After staying out so late the night before, there was no way we were up for anything too exciting, demanding, or too far away.With that in mind we decided (after sleeping until midday) to get to know the area we live in better (something we now realise we should have done a lot more of when back in the UK - travelling has really made us aware of how little notice we take of where we live. Our new resolution - to look at where we live through the eyes of a tourist - even going to the tourist information centres for inspiration!).

All the guide books we've read don't tend to say much more about Newtown, than recognise the fact that it's quite bohemian and has lots of bookshops. Well, all of that is true, and more.

Ok, so Newtown has it's fair share of 'specialised' shops that don't really interest us (if you've been there you'll know what we mean)but it has loads of stores that you can spend hours browsing around. Art and craft stores that sell things we never knew existed (must be for all those scrap book fanatics over here), clothes shops, a real plethora of book shops (including sale & return, and just plain cheap, one store with books of every description floor to ceiling - a whole day out in itself, and the 'normal' RRP stores). We almost didn't have enough time to look in all of them - stocking up for the next stage of our trip is a delicate business you know! At least here we have been able to exchange books with housemates, collegues, other travellers.. but who knows how easy that will be once we leave Australasia?

The other side of Newtown (King St and on into Enmore Road) is the eateries. So many to choose from, it's almost enough to make you want to eat out everyday just to try each one in turn (if only the budget would allow!). The choice includes Thai, Chinese, indian, Mexican, Peruvian, Portuguese, African, Singaporean, Manaysian....the list seems to go on. Plus, on top of this there are so many coffee shops and bakers, cake shops and the like that there is never any possibility of going hungry. There's even a couple of supermarkets tucked away just incase you do feel the need to cook for yourself.

Walking along King St you realise how vibrant life can be, of course the sun shining on your face on a lazy Sunday afternoon does alter your judgement a bit, but it feels like a good place to live. And is very reminiscent of our university days (funny that, being so close to the University of Sydney campus!).

At 5pm it was time for our wanderings to end as everything started to shut down (well, at least they are open on a Sunday)so it was back home, time to cook dinner, get the household chores done (the washing machine never seems to stop in the house on a sunday) and grab some sleep before another week of early mornings and work.