"I never wanted to go to Australia...... " a Sydney Travel Page by fifitrix72

I never really wanted to go to Australia, despite having friends over there and in particular Sydney... the culture just resembled our's here to much and when I go away - I like to leave as much of England behind as possible... so good old Oz just didnt do it for me.

That was until I read Bill Bryons book, "Down Under" (a must read if ever there was one - it will have you in stiches !!) had a best friend who went back to Sydney and had a personal crisis (not necessarily in that order of course!)

The next thing I knew I was standing in front of Sydney Opera House.... and it was the best thing I had done for a long time!

Alot of people say to me "You dont have many pictures of Sydney" .... well there are 2 reasons for that...

1.I think I spent most of the time just wandering around in the glorious sunshine just too busy soaking up beautiful Sydney to take photos and ...2... Because I was staying with my two brilliant friends... I found myself doing "typical" aussie things like wtaching "Kim & Kath" (a must see if you have never watched it) and going to the local Gay Charity Bingo night... all things that my australian friends did in the course of their normal week !!

Of course I did things like did the Monorail (twice), went to Chinatown, went out to Bondi & Manly Beach and had fish & chips (it rained by the way !! just like England I thought) went to the markets, did a boat trip on Sydney Harbour, had lunch in Darling Harbour, watched the Melbourne Cup in a local pub.... so I really dont think I missed out on too much...and anyway I was comming back in 4 weeks... I had plenty of time (or so I thought !!!!!!!)

One thing I didnt do was do the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb - its $125 dollars and is definitley worth it.. i ran out of time !! But will be up there on my next trip !!! BUT if you want to do it make sure you book well in advance it is Sydneys TOP attraction.

Also, a little word of advice ! I dont know what you will think of it but I thought Bondi Beach was a little bit of a let down..but then maybe I expected too much !! Manly beach is ALOT nicer and apparently (Someone in Hervey Bay told me this!!) there isnt a sewage pipe running into the sea !!!!

Its worth seeing...but if you want to see the REALLY beautiful people, get on the boat spend $7 and go to Manly! (ps wonderful icecream shops out there !!)