Hi there everyone sorry for the delay in this update I have been leaving Australia for NZ and I have been a bit ill as well...sympathy gratefully accepted.

After Byron Bay we goot off the bus in the city of Newcastle about 100 miles north of Sydney. This place was established as one of the earliest convict settlements in Australia. The convicts that were deemed too troublesome or just too plain nasty for the Sydney settlement were sent here. As such the place earned the nickname 'The Hell of New South Wales'. We spent about an hour wandering around with backpacks on failing to find accommodation. It was terrible; still it's good to know that some places like to maintain a sense of their history.

So into Sydney we went. Our first day we spent at a Jazz festival in a beach suburb across the harbour. One of the main attractions of that was the ferry ride over which we did in the day going over and at night coming back. It was pretty stunning both times. You probably know that Sydney has the largest natural harbour in the world and it is very impressive, particuarly so at night. I think arriving into a city by sea would be a great way to travel. Everything seems to loom up on you as you enter. We even had birds flying alongside the boat at night which added to the impression of being out at sea.

Sydney is undoubtedly a city of impressive sights. We looked back over our photos and we had so many of the harbour and the harbour bridge. The Bridge itself is such an uplifting sight: as you walk down to circular quay it starts peeking out behind the buildings before coming fully into view. I wasn't really aware that I had a favourite bridge before but I think I do now.

One thing that I haven't mentioned really about Australia is the food. It probably isn't really worth mentioning except for one thing: Pies. Pies are widely available here and they're great. In Sydney I had my best and over-the-top Pie. It was a chicken and vegetable pie with mashed potato scooped on top then a heap of mushy peas put on top of that in a circle to make a sink. In that was poured gravy. Absolutely superb!

We changed accommodation to somewhere cheaper about halfway through our stay and it was in some ways the most 'jobby' half-assed hostel we've ever stayed in. We went up the stairs and knocked on the door which said reception. The top hald of the door opened to reveal an old and slobby man in a vest. Behind hime we could see 'reception' was a dorm room with (presumably his) bags on the floor and sheets everywhere. It was so unprofessional that I had to laugh. I asked him are there any other bathrooms than the one on this floor and he replied: 'err... I'm not really sure I have only been here since yesterday'.

In some ways to start off with I was a little disappointed with Sydney (and not just because our accommodation was basically a doss-house). In cities I really look for something that makes it distinctive. Nothing disappoints me more in Britain than when I go to a medium sized town and its town centre is just a pedestrianised street with no distinctive landmarks and a collection of the same old McDonalds, Boots, WhSmith and Burger King. I thought that Sydney would be really distinctive. However, like any city it has its anonymous parts. the business district and the main drags are nothing special. Yet I started to have a great affection for it when I stayed in the circular quay are where to one side you have 'The Rocks' the start of white Australia which was settled in 1788. The area is really pokey with some great buildings. Then when you look across you can see the harbour bridge and opera house all in one sweep. It is a very special view. I also really enjoyed walking around the Botanical Gardens and The Domain (another parkland). So by the end I really loved Sydney.

Sydney also made me really appreciate being in a city again (as we hadn't been for about a month). I like the way things are happening in cities and spontaneous things can happen. We wandered into the Opera house and just though to enquire about tickets. They just happened to have stand by tickets for a really great play which was starting in just ten minutes time. Then after we came out westumbled across a 'night noodle market' whcih had been set up in this park. As it was the end of the night they gave us a great deal on as much food as we could want. All in all a great evening.

Richard, Christchurch, 4th November

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