Sydney, NSW, Australia

The time has finally come! I may be leaving Shepparton but it seems someone doesn't want me to go! The girls ordered a taxi to bring us all down to the train station. However, we were kept waiting too long. And with the clock ticking against us, it was time to take things into our own hands. Luckily someone in the hostel was able to bring all seven of us to the station. Yes, 7 of us- 1 in the front plus the driver, 5 in the back and one laid across all our luggage in the boot. I didn't think you could fit so many people in a normal sized car, but there you go! Thankfully, we made it to the station and were able to board the Melbourne train with time to spare. Before we knew it, we were at Southern Cross Station, where I was finally reunited with my darling Jay! While I was away, poor Jay was very busy between his day time job and working in the hostel. Quite the opposite to me. At long last, here we are, back together forever! After a bit of food, it was straight back to Southern Cross to catch the overnight train to Sydney! It was a relatively easy, stress free trip.

The following morning, we were in New South Wales! To get to our hostel we had to jump on another train which was only two stops away. Finally, after hours and hours of travelling, we were finally at our hostel, 'Funk House Backpackers.' When we arrived, the entrance was locked but luckily one of the guests was able to let us in. Before long the receptionist had arrived. He was very gay, but very funny! Myself and Jason found him to be hilarious! We hadn't even seen the room and we were already impressed. As it was still very early, we were, but we unable to check in but we were able to leave our bags in the luggage room and go in search of the world famous UNESCO listed, 'Sydney Opera House.' It was a nice walk up to it. We went through The Botanic Gardens where in the corner of our eyes we could see one of the worlds most iconic structures. It was certainly impressive, especially from a far. It's only from a distance where you really get to appreciate it. Up close, I thought it would have been nicer. While they have preserved the original detail of the building, and have not tried to modernize it, it does however look very dated. The famous waves of the building do look very impressive as each wave is made up of hundreds of small white tiles. While they do have nice bars and cafés running along the harbour, I thought the open spaces along the Opera House would have been better designed rather than just empty spaces! Honestly, one cannot deny that a great deal of effort and consideration has been done to preserve this national treasure for future generations to enjoy!

One of the the good things about Sydney is that it has a very comprehensive transport system, from double decker trains to a ferry network that can bring you anywhere. With it being Sunday, we took full advantage of all the ferry's as it was the only day off the week where the max you paid for public transport was $2.50 which is brilliant. It's only by boat that I was able to get that iconic photo of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House together. Definitely another picture for our house. At this rate, we are going to need quite a large home with lots of wall space. I've only taken 33,000 plus photos over the last year. It's not that much. If that's for the first year, I dread to think how many I will have at the end of our adventures. That's a lot of photos to sort through. We also got the boat out to Manly where this time we actually got off the boat and walked around. I'm convinced the lovely Susan O'Neill from work was stalking me as one of the ferry's was named after her, and then in Manly, two shop signs side by side read her name. That's what you call freaky. So there you go Susan, in this part of the world your famous. Manly is a nice seaside town that is worth a visit. Remember, if your going to visit, come on a Sunday. Myself and Jason enjoyed a nice walk on the beach at the edge of the world with the water splashing against our feet. From their we got the ferry back where we went exploring through the cities CBD. The next day was probably one of the best days we have had on the big adventure so far, which says a lot as there have been plenty of good days to choose from.

Coming to Australia and not seeing a kangaroo, having a barbie and not surfing would be seen as sinful. With the first two ticked off our list, it was only appropriate that we sorted out the last item on the list and go catch some waves. It was a brilliant day out. While I was unsuccessful at standing up on the board, I really enjoyed myself. On the other hand, Jason was told he was a natural as he was able to stand up with little or no effort. It was great as we had a whole private beach basically to ourselves and to make things even better, we picked the best day of the week for it. We both are hooked and we can not wait to go back.

The following day, I got my camera out, we both put our walking shoes on, prepared our lovely blue bag, Melinda and went exploring through one of the worlds most influential cities. The first stop was Hyde Park which is somewhere that my lovely mother would have enjoyed, with eye catching historic structures and monuments spread out over a vast landscape of old trees and beautifully designed topiary gardens with perfectly kept hedging that most people couldn't pass without admiring. The park is also home to an amazing water fountain with some incredible sculptures which consisted of a man holding a bull among other things. In the background you got to admire and appreciate the beauty of the cities stunning cathedral. Up a bit further was the famous Anzac memorial building where you could go inside and appreciate the power of silence! From then on, the weather changed. In between all the rain we decided to take a walk over to Darling Harbour. Unfortunately, before we knew it, the heavens reopened and we were caught under a bridge trying to get shelter.

The next and final day of our Sydney trip and the last day of our amazing first year of our big adventure, we enjoyed more exploring through Sydney's CBD. But before all that, I had to make sure I had enough medication with me for going home for which I was told by one particular pharmacist that I was ripping off the tax payer. The Aussies can be extremely rude and obnoxious. I don't think I will miss them when I go home. Getting my medication wasted so much time. Later on, we decided to chance Darling Harbour one last time. This time, luckily for us, the weather was an awful lot nicer so we got to enjoy it properly. It's definitely a really nice part of the city with lots of nice things to see such as a Japanese garden and a maritime museum. We finished our trip with a nice meal and drink with the cheeky Lucy and Liam in one of the harbours many fine eateries. On the way back, we walked through Hyde Park where we saw a group of rats all huddled beside a bin looking for food. Surprisingly, I didn't even flinch. A year ago when I saw them in Bangkok, it freaked me out. Just goes to show how much one can change in the space of a year.

While three days in Sydney is not near enough time to really appreciate this iconic city, maybe more time spent here will push it closer to our hearts! With the first year of the big adventure now consigned to our memory banks it's without doubt a fitting ending to what has been a truly breath-taking year! May the big adventure stay close to our hearts and continue to turn everything we know upside down and challenge everything we think we know about the world and our ourselves...

By Andrew

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