Birthday Parties + Exploring

Friday evening saw us head out for a night on "The Rocks" as it was the birthday of Megans uni friend, Steve. We started at the Lord Nelson where they brew their own beers (always deadly) at 5.30pm. It was really nice as it wasn't too busy and we were able to chat with Steve who moved out here straight after uni and was getting married on Sunday. We also met lots of his family and friends who took the opportunity to have an Australian holiday. The Lord Nelson is one of few pubs in Sydney that serves pints and I took full advantage of such a rarity, trying many if their different brews! We left here at about 8pm and headed for one of our Sydney favourites, "The Fortune Of War". The plan was just to have one more drink and then head home but there was a musician there who changed our plans, 'Lance Link'. Crap name but the music was great, he was just playing an acoustic guitar and singing whatever song people shouted out. This kept us amused until we were suitably jolly and 11pm and headed home.

Saturday morning was slightly written off what with the recovering from the night before but in the afternoon we headed further up north to 'Cheltenham' (it's sometimes like being back in England driving around over here!) for an afternoon birthday tea. It was Fahmiya's cousin Zara's birthday and it was nice to meet her as she (along with some other friends) is taking us to watch Sydney Swans in the AFL at the end of our stay here. We got to meet a lot of Fahmiya's family and also eat some heart-cloggingly good chocolate cake!

On Sunday we headed for Newtown, a slightly more arty, fashionable area of Sydney to meet Ben and Fahm for breakfast (which ended up being lunch), and a look round a few funky shops. Lots were closed and some were late opening because it was a Sunday so we decided to come back another day and instead went to the Australian Museum, where they had a dinosaur exhibition. This was really good and the girls both seemed to enjoy it. We also looked at some amazing Indigenous artwork and stories, the skeletons of all the typical Australian animals and the largest Gold Nugget ever found!

We had to get back to Zeenas for around 6pm as earlier in the day when I went to check ferry times I found a woman's purse. There were lots of credit and business cards but no phone number. I spent the next little while using my detective skills to get a phone number and let the woman know I had it. It had probably been stolen as she was very surprised where I found it and didn't seem to know the area at all. That was my good deed for the day and she was even nice enough to buy a box of chocolates to say thanks!

Today we went to Darling Harbour for a better look around, it was really nice and there are some lovely bars and cafes on the waterfront. You can tell they'd be great in the summer but it was once again grey and horrible for us! Megan managed to find a shop where they told us all about UGG boots and how the "proper" ones in the UK are actually American (hence why they're so expensive) and how UGG over here is just a style, not a company. We managed to find the original UGGs that the Americans copied and they are possibly even better anyway, plus they were less than half the price. Megan paid $99 (about 45 pounds) for some that she has wanted for ages and would have paid 100 pounds or more for in the UK.

We got the mid-afternoon munchies and found the wonderful 'Lindt Chocolate Cafe' to satiate ourselves. Megan ate some Lindt profiteroles and I gorged myself on a waffle with white chocolate ice cream and hot Lindt sauce. I couldn't help thinking that Mum would be very jealous if she knew! For the next 2 nights we are staying at Ben and Fahmiya's and tonight we're having roast for dinner! Yay!!!