It’s road trip time in our van Sandy which we bought only a few days ago. We take it for a drive for the first time to the King’s Cross area to see Kev off as he is leaving us for 3 weeks to see the east coast of Australia with Anna. We say our goodbyes and head straight to Newcastle. Sandy drives like a beauty, despite not having power steering. It’s very exciting when we arrive there at about 1 am in the morning and finding a place to sleep for the night. Eventually we find this car park by Bar Beach which is dead quiet. We park up and get ourselves ready to go to sleep with three people sharing a double sized mattress…cosy. The only way we would fit in was to have to people with their heads facing the boot and the other person in the middle facing the opposite way.

The night went by and we all had a good nights sleep. The strange thing was when we woke up the car park was getting fuller and there were tons of joggers going past the van as we lay there. As we were next to the sea, we went for a early morning swim. It’s surprising how many people are up at 7:30am to go for a swim in the sea. As we have no fixed abode, we head to the public showers to clean ourselves up. We then went for a spot of lunch and chilled out on Dixon beach before. We didn’t stay for long in Newcastle as there wasn’t a huge amount that interested there, so we left late at night and drove towards Coffs Harbour. We got tired on the way and stopped in a rest area called Buladelah on the motorway where we slept for the night.

The following day, we wake up nice and early and drive to Forster via a scenic route through Myall Lakes, Seal Rocks, Pacific Palms and Booti Booti National Park. We arrive at Forster by midday and find a supermarket to get some lunch in. When we got back to the van, we tried to start it up but it wouldn’t start. It looked like that battery was flat to us which wasn’t good news as it could mean we might need a new battery which would be expensive. Luckily for us, a nice woman in the pet shop nearby offered a jump start.

The jump start worked and we were on the road again but we only drove another few hundred metres before we saw a carpet shop offering cheap mats which would be perfect to lay on the floor of our van to make more homely. Surprise surprise, after we bought the mats and attempted to start the car it wouldn’t! It was really frustrating but the person from the carpet shop offered a jump start. This time we drove straight to a k-mart in case it wouldn’t start again. K-mart has lots of car parts including a battery and the plan was to replace ourselves if the car wouldn’t start again. As expected when we tried to restart the car outside it wouldn’t start. So we get out the screwdrivers and start replacing the battery. We found that the contacts of the battery in the car were covered in some sort of blue powder so we clean it off and swap it for a new one. The new one never worked so we got a refund and popped the old one back it. We didn’t know what else to do, so we  just thought we would just try start the engine anyway, and hey presto, it worked!! This time we never turned off the engine and drove straight to Port Macquarie.

Having spent Christmas and New Year in Sydney, we didn’t only do alot of drinking, partying and sleeping on the beach - we also did some sightseeing in between as decribed in my earlier post. Most of our days started at a leisurely 12-1pm oweing to the fact we didn’t come in until around 4 or 5 which help us deal with the expense of Australia by missing breakfast and heading straight for lunch.

After alot of searching we finally found the van we would be travelling in, initially named Sooty. It was a Ford EconoMaxi van from 1991 with a new yellow paint job.

Looking over the van took longer than we thought which didn’t leave us with very much beach time in Manly. we jumped on a ferry across to Manly, a recommended route since it gives a stunning view of the opera house on its own or with the city backdrop.

Following that we arrived around 2pm for the afternoon sun, unfortunately the clouds had started to roll in and there was also a strong breeze which didn’t make it a very comfortable experience so instead we played cricket on the beach, a warm up for us to go to the SCG the following day.

On our penultimate day in Sydney we just had to watch a game of cricket in the SCG. It just so happened Australia and South Africa were playing. Getting to the game was really easy and there was very little crowding on the way alot easier than going to watch some of the sporting events in the UK. The stadium was pretty full and we had awesome seats really close to the cricket field and we could even drink during the game.

The whole place had an amazing atmosphere with enterainment on the field and from the crowd.

Towards the end of the day we saw some really long beer snakes, created from all the empty plastic beer cups.

Though security quickly put an end to them by escorting the people involved out of the stadium. After the game we looked at the queue to get back to town and instead grabbed a taxi back to Coogee for about the same price the bus would have cost.

On our last day we packed up our van we all our bags and tried to bring some organisation to the caos we had created with our huge bags. At first it looked like we were going to have problems fitting everything in but after a bit of reorganisation everything was in. Following that we went into town to attempt to go into the Aquarium after the queues put us off the first time.

In the evening we left Kev and Anna in their posh hotel and headed out of Sydney over the Harbour Bridge towards our first stop, Newcastle.

We woke up at 5am, packed our packs with our french stick sandwiches, various snacks and “orange juice” to catch the 5.30am bus to town. When we arrived we joined the queue of other people waiting to go into the Botanic gardens. Whilst we were waiting alot of people choose to catch up on the sleep they missed by getting up early and Kev and I did a McDonalds run to get a Sausage & Eggs Sandwich for those in our group that wanted one. Whilst we did that John went and grabbed a few throws we could use a blankets, good job otherwise we would have spent the day sitting on grass. Whilst we were waiting the queue grew extremely large with anyone trying to push in getting boo’ed back out of the queue.

We eventually got in around 12pm and head to Mrs Macquaries point, an area we had scoped out earlier in the week, it provided us with a great view of the harbour. Until the fireworks started we lazed around drinking our “Orange juice” and getting the occasion $7 beer from the the bar, playing cards and catching up on the sleep we missed getting up so early (some people really need their sleep).

As the evening went on and the sunlight slowly faded away the grandness of new years eve started to become evermore apparent, with all of the boats crowded in the harbour around the bridge awaiting the fireworks.

The 9pm showing for families was spectcaular; Adam, Dane and I were interviewed for a radio show afterwards asking what we thought of the fireworks so far. Our review unintionally gave the impression we thought they were a bit rubbish, no doubt they would have been put in the drunken rant interview pile.

After this initial showing we decided we needed to get a good position early for the main event, so we packed up our stuff and headed for the fenceline where we could get a much better view of all the fireworks. Come midnight the sky became alight with fireworks on the bridge and from barges along the river and the noise of our party poppers and party horns (there were a few funny looks from the nearby security guards…) filled the air. For the next 11 minutes there was alot of oohs and aahs as the varing and more grandure fireworks went up into the sky. We all took absolutely tones of photos, some are included below and Dane recorded the entire 11 minutes on video, which is also below.

[video removed from youtube, uploading again somewhere else]

After the fireworks were done, we lit up our sparklers and headed for the exit in the hope of finding another drink, unfortunately we weren’t quite dressed up enough to get into alot of the clubs - so we headed home to continue drinking there.

On boxing day we planned to watch the Sydney Hobart boat race, but we woke up late again so instead spent the day looking around the harbour, including taking one of two photos of us with the Sydney Opera House and picking a spot for New Years Eve. After walking around the botanic gardens seeing many different types of flower, trees and bats we chose Mrs Macquaries Point, an area with an overview of the harbour with a perfect view of the bridge and opera house all in the same shot.

We spent one afternoon walking across the harbour bridge, but the weather was overcast, so we stopped halfway and headed back to walk around darlington harbour after that we met up with Kev in Chinatown at place we had been recommended, Sizzling Pot. Wow, the portions were absolutely huge, the dishes were served still sizzling on a metal tray with a bowl of rice on the side. There was enough food on the table to probably feed us twice over.

Our guide book recommended a walk between Coogee and Bondi beach that follows the coast providing views along the route, at the time we did some parts were being maintained so we were diverted via a graveyard. After walking just over half way we were all really hot and fancied a dip in the sea, so we stopped at Nelson bay and went into the sea. Unfortunately, we didn’t move from the beach and didn’t make it Bondi. The weather took a turn for the worse and the sky began looking like it was going to rain so we headed back to Coogee.

As well as all the sightseeing we began hunting for a van to take Mike, John and I from Sydney up to Cairns, it seemed to be quite hard at first as most of the vans we wanted to buy were over our initial $1500 budget or already sold. So we realised we had to be more realistic with what we wanted to spend and upped our budget to $4500. Once we had done that we started contacting some potentials, one prospect, “Boris” was a real bargain only $2000 but once we had seen it we realised why. The van had certainly had backpacker marked on it. It was a real mess inside and to start required a pair of pliers and 15 attempts at getting it going, it really didn’t like cold starts. On the outside it was very colourful and would certainly help us find it in a busy car park. The search continues….

We began getting all our food/snacks and drinks in order to leave early the following day including our “special orange juice”. The area we wanted to go to was strictly no alcohol and we didn’t want to be paying for the overpriced food and drinks once inside so we took some 1.5 litre fruit juice bottles and über cheap vodka to mix with it. It turned all turned our pretty well and was tasty too. We even took extra measures to ensure the seals weren’t broken on the bottles if they were inspected by the security guards. Next up, New Years Eve.

We’re off to see the Wizard, The Wizard of Oz. We arrived from the Blue Mountains to find out we couldn’t check in until after 4PM, we only had an hour to wait, We checked in and was pleased to hear a free BBQ was on on the evening we arrived. We went and grabbed 2 boxes of “goon” (nasty wine filtered through fish, yum!) and met two other people from the UK, Matt (another Essex box) and Emily.

On Christmas eve, we stocked up on all the essentials, beer and food. John and I left to grab some Santa hats whilst Mike and Kev were left to decorate the room with a Christmas tree made from an empty beer box, some duct tape and white paper. The results were quite amazing and we added to the decorations with some fake snow on the tree and windows and most of the room once we had finished. After completing the decorations we wrapped our secret Santa presents and put them under the tree to be opened the following day, Christmas Day.

In evening we headed down to the local bar, the Coogee Bay Hotel donning our Santa hats, the bar was absolutely packed and after an evening of consuming a one or two beverages we all managed to hold on to our Santa hats.

It’s Christmas!

We started the day with a fry up cooked Kev style together with Orange juice and bottle of Moët, yes champagne - even backpackers are allowed a little luxury!

Then we opened our prezzies from our secret Santa’s, he had done well this year as we all got what we wanted. After all the excitement we headed down to Coogee beach to meet a few friends who had already begun drinking, we grabbed our slab of warm beer to join them. Then we hit the sea where we took a few pictures whilst in the water and John got a sting from a jellyfish.

After we exhausted Coogee beach we headed down to see what fun there was to be had in Bondi. Bondi was as busy as Coogee with masses of people crammed onto a field above the beach and you could hear the music coming from the pavilion where we could have gone for christmas dinner and lots of dance music. Instead we choose the free option of sitting on a field with loads of other people, a good choice we decided. Below are pictures from each beach.

Coogee

Bondi

We continued our drinking here until we were kicked off the beach by the fuzz at 11pm and tried to find a drink elsewhere - we were out of luck everywhere seemed to be closing. We ended up having a delicious christmas dinner of McDonalds and jumped on to a bus heading to Bondi Junction where we would get a bus back to Coogee. Unfortunately, John, Matt and I got off a bit early, we saw the bus in the distance and tried running for it, but it was too late the bus had already gone - we went back to Bondi Junction to find the next bus wouldn’t be for another 45 minutes, we decided we could walk back in the that time. So we did. We got back 1.5 hours later.

Overall, Christmas in Sydney was a strange affair, no turkey or roast potatoes instead for us, McDonalds. We spent the day drinking a beer/goon on the beach in a 30-40 degree heat beneath the scorching sun instead of a warm house looking at the cold (possibly raining) weather outside. Would I do it again? Absolutely, but I’d need a Christmas back in the cold weather occasionally, unless global warming can help out and then everyone will have christmas under the sun.

We arrive into Sydney after leaving the airport in Tahiti at 2am. We had already planned to stay in Sydney for two weeks so we thought we would chill out in the Blue Mountains for a few days.

We were very hungry by the time we reached our hostel in the Blue Mountains, so we went out for a fish and chip lunch and for our first tasting of chicken salt that a lot of aussies we have met on the way have been raving about. To be honest, it didn’t taste that much different from normal salt. We decided to have an easy first day in Australia, so we hit the cinema to watch the new James Bond film, The Quantum of Solace and then headed had an early night.

The next day we got straight into the hiking and started on the Prince Henry Cliff walk which headed towards Echo Point. Along the way we saw some great views of the Three Sisters Mountains.

We went on from there to tackle the Giant staircase which has over 900 steps. Further on, we walked past the Katoomba falls and finally made it to Scenic world which has built its enterprise on an old mining area.

As we were still in relaxing mode we did pretty much nothing but reading books, sleeping or playing games in the hostel for a few days. It was quite nice not rushing to a tour to planning anything. Sometimes that stuff can be a big chore.

In between relaxing days, me and Mike decided to go see the waterfalls known as the Laura Cascades. We wished we never bothered in the end as it wasn’t that spectacular.

On the way back from the walk when we were practically at the door of our hostel, Mike realises that he has lost his wallet and thinks he may have lost it on the trail. So the first thing we do is report it to the police in case someone may have handed it in and also because the police station as right next door to the hostel. The next thing we do is grab Chris to help us have a look for it. So we all head back towards the trails we went on and even had to drag ourselves down the giant staircase. We retrace our steps and use big sticks to poke and prod the bush that runs along side the trail to check if the missing wallet is there. After hours of searching, we finally give up and head back to the hostel. It is there where Mike checks in is backpack and finds that his wallet has miraculously appeared in there. Me and Chris were fairly annoyed as we told him to check there in the first place! But the main reason that we were annoyed was that we pretty much hike a few miles and went up and down the giant staircase for nothing!

Anyway, we move on from that needless stress and de-stress with a game of Monopoly which provided us with us over 2 hours of entertainment. And Mike won…

We spent 4 days in the Blue Mountains which provided us with some fantastic views and also our last moments of relaxation before we head off to the big city of Sydney.

After travelling through North and South America for the past four and half months we have looked forward to a different christmas… one in the sun, on the beach with a BBQ, instead of indoors in the warm sheltering from the cold weather, wind and rain.

We had initial reservations after a few spells of rain and thunderstorms we thought we could be back in the UK were it not for us being by the beach and still walking around in shorts and thongs. This bit of bad weather didn’t last long, we woke up on christmas day to see bright sunshine coming through the window and on to our christmas tree.

The goonies wish you all a Merry Christmas from sunny Coogee, Sydney.

Edit: After a slow start the sun came out and we spent the rest of the day on the scorching hot beach!