Progress in Sydney

We've now been settled in Sydney for quite some time (almost two months), so here's a quick update...

After a couple of nights in a pretty rank campsite we headed into the city to find a backpackers to use as our base whilst we looked for somewhere to live and get our bearings around the city.

The Billabong Gardens, our first backpackers was remarkably pleasant, with our own room and fresh towels everyday. They really helped us out when a booking at another backpackers in Manly let us down later in our stay - thoroughly recommend the place, although when booking i'd recommend asking for a room in the separate house next door to the main block. Nicer rooms and less people sharing the bathrooms and kitchen!

We decided pretty early on that we wanted to live by the beach (why be in Sydney otherwise?!), but were a little underwhelmed with Bondi... a little tired, dated and rough around the edges, plus literally every 2nd accent you hear is British, we may as well have stayed at home! So we settled on Manly, a short ferry ride north of the main city centre, a calmer vibe to the place but still plenty going on with a shed load of cafes, bars and restaurant, and a great beach to boot!

The way Aussies go about renting places is a little strange! But after getting our heads around the process and badgering the hell out of one agent with whom we had two properties we were keen on we we're accepted for a studio flat in a newer block just one street back from the beach!

(All this could be yours for the same prices as a three bed house with garage and garden in Chandlers Ford!)

We've both loved the traveling, but i must admit there was something nice about unpacking for the first time! That said, both of us simply cannot wait to start traveling again...god knows what we'll be like when we come back from the end of this year!?

Here are just a few of the shots we've taken over the past two months of the usual landmarks... you'll notice a theme of bridge shots! I simply can't pass by the thing without taking another photo of it! Kate's getting pretty sick of it ;o)