Sydney & Byron Bay, NSW, Australia

A overnight bus from Melbourne took me to Sydney in 13 hours. As this was to be my 3rd time to Sydney in the last 3 years, I was keen to get out of the city centre and see parts of the area that I hadn't seen before.

A day tour to the Blue Mountains , approximately and hour and a half from the city was organised and off I went with Oz Experience. An early start to the tour meant that we would be able to see wild Grey Eastern kangaroos on our first stop of the day. We entered the base of the Blue Mountains National Park and went in search for Skippy. Kangaroos are unable to sweat and so the heat of Australia's summers meant that they head to bed just after the sun starts to heat up. Up over the hills, a group of about 15 kangaroos lazily lounged around and seem unfazed by a load of backpackers invading their space and attempting to get good camera shots. As long we didn't get too close to them, they we happy to let us be there. We saw to young males play fighting, and a mummy kangaroo with a Joey in its pouch, very cute!

We then headed up the mountain to see if they really were blue as the name suggests. Yep, there were - a haze is given off from the numerous eucalyptus trees in the forest, and as blue is the only colour in the spectrum that cannot break through light, the haze gives off a blue colour, hence the name of the mountains. A 2 hour hike took us in and around the rain forest and creeks, before stopping for lunch and having a diggeridoo lesson. We finished the day with a smaller hike to see the 3 Sisters, an aborigine site and headed back to our bus via the steepest railway in the world, which took us back up the mountain almost vertical.

The next day in Sydney was spent in Manly, a 30 minute scenic ferry ride away from Circular Quay - Sydney's main harbour. I spent the afternoon walking around and lazing on the packed out main beach before heading back to Circular Quay to meet up with Kelly and Caroline, 2 Irish friends that I travelled with in Brazil and Argentina. We chilled out in Sydney's Botanic Gardens catching up on our travels, before I headed for the bus stop to catch the overnight bus to Byron Bay.

Byron Bay, a small town renowned for its hippy and laid back atmosphere. This town has strong beliefs in alternative treatments, natural environments, and surfing! I imagine the town has changed a lot of the last 10 or so years, as it is quite kitted out for backpackers, which is why the hippy atmosphere I was expected wasn't so apparent. A lovely town though, with a great beach and the chance to see dolphins, and surfers doing what they do best!

Here, I met up with Andy and Lynsey, more friends that I met in South America who were to become my travelling buddies for the next 3 weeks. We made the 7km walk to Cape Byron which is the most easternly point of Australia, and a lighthouse sporting magnificent views over Byron Bay, with ocean on all sides. From the Easternly Point, we could see little pods of dolphins happily swimming around the area before heading back into town and checking out main beach.

The evenings were filled with drinking games with fellow travellers and if that wasn't bad enough, a visit to the infamous Cheeky Monkies bar in town - a venue not to be missed...?!?! Next stop, the 3 amigos are heading off to Surfers Paradise to see for ourselves whether the town is as ugly and tacky as everyone says it is!

Photos will be uploaded soon.