Blue Mountains & Sydney

We arrived in the Blue Mountains to be somewhat surprised by the cold weather – 6 degrees C – Australia is not meant to be cold! We had a fun day driving around, stopping at various walking tracks and pottering around looking at the impressive craggy views. We ended up camping in a random rest area, making a fire and drinking some more of our Hunter Valley purchases. We were joined by an Aussie chap called Roy, who was driving around on his own, and we had a very pleasant evening cooking together and sharing travelling tales.

Next day, onwards to Sydney! We arrived just as the light was fading and got a spectacular view of the city skyline as we drove over the bridge, which was exciting. We did a bit of a recky of the city trying to find somewhere to camp. Parking is so expensive and it seems that they have all areas covered, or maybe not! We found a little spot in Rushcutters Bay to camp, hoping that we would not wake up to banging outside the next morning. Even better, we opened up our van door, and had a fabulous view of the harbour and the bridge – for free – who needs to stay in the Intercontinental?!

The next day, first stop was the public swimming pool – I could have sworn that there was a film of dirt around both of us despite showering beforehand! Moving further down the coast had meant that the free cold beach side showers were not so appealing, so we were going an average of 3 days at a time without showering! Feeling clean and spritely, we had an excellent day pottering around the city, which was every bit as accessible as I remembered – Sydney does seem to be one of those places where you can 'have it all' – the outdoorsy healthy lifestyle combined with a cosmopolitan city. Day 2 we prepared the van for return, which took quite a while, particularly getting those last bits of Outback dust out. We did this at Bronte Beach, which is just a short walk around the cliff from the popular Bondi and much more beautiful.

On the final day, we walked around Darling Harbour and up to the Opera House, having a picnic of take-away sushi in the Botanical Gardens. The evening was spent with some of Mark's friends from London who have moved to Sydney, so it was fun to get a 'Sydneysider's view of the city while enjoying some excellent and very cheap Indian food. For the last two nights, Mark and I treated ourselves to a hotel room, although I say treated, it was still cheaper than two youth hostel beds at the YHA! What a wonderful time we had in Australia – and so much more to see another time. In hindsight, the best decision we made was taking a camper van – it really gave us the choice and flexibility to become very isolated or join the tourist trail. I am looking forward to NZ for more camper van adventures! JG