Sydney and Summer Bay

We stocked up on supplies for the 14 hour bus to Sydney. It sounds horrific but actually wasn't that bad. We got some wine, sweets and stuff and then slept for loads of it.

We arrived in Sydney at 7.30am and the lovely receptionist at our hotel (The Cambridge Hotel, Sydney) allowed us to check in early.  The hotel was really cheap for Sydney and in a great area in Surrey Hills.

We met Ian and Michelle that afternoon and they took us to the ferry port to see views of the harbour bridge and opera house before we caught the ferry over to Manley Beach.  

Caff with Alf Stewart's kid in front of the Opera House 

Manley Beach is a gorgeous part of Sydney, really up-market with loads of lovely restaurants and bars along a lovely beach.  We went for dinner in a nice little place by the sea before we went back to Sydney and got some photos from the water of the Bridge and Opera House all lit up.

Ian took us to a little whiskey bar in an underground cellar. It was really cool and all the waitresses dressed in 1920s gear. We then went on to this crazy late night bar to watch the Liverpool and Everton Game (Ian is a toffee so tensions were high and crisps were thrown).

The following morning, Ian and Michelle picked us up and we all went down to Palm Beach, where they film Home and Away. We are all big fans (except for Ian, but he knew a bit too much about it all, so I think he is a closet fan).

We nearly died when we pulled up at the beach and saw all of the film vans there - they were filming that day! We walked down to the beach, taking in all the familiar sights from the show, and who was filming only Brax - our favourite character! We had to meet him so we stood around for ages with big stalky faces as pictured below:

One for the ladies...

The cast finally broke for lunch so we made a run for Brax and we all got pictures with him. He is so nice in real life.

Aren't we a nice couple? 

Two handsome divils, Riverdog and Riverboy - Brian was trying to audition for the part of Patrick, the cheeky Irish musician who would help Indi get over Romeo.

After a day of very successful stalking, we also managed to meet Heath and a new character, Chris, who is played by a guy called Johnny Ruffo, who was runner-up in Aussie X Factor.

Johnny Ruffo, X Factor dude

The guy photo-bombing my Heath picture looks a bit like John Palmer. We got chatting to him later on and he is really nice. His name is Damien Macey and he and Brian really hit it off. They were chatting for ages about Ireland and Home and Away - subjects they were both expert in! Brian just emailed him to keep in touch in case that Patrick position comes up (I'm not even joking, he seriously did!).

We also saw Bianca, Casey, Spencer, Maddie and Indi filiming different scenes. Indi was really close to us but she was well wide to our stalky ways and made a dash for her van after every shoot. Brian got so excited, we wet his pants...or something...

Bianca 

Indi teaching yoga (Brian signed up for the austreeling session)

Ian, Michelle and Brian outside the Diner

Me and Ian at Summer Bay

Brian doing his best 'Casey asleep on the beach' look

We had a great day star gazing by the sea and although Brian never got a smooch off Indi, it was still a success. Farewell Summer Bay!

That night, we went to meet Stally, an old friend of Brian's from school who is living in Sydney.

We had a great laugh with her and had a few drinks before carting Brian off in a Sheepmoor taxi.

On our last day in Sydney, we took the bus to Bondi and had breakfast there. It was nice to see the beach that's so famous back home it's known as County Bondi! Brian got the jeans and sandals look from Johnny Ruffo.

I stopped off on the way back at Bondi Junction and Brian went back to the hotel to meet his friend Juice and his lovely little family who had just arrived in Sydney as Juice had got a job there as an aeroplane technician.

That evening, we called out to see Caitriona's brother, Colm and his wife Theresa and their gorgeous baby Romy before going back to an Irish bar for a proper feed of steak and Guinness pie, mushy peas and mash! We filled up just in case the the Chinese food was dodgy. It was delicious!

That was our last night in Australia. It was probably the most amazing country we've ever been to. It has all the modernity of America but with a laid-back, out-doorsy lifestyle. The cities are amazing, Brisbane and Melbourne were the favourites, probably because they were smaller than Sydney and a bit friendlier and cleaner. Byron Bay was the best of all of the places we'd seen there. We really fell in love Australia.

So long for now Aussies! On to Chinaland...

Poetry in the Forest

I loved this Robert Frost poem in school and our Byron Bay lighthouse walk reminded me of it and I thought it was a nice way to think of our little adventure. A bit of Junior Cert literature for you, I'm telling you, this blog has everything!

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Brian also had a poetic moment in the forest:

"something, something, something, tree

something, something, something, path

something, something, something, darkside"

Hey diddle diddle, I saw this road, And took a piddle

Byron Bay and the Lighthouse Walk

When we arrived in Byron, the heavens opened and it lashed for 24 hours straight!

We checked into a little caravan park called Glen Villas (there was a bit of a glen but definitely no villas). It reminded us of Alf's caravan park in Home and Away. It was very 1970s but really clean. Our 'villa' was very basic but it was cheap for Byron and close to the town. (And we always wanted to live like authentic knackers for a couple of nights, think there's a niche there for a reality TV show).

We went for dinner on the first night but had to go straight home after as the weather was awful. The next day was lovely though so we went for a huge walk up to the famous lighthouse in 

Byron Bay. 

We were told that it would take around 45 minutes but an hour and a half later, we arrived at the top of the hill and the million steps. It was such a nice walk though and we saw loads of lovely wildlife along the way including a rock wallaby and an echidna, which is like a hedgehog with a big long nose. They are endangered so we couldn't believe it when we saw one mosying up a grassy verge along the way!

RockWallaby Balboa

Echidna hiding from us (no its not a Magic Eye photo)

We also saw loads of dolphins swimming in the wild and one guy told us that in a few weeks, lots of killer whales swim around the area.

The views from the top were amazing. It was one of the most beautiful places we've seen on our travels.

This is the sea with rocks and waves splashing on them. Can you make it out?

Jawsuz

We loved Byron and didn't want to leave. Brian particularly loved it. This is his happy apple head (happle head)

We were taking the horrible 14 hour overnight bus to Sydney the following day for our final Aussie stop in Sydney!