Day 12: Final sights

There is nothing more I think I can see without a car in sydney. I decided to have a sandwich and coffee at the Botanical Park. Sitting on the nice soft grass, I really enjoyed the cool weather. Went to find the Macqurie Spot where I can get a picture of the Habour Bridge and Opera House together. In times like this, I really regret not having a digital camera.

I found the Andrew Swimming Pool right smack in the middle of nowhere beside a park. How cool is that?! Decided to take a closer look at St. Mary's again and went to the Art gallery museum for a longer walk. I even joined the tour there which really made me understand more of the paintings.

I decided to walk the Habour Bridge but did not finish it as the view was not great from there. They had huge fences on both sides, thus blocking any chances of a good snapshot of the skyline. I spent the next 45mins at a german pub drinking mango beer. Interesting concept, great tasting and easy to drink. The night took a turn, the temperature dropped drastically. I had pretty decent chinese food and went to a sports pub to meet some friends.

This is probably my last sightseeing day. Tomorrow will probably laze and pack my bags. Sigh, going to miss this place and I am so broke.

Day 11: Fishy fishy

I woke up and caught a korean comedy - The 3 Master Kims. Pretty standard korean comedy, very slapstick, random and abrupt. We went off to the Sydney Fish Market after that. Stepping into the place and the overwhelming fishy smell hits you. I did not see much fish markets, in fact I saw more shops selling food instead. There were plenty of people and this was an afternoon in a weekday. I guess life in Sydney is pretty good eh.

We bought a seafood platter for 2 and bought unagi, 500g of sashimi and 2 bottles of white wine to go along. As usual, the food was more then enough. We just sat there eat, chat and drink. The weather was great, sunny but the cool weather meant that we did not perspire when eating outdoors.

The evening was spent drinking Port (wine in a box) and watching shows. We had Korean instant noodles and boy was it spicy. I am not kidding, it really burns. I bought some back to shock people. Tasted this nice Korean soda too....I think I may bring some back.

Last few days in Sydney and I pretty much seen everything. Next few days will be taken at a leisure pace. Why does the holidays end so fast?

Day 10: Dive

I booked 2 boat dives with my friend and was pretty psyched about it since I got the confirmation. I read up about the dive sites and found out that they were really good. We drove down to Rosebay only to find out the skipper of the boat was sick, as such there will be no boat dive. They compensated with 2 shore dives free and I manage to get a refund for the boat dive, could not reschedule as I will be leaving on Friday.

Drove down to Manly and did 2 shore dives at Shelly Bay. The dive master mentioned "There are blue ring octopus, don't go touching them as they are very venomous". I think I heard that they can kill people. *Faint*. The deepest was 7m and the surge was pretty strong. It sucks having to walk down to the beach and back up after the dive (Think I am too pampered by the Live on Board). Marine life is very different from South East Asia diving. I got to see many different fishes which I have never seen before. Saw a HUGE school of catfish and REALLY regretted not having a camera. Saw 2 squids about 1.5m, that was damn awesome. Manage to octopus, large gorupers, cowfish, pipefish and sharks from afar. I also manage to see an Angel shark, it really look more like a sting ray. Did not find a Sea dragon or Webblegong though *Sigh*. The dives were great as I have not seen such marine life, but the coral life is bad (maybe cause it is the shore) and the water was 20 deg; I was really freezing even under a full 5mm suit. The group had 4 other divers and they all had bad bouyancy and kept kicking up the sand and silt which created bad visibility. They are like to cluster together and kept barging in to see things. It was really a culture shock for me. One more thing, they dive really fast; which means no time to find the small critters.

Since I drove 2 other divers to Manly and back, they treated me lunch. We had a really good beef burger near the dive shop. I went back to my friend's place to rest and went to the Art museum. I was floored by this place and really wished I could have more time. Will probably visit this place one more time before I leave. Had pasta for dinner and the serving was HUGE.

Good and bad day I guess....no boat dive but at least I got free shore dives and lunch....

Day 9: Blue Mountains

Started off a little late today because of previous night's drinking session. We managed to arrive at the first town and grabbed a nice pie for breakfast. But the fillings were so creamy that the process became really messy. Manage to grab some candies for my nieces from a specialised candy shop.

The drive around the Blue Mountain region was not as scenic as Southern Highlands. The view from Echo Point was really massive and I even got to see 'The 3 Sisters'.


We decided to go check out Jenolan Caves and the journey took us through a long, windy and dangerous road. Luck was on our side as we manage to secure the last 2 tickets for the 'River' tour (2nd choice); the most strenuous walk. Lunch was an awesome meal of Beef burger and lagsania. The food was pretty good and the surrounding was really quaint.

I went for a cave tour in Perth before and was not excepting much. The tour had tons of climbing up and down steep ladders and walking. As it went on, I was floored by the caves and beautiful clear waters. This place beats the one on Perth by 10 times at least. The tour really got me feeling like I was an explorer and we were so wowed by it that we rushed out to get a second tour. This time we got our 1st choice (Temple of Baal) and there was not much walking, but it was visually stunning. The stories relating to the formations made the tour so much more real. All of us just stand there in awe.

We left Jenolan Caves at 5pm, which also means twightlight has descended. The drive back was challenging, scary and long. Along the way back, I was mooned (someone showing off his bare butt) by a drunk teenager. That was really interesting. I drove down to another friend's place to stay as the next day we were going out - lucky never get lost. Ate a really tasty kahbab at Darlinghurst street (Just like Geylang) and had a look at the 'action' going on the streets. Did not step into the strip clubs though. (A)

Day 8: Southern Highlands

Left at 7am and arrived at Mittagong for breakfast. Can't remember the cafe's name, but I had pancakes and banana and it ROCKS! The food was really good; what a way to start of the day. Visited Centennial Winery and found and interesting red wine with a slight bubble gum taste. Went to SHW Winery and got a nice bottle of red with a tinge of chocolate. Wished I had more time to try, but there was other things to see.

The drive was slightly more than an hour and the scenary was AMAZING. The hills and valleys were everywhere, autum leaves and beautiful trees. Went to walk around Bowral town and had a delicious passion fruit ice cream on the way to Baundanoon. Lunch was a steak sandwich in a little town. Nothing fantastic. Found a buddhist temple in the forrest, how interesting. Drive through the scenic Kagaroo Valley roads and found a shop along the road with the best tasting pie and kickass malt milkshake. The pie had fluffly and crispy pastry with really nice fillings.




We went to Canbewarra Lookout and I was floored by the view. This had to be the BEST view I seen so far. I can see the lands stretching to the sea and to the horizon. Breathtaking is an understatement. Drove up to Kiama and checkd out the blow hole. Manage to walk right to the cliff facing the sea. The evening skys made the view even better.


Dinner was at Red Rooster on the way back. The meat was ok, the bread was nice and soft. Fries had chicken salt...that is how all chips should be made. Really good day today, wished I had more time so I can travel around more.

Day 7: Port Stephens

We started off at about 7am today; first light was abt 6.30am. We manage to drive past the habour Bridge which was really and eye opener. Drove down to Gosford and had Macdonald breakfast. They have green apple pie over here which I was told that it was not good. We went off to visit Lakes and beaches along the way, the scenary was awesome. So beautiful and tranquil, really love it here.

Arrived at Port Stephens after a long drive and went for lunch at subway. We then went to check out the Dolphin and whale watching tour. Too bad did not get to see any whales, was really into seeing one. Apparently the season only start mid June. I did however get to see lots of dolphins. There were like 40 of them swimming and playing with our boat. I was so tempted to jump down and play with them. Really eye opening experience which burnt a hole in my pocket. Tried a Red Ned Kangaroo meat pie, I must say it was pretty tasty. Worth trying it again.

The drive back started with a stop off a a peak. The view was magnificant, looking down at the vast lands and lakes. Dinner was at Stratfield at a Chinese/Korean place. We had bean paste noodle and sweet and sour beef. Apparently the koreans always eat these and it has a strong influence from the Chinese food.

People must be wondering why I keep eating korean food and watching korean movies over here...cause my friend's girlfriend is korean. Which also means he knows what are the good food and his taste in shows are about the same as mine, so he introduced me to korean art films.

Ended of the day with 'Golden Girls'. anyone remember the 4 old ladies comedy? I never watched it before cause I thought old people don't really interest me. My gosh, please do catch it. The dialogue is so witty, it makes me wonder how the shows can degrade to such level we have now.

ps* I found the beer I wanted: 'Little Creatures' from Fremantle, Perth

Day 6: On my own

I had the day to myself, which meant I can do things my guide does not really like. I trod down to Circular Quay and and a nice breakfast of sandwich and coffee. Sat there and just watch the people and life in Sydney go pass. Checked out the Contemporary Arts Gallary and Rocks Museum. Walked around that area and went down to St. Mary's Church. The church looks great from the outside, and stepping inside just transported me to Europe. the architecture was impressive. Very nice place to visit. I walked Hyde's park and really enjoyed the park.

Went to walk around the shopping centres around the city and checked out the building architecture. Really interesting to see the old and new mixing up in the same area. Managed to eat some Krispy Kreme which was nice, but I found my taste for really sweet stuff has somehow dropped. Ate lunch at 'Wraps' which was not great. Walked down George St and Pitt St and found Crumpler. They have some designs not available in singapore but were not very nice. Saw some unique colours but the price was a little steep.

Took a walk around Oxford street (Gay street) and checked out the Adult shop scene. Nothing much, but apparently the area becomes more alive at night. I checked out Darlinghurst which had a different feel, my friend told me it gets really happening at night. It is sort of the Geylang of Sydney.

Got the rental car and had a hotdog at the famous Harry's de cafe, really nice snack. We then drove down to check out Leichardt (Little Italy). There is this forum like place which looks like Robertson Quay. When you are in Italy, do what the italians do; we ate pizza and pasta. The seafood pizza was fantastic, pasta was disappointing though.

Took a short drive to La Peruse. I thought it was a suburd, but apparently it was just a place to see the sea. By then it was already night, so did not get to see much. Hope can drop by one of the days.