SYDNEY HARBOUR 19/02/2009

It was the beginning of my personal drama as a cold sore appeared on my lips, but I am not going to go into details. All I can say is that you never know what may happen to you. And I can also add that it was the beginning of the "thinking photo shoot".

I went to the Sydney Tower where the observation deck is. It was very quiet there and I could not only look at Sydney, but also drank a cup of coffee. However, the views were not as good as in Melbourne because some skyscrapers cover e.g. the Sydney Opera House.

On the podium level there is OzTrek. You just sit in an armachair and watch few short films about Australian culture and then you sit in a special armchair and you feel like at the cinema. You watch a film about Australia, which is like a very quick travel across the country and while watching it your armchair shakes from time to time. There is for example a moment when you feel like a crocodile will devour you. In fact it was the best part of my visit to the Sydney Tower.

Then I went to the Pylon Lookout which is located on one side of the Harbour Bridge. The views over the harbour are really fantastic comparable to the ones from the climb.

I came back to the Circular Quay and I bought tickets on a ferry. I went to the other side of the harbour to the place called McMahons Point. I had a photo shoot with the Australian flag and photos of the Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House from a different view there. Then I changed the place and I walked a bit to Milsons Point. At least I could see a nice district with beautiful houses. Then I had another photo shoot with a sunset in the background. After that I took a ferry to come back to the Circular Quay. By the way I went to the Bavarian restaurant and I must say that I enjoyed the place and food a lot.

After late dinner I went back to the Circular Quay and I had the first night photo shoot of the harbour. I just learned how to take good photos at night which is not easy, but I was making progress and it made me happy.

Well, I must say that the Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House looked awesome by night. I loved the colours of the sky which maybe were so fantastic because of the lights or who knows what was the reason, but I was impressed by the place.

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SYDNEY - BRIDGE CLIMB 18/02/2009

After rainy night I was so lazy that I left the hostel quite late.

I went to the Circular Quay and then to the Harbour Bridge as I wanted to climb it. Well, I have always liked the Harbour Bridge and I love watching fireworks from the bridge on New Year's Eve so when I found out that it is possible to climb the bridge I was looking forward to it. The climb is quite expensive, but I highly recommend it. I had a lot of fun.

First I had to fill in a questionnaire and then I was given a special blue and grey uniform. I could not take anything apart from sunglasses. All the items had to be left in the shelves. Our group consisted of 14 people. Apart from me there were people from Australia, the UK, the USA, Germany, Denmark and Cyprus. Our guide was a very nice person. In fact everybody was nice there. He was instructing us how to behave on the bridge and we could even try climbing while being there. Then we were given a headset and when everything was ready we went out to the bridge. I have to admit that they pay a lot of attention to the safety as they train people before climbing and give special equipment.

The whole climb is very safe and it is not high at all. In fact I was even shocked that it did not take us much time to get on the top of the bridge. The whole climb together with the training lasted over 3 hours. While walking on the top of the bridge our guide was talking about Sydney, its history and places we could see from the bridge. Then we were taken some photos which we later could buy. We climbed half of the bridge and then went downstairs on the other side of the same half of the bridge. I really enjoyed the climb and it was a fantastic adventure. At the end they give you a certificate which proves that you really climbed the bridge.

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SYDNEY - CHINESE GARDENS 17/02/2009

In the morning I booked a trip to the Blue Mountains at the hostel. Then I went to the Chinese Gardens in Chinatown. The place is not big, but really nice. I had an opportunity to put on a Janpanese kimono. I looked more like a Russian tsarina than a Japanese woman, but at least I had a lot of fun. I spent there some time taking photos.

When I left the Chinese Gardens I went to the Wildlife World which is located close to the Chinese Gardens in Darling Harbour. It is a kind of a zoo and I enjoyed our stay there until it started raining. As a result of rain it was not possible to go out to some animals and some places which were accessible before disappeared. I know it may sound strange, but it was really like that. It was a kind of magic, but they are good at it there. I do not have to say that because of this what happened I was really disappointed with this place.

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SYDNEY 16/02/2009

My second day in Sydney. I went to the Sydney Harbour, but first I went to Hyde Park which is not big, but the trees over you look amazing.

From Hyde Park I went to the Royal Botanic Gardens which is free like the one in Melbourne. To my surprise I could see bats on trees in the centre of a big city. Wow. Fortunately they were not interested in my hair. The Royal Botanic Gardens is located by the harbour and the views of the Sydney Opera House, the Harbour Bridge or skyscrapers were spectacular.

I spent there a lot of time walking and taking photos. It was also the moment when the weather started clearing up and it was hot and sunny. I even became a victim of the weather because it was gloomy in the morning so I did not expect that the weather will improve so much and I did not use suntan lotion, which was a big mistake.

When I left the Royal Botanic Gardens I went to the Sydney Opera House. The Sydney Harbour looked so different in comparison to the previous day and I loved this place so much. I went to the Circular Quay Station and I bought a ZooPass ticket which includes an entry into Taronga Zoo and a return ticket on a ferry. I enjoyed this travel a lot and the view of the Circular Quay, the Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House were great. I was moving away from them with every second and I will never forget this view.

After leaving the ferry I changed to a bus and after maybe two minutes I got off in front of Taronga Zoo. Maybe it is not the biggest zoo in the world, but well organised and I enjoyed my time there at least until it started raining. The zoo is divided into some sections like Wild Australia, Reptile World, African Waterhole or Wild Asia. I had a great time there.

I have to say that giraffes have got a fantastic view of the Sydney Harbour and I liked the Sumatran tiger or a cute baby chimpanzee.

Komodo Dragon

At the end of my stay there it started raining so I went back by ferry to the Circular Quay. Then I bought the Aquarium Pass and I went by ferry to the Darling Harbour and later to the Sydney Aquarium. There are special underwater tunnels where you can admire different species of fish, crocodiles, sharks and so on.

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MELBOURNE - SYDNEY 15/02/2009

After checking out and booking the hostel for the last days in Australia I took a bus to the airport which I had booked before. At the airport there was an online check-in, which was something new for me. I had breakfast at the airport and by the way I bought some souvenirs including an Australian flag.

I flew with Quantas. The flight lasted over an hour and I landed in Sydney at 1:20pm. After collecting my luggage I took a taxi to the hotel which I had book before the trip. The airport in Sydney is close to the city centre, not like the one in Melbourne. I stayed at a hotel Alfred Park Accommodation on Cleveland Street. Well, the standard of the hotel was not too good, especially a bathroom was not a nice place, but at least I had the internet for free. However, the atmosphere and the staff was really nice and helpful. I could make use of a kitchen, a dining room and a laundry.

In the afternoon I went to the Sydney Harbour on foot, which took me at least an hour, but I got used to it and I even liked walking this distance and pass people and buildings. When I saw Sydney Opera House I felt liek I am really in Sydney. To my surprise Sydney Opera House is bigger than I thought whereas Harbour Bridge is not as big as I thought so television lies.

I was waiting for this moment so long as I dreamed about visiting Sydney and when the moment finally came I was not overwhelmed with happiness. It was like that probably because of the weather as it was raining a bit and it was a gloomy afternoon. But next days in Sydney made me fall in love with the city.

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GREAT OCEAN ROAD 14/02/2009

I went on a trip along the Great Ocean Road. I booked the trip two days ago in my hostel. Early in the morning a mini bus arrived to pick me up.

We were going through Geelong - the second biggest city in Victoria. The first stop was at Bells Beach which is popular with surfers. The views were fantastic, but it was only the beginning of those spectacular views that day.

We had some other stops while going to the Twelve Apostles and all places were breathtaking. There was a place with a white lighthouse and the view of the ocean and rocks were amazing there.

Later we stopped in a place where I saw koalas for the first time in my life. Apart from koalas there were also parrots.

Then we had lunch in Apollo Bay. In fact we had some free time and I went to the beach. The sand was so hot there that it was almost impossible to stand on it for too long, but water in the ocean was not hot.

We also had a walk in a rainforest and later we finally reached our destiantion - Port Campbell National Park where you can admire Twelve Apostles - rocks in the ocean. The views were breathtaking and blue ocean and gold rocks looked fantastic.

Then we visited another place as Twelve Apostles are not located in one place only so between the stops there was some drving.

Lorch Ard Gorge was a charming place and it was possible to go down the stairs and once again walk a bit on hot sand. It's a pity we were pressed on time and could not spend there too much time.

In the last place there was a rock called London Bridge.

After this place we were heading back to Melbourne. It was a nice and hot day and as I mentioned we were pressed on time so wherever we stopped we did not have too much time to admire the views which is a pity. However, I did not realise that Twelve Apostles are so far away from Melbourne as it took us a lot of time to reach this place. At the end everybody was tired as the whole day was full of attractions and emotions and some running as well. What I like about Australian trips is the fact that the driver always takes you back to the place where you stay. I love it.

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