home...almost

well my 10 day visit of Sydney has ended.. and i'm back in New Zealand at least, if not home yet.. will be in Christchurch till Sunday when i pick up Matt and Louise and Johanna.. at least Rachel is here... and yes well she hasn't quite copped it yet..

let's just say i may have buried the jandal too deep in the sand.. oh well, she couldn't find her shoes coz hid them under Maria's bed.. but somehow she managed to get out of that.. still a bit prankish though.. oh well still got my clothes in her bag..

anyway, what did i do in Sydney since the last blog? well did a whole bunch of stuff.. trouble is haven't been near a good Internet line until now, so couldn't like talk about the places i went to.. but there are just so many it's just not possible to do everything.. yes I got good weather for the last 6 days but still Sydney is just soo big.. from Castle Hill in the west to Cronulla in the south, it takes nearly two hours.. it's just that big..

but i did managed to visit the famous places like the Sydney Tower, Taronga Zoo, Luna Park, Manly, Cronulla, the Rocks, SCG, etc. .. and shouted Becs dinner in Chinatown for her birthday.. also met up with Malaysian friend whom i haven't seen for over year.. he's doing engineering at UNSW but it was p hard to meet up with him coz he's had to do winter classes for his course..

anyway i'll talk abt the beaches then since it's prob the best thing abt Sydney..apart from the mild winter weather.. i have to say that all of them are nice but my favourites were Manly and Cronulla.. both are real nice but are quite different.. it was just fantastic that it was still warm enough even though it was July.. what was it 18-19'C at max?

Manly is one of the more famous beaches in Sydney, due to its proximity in Sydney.. it's like really only 15 minutes from Circular Quay in the city by ferry.. and that's how most ppl go there.. it's certainly picturesque with the trees lining the beach and with the town being sandwiched by Sydney Harbour and the Tasman Sea.. like most beaches in Sydney, it's got fantastic surf, and heaps of greenery.. ended up getting lost around Manly - it is a suburb of Sydney after all - and couldn't find the point where u could see all the ships enter Sydney Harbour..

Cronulla's fantastic as well.. it's not as famous as Manly or Bondi coz it's like at the southern shore of Botany Bay, i.e. an hour from the CBD.. the road to Cronulla Beach - and Botany Bay National Park - kinda reminds u of the road from Tauranga to the Mount with all those factories and warehouses.. except here there are a few more trees.. and Shark Park, home of the league side, Cronulla Sharks.. pass all that, and there's this huge stretch of beach and the water's actually clean and clear of seaweed unlike Manly.. and the surf's as good as well.. it's got less trees than Manly around the beach, so it would feel like the Mount, only with the houses further way and the fact that instead of this big mountain, u've got well the Caltex Oil refinery towering over Botany Bay National Park..

actually did a bit of swimming there.. currents were huge as expected this time of the year.. should have brought my board, but dint.. but still wouldn't have expected to hit the waves this time of the year.. in fact it was kinda like at the beach in Dunners in November.. mild with the sun hot as ever..

anyway, there is just so much to tell but just can't.. that's the trouble with travelling when u don't have the Internet.. but hey that's how most ppl do it..