Sydney Do's and Dont's!

Do:

The Harbour Bridge

Climb the Harbour Bridge - It is an awesome experience. It doesn't take very long and it is not physically challenging!

Bondi Beach - the walk around the coastal path towards Coogee Beach is very very nice!

Sunbath on Bondi Beach if you can find a spot!

Go shopping in Bondi, god it was a relief to find shops selling normal things there compared to the city! (target rocks if u want cheap stuff, its like a hyped up Matalan!)

I was battling with whether to put this in the do's or dont's:

The Sydney AMP Tower.

Maybe it was because I paid a ton of money to get up to the tower and then a day later I was helping a company which was based on the 61st floor of the MLC building (the second heighest building in sydney) where I sat by a panoramic window with a view of Botany Bay and the surrounding area. Along with getting to take pictures of Darling Harbour, the Bridge, the Opera House etc. But I guess unless you're going to ask very nicely if you can have a look out of some business persons window on the 64th floor of the MLC, then the Sydney Tower would be good for you! (I don't like the lift though, it shakes!)

Hunter Wine Valley:

Go to the Hunter Wine Valley. We went with AAT Kings Travel. The bus driver was really boring. Good old john sent me to sleep both up and back from the valley. So glad I had the ipod with me! Try and go on a sunny day though it makes a big difference!

Darling Harbour - this place simply is awesome! Great bars, restaurants and museums all in one little place. I was there on Oz day and the fireworks they have down there are spectacular!

Chinese Gardens in Darling Harbour: Try not to get kidnapped by the bloke threatening to dress you up in ancient chinese costume! I was not so lucky to avoid him.

Chinese Laundary: this is a nightclub on sussex street, follow the dragon arrow type sign pointing down a lethal set of steps which you DO NOT want to fall down when you've had a few beers. It is all dark and dingy when you walk in but when you get outside in the court yard there is a great atmosphere!

Ivy Bar: Top of George Street, near to Martin's Place. There is a little ally and it leads to the Ivy Club. This club will blow you away! It really is a great place to visit, you will see what I mean!

Surfing: We went with Sydney Surf School. It's great if you don't need much tuition (the instructors show you the basics, push you around a bit and then go sit in the van watching you or probably watching tv) Although the boards are easy to use, the wetsuits easy to put on, its cheap and the location they take you to is wicked! We went to a beach just outside Cronulla and it was perfect!

Opera House: The night before I left, I walked up to Circular Quay in the dark. It was stunning despite the fact it was raining! I would recommend having a nice walk up there and taking some great pics of the brigde and the opera house. Careful of the big rats though!

Manly: Was alot better than I thought it would be! Lovely restaurants on the sea front. Only a very short ferry ride away (which comes back late!). Manly has some lovely shops and the surfing beach is something to certainly see!

Taronga Zoo: This place is great. Wish more of the areas had been open though. Watch out for the spiders in the trees eek they are huge!

The Blue Mountains: Great place. Again try and go on a sunny day! I must say nice sunny days weren't plentyful by the time it came to me leaving Sydney. So the Blue Mountains was a little cold. The Railway was so awesome! Steapest in the world (Check out my video Goodbye Sydney) If you do a tour they will take you to see Kangaroos and it is magical!

I went with Oz Experience because I got my Working Holiday Visa through the Australian Visa Bureau and they threw in a vodafone sim card, a free blue mountains trip and various other handy things like free nights in hostels (which was the reason I chose to stay in Legend Has It)

BEST OF ALL: Jet Boat Ride around the harbour! I was starving at 4 in the afternoon looking for a place to eat in circular quay, big mistake considering I had no money.... A man grabbed hold of me and sold the jet boat ride around the harbour really well. It was so spontaneous I loved it! It was so much fun and everyone on board loved it as well! What a way to see the harbour!

Don't go:

To Coogee beach - what a disapointment after the walk from Bondi and we missed the Iron Man Series by about 10 minutes. The hotel on the front is huge though, and seemed to do nice food!

swimming in Bondi Beach unless you are a very very very very strong swimmer..... there are massive sand craters under your feet and the currents just swept me right up eventhough I was swimming in between the flags pfft! Scary experience!

Don't try walking from the bus and train depot in Bondi to the beach, the big hill ruins your day!You will be boiling hot from the walk and trying to cool off in the sea where you will nearly drown!

Sydney 2

Me and the gang from Slater & Gordon

So the Hostel was a night mare for me! I was getting dressed for my first interview in a recruitment agency for a legal secretary job... in the hostel. The iron in partnership with the ironing board, almost ruined my clothes and I was pulling my smart work clothes out of a bag that contained clothes I had been wearing for almost 2 weeks. Proper backpacking style, accept I wasn't backpacking, I was trying to get a posh job that paid well!

Anyway the lady who interviewed me liked me but kept staring at my flipflops and three quarter length black peddle pushers (which I was thanking god I bought with me, because the weather was boiling in Sydney in February!)
I managed to visit another 7 or so temping agencies in Sydney.

Over a period of about 2 weeks, I began panicking that I would run out of money because by then I had thankfully managed to move out of the Hostel and into a flat on Sussex Street and needed next weeks rent! Finally a job came up, set up for me by Gemteq recruitment. Lisa, my agent, was fantastic! She managed to find me a role in Slater and Gordon based in Parramatta which was about a 40 minute train journey out of the city.

The role lasted two days and the second day I was based in the city. The city office was a block away from my new flat. The role at Slater and Gordon was supposed to last 2 days, I ended up staying with the company for 3 months.

Sydney

I arrived in Sydney in the evening. The temperature was still high but not as warm as Perth. I stayed in a Hostel called Westend Backpackers on Pitt Street. The only thing good about it was the bar a few doors down called C Hotel Bar, which I would recommend highly to everyone. The owners and the staff are lovely and it stands out completely from every other bar, shop, restaurant and hotel down that end of Pitt Street. They do fantastic cocktails and really really good food! We spent a lot of our first week in that bar, it was a nice break from the Hostel and the people inside!

Perth

I arrived in Perth very tired at approx. 1 oclock after a 5 hour flight from Singapore. Ruth's aunty and uncle picked us up from the airport and drove us an hour south of Perth to Mandurah where we stayed with them for 3 days. They drove us around a few places including Fremantle and we even ventured into the city for a day which was lovely. Kings Park is stunning!
Overall Perth has a great feel to it and I would recommend a visit to everyone!

this is a video of the beginning of my journey!

Australia

I arrived in Australia on 21st January 2008. Here is a bunch of pictures and my story.