I was so excited about reaching Sydney as I was about to see my friends Jen & Josh again for the first time in 7 years! As most of you know I spent a year living and studying in Nice in the south of France and that's where I met this lovely couple, in fact Josh was the first friend I made out there! They left Nice a few weeks before I did to return to Australia, where Josh is from (Jen is from Scotland!) but we have always kept in touch with me promising every year I would come out and visit! Even more excitingly, 6 months ago their duo became a trio with the birth of their first child, Reef! So I was looking forward to a big hug with all 3 of them!
 
Jen came to the airport to pick us up and luckily they have a Ute so there was plenty of storage space in the back, even with half of it full of garden waste (Josh is a horticulturalist!) for our bags! Jen hasn't changed at all & it was so lovely to see her big smile again! It took about 25 minutes to get from the airport to their house and we didn't stop chatting and catching up the whole way! When we got there Josh came out to greet us and help with the bags . While Jen hasn't changed, Josh really has! He is so much stockier & musclier than he was in Nice and is back to his rugby player self! It didn't take long for Reef to realise he was missing out on some fun which was great as it meant we got our first cuddles with him!
 
Once we had dropped our bags off in our room and made our bed, Josh suggested we go for a drive around the area and see what is nearby. As we set off, the weather seemed to change for the worse and it wasn't long before it was absolutely pouring with rain! Nevertheless, we persevered with the tour of Manly & Freshwater and despite not really being able to hear Josh's commentary over the rainfall and Reef's crying, he had woken up feeling very hungry, it was lovely to see both areas and surprising how beachy they are considering how close to the city we were! When we got back to the house, we decided to celebrate our reunion with a Thai takeaway and a flick through their Nice photo album, laughing at how young we looked, explaining to Matt who everyone was and reminiscing on some of the funniest moments! You would never believe we hadn't seen each other for 7 years as we slipped straight back into how we used to be! It was lovely!
 
The following morning, we set about sorting through some of the bags we had collected over the last couple of months and put together a box full of souvenirs and things we no longer needed ready to send home . Jen & Reef had an appointment at the medical centre so we walked down with them and then called into the Post Office to send our parcel home and then caught a bus into the city. We were going to jump on a Hop On Hop Off tour bus but they were ridiculously expensive so with the map in our hand we decided to walk the route instead! This wasn't as successful as we had hoped it would be and after nearly an hour we still hadn't reached the first stop on the map! This was because we kept getting lured into all the shopping centres on George Street, mainly because Matt needed an outfit for the opera as all he owns is shorts, T-shirts and flip flops!

Eventually we made it to Circular Quay, from here we could see the Harbour Bridge and Opera House so we got some excellent photographs of these famous sights! Also there was the biggest cruise liner either of us had ever seen so it fitted in perfectly with the surrounding sights making our pictures even more impressive. The annual Sydney Festival had started so there was a giant rubber duck in the harbour as one of the art installations! We had lots of fun posing & taking photos with that like proper tourists! When we got back to the house, Josh had gone to rugby training and Jen had been busy cooking up a storm as I had mentioned how much I fancied Bangers & Mash! Delicious!!! As we all sat chatting it was clear that Sphinx, their dog, had befriended Matt in a big way, after trying to hump his leg earlier he was now crashed out cuddling him on the sofa .
  
The next morning, after a relaxed start, Jen drove us over to Manly where we met up with her mum, Irene, and they gave us a little tour of the area. Manly is a lovely little town with a beautiful beach, seafront and shopping area. We had brought Sphinx, so we gave him a good walk along the seafront; the only problem being that despite being a very soppy dog, Sphinx really does not like other dogs or birds! So it turned into a very noisy walk as he barked at each one we passed & poor Irene was very flustered by the time we reached the New Brighton Hotel where we had decided to stop for lunch! During the conversation over lunch, it transpired that Irene was going away for a few days and that her apartment would be empty, so it was quickly decided that Matt & I should move in there and house sit for her! That way we could enjoy a few beach days but still be close to Sydney rather than go back to the Gold Coast as we had been discussing! After lunch, Jen & Irene took Reef & Sphinx back up to the apartment while Matt & I went for a wander around the town where Matt managed to get a sneaky haircut! Once we had finished exploring, we made our way back up to Irene's apartment . On the way back along the beach, suddenly the shark alarm went off and everyone got rushed in from the sea. When this happens a search helicopter is scrambled to patrol the area. This was all very dramatic although exciting and a bit worrying at the same time. We stood watching for a while as the helicopter flew about but we never saw anything so we carried on. We then headed back to Jen's to get ourselves all dressed up for our night at the opera!
 
Once we were all glammed up, we caught the bus into the city and walked over to the Opera House. It really is as impressive as you would imagine it to be and, after collecting our tickets, we spent quite a while taking photos of ourselves outside! Josh & Jen had advised we get there early so we could enjoy some drinks at the Opera Bar and we were glad they had given us this little tip as it was so lovely to sit outside by the water and enjoy a glass of wine & nibbles while listening to a live band - we felt very sophisticated! Everyone was so dressed up and looking smart and with such amazing surrounding we could have sat drinking there all night . It was soon time to head into the Opera House and take our seats, as you can probably imagine, I was very excited as we had booked tickets to see Puccini's La Bohème in the Joan Sutherland Theatre. Neither of us has ever seen an opera before but despite there being lots of other types of shows we could have gone to we were both keen to experience an opera and where better than here! Also, my lovely friends had given me $200 as a leaving present to spend on something special, and I thought this was ideal!

Once inside, I was quite surprised by how small it was but this gave it a really intimate feel as we were pretty close to the stage. The opera itself was actually harder to understand than I had imagined it to be, despite them giving you a pamphlet explaining what happens in each act and subtitles above the stage! But the singing was spectacular and the staging was beautiful so we really enjoyed it. Matt had found it hilarious that someone had tried opening a pack of sweets during the show and someone shushed them so quickly it was incredible, so we guessed they never got their sweets open in the end . During the interval, I was shocked to see the range of outfits people were wearing, with some in cocktail dresses and tuxedos while other were in board shorts and thongs! I found it a little bit sad that people hadn't made the effort even to just wear something smart, after all us backpackers had managed it!
 
Once the show had finished and the applause had ended, we made our way out of the theatre and out of the Opera House, stopping every now and then to take photos as the huge cruise liner was still there and all lit up perfectly with the bridge and the buildings. We decided it was probably best to head straight back to the house rather than go for drinks anywhere as it was already 10pm and with Josh having to get up early for work and Jen up through the night with Reef we didn't think it would be fair for us to keep them up too! However, we hadn't anticipated the buses being so difficult to understand or so irregular at that time of night, so after waiting for a while at the stop we had caught a bus from the previous afternoon, we came to realise that service was no longer running and made our way to another, larger bus stop . While we were busy trying to decipher the timetable, one of the bus drivers came over to see if we were ok. He informed us that while yes buses were still running from this stop to Mosman, the next bus wasn't in fact for another hour!!!! He kindly offered to drop us at another bus stop which had bus running more frequently so we hopped on his bus!
 
We eventually made it back to the house but by now it was almost midnight! So much for not getting back late!!! We crept in and thankfully Sphinx didn't bark or make a fuss and Reef was sound asleep so we made it through to our room without waking anyone! We got ourselves ready for bed and then, as Matt went to close the curtains, disaster struck! The curtains are on a pull cord so you have to move the curtains out of the way slightly to get to the cord and in doing so Matt spotted the biggest spider he has ever seen in real life (apart from in zoos of course!) in fact he would go so far as to say it was about twice the size of any spider he has seen in a house elsewhere! We think it was easily 3 inches big . He managed to stifle a scream but a few swear words slipped out! He told me what he had seen and after battling with myself I decided I did want to see it so slowly pulled back the curtain and can confirm he wasn't making a fuss, it was huge!!!! It was the size of my whole hand if you included it's legs which by the way were thick and hairy like pipe cleaners!!! 
 
The next 10 minutes played out like a silent movie with us hunting around the room for something to catch it in, then something to kill it with, stopping to have a whispered argument every now and then about what to do, laughing one minute, on the verge of tears the next. We ruled out catching it (we'd seen too many You Tube videos of them leaping out of the way!) or squashing it (the curtains and walls were white!) besides we still had no idea what type of spider it was and didn't know if it was poisonous! We considered leaving it and moving our mattress into the lounge but then the problem would still be there in the morning, or worse still it wouldn't be and then what?!?! After trawling through websites looking at images of spiders to try and work out what type this one was with no success, Matt was adamant he was just gonna smash a big book on the curtain and apologise for the mess in the morning . I didn't like this idea so after a near argument we decided the only really sensible option was to wake Josh and get him to deal with it, after all it was in his house so technically it was his spider! We waited a few more minutes hoping that Reef would wake up and therefore wake Jen & Josh for us but after a while we decided that wasn't going to happen so we sent them a text message thinking this was a more discreet way to wake them! A few minutes later, a bleary eyed Josh came through the house to inspect! Even he did a double take when he saw the size of it before saying, to our relief, that it was just a wolf spider so although it might give a nasty bite, it wouldn't kill you then promptly squashed it with a piece of kitchen roll! He also mentioned they had found a slightly smaller one in the bathroom earlier that evening so there must be a few about! With the drama over, we checked everywhere in the room for more spiders then we headed to bed albeit with the images of spiders running through our minds.
 
We spent the next couple of days being tourists and taking in the sights around Sydney, including Hyde Park, Kings Cross (yes we were definitely still in Australia and hadn't snuck back to London for a couple of days!), Darling Harbour and the Botanic Gardens . We were very surprised with how quiet everywhere seemed, we were expecting each place to be packed full of both tourists and locals with everyone in a hurry to get somewhere else, like it is in London, but often we wouldn't see another person for ages and when we did they were having a relaxed stroll and were in no hurry (except the crazy fitness enthusiasts running around Hyde Park on their lunch break!).
Both evenings, we returned to the house around 5pm and spent the evening with Josh, Jen, Reef & Sphinx (who by now had taken quite a shine to Matt and would curl up with him on the sofa!). One night Jen made us a lovely healthy salad and the other evening Matt & I cooked up a huge pasta meal which somehow we all managed to polish off! They both made us feel really welcome in their home and it was lovely to spend so much quality time with them.
 
After weeks of moaning and complaining, I had finally managed to book an appointment to have my hair done! As you may have noticed in the more recent photos, I have been sporting an almost two tone hair style for the last month or so with dark roots and blonde ends! Now while some may say its very rock chick, I just thought it looked awful! Having your hair coloured over here costs a fortune but I justified it by the fact that at home I'd have it done every 6-8 weeks and it had now been 3 months so I had technically saved some money?! There's logic there somewhere!!

 It turns out I had chosen the best day to stay indoors in an air conditioned room as it was due to be a scorcher! Matt, on the other hand, had decided to go into the city and have a look round the various stadiums and sports venues! He came back to meet the new glamorous, fully pampered me at about 3pm looking very hot, sweaty and worn out! It had in fact turned out to be the hottest day in Sydney's history reaching a whopping 46 degrees! Matt said that while he was walking his sunglasses were actually burning his face, every breath in burnt the insides of his nostrils and the straps of his flip flops were almost melting onto his feet, leaving him with lovely black marks . Crazy!
 
After emptying the bank account paying for my new do, we caught the bus back into the city as we were meeting up with our friend Gemma, who we had first met on our Whitsundays trip. As we mentioned in a previous entry, Gemma works at Madame Tussaud's on Darling Harbour, making and fixing the wax works, so we waited outside for her to finish then went for a few drinks in a bar along the Harbour to catch up on the events of the last couple of months! It turned out Gemma had had an equally eventful time as she had cut her foot on a piece of coral on the Whitsundays which had ended up getting infected causing her to miss her Everglades kayaking trip and, in a separate incident, had mistakingly booked her flight out of Australia for a few days after her Visa expired meaning she would be staying illegally, could be deported and not allowed to return for at least 5 years! Fortunately, she had completed her farm work so was able to start her second year Visa, it just meant she didn't get to go home for Christmas!
 
As an employee of Madame Tussaud's, Gemma gets lots of perks as it is part of a large group of attractions which she can access for free - and take friends and family in too!!!! So, once we had caught up on all our news, she offered to take us round the Wild Life centre, where we saw lots of native animals and birds including kangaroos and the largest crocodile in captivity, Rex, who is huge!!! Sadly, the koalas had been moved out of their outdoor display and into a cooler enclosure as 46 degrees is just too much for a koala so we didn't get to see them!!
 
We then made our way to Sea World . Matt absolutely loves aquariums and this was a beautiful one with huge tanks you walk through the centre of so the fish, rays, dugongs and sharks are swimming overhead. It was incredible as they were all so big and being in the tunnel we got such good but scary views of their teeth. We had to rush through a little as they were closing but it was worth it to have the place almost entirely to ourselves to enjoy!
 
By now, we had worked up quite an appetite and the heavens had opened so we went for dinner at The Brew House restaurant a little further along the harbour before returning to Josh & Jen's for our final evening.
 
On Saturday, we packed up all of our things and moved into Irene's apartment, Josh & Jen drove us over and gave us a hand with our bags before driving us up to Palm Beach for the afternoon! This is where Home & Away is filmed but, unlike Melbourne & Neighbours, they don't really encourage tourism or reveal where it is filmed! There are certainly no tours or meet & greets, much to my disappointment! Lucky for us we had our own tour guides who knew where the 'Surf Club' was hidden and that famous gate down to the beach so they took us there and we were able to get some photos! It is still the Summer holidays so there was no filming taking place and they are taking the opportunity to renovate the surf club building so the only clue we were in Summer Bay was a couple of trolleys with the Summer Bay Surf Club on behind the railings! We will just have to come back next time we are in Sydney and see if we can catch some filming then!
 
We went for a lovely stroll around the area and then stopped for lunch at Boat House restaurant which is owned by a couple Josh & Jen are friendly with. It is a beautiful little restaurant overlooking the water with indoor and outdoor seating areas. One of the owners is an interior designer by trade and you can tell as every little detail is perfect yet effortless! The food, which was delicious, almost seemed like an added bonus to being in such stunning surroundings! Once we had finished eating, we made our way back to the car and to Manly where Josh & Jen dropped us off at our new home. It was so lovely to be in a proper home on our own again after over 3 months of hotels, hostels, campsites and friends' houses, so we enjoyed lounging on the sofa and watching rubbish TV before heading to bed.
 
More of our Sydney & Manly adventures in the next entry...