Byron Bay to Sydney

We arrived in Byron Bay to the start of schoolies fortnight when lots of 18 year olds descend on the coast. We'd driven past Surfers Paradise which was heaving with school leavers. Byron Bay was, thankfully, a bit quieter! Our first night we met up with a girl who we'd met on the west coast and who happened to live in Byron Bay so we went to a lovely cafe (and Tiff accidently insulted the waiter who, it transpired was taking part in the staffs movember challenge, just wasn't very successful..) The next day, we mosied around the cute boutique shops during the day and then did the hilly climb up to the lighthouse and Australias most easterly point in the evening before catching an overnight coach to a rainy Newcastle.
Our main reason for staying in Newcastle was to access the Hunter Valley wine region so, after our first day spent shopping, and an evening playing hostel bingo (we won free internet and Lizzy won a beer after a tense game of people heads and tails) we embraced the second day with our waterproofs and a tour to the vineyards. We'd convinced others from bingo to join us so turned into a fun day with lots of wine tasting, cheese tasting, chutney tasting, fudge tasting and even a visit to an 'English Lolly Shop' - although it really should be a 'Sweet shop' if it's going to claim to be English!! That evening we travelled to Woy Woy, an hour north of Sydney where we were staying with Lizzys old work colleague, Anita and her husband, Darren in Umina Beach - had a really wonderful few days exploring Sydney from this base and chilling with these guys in the evenings (even managed a trip to the cinema to see Breaking Dawn - a priority!). Our first couple of days in Sydney were overcast but still really enjoyed the city. After a visit to Darling Harbour (where there was a rubber duck race the day we were leaving which we had to miss :( ) we got on a ferry (Lizzy's idea) so that my first glimpse of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House was coming into the harbour...was very cool!!! Our next day we had tickets to a short ballet in the Opera House. The ballet was really good but there was a guy interupting every now and then to explain the ballet and he was just like Bruce Forsyth which was offputting!! Weather still wasn't great in the afternoon so we used the opportunity to wander the botanical gardens through to the citys large art gallery - one of our favourite pieces was a film of a guy wandering the streets of London with a drumstick in his hand dragging it along everything he passed - surprisingly musical! The next day was tipping it down but thankfully, by the time we reached Sydney the sun was out and the opera house was looking much whiter than it had been (and much more like the pictures!) as we passed in our ferry to Double Bay. It was here that we were meeting some of Lizzys relatives for what turned out to be a very tasty lunch at their home overlooking the harbour - great view! The following day, we heading up to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains (blue due to the euculyptus trees). Stayed in a really homely hostel where my stay was greatly enhanced by having my first mince pie of the year, courtesy of the hostel owners! That evening we walked to the famous 'Three sisters' just down the (very steep) road from the hostel. For our full day in the mountains we spent 2 1/2 hours doing a long walk down so many stairs our legs were shaking and then around the mountains, through the forest till we reached Katoomba falls and the (much appreciated) railway taking us back up to the top - was very steep! Once at the top, we did a trip across the valley on the skyway, a huge cable car with a glass floor - felt more safe than it looked! That evening we travelled back to for our final day in Sydney, spent having lunch in Chinatown, catching a windy ferry journey over to a blustery Manly (which I'm sure is much nicer on a sunny day) and then back for fish and chips with Anita and Daz, a tasty end to a great few days.