Well, since Byron Bay a lot has happened. I enjoyed my last few days in the most chilled out of towns before heading to Spot-X for surf camp which was lots of fun. We were escorted by bus to a trailer park slash surf school where we would spend our afternoon being taught the rules of the waves, how not to look like a kook (idiot) and then 3 hours in the shallow water trying desperately to surf. After a number of attempts and many wipe-outs I stood up a handful of times but still wasn't enthralled by the situation. I think I'm preferring scuba diving under the water to standing on top of it. I think the boredom of waiting for a wave and bobbing up and down to wait for 1 in 20 waves I didn't love it but glad I tried it and can officially call myself australian minus the tan and salty bleached hair.
After the lesson we went for a booze run and on the return journey got the chance to see around 10 humpback whales frollicking off the coast whilst enjoying a beer. The thrill of sitting on the edge of a cliff and seeing whales 100m away was great and an unexpected bonus.
The next day we arrived in Sydney. We ceremoniously watched nemo whilst coming into the city and so almost at the exact same time just as dory and marlin saw harbour bridge we drove over it. The thrill of seeing the Sydney harbour view is amazing as I have seen it countless times on tv or photos before and never gets boring to be the seeing it for real. We arrived in the city around lunch time so set out on a stroll around to get our bearings, in doing so being at the opera house at the right time we scored discounted tickets to see a show in the concert hall that night so it was a quick rush back to hostel change then back to see the Sydney philharmonic choir's 90th aniversary concert which was rather similar to a school concert in programme but was rather spectacular to be in the Sydney opera house seeing it for what it is made for. The next morning we booked onto a harbour cruise which as a massive cruise liner had just entered the harbour was filled mostly with the older generation who I was constantly having to give up my seat for and wait to go down stairs but the harbour itself is massive with a huge coastline and luckily we had perfect weather before the start of the rains that afternoon. We visited the rocks a colonial style suburb with a tourist market then went to a bbq in the rain with a few of Elise's friends from school which lasted untill we then met our friends who we had originally been travelling with for a small pub crawl when I was more than ready for bed but as it was Elise's last night in Oz it was party time to say a big farewell to my gorgeous travelling buddy.
After saying a sad goodbye to Elise the next morning I visited the Anzac memorial, Sydney museum and had a day in the rain in rather inappropriate clothes before meeting Roslyn and Chris in the evening as I would be staying with them in Sydney for the next two nights. As Elise and I had a horrible experience in two different rooms at our hostel involving a lot of "tenting up" I was glad to have a double bed and room to myself. I slept well that night. The next day I was hoping to go to the Blue mountains, a mountain range with spectacular views but the ridiculous weather didn't allow for it so instead I went to darling harbour another part of the harbour which included the awesome Sydney aquarium and rubbish Sydney maritime museum. I was then treated to dinner by Roz n Chris to a very nice thai restaurant which more than filled a whole then a short visit to their local before another early night in my own room. The next day I left for Melbourne and arrived to meet Mike and Leigh both friends of Roz's n mine from home. The first couple of days we explored the city getting great use of out the free tourist trams and visiting the rather expensive bodies exhibit which showed real version of animals and human parts; gruesome but fascinating. We also went to the great Melbourne museum opposite my third hostel residence and felt envy whilst we watched all the lady in hats and men in suits attending the derby day part of the Melbourne cup. The Melbourne cup is a huge event which I could only compare to the USA Superbowl "a race to stop the nation" which consists of four days of events culminating in "the Melbourne cup" race held on the Tues of the carnival weekend. I, without Mike and Leigh, went on a two day tour which took me along Great Ocean Road, a stunning 200km road which hugs the coast based on the road along the Californian coast where there are many sandstone and limestone structures carved out of the rock by water erosion and one thing I was the most excited about seeing, the lighthouse from the show Round the twist which any British child my age will remember fondly like half of our tour bus. In the evening we settled our heads in a town in the region of the Grampians and were up early to walk around a few areas for some awesome views over the Grampians (which yes, are named after the Scottish Grampians), a walk to a stunning waterfall and joined in on the least proffessional winery tour ever, where our tour guide for the winery sloshed in a couple of sips in the same glass and we had to ask information about the wine if she was willing to answer, rudeness is not the best sales technique.
When Mike and Leigh returned from there trip to Great ocean road we met with an amzing man who was also on their trip who for the past ten years has been a sculpter for Pixar studios. He sculpted dory from the animators rough description, mr incredible and the bad guy from the incredibles, the new bear character in toy story 3 and many more. He was a very cool guy and he took us to a very reasonably priced but delicious malaysian restaurant and i could have listended to him all night. Jonathan Paine, look him up!!
On the second to last day of Melbourne we spent money on the very cliched neighbours tour of the outdoor sets and Ramsay street which is in fact a normal street where the residence are paid to use there pools, garden etc for filming. After watching neighbours on and off since I was small it was rather surreal to see the sets and meet with a former actor on the show who played Janelle.
Our final day in Melbourne was spent in St Kilda a seasisde suburb 10 mins by tram which in the sun was much nicer than we had seen it in a storm a few nights before, having ticketed off everything suggested to do in Melbourne we left to head back to Sydney for my last couple of days in Oz.
All three of us travelled to Sydney together and stayed at Roz's flat which was lots of fun and had a great day the following day watching the Melbourne cup in a pub with glass of bubbly in hand and heels on for the first time in a while. THe next day for my final day in Oz we travelled the two hour bus journey to Bondi beach only 20km away but rather difficult to get to, before catching my flight to New Zealand I ended up having a total of 50mins at Bondi getting a few photos before having to head back which was rather annoying but another tick off the list.
Last night I arrived in Christchurch, New Zealand and tomorrow go for my first adventurous acitivity of the country white water rafting which I'm very excited for but slightly nervous. I;m need a good sleep tonight before a wild day tomorrow.
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