The Final Fling!!

The Final Fling!

We left Gold Coast and headed for Byron Bay, sadly it rained from when we arrived until we left again.  The place has the potential to be so beautiful but as the focal point of the town is the beach and surfing etc it was a little disappointing for us.  We did fill in half a day by walking to the most Easterly Point of Australia – yet another lighthouse landmark.  We have now visited the most Northerly point of NZ and the most easterly and southerly points of Australia – the Westerly will just have to wait for another trip!  The walk was through a tropical rainforest and along the headland, even in the rain it was very pretty – we were able to watch all the surfers from the headland, the bad weather didn’t put them off!

 I saw this Christmas decoration on a house and thought it was much more suitable than the usual ones for Australia!! 

We didn’t stay long in Byron as there really wasn’t much to do in the rain so we brought our train forward one day and headed on back to Sydney – 13 hours on the train for the privilege!! Our final relocation together!!

It was nice to be back in a city where we felt we knew our way around and were quite comfortable.  On the first day we did a gorgeous walk through Hyde Park, the Anzac memorial and into Botanical Gardens.  We stopped for the cheesy photos at Mrs Macquaries point which is stunning – it basically has uninterrupted panoramic views of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House...we fought for a space among all the Japanese tourists and their cameras and finally came out with some pretty pictures J

On the second day we got the bus out to Cooggee beach and did a walk for about 1.5hours around the headland to Bondi Beach.  The walk itself takes you in and out through all the little bays and inlets and small beaches and the scenery is stunning...both landscape and surfers haha!! We really enjoyed it and then we arrived at Bondi and had our wee picnic, it was a great day out!  Bondi is very touristy but its definitely worth a visit and this walk was the perfect way to see it without having to just veg out on the beach (not something James is keen on!!)

We were due to the go to Manly the next day but it started to rain again so we were lucky enough to have been treated to a night in the Hilton Hotel Sydney for our final night together and to celebrate our 1 year being engaged.  As a side note...woah how time has flown since last December I can remember it like it was yesterday and can not believe that has been a year ago, I wish I could have that day again!! I guess so much has happened in that year so the time has really past in a flash! So we checked into the Hilton and I casually mentioned that it was our last night together in Sydney and the guy disappeared off...to be honest we were getting annoyed at him that he was taking so long to check us in and then he came back and said he had given us a free upgrade to a King Relaxation Room....all was quickly forgiven haha!! Oh my word this room was amazing so we went to the spa and pool and gym etc and just relaxed all day it was perfect especially since the weather was poor and a very welcome break from dorm rooms!!

Then finally the sad day arrived...we spent most of the day pretending it wasn’t happening and walked round all the sites for James to get a look for the last time and he did some last minute souvenir shopping.  We had arranged to go out for a nice meal which was really lovely – probably one of our only meals in a proper restaurant while we have been away it was fun to get all dressed up and we had a great evening.  It was a fantastic end to the trip of a lifetime.  It has hard to believe how much we have achieved in such a short space of time and the memories we have created that we will no doubt talk about for many years to come.  I feel so lucky to have done the trip with James and after many people telling us that it would either make our break us we can definitely said it has made us.  It has been the best few months of my life made even more special by sharing it with my fiancé!!  Needless to say I was pretty gutted when he left and it was an emotional farewell but its only for a month and shortly he will be stuck with me forever so I am sure he is at home now glad of the peace and quiet haha!!

I just can not believe our trip is over...we spent so long thinking about it and planning it its just surreal that its done!  We would not have changed anything about it so all our planning efforts seem to pay off!  So after James left me at 3am my new adventure of a solo traveller for 1 week began....

I was a little apprehensive, I have travelled on my own before and was totally fine but having spent 4.5 months living out of someone elses pocket and doing everything together it is strange not to have a hand to hold or someone to bounce ideas off!  I have been on my own for 3 days now and I am still in 1 piece!! I basically just walked all around all the sites again with my ipod and looked through the shops.   I was very chuffed that a few people from back in the day saw my status on facebook and got in touch saying they were living in Sydney and would I like some company....the kindness of strangers is sometimes overwhelming..well they weren’t strangers but 2 of them I haven’t seen since school days!  So I had a lovely afternoon yesterday having a drink with one of the girls catching up on old times and getting updated on her lifestyle in Australia, we managed to put in 3 hours sitting in a cafe beside the opera house just gossiping, not a bad life really! – it was very kind of all the girls to contact me and it really cheered me up and filled in some time!

Last night I went with 2 of the girls in my dorm room to see Mary Poppins in theatre here – its was amazing!!! She flew through the crowd and I was singing the songs all evening, it was totally brilliant and I loved it!! SO glad I got to see it as I couldn’t manage to drag James when we were here!

Today is my last day in Sydney and tomorrow (Sat) I get the train to Melbourne where I will have 2 days on my own before the final adventure begins!! I am so so excited to see my family again and to try and play tour guide for them, it is going to be a fantastic 3 weeks and a very unique and special Christmas and New Year...my final one as a Jess so I have to go out with a bang and it sounds like I will definitely be doing it in style haha!!

The next blog will feature some new smiling faces and some old sights as I go back through Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road with the Jess clan.......eeeek I am so excited!!! Roll on Tuesday morning.....

xxx