A very delayed update.

Right, first things first, my apologies for taking so long to do this. We've been in Oz for over a week now and I've not written anything at all. So, by way of recompense, this will probably be quite a mammoth entry.

The last you heard, we were in Thailand, which was true until the 18th February, at which point we discovered, to our horror, that we had missed our flights by 24 hours. So, after several fruitless attempts to contact the 'travel butler' service we had been promised, we quickly packed our bags and headed to the airport to try and get ourselves on the next flight. We got ourselves onto stand-by for a small sum of money and then found out all four of us had made it onto the flight. Elated doesn't even begin cover how relieved we felt.

So, we made it on to the flight and arrived at 6:10am the next morning at Sydney's Kingford Smith airport, whereupon we were greeted by a series of extra-ordinarily rigorous security checks, including a second scanning of our hand a hold luggage and sweltering heat. Apparently Australia has been the victim of various plagues thanks to people bringing in diseases, animals and food that are not native. The Cane Toad for example, which, if you believe The Simpsons, they have Bart to thank for. Anyway, we made it to my Aunt's house in the leafy Italian (she's not Italian, but pretty much everyone else who lives there is!) suburb of Haberfield. After a couple of hours kip, recovering from the stressful day we had before and the 9 hour flight, we were feeling a little more human and so made ourselves presentable for the party that evening (a large part of the reason I was so relieved to make it onto the flight the previous day). Despite the few hours sleep we had caught up on earlier, we were still rather tired, so we bowed out a bit earlier than might have been expected were we on top form.

The next day I had the chance to catch up with a friend of mine from uni who has been in Sydney for a few months now, which was really nice and through her we found out about an excellent job opportunity that might even see us working in the Opera House (we're still waiting to hear about that, but fingers crossed!). Toby, my cousin, spent most of the day showing us around, taking us to places like Darling Harbour, Circular Quay and showing us the highlights and some of the lowlights of Sydney's City Centre. Then, in the evening, we went to a short film festival, held in The Domain, in the heart of Sydney, called TropFest. It featured 16 short films, ranging from the downright bizarre; the winner Animal Beatbox, to the sublime; Focus, which to my mind, should have won, being an excellent display of cinematography and direction from an up-and-coming director. There were 90,000 people at TropFest and I would heartily recommend it to anyone who is in Sydney at the right time, the atmosphere was fantastic and being able to sit out on the grass under the stars until the late evening was thoroughly enjoyable.

The next few days we spent exploring Sydney, seeing the Opera House and Harbour Bridge properly, taking the mandatory touristy photos in front of them and then getting to know Sydney a little better; where to go out, where not to go out, what the hostels are like, where they are largely located and that sort of thing. All useful stuff for us, but not terribly exciting for you. We were also rather surprised to see that the weather took a turn for the worse, a 'cold change' came in dropping the previously sweltering temperatures by around 5-10 degrees, meaning the temperature was something closer to an average British summer day. For us, however, rain in Sydney seemed alien.

Our next big trip was to Manly, on a day which started out as a rather overcast, boring day, but by the time we had gotten to Manly, was a lovely sunny day. Stupidly we had decided not to bring our swimming stuff, so we had to make do with paddling in the surf and indulging in a spot of sunbathing. This trip also provided me with an opportunity to see another friend who has also been in Oz for some time, since September in fact, which was really nice, if a little brief. Regardless, we left Manly determined to come back and actually go for a swim next time! On our return ferry trip, we suddenly found ourselves coming alongside the Queen Mary 2, which is to this date, the largest ocean liner ever built. She was certainly a sight to behold as she made her way out of the harbour in a suitably regal fashion. Our evening was then spent taking part in a pub quiz with my Aunt and Uncle at the local bowling green, which we ought to have won, but gambled our points and lost at the final hurdle.

The next day, was rather more productive, we first went to Darling Harbour again, to hand in some CVs to the manager of the tourist company that operates at the Opera House, Aquarium, Sky Tower and Wildlife World. Within minutes we had been rung to organise interviews for the next day, which we felt was surely a good sign. While leaving Darling Harbour, we spotted a sign advertising a combination ticket to and from Taronga Zoo, including entry, for a substantially cheaper price than we would have had to pay otherwise. Naturally, we took this opportunity and caught a catamaran ferry across the Harbour, stopping at Shark Island, Goat Island and various other famous sights around the Harbour, before dropping us off at Taronga Zoo. We then spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the Zoo marvelling at some of the weird and wonderful creatures that Australia has to offer, much to Jon's delight.

The next day we spent relaxing in Haberfield, doing not a lot, before cooking roast lamb by way of thank you to my Aunt for hosting us, feeding us and looking after us.

The following day was a highlight of Australia, for me anyway, thus far, as we went to Bondi beach, something I did 22 years ago on my first birthday. So, I felt a strange affection for the place, despite not having any actual memories of it. It helps that despite it being heaving with tourists, it is still a beautiful beach and one that, again, one shouldn't miss when visiting Sydney. The water was crystal clear, the sand gloriously white and soft and there is plenty to do in and around Bondi if you are not content with just enjoying the water and the beach itself. That evening we were treated to a meal at a delightful italian restaurant in Haberfield called Napoli in Bocca. We ate rather a lot of good food before rolling home to crash out in front of the TV to watch 'Airplane!'. A comedy classic I'm told.

I took the opportunity the next day to go and visit some family friends in Wahroonga, where I spent a very pleasant day at the driving range and seeing some of the more exclusive parts of Sydney; Bay View, Palm Beach, Mona Vale and other parts of the North Shore. I was then treated to a good ol' fashion Australia BBQ in our friend's garden, before being taken back into Sydney by their son to go out with the guys. Not a bad life eh?!

Our biggest milestone in Australia so far came on the next day; we moved out of my Aunt's house and into a hostel in central Sydney, where I am sat currently as I write this. Prior to moving into the hostel, however, I went and had a second, much more informal, interview with a lady at the Opera House, to try and confirm the job at the Opera House. Having moved into the hostel, we went out that evening, before trawling around various bars, which, if I'm honest, weren't that great, we found ourselves in the first club we'd been to in Sydney thus far and the night picked up from that point on.

I need to catch up on the last couple of days myself, it's all been a bit of a blur but I do promise I will update this more often than I have done previously.

On a more usual note, Australia is, by and large, dismally dressed; the stereo-types of shirt, shorts and long socks or cargo shorts, t-shirts and flip flops are altogether too true. Roll on America for that.

Joe