"i want to be somebody, i want to go somewhere...."

Taronga Zoo: pretty much the first thing on our list to do (obvo!) and it definitely didn't disappoint. Seal displays, snoozing koalas, weird and wonderful native creatures (especially the ones in the dark!) and lush views down over the harbour! It was also during this excursion that we saw the wonder that is 'monkey poo dinner.' At first we were amazed to see two chimps hugging, just like real people, but then started to get a little confused as they then proceeded to pick poo out of their own and each other's bums. Well, the rest you can guess. Bets gagged and had to walk away, but Coops stared on in amazement and thought it was hilarious!!!!

Sky tower: After a traumatising simulated information ride where Coops thought she was going to throw up everywhere, we went up like a bejillion floors to check out the views and spent a long time working out where everything was on the streets below saying "they look like ants from up here!!!!" (Said in Russian accent please!) Including looking for our flat and just checking that people wouldn't be able to see us if we were naked!

Markets: So many delights to be found at the super cool vintage weekend markets! Glebe is our fave of course, but also Paddington, Balmain and Rozelle! Good times, but also bad as we had to sadly walk away from things that our backpacker budgets would not allow!

Festivals: All through the summer there was loads of fun free festivals happening in various locations around Sydney, in particular Hyde Park. We enjoyed sitting out on the grass and getting some tasters of new filems, music and comedy. One of the best was Tropfest, a short film festival, where Joseph Fiennes was skyping in to be a judge and Coops pretty much jizzed in her pants!!! There was also the craziness that is Sydney Mardi Gras, with roads closed everywhere and everyone and his wife getting dressed up for the occasion...mental! (Did we mention there are a lot of gays here?!?!)

Good vibrations: Possibly the wettest day in Sydney, ever, so we decided to spend it outside at this music festival. We macked up and got our rave on!

Trots: Some of you maybe thinking this is some kind of stomach condition...it was in fact the chariot racing that we went to watch with Coops' work peeps! It was hilarious, with horses only being allowed to trot (hence the name) to pull along these little flimsy chariots where the jockey is about a centimetre off the ground. We didn't win any of our bets (clearly we're not cut out for this gambling malarky!) but we did have a ruddy marvelous evening and discovered the delights of good seafood, with an enormous platter of tasty things and Coops going "eat the octopus!!!!" Think: smoked salmon, crab, scallops, prawns, octopus and sushi - did we tell you we now like sushi?!?!? (We are officially grown up!)

Beach time: Making the most of the true aussie way of life, enjoying many a day spent roasting on the beaches of Bondi, Coogee and Manly and of course checking out the resident life guards at each of them. Standard. Bondi Rescue is our new found favourite tv show...and we think every beach should have this drama!

Blue mountains: A very spontaneous trip was taken with Letty's friend Hannah on the train to Katoomba, where we went to the lookout point, Echo Point, and Coops' grumpily saying "well they don't bloody look blue." But we were all amazed by the vastness - its like a bushy grand canyon (coops' words fyi!!!!) We also found the weirdest, morman cafe where we ate dinner and took delicious cake, ice cream and coffee for the train ride home. Ahhhhh...

Aquarium: We don't quite understand why Australians feel the need to re-name animals but we saw some really cute 'Dugongs' aka mannatees, loads of fishies (they're all pretty ugly really!), seahorses, jellyfish, sharks, turtles and the biggest stingrays you've ever seen!

Wildlife world: The biggest croc in Australia (Rex) was what lured us into this place, but to be fair he looked dead - Rex is very lazy. He was big though!! Bets had to guide Coops through an entire insect section with her eyes closed to avoid any spider sightings. And this was the first time we got to see a wombat...they are so squidgey!!!!

Cinema tuesdays: We always make sure we have some 'couple time' for our regular date night, good uns have included Barney's version, Thor, Hangover 2, Arthur, Water for Elephants. Bad ones: red riding hood. (It's wank).

Nights out: We have had to truely immerse ourselves in the way of living out here, which has meant a lot of nights in gay bars and befriending hairdressers. In our early days of ignorance, we ended up stumbling across a strip club in Kings Cross - awkward!!! Plenty of fun times have been had in Paddington pubs and bars and a couple of swanky bars in the city. Including going for bevvies in the Shangri-La hotel with Emma (Coops's sister Wendy's friend!)

Booze cruise: We started the Paddy's day weekend with a booze cruise filled with a load of irish football players, drinking yet more goon and clinging on to the ceiling as we struggled to stand on the rocking boat!!! A couple of glimpses outside to check that we were still in the harbour, but we may as well of been in a pub!!!!

Gigs: Even though the music scene isn't great here (and gigs are frigging expensive), we were missing our London gig nights, so indulged in some smaller gigs on Oxford Street. One crazy night involved a chinese girl called Rainbow Chan playing the glochenspiel!! Genius!

Bondi to coogee and Manly to spit walks: Both of these were very nice wanders along the beautiful coastline on lovely sunny days! Once again, we turned up dressed inappropriately when Emma, our tour guide, was dressed in head to toe lycra and trainers and said "this isn't fun, it's exercise!!!!"

Roller derby: This really was a case of having to be seen to be believed. This popular 'girl on girl' sport has randomly taken off in Australia. We watched in amazement as unattractive lesbians circled around a small basketball court and dooshed each other out their way as they went!!! Hilarious!!!

Travel information continued.... Some areas of interest.

Surry hills: So many cafes and restaurants, which are delightful for sunday brunch time and delicious cupcakes. And we finally got to go to the infamous 'Winery', when we were treated by a family friend. Dessert...don't mind if I do!!

Darling Harbour: A place also very close to our hearts is Darling Harbour, as we pretty much live there!! Although the restaurants are a bit pricey for all the tourists, we like walking around and feeling like we're on holiday again with all of the restaurants, street entertainment and shwanky yachts!

Inner West: Lots of cool, quirky suburbs like Glebe, Rozelle, Leichardt which are nice for window shopping, cwaffee and general wanders.

Watson's bay: Beautiful bay on the harbour with lots of houses looking out over the water and a very cute chish and fips place on the wharf (we are yet to sample this) and Coops discovered an amazing icecream with chopped nuts from the ice cream van!

North shore: Neutral bay, Mosman, Cremorne...essentially where 'the other half live.'

Cronulla: Even though it was pissing down and we had to walk through the town with no shoes on due to serious slipping, Bets wanted to take a walk down memory lane as this is where Mummy Barry resided when she lived in Australia. Yummy italian food and vino whilst watching the surfers out in the sea and a quick walk along the beach where Bets collected some pink shells. (Coops isn't sure quite what she is planning on doing with them, but apparently she just needs more!)

Needless to say there has been plenty of food sampling going on all the while. As we have realised the theme to our trip is....food. With some cuddley animals on the side!

Please can we go now? We are still hungover. Over and out xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

written by  coopsandbets on June 3, 2011 from Sydney, Australia
from the travel blog: We are off to find the wizard!
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