Sydney was a city of extremes. On one hand it is definitely the most picturesque, glamorous and exciting of Australia's cities, but on the other hand it is the grottiest. For example whereas the traffic in Melbourne and Adelaide was relatively sparse and free flowing, Sydney was virtual gridlock and it took the bus several hours to get into the centre of town. Compared to Sydney's 'freeway', the M25 is positively speedy.

Next, when we arrived at Kings Cross which is where all the backpacker hostels are, we were confronted with drug addicts, prostitutes, strip joints, beggars and god only knows who else openly doing their stuff in the street in the middle of the morning. In Soho or Kings Cross in London, at night, this would probably not come as any great surprise, but after several months in Melbourne it was a bit of a shock.

That isn't to say I didn't like Sydney. There was tonnes to do and loads to see, including a day trip out to the Blue Mountains and I was on my feet all day, every day I was there. The harbour has got to be one of the most beautiful in the world and the central business district is like a mini-Manhattan. Coupled with that, many of the people who were at the hostel in Melbourne, including Mike, had now moved to Sydney although very few of them had been able to find work.

Melbourne was very dull and boring compared to Sydney, but it was definitely a better place to spend any great length of time so, despite the fact that many of the people I knew from Melbourne were now here, I decided to head back down there again.