Sydney!!

So we have arrived in Oz!
Before we hopped on the plane to Sydney we went on the tram around Christchurch for one last look round. We saw an AWARD WINNING(!) bakery so obviously we just had to get off the tram and get some food (nothings changed really!) and we could totally see why it had so many awards- it was LUSH!!
So then we dragged our bags to the airport- both of them were over 20kgs bearing a rather bright orange label to alert people that they were heavy and suggesting assisted lift maybe necessary (note to self must hire a chaperone) Claire's (according to the scales- which potentially may have been wrong since the system had just crashed so our flight was delayed- fun fun fun!) bag was 22.9kgs- only 100gs off the weight limit- shocking! must cut down on stuff....hmmmm
When we arrived in Sydney we talked to a USELESS tourist information lady who didn't really tell us how on earth we were supposed to get to Bondi beach. ARGH so we were wandering round trying to find the number 1 bus stop hopping on a bus going the wrong direction THREE times (not so fun dragging our mounds of stuff on and off) a shuttle driver from Iraq(!) offered us a lift direct to the door of our YHA... so we went for it... and arrived safely (Claire did take note of his license number). He even played us some traditional turkish music on the drive- v entertaining! We got a tasty takeout indian as we couldn't be bothered to cook and the nearest supermarket involved another bus journey.... had enough of moving vehicles by that stage
The next day we wandered along Bondi beach and looked in the rock pools. Had a lush cafe lunch and then headed to Bondi junction and had a look in the shops
After a STRESSFUL beauty session we carried our stuff across Sydney to catch the bus to surf camp! It was quite entertaining and a cute guy had to save Claires bag at one point...
On the minibus drive to surf camp at Seal Rocks we had a PARTY! our duty-free litre of Southern comfort came in handy- it was very interesting trying to mix that and the lemonade together on a moving bus! but we just about managed it... We sang along to music including a huge muse singalong- v funny! Once we arrived at the camp after about 3hours or so we joined in the party and even ended up dancing on the tables!
Joel - who was from NELSON!!!- kept whacking Claire on the feet until she got up the following morning- it was again a very interesting time trying to convince ourselves that we wanted to get out of bed! The surfing was great fun! and we both managed to stand up quite a few times- ROCK ON! At one point we all body boarded over the great waves and sat on our surf boards holding hands forming a circle, where we saw dolphins!! Really pretty :) We also went up and had a look at a lighthouse in preparation for our geography lesson the next day(!) and rock climbed up the hairy nipple(!). Then when we got back to camp it was time for a pool party! Dinner was literally a mushroom menu.... URGH... thankfully we had previously told them that Claire was "allergic" to mushrooms so they sorted her out something else. Its alot easier to avoid mushrooms being allergic...the drinking games started first up was "kiss the pig"- it involved standing up on stage- uhoh- and saying an interesting fact about yourself- we learnt Mills had broken into a yacht to have sex and drunk the peoples beer- v funny! but obviously we are not endorsing this.... and then you had to do something to the pig, however when it came to the end of the game there was a twist- what we had done to the pig we had to do to the person sitting next to us... VERY entertaining.... Claire got bitten on the nose... your imaginations can run wild with what happened to Sophie... and what we did... Next up was flip cup- and the GIRLS won! oh yeah! we had to go down a table each drinking in turn then doing a "task" and flipping the cup over... then it was time for the party to start! we danced on the tables- Claire danced etc with 2 guys- Will and Austin both from the UK!, the bar and floor were lit on fire and there was dancing in the flames, some people were locked in the fridge and some guys tried to throw Claire into the pool but she outwitted them! oh yes...
Joel danced a very sleepy Claire round the room the following morning to wake her up... After our brief geography lesson we got into the sea but the conditions were crazy! The wind was seriously strong so you got blown around everywhere and the waves were massive! Claire was the first person to stand- v proud of that! and Sophie managed to stand up as well- however we didn't have a huge amount of time... probably a good thing! So surf camp in the middle of real Oz bush was a great experience - even though there were lots of mozzies around and Soph came away from it with far too many bites, looking like Mr Blobby!! But we did see kangaroos! We even saw two of them having a fight with one another! We drove back to Sydney and Mills told seriously confusing riddles, we got stuck in a loada traffic and sang along to songs- when we got to the hostel we went for a takeout and a lovely guy in a Thai restaurant (not much else tp choose from) chose what we ate! it was actually ok and we had weet-bix! Interesting scenario when a guy came into our room and walked out because he thought it was a guys dorm!
Today we have slept and shopped- getting a HUGE amount of groceries... its so so hot :S
Tomorrow we are going to have a look around Sydney and the next day we are heading on a tour of the Blue mountains... so all is good