Today was my last day in Sydney before moving on to the Gold Coast. While Noz did her packing, I went generic viagra cheap back into the centre for a last walk around before leaving.

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I started by taking a tour around the inside of the Opera House. The tour focused on the architecture, the design of which was chosen from hundreds of competition entries in 1955. The design was originally controversial, and construction work started before they had any idea of how to build the iconic roof. The project went so over budget that the government removed funding before work was completed, and the chosen architect (Jorn Utzon) was forced to resign. The inside therefore features a mix of Jorn Utzon’s architecture, and that of the local architects who replaced him. Jorn Utzon was later brought back onto the project, but never saw the finished building. In addition to the large concert hall, opera theatre and three smaller theatres there are 1000 other rooms, some under sea level. Although the audience experience is first class, the building provides plenty of challenges for the theatre companies performing there. The most difficult of these is the lack of wing space caused by the narrow piece of land (Dawes Point) on which it is built.

Next I walked up towards Hyde Park and had a look around St Mary’s Cathedral, which is unusual as it has a north to south orientation, rather than the usual east to west. After a further 15 minute walk down the busy Market Street I reached Darling Harbour. This is a recently rejuvinated area of Sydney and features mainly bars, restaurants, leisure venues and museums – including the Sydney Aquarium, Sydney Wildlife World and the National Maritime Museum (home to HMAS Vampire). I spent 30 mins looking around the shark exhibition in the Maritime Museum, which might come in useful when I’m diving with some of them later in my trip!

In the afternoon I met up with Noz and went to the airport for our flight to the Gold Coast in Queensland. Kat drove from her home in Brisbane (which is around 70km away) to pick us up from the airport, and we are all staying in an apartment a few minutes walk from the beach. The weather is very mixed here with the recent heavy rain causing severe flooding in Brisbane and the surrounding area, some of which has been evacuated. The flooding has mostly affected areas that are slightly inland, and therefore the Gold Coast should not have any problems. The peak of the flooding is expected in the next day or two, after which it is hoped that the situation will improve.

In the evening Beck (who lives on the Gold Coast) joined us in the apartment for drinks. Noz, Beck and Kat were my first housemates in Drury Road, and it’s the first time we’ve all been together since Kat left London at the end of 2005!

Tomorrow’s plans are very weather dependant – if it’s dry we’ll probably go to the beach, otherwise Wet ‘n’ Wild where it won’t matter too much if it’s raining!