Our last week in Sydney

As we began our last week in Sydney we couldn't believe where the time had flown - we'd been in Sydney for almost 2 and a half months!

We decided to have a fun packed week and it began with a fancy dress party at Scary Canary's! The theme was Cowboys and Cowgirls but we didn't have much so Joe, Kate & I (photo on left) were given cowboy hats! Most of our housemates were there along with the regulars from the hostel that I worked in - Home Backpackers - and some make a great effort like Ellie, Ian & Katie (photo on right).

That weekend, Kate, Rachel, Lincoln and I headed to Palm Beach (where they film Home & Away). Its about 2 hours north of the city (which we didn't realise) but we got to spend the afternoon playing on the beach.

That evening, we meet up with Kate's old boss from Cardiff RFC, Andrew, and had dinner at the Newport Arms - a massive pub whose beer garden backs onto the sea.

That night, we went out to celebrate our housemate Mak's birthday. We began at The Gaff then moved onto the Chinese Laundry (but by this time there were only 6 of us left - Mak, David, Lyndsey, Kat, Ian and I). When that closed, we headed back to The Gaff, pushing Kat in a trolley all the way from Darling Harbour to Oxford Street!! We stayed in The Gaff until it closed at 6am! After the walk home, crawled into bed at 7am!

That afternoon, Kate & I went to our second AFL game - Sydney Swans v Brisbane Lions - at the SCG. We managed to understand the rules this time and it was quite enjoyable. Sydney won 96-69 with their star player, Barry Hall, getting 4 goals.

That Wednesday, we went back to Scary Canary's for a Pyjama Party! As I didn't want to ruin my only pair of PJ's, I borrowed a pair from the fancy dress box at the hostel! Some of the boys from the hostel (Simon, Mak, David & Ian) did themselves proud with their efforts - with Simon french plaiting his hair!

On our last full day in Sydney, Kate and I went back to our rugby roots and caught a Super 14 game - the Waratahs v the Highlanders at the Aussie Stadium. We could help but get exciting (it'd been almost a year since we'd seen a live game of rugby) and picked up our free bam bams (inflatable sticks that you bang together to make a drum sound) and watched at fireworks went off at the teams took to the pitch. It was a close game with the Waratahs loosing out by a point (25-26) but they would have won it if they'd got a conversion in the dying the seconds!

It was a great way to finish our time in Sydney and tomorrow we go back on the road as we fly to Alice Springs.