Ruff Down Under

Hi Everyone,

We know we have technically been "Down Under" the whole time but Australia is more "Down Under" than New Zealand!

We braced ourselves for the "worst storm to hit New Zealand in a Decade" last Saturday and were preparing ourselves for cancelled/delayed flights, but the storm was a little disappointing and not as serious as expected - far more devastating for New Zealand was a bit of a thrashing at Rugby by the Aussies!

We arrived in Sydney on Sunday evening and had time to explore our surroundings with an evening stroll where we glimpsed the harbour bridge and saw some flying foxes. On Monday we set off to see the sights and see them we did! Cockatoos were a plenty in the Botanical Gardens and after some fun with them we walked down to the waterfront to stunning views of the opera house and harbour bridge. We continued round and then took a very pleasent ferry to Manly where we checked out the famous surf beach before heading back for stunning views of the city from the ferry.

On Tuesday we were off to the Aquarium - and a very good one it was too. The seals were not too exciting (we have seen so many, closer, in the wild!) but the reef sections were great and really whetted or appetite for adventures to come! In the evening we went off to see the much hyped new Batman film at the much hyped Sydney IMAX (the largest cinema screen in the world!) Amazingly we were not disappointed - the film was highly entertaining, but was made even more so by the stunning cinema - Niall doesnt want to go to another cinema again! - But flights could make for pricey films.

On Wednesday Ruff was excited as we were off to Taronga Zoo. Said to have the best views of any zoo in the world it did not disappoint. A marvellous zoo with many animals from Australia and the wider world in generally well done, spacious enclosures. Laura particularly enjoyed the Koala with baby - look closely on the picture. We whiled away a whole day there and nearly got stuck as the zoo closed!

We awoke to glorious weather on Thursday so had to check out Bondi Beach - we even managed a little sun bathing - pretty impressive in winter! The highlight was seeing a Southern Right Whale, with calf, just metres from the shore. It really was amazing and was a news story in the evening! Check it out on http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=eKUWlmMs6fE - we were right there on that beach!

Friday saw us travel two hours by train to the much colder Blue Mountains. The weather was not the best but we went on a lovely hike anyway. The scenery was totally unlike anything in New Zealand with dense bush, steep gorges and very noisy birds! The weather today was a different story, bright blue skies, if a little chilly. We set off for Wentworth Falls and undertook a stunning walk past marvellous waterfalls and stunning vistas along an incredibl path cut into the cliff face itself. We are now preparing to head of to Cairns tomorrow. We certainly cant wait for the promised 26c temperatures!

Bye for now

Laura, Niall & Ruff