived home at two in the morning after a good night on the town.
The next day we went to the Koala sanctuary with our friend Carolyn and a little 87 year old lady called Mel who we met at the bus stop. She asked if she could come round with us and she was such good fun.

It was fantastic, we got to cuddle Koala bears and feed Kangaroos.


This time I was not too scared to go near them!!
That evening we went to meet my cousin Sean, and his three children, Caitlin,Ronan and Conner. He works as a political cartoonist on the Courier Mail newspaper. We had a great natter and a lovely meal. The last time we met was when I was five years old and he was six. So there was a lot of catching up to do.We had a very enjoyable evening. We got the train back to the city and arranged to meet for a BBQ the next day.
Sean picked us up and we had a great time with the children playing games and having a BBQ in the park.

I love the way that the BBQ's are dotted around parks for anyone to use.You literally have to push a button and it is ready to cook the food on. You just have to make sure you leave it in a clean state for the next people to use it. The weather was pretty good as well so Sammie was able to get a bit of a tan before she heads off home tomorrow. I am going to miss having her around!!!!!!

NIMBIN and FRIENDS FROM ENGLAND

The next day the rain was torrential so we hired a car with our friends and drove to a place called Nimbin.It is a hippy town where the locals are trying to get cannabis use legalise. They openly deal on the streets and in the shops. The police are trying to crack down on their activities, but to no avail.

It is in the tourist book as a must see place. We thought it was very strange but well worth a visit. They kept trying to sell us "Cookies" as we walked along looking at the shops. We just kept giggling with nerves. There were a lot of sad looking aged hippies hanging around looking quite intimidating.

We only stayed there about an hour then headed off into the countryside exploring in the car. We ended up at some waterfalls.



Poor Sammie came here to Byron Bay to get some sun before she headed off home.


But they have had so much rain here that it is flooding in parts.
But we did manage to get in a few hours of sunbathing before the heavy rain reappeared.

I was in the kitchen of the YHA when I just could not believe my eyes, there standing at the other side of the kitchen was a very familiar face....Gemma Sterba from Radio Kent !!!!!!!
we just stared at each other for ages unable to believe that we had just bumped into each other like this at the opposite side of the world. It was great to see her. She is doing a three month tour in Thailand , Australia , New Zealand and China. We spent ages catching up on the gossip.

BYRON BAY

Just in case you all thought that I was the only one in this family getting the beauty treatments on this trip may I show you evidence of Sammie enjoying a well earned pedicure. She has been walking miles up and down the cliffs at Bondi and her little feet were killing her.
She then took over the responsibility of checking us in at Sydney airport for our flight to Byron Bay.(Well she does it so well and I have been thinking for myself for so long, it is nice to have someone to do it for me!!)
Both of us were blown away by just how beautiful Bondi beach looked when we arrived.



We checked into the YHA and got top bunks. Sammie just thinks it is hilarious watching me scrabbling to get up and down off the top bunks. But I do not see what is so funny!!!

We then went to a great fish restaurant on the edge of the beach called "Fish heads" and got a very tasty meal and the views over the beach were an added bonus.

The next day we went for a walk through the rainforest and up the hills to the local lighthouse with a girl called Sarah that we met in our dorm. We saw dolphins swimming off the coast at the most Easterly point of Australia on the way.
There was a thunderstorm just as we arrived at the top so we sheltered in the lighthouse museum. Unfortunately we did get drenched walking back down and along the beach ,but it was great fun.



Sammie and Sarah had a night out in Byron Bay and I stayed in and read my book.They were not particularly impressed with the nightlife.
The next day it was raining so hard that we were not able to do much. Sammie did some revision and I checked out the local market when the rain stopped.


It was full of hippie stores with handmade clothes and jewellery. And it had a very laid back feel to it. I had a nice time wandering around all the stalls.

It rained again on the Monday and we just wandered around the shops and bumped into some friends that we met in Sydney,Elly and Carolyn. They had rented an apartment and they invited us to go for a BBQ that evening.






It was torrential rain but thankfully the BBQ area was covered so we cooked the meal despite the rain.It then started to thunder and lighten and I was quite scared. But not a scared as Sammie was when she opened up one of the drawers and a big green frog stared back at her.
She just screamed and we all started screaming. When we checked the drawer a little bit later there were loads of them. And you can imagine how much we all screamed !!!!We then walked back to the YHA in the heavy rain.

LAST FEW DAYS IN BONDI

Sammie has loved walking along the coast near Bondi beach.

And we have also been lucky because the YHA in Bondi has a brilliant roof terrace overlooking the sea where you can chill with bean bags and read.

There has been plenty of time to relax inbetween the long walks along the cliffs in Bondi. Sammie says her leg muscles are killing her because I have walked her so much.
We finally got to meet up with Carmel, to treat her to a belated birthday meal at a lovely Italian restaurant at the end of Bondi Beach. The atmosphere reminded me a bit of the Flying Pizza in its hey day in Leeds. But I have to say that the view over here is a lot more impressive than Street Lane in Leeds.

The food was delicious, I had my fish filleted at the table by a very nice waitor!! which all added to the experience!.
The next day Sammie and I chilled out on Bronte beach. This is my favourite beach near Bondi.

We then got the bus into Sydney to meet up with Katherine, Emma and Lucas, who I met in Cambodia.

They had heard me talk about Sammie so much they were eager to meet up with her. We went to the Rooftop bar in Sydney. It is an amazing venue, outside amongst the skyscrapers, with live music.We had a great night!


And plenty of cocktails.

BLUE MOUNTAINS

We got the early morning train to the Blue Mountains. I loved them when I visited there a few weeks ago, so I was hoping Sammie would feel the same. Well she did. It is hard not to be impressed by the panoramic views that face you when you reach Echo point.

We had our photo taken overlooking the three sisters. But knowing that Sammie does not "do bugs" as she keeps telling me, we decided to do a slightly shorter walk through the trees to the waterfall and the world's steepest railway!!! I had managed to avoid using this the last time, but I had promised that I would go on it with Sammie. I really need to watch what I am promising!!

We had a great walk to the waterfalls and Sammie even got close enough to some of the bugs to take photograhs, so she was feeling very brave. I on the otherhand was not quite so brave as we waited for the railway carriage to take us up to the top. But I did manage a smile before we set off.

I have to say I lost the plot halfway up! I panicked and said to Sammie "oh god I have to get off , this is too much, I need to get off now" She just laughed like mad and said " just how are you going to get off.Just hang on, you will be ok", I clung to the wire netting that was surrounding the seats and wedged my feet and knees until we reached the top. I can honestly say I would never do it again, but I am glad that I survived the world's steepest railway.


We then took a cable car across the gorge and I was not afraid so I suppose that is a bonus. When I go skiiing I am usually petrified of using the cable cars.

When we got back to the YHA I was ready for a well earned rest. And much to Sammie's amusement we got allocated the top bunks.
I have been fortunate so far not to have a top bunk. She just kept laughing at me evertime I got on and off it. I have to say I am not very agile when it comes to using top bunks!!but it was very comfortable.

SHELLY BEACH

Sammie has been lucky with the weather so far. Bright sunshine everyday.
We got the ferry from Darling harbour to Circular Quay. Then took the ferry to Manly and walked along to Shelly beach, which is really pretty.
We met up with Annabel and her son Fin
and spent a few lazy few hours sunbathing and chatting. We also watched a wedding on the beach, which is a perfect setting. We had a fantastic fish takeaway from a little cafe on the edge of the beach. A little while later Hannah, a German girl that I met in Batemans Bay, came to meet up with us for a while.
She is a nanny in Sydney, but her job finishes in a couple of weeks and she heads off back to Germany. It was great to see her again.
Sammie and I were then supposed to meet up with Carmel in the evening for dinner in Watson's Bay. It would have taken ages getting ferries to get there. But she is working so hard on the preparations for the Sydney film festival,which is on next month, that she cancelled. And to be honest Sammie and I were relieved as we were trying to do too much in a day. I know I can hear you all now saying that is typical of Siobhan!!!

So Sammie and took a leisurely ferry ride back into Sydney and enjoyed the night time views of the bridge(That I risked my life to climb!!!!!)

and the impressive skyline.

And for all you photographers out there .....I know I need to hold the camera steady on the night time exposure, but you try it on a bumpy boat!!!! you get the idea at least of how impressive the skyline is.

SAMMIE IN SYDNEY

We arrived safely in Sydney and got the train to our YHA in central Sydney.
We were in a dorm for four women and Sammie kindly took the top bunk and I got the bottom one.

We went to the local Paddy's market and stocked up on plenty of food. Sammie got to work making our sandwiches in the communal kitchen in the YHA before we headed out to see the sights of the city.

I took her to Darling Harbour where we took a ferry boat round to Central Quay so that she could sail into the harbour and see the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera house in style.
She loved it.
We then went for cocktails at the Opera house bar, (sightseeing is thirsty work!!!!). Sammie was so excited she phoned her boyfriend Ryan to say hello from Australia because she was missing him.

It is fantastic to be with Sammie on the other side of the world, we are both loving every minute of it and there is so much that I want to show her. But I have to say that everytime I looked over to the Sydney Harbour bridge my stomach churned because I knew we were going to climb it in a few days time. I was seriously worried that I would not be able to go through with it!!!But Carmel was coming with us so she would be able to go with Sammie if I chickened out.

The next day we took a long walk to the Manly ferry and caught the boat to Manly beach. We chilled out on the beach for a while. Sammie has been lucky with the weather it is very sunny. But I am driving her mad by telling her how hot the sun is over here and to put sunscreen on. I have seen so many Tourists walking around bright red with sunburn. I know I have a tan but I have been in the sun for four months and I have used nothing less than factor 30 to protect my skin.

When we got back to the YHA it was my turn to cook a veggie chilli for us both before we hit the sack. The next day was the big bridge climb!!! I hardly slept just thinking about it!!

We were not due to climb until three in the afternoon so in the morning we went for a walk around the parks in Sydney
and the Botanical gardens. They are beautiful, the views across the harbour towards the bridge and opera house were stunning. We sat on a bench and had our sandwiches
before meeting up with Carmel at the start of the bridge climb.
We were kitted out with special suits. Everthing that could possibly fall from your body, like watches, rings, hairbobbles etc had to be removed. We were given special earphones so that we could hear the commentary from the group leader during the climb. We were also given belts with metal gadgets that connected us to the bridge throughout the climb. We had to have a practice climb on a platform before we set off. That bit was ok, but I was very nervous. Sammie and Carmel just took it all in their stride. To cut a long story short. We did make it and I am so glad that I did it .But there were a couple of times when I nearly lost the plot with fear.Especially when we had to climb up four flights of metal stairs. I got through it by singing to myself like a mad woman and telling myself that I could do it, over and over again!!much to the amusement of other people in the group.
Sammie and Carmel were ahead of me and they just clambered up like a pair of mountain goats!!!! (Sammie is not impressed that I compared her to a GOAT)without a care in the world!!

I am so glad that we all did it together. It made it a very special day!!! And we got some lovely pictures and a certificate to remember our climb.

Needless to day I needed a stiff drink when we got down onto Terra Firma.