Sydney, Australia

We landed in Sydney for the first time and were picked up by my brother Martin at the airport and went straight back to his house in Bangor, a few miles outside Sydney and pretty much went straight to bed to try to get used to the time difference as we hadn't got much time before we flew on to Tonga. I thought it was definitely easier coming anti clockwise, not that it should make that much difference. The following morning Martin and his family took us down to the Royal National Park to take a walk along the Costal route and a look at the Wedding Cake Rock. We were surprised at how many hand rails and restrictions were in place near the rocks, it appeared you could hardly do anything without a risk assessment being in place.

That evening we walked martins two dogs along Cronulla beach which runs alongside Cronulla State park. Cronulla is a great stretch of sandy beach that wraps itself right around the bay and up to Kamay Botany Bay National Park.

The following morning we all crammed into the car and headed off to the Blue Mountains, to a town called Katoomba. This area gives you a fantastic view of the Three Sisters one of the main tourist spots in the Blue Mountains. From here we walked down the Stairs Walk and Giant Staircase, a series of steps that take you through the three sisters and down to the Federal Walking Track. This track brings you along the foot of the cliffs and back towards the cable car and scenic  railway. We walked passed these and went on to the Golden Stairs and back along the Narrow Neck Plateau Trail. This is a great walk, steep at either end, but gives you great views of the cliffs and the mountains

Following the three sisters we had a bite to eat in a local restaurant (and was surprised at how expensive Australia had become) where we saw our first wild kangaroos, before heading down to the Wentworth Falls lookout area and trails. Here we took a trail down to the Wentworth waterfall and lookout to grab a few photos before returning back to Martins as we were flying to Fiji the next morning.

we were in Fiji and Tonga for two weeks, but when we returned we were again picked up by my brother and went back to his house. The following morning we had pre booked a private day dive with Abyss Scuba diving to have a couple of guided dives in Botany Bay. We hired a private guide as the Weedy Sea Dragon we were diving to see were notoriously difficult to find and hiring a guide gives you a much better chance of seeing them. We had two great dives, seeing Weedy Sea Dragons and lots of other creatures on both dives although it was very cold at around 10 degrees and we only had 5mm wet suits. In between our dives we also got the chance to visit the monument to the first landing point of Captain Cook and the Endeavour in 1770, it was literally just along the shore.

On our final full day in Australia we headed for a day out in Sydney, first having a look around the city, Obviously the opera house, but also the royal Botanic gardens which are right next door. We then caught a ferry from Circular Quay wharf over to Manly. The great thing about this ferry is it goes almost right our of Sydney harbour giving you great views of the headland, the city, the harbour bridge and the opera house. The ferry crossing only takes about 20 minutes and drops you pretty much right in the town. Manly is an affluent beach-side suburb of northern Sydney, but with much more of a beach side vibe. Manly is also one of Sydneys favoured surfing spots, it has great cafes, a lido and a walk that takes you up and over the headland.

Finally that evening we returned to the city to complete the bridge climb over the harbour bridge. This event is ridiculously over priced at around $400AUD per person, but where else in the world do you get the chance to climb such an iconic structure. The walk also gives you fantastic views of the city at night. This was our last act in Australia, as the following morning we returned to the UK.

Click on the picture to follow the YouTube link to our video of the Botany Bay Weedy Sea Dragon Dave in Sydney Australia