Having recovered from our Christmas and Boxing day gluttony, we decided to go to Manly with some hostel friends (Kate and Jess) - just over the other side of Sydney Harbour. The journey there took quite a while and involved a bus journey and then a ferry which gave us some excellent views of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House. Once we arrived, we had a look around and got some fish and chips to eat while looking a the stunning views out to see. The beach itself was rammed with people so instead of joining the masses we got a bus to Milson's Point and walked back across the bridge to Circular Quay taking photos of the scenic harbour all the way!
The following day - J and I joined Kate to have lunch in Dulwich Hill, and then Kate and I decided to do a spot of window shopping in Newtown while J popped into town to go to Qantas to finalise our flight plans. We have now cancelled going to Fiji (recommended due to the coup that is currently ongoing there) and will spend three weeks in New Zealand before flying to New York - with a two day stop-over in LA in between. That will mean that we arrive bach in the UK early on 2nd Feb.
On 29th we once again joined a gang of mates from the hostel to do the walk between Coogee and Bondi beaches. It was a 3 hour walk, but with stunning views and hot sunny weather, the time flew and we really enjoyed it. Once we got to Bondi, I was on the lookout for Paris Hilton as she was supposedly there, but as the beach was so packed with people I had no chance! Our friends wanted to spend some time at Bondi, so we left them there we were keen to get the bus back to town in order to catch a tour of the Sydney Opera House - so much to see, so little time...! We learnt that the building was originally supposed to take 4 years to build, but ended up taking 14 and cost 102 million dollars! There are 1,000 rooms in total under the domed roof tops and we got to see the best one of all - the grand theatre. It seats 2,700 people and uses the electricity equivalent to a town of 20,000 people to power it - quite awesome!
Next Day, J, Kate and I went to Darling Harbour to have an explore and do some sightseeing before having lunch. We chose a cafe on the harbour-side overlooking the boats sailing in and out. After that, we went to Paddy's Market to do some food shopping for a group meal we had planned that evening. The markets we really crowded, hot and noisy - not the gentle saunter we had in mind (!) so we left there and got the bus to Woolworths (supermarket) to get stuff there instead. That evening we all commandeered the hostel kitchen to cook up a feast of king prawns and smoked salmon with mango salsa (prepared by J and I), roast lamb with loads of trimmings (cooked by Kate) and fruit salad, cream and shortbread pie (an original creation by Maggie and Chris). It was great fun and the best meal we'd all had since being away!
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Discovering Sydney....
Monday, December 25, 2006
Xmas Day
We had planned to go to Darling Harbour for Xmas Eve drinks with some friends from the hostel but ended up staying in the communal kitchen drinking and being merry. We had a fantastic night and met some really nice people. We woke up on xmas day about 7am. I had a headache - not sure why - perhaps it was all the vodka I'd consumed the night before! Fran immediately suggested that we exchanged presents, so I grabbed them from the cupboard.
Fran had bought me a lovely picture of Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. She also got me a small xmas tree decoration (a koala with 'Sydney 2006' on it) to keep as a memento. A couple of days before I'd purchased some GHD hair straighteners, which came in a nice presentation pack with lots of GHD hair products. I wrapped up all the bottles separately to the straightners and bag. I purposely hid the bag so that Fran wouldn't be able to guess what I'd bought. I gave her all the little packages containing the products and waited until she had opened them all before bringing out the hair straigheners. She was delighted when she opened them and told me that she was wondering what on earth she was going to do with all the hair serums etc without any straighteners!
After the present opening and a small hang over breakfast we went back to sleep and were woken by my Mum on the phone to wish us a happy xmas. I was a little disoriented at first but it was lovely to chat to her and Rach.
At midday we jumped into a taxi and headed off to a restaurant we had booked a couple of days before, that overlooks Sydney Opera House and the Harbout Bridge. The meal and service was fantastic. I had "Cold Seafood Delicaies" (King Prawns, Moreton Bay Bugs, Oysters, Sea Scallops and Smoked Salmon) to start, followed by, prime fillet of beef and xmas pudding. Fran had, "King Prawn and Bowen Mango" to start, followed by traditional turkey and a chocolate truffle dome. All the drinks were included in the price too :-) Many thanks to Fran's parents for giving us some money to eat out. There are some photos of the meal on our flickr account if you'd like to see what we had!! Sydney Photos
We arrived back at the hostel about 3pm. There were quite a few people around in a festive mood so we joined in and had a few drinks. It was a little strange sat there in the sun on xmas day without our families, but it was tempered by the fact that we had met so many lovely people in a sililar situation to us.
We hope you all had/have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS, wherever you are in the world! Missing you lots and see you soon!
J&F x
Sydney
We arrived in Sydney on 21st December and were surprised to see the weather was rather gloomy (I thought sunny weather was a sure thing?!). Anyway, that didn't stop us getting out and about to explore. We first had a look around our local area, as we are staying in Dulwich Hill rather than the centre. I bought some tacky Christmas decorations to brighten up our hostel room and also put up the cards that were sent to the hostel (thank you guys, it was so nice to receive those!).
The following day, we caught a bus into the town centre - although it's not far in km's, it took almost an hour on the bus. We split off from each other to give us each time to find a present for each other. I found a local market which was great, with loads of local arts and crafts.
After that, we went along to Circular Quay to take in the amazing views of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge - it was good to see it in the flesh having seen it in so many pictures! On Christmas day we are planning to go to a restaurant looking out over the very same view - can't wait!
Finally....HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my gorgeous neice Beth - hope you enjoyed your present - can't believe you're two already! Lots of love and see you soon to give you lots of cuddles, Auntie Francie.xxx.
And also HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my mum - hope you have an excellent birthday in Switzerland - bet you're glad you get a birthday without having to cook everyone else roast turkey! Makes sure dad pampers you...miss you lots and love you more. F.xxx.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Windows Live Writer
If you are one of my technically inclined friends you may find this interesting - Microsoft have just released a desktop app that allows you to write blog entries off-line and include active content.
Have a look at Windows Live Writer for info!
James
Adelaide
Unbeknown to us, we picked the best location to stay in Adelaide! We have been staying in a cabin directly by the beach with a sea view in a pretty campsite just 10km outside the city centre. With just 3 days here, we have spent the time exploring the city, visiting historic landmarks, an opal & diamond museum (one opal we were shown was worth 70k - for a piece the size of a penny!) the famous Haighs chocolate shop and Adelaide central market. The weather is really hot here so we have also got in the odd bit of sunbathing!
On Sunday it was James' birthday, so we celebrated with a delicious Indian and some sparkling wine. While we were back in Cairns I bought him his main present of a Didgeridoo (that we sent back to England), but I bought a few more bits and bobs for the actual day to make it feel a bit more like a birthday for him (just like Christmas, it's surprising how much it doesn't feel like a special time when you don't have all your friends and family around to share it with). The gifts went down well - I think the joke peppermint nipples were his favourite!
James is still having jip with his ear, so we went to the doc's this morning to find out that the infection (tropical ear) he had back in Cairns two months ago is still there. It isn't hurting him but he is relatively deaf, so he has got another course of antibiotics - hopefully that will work as the doc said otherwise he will have to have his ear syringed - ew!
We're flying back to Sydney tomorrow - having had the last couple of months to spread out a bit and accumulate 'stuff', it will be a test to see if we can fit everything into a backpack once again! Hope all the Christmas preparations are going well at home and missing everyone lots!
F&J.x.
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Great Ocean Road
The road along the coast between Torquay (just South of Melbourne) and Adelaide is called the, 'Great Ocean Road.' The Lonely Planet describes it as, "One of the most spectacular coastal drives in the world." I phoned the hire company to find out how much it would be to extend the car rental for 6 days and drop off at Adelaide airport... I couldn't believe it when they told me it would be 40 quid! I didn't hesitate for a second and booked it there and then. The drive from Melbourne to Adelaide is 1000km (650 miles) so we decided to spread the drive over 2 days. We set off for the first leg of the journey about 10am and got to Mount Gambier at 7pm in the evening. It was an incredibly long journey, but well worth it. The road between Anglesea and Apollo Bay was the most hair raising, twisty coastal road you can imagine. One false move and you'd be fish food! The views from the road were amazing.
We stayed the night in Mount Gambier (just over the Victoria border in South Australia), which has the most beautiful blue lake, strangely enough called, "The Blue Lake." There are some photos on flickr here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31327041@N00/327022045/
The following day we set off for Adelaide, which fortunately didn't take as long. We are staying in a lovely cabin with a sea view in a place called, "Glenelg."
On Thursday we are flying to Sydney for Xmas and New Year.
Blimey it's hot here!
J&Fx
Friday, December 15, 2006
Neighbours Tour!
We boarded the Neighbours tour bus with a mixture of excitement (me) and embarassment (James). While driving to the infamous Ramsey Street, the tour guide put a couple of episodes on to the bus' DVD player for us to watch - they were classics - the Kylie/Jason wedding and Daphne's death...remember Phoebe and Todd, Lucy and Hilary? It was amuzing to watch and reminisce about the old characters and surprising that James seemed to remember far more of the characters than me (despite insisting that he was watching under duress!).
Arriving at the street, our first impression was of how small the actual cul-de-sac is - it looks much bigger on screen. The tour guide explained that they use camera tricks to make the street seem wider and do subtle things such as number the houses 22, 24 etc, even though there are in reality only 8 houses in the road. The houses themselves are privately owned, but the programme makers have a deal that they can film at any time. When they do, all the resident's cars have to be parked elsewhere and they have to close their curtains. In return, they are paid hefty chunk of money each year, have gardeners and decorators to maintain the outsides of their homes for free and a 24 hour security guard roaming the street (apparently he is there to protect residents from fans turning up and being a nuisance). Pretty good deal we thought - well it must be - there is an actual waiting list to buy a house on the street and only one house has been sold in the last 20 years!
Having taken lots of photos - some with the cheesy 'Ramsey Street' sign the tour guide supplied us with (the street is actually called Pin Oak Cresent in Vermount South Melbourne) - we drove on to the recording studio where they do most of the filming. We couldn't go inside but did recognise the outside of the building as it's where Lassiters is - and one angle of the building is used in the show sometimes as the hospital/airport/prison (despite the popularity of Neighbours at home, it's obviously a low budget operation!).
Finally we went to Erinsborough High School before driving back. I was gutted that I didn't get to meet Harold or Karl Kennedy, but overall it was a laugh and a good bit of nostalgia. Despite James pulling faces in the photos, doing his best to look like he didn't want to be there, even he admitted to me that he enjoyed it!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31327041@N00/327020512/in/set-72157594387513757/
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Melbourne
Before we left Inverloch we decided to go to Phillip Island to view the 'Penguin Parade.' We had seen pictures of the tiny penguins (they're only 30cms tall) waddling up the beach on mass at dusk and thought it was a sight too good to miss. We ended up rushing to get there, worried that we would miss them. We arrived at the reception around 6pm and asked, "Have we missed the penguins?" and were greeted with laughs from the receptionist as they don't arrive until 9pm.
We had a few hours to kill so we headed a couple of miles up the coast to have a look at 'Seal Rocks,' where loads of seals lounge around playing. It was a tad disappointing as Seal Rocks is about 2km off the coast and you can only see them through a telescope - and even then they're small dots on the horizon!
We were woefully under prepared for the Penguin Parade wearing our shorts and T-shirts - there was a freezing cold breeze coming off the sea (most people had sensibly brought blankets with them as there is a lot of sitting and waiting involved). We walked down the boardwalk's that they had erected over the sand dunes to protect the penguin's nests and sat in the stand - something like an old fashioned football terrace. We huddled together for warmth and waited. Nearly an hour later we could see some small shapes at the water's edge. We were told that that the penguin's usually take a couple of attempts before making a quick dash the beach - something to do with avoiding predators etc. Eventually little groups of 5/6 penguin's would totter up the beach. Not exactly a 'parade' (more of a micro waddle), but fascinating none the less!
We arrived in Melbourne on Friday 8th and booked into a cabin at Coburg, a suburb of Melbourne. The next morning, we checked out and headed into the city centre to check out the shops (much to Fran’s delight). That afternoon we drove out to the South Eastern suburbs of Melbourne to meet up with Tim, a friend of mine who I met in Thailand earlier this year. Tim greeted us at his local pub, just across the road from where he lives. After a couple of ‘pots’ of beer we went back to Tim’s to drop off our stuff and then headed to St. Kilda beach as it was a baking hot day. Early evening we headed back to Tim's for an Aussie BBQ :-), where we met up with Tim's wife, Lisa and their daughter Emily. The meal was excellent - Tim cooked enough food to feed half the Barmy Army (a name for the travelling English cricket fans) and included a Snapper fish freshly caught that day by Lisa and Emily.
On Sunday we went to St. Kilda market for a wander around the stalls, followed by a couple of beers. After that Tim and I excused ourselves from the girls, leaving them to their shopping, and headed for the pub. It was 42.1 degrees, the hottest day in Melbourne for 53 years! Several beers and an hour or so later, the girls turned up looking hot and bothered. Definitely the right decision to stay in the pub! In the evening we went to an Indian restaurant for a fantastic curry. A perfect end to the day :-)
On Monday we caught the train into the city and had a wander round looking at the sites and doing some (more) window shopping. Melbourne's got some great shops and has more architecturally aesthetic buildings than Perth or Brisbane. We went to Federation square where we saw the Victoria Police big band - having sat and listened to them belting out Christmas tunes, we found a street art exhibition of aerial views from across the world.
Tuesday we decided to drive to take a scenic drive from Melbourne around the Mornington Peninsula. At Sorrento we caught the ferry across Port Phillip bay to Queenscliff. I thought the crossing was really smooth, but Fran wasn't feeling too well by the time we reached the other side!
Wednesday and today we have spent time discovering Chapel Street, which has a wonderful eclectic mix of boutique stores, markets and high street stores. I'd had enough of shopping by today, so left Fran to go shopping for my birthday pressie's, while I caught up with my emails.
We've had a fantastic time in Melbourne so far. Many thanks to Tim, Lisa and Emily for putting us up, showing us the sites and being the perfect hosts. Looking forward to returning the favour when you visit England in 2008! A special mention goes out to Emily who gave up her bedroom for us and provided us with lots of entertainment (hope the jelly making was fun sweetie - Fran)!
Tomorrow we are off to Ramsey Street for the 'Neighbours Tour'! Joy...
J&F x
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Luxury in Inverloch!
Still, when we arrived we got upgraded to a 'luxury' cabin for no reason and no extra cost, so we are thrilled! It's like having our own little house - nice to spread out for a bit....
Happy birthday to my brother James and bessie mate Miriam! Hope you guys had a great day and gots loads of lovely presents. We've been sending telepathic birthday wishes and hugs! Love you both loads.
F&J.x.
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Captin James and First Mate Fran!
The last few days have been fairly chilled. We've been for a few walks around the 'Lakes Entrance' area. Its MUCH colder here at the mo. We expected it to be a bit colder but I guess we've got used to it being hot all the time. Then again, it's still much warmer than back home! :-)
Today we hired a boat for an hour and cruised down the lake. Very relaxing.
Next stop 'Inverloch' where we plan to visit Phillip Island to see the 'Penguin Parade.' Apparently they all waddle up the beach around sunset. Should be quite a sight...
Friday, December 01, 2006
NSW / Hunter Valley (hic!) / Victoria
From Nambucca Heads, we drove inland to Cessnock in the Hunter Valley. We chose to do the 'Cheers' tour, which picked us up at 10am for a full day's tour of the vineyards and a visit to five of the best wineries in the region. Each winery offered us tastings of 7-8 wines (all were very enthusiastic about their particular wines and included samples of wine in addition to the set list). By the end of the day (6pm), the entire group was extremely merry to say the least. Being a light-weight, I took advantage of the 'tip-out bowl' option for several wines, while James quaffed every drop he was given. He insisted he wasn't drunk, but did manage to drop his wineglass at the last place - as it smashed onto the floor, the group cheered and called out 'taxi'! All the places we visited are known as boutique vineyards, i.e. they only make a small amount of wine and do not sell outside the cellar door (you can't purchase them in shops etc). As a result, the wine is relatively expensive (8 quid a bottle), so we didn't load ourselves with purchases (some people bought several dozen bottles each) - I think we will be sticking to 'goon' aka the boxed wine available all over Oz - 4 quid for 4 litres!!!
From Cessnock, we did a long drive South through Sydney to Kiama, which took us near enough a full day. Early next day we moved on to Narooma which was right on the coast and had some fantastic coastal walks. We also did a day trip to Bermagui and Tilda-Tilda - an historical village protected by the National Trust, with quaint little shops. After Narooma we drove to Eden where we stayed overnight in a cabin with satellite telly. James was chuffed as it meant he could watch UK football highlights - although not a total success as his team didn't win the game!
Today we left Eden and did a relatively short drive to Lakes Entrance (240km) - our first stop in Victoria. We plan to stop here for 3 nights to give us a chance to explore the surrounding areas. Next week we are going to drive closer to Melbourne before visiting some friends of J's next weekend. We are both looking forward to that - it will be nice to socialise for a few days! F&J.x.
