Month: February 2013

On our final day in Sydney we had one last trip to make before we set off for the airport and that was up the Sydney tower. It was only a couple of blocks from the hotel so we walked through the shopping center, stopped for a bacon and egg sandwich, bought our tickets, skipped past the queue of about 20 Indian tourists and got into the lift to the top of the tower.

These are the fun facts about the tower:

• It is Sydney’s tallest free-standing structure
• It is the tallest observation tower in the Southern Hemisphere
• It opened to the public in August 1981
• It is capable of withstanding earthquakes and extreme wind conditions
• 56 cables stabilise the tower (although I didn’t notice them!)

After taking in the views it was back down the tower and to the hotel to pack our bags. Sydney was officially complete – we had been up the tallest building and been on a boat. As long as you do those two things then you have officially visited a destination!

With bags packed it was time to head to the airport. Fortunately there were no 7 hour wait times – just a couple of hours – which allowed us to grab a glass of wine and a lemon lime bitters – which is my new drink of choice! After walking round the shops and having a small bite to eat we started to board our plane. We eventually took off an hour late which was going to start eating into our layover time in LA. Instead of having 3 hours we were going to have just under 2 now which would normally be ok but we were having to go through US border control which can take forever. Any way there was no need to worry about that – we had a 13.5 hour flight ahead of us which we had to sit through first.

The flight was reasonably uneventful. Luckily I had no-one sat next to me and there was a non-stop supply of very nice food – possibly the best airplane food I’ve had – mineral water, pasta, yummy chocolate pud, (I ate mine and then wanted Tracy’s but she ate it), a Boost bar, hot chocolate with a marshmallow melted in it, then a mango ice cream bar. And apparently while I was asleep they came round with slices of pizza but we all missed that!

After waking from our reasonably short sleep we were soon starting our descent into LAX but not before Toby managed to get a nice bit of sick out all over the toilet floor. Lovely child – there will be no more flying for him soon. I don’t think it is plane sickness though – more tiredness sickness but we shall see next time we go on a plane!

We landed at 10:30, two hours before our next flight was due to depart. We than had to walk upstairs, downstairs, upstairs, downstairs and along endless corridors to get to border control. Bloody border control. Luckily the queues didn’t look too bad so our confidence of making the next flight rose. However you can always rely on border control to mess things up! Because our flight had been quite empty our border control guard clearly decided to take his time. Once you get to the checkpoint it’s normally pretty fast to have your documents processed but this time we stood there for about 25 minutes watching our bags go round and round the luggage carousel just 10 yards away from where we stood!

Just as we thought he couldn’t drag it out any longer he decided to take Harry’s fingerprints even though he didn’t need to. He took Tracy’s fingerprints and photos twice and got me to fill out parts of the immigration forms that I’ve never had to fill out before.

When he finally let us through we grabbed the two cases and ran from this terminal to terminal 1 where our next flight left from. We dropped our bags off a couple of minutes before bag drop closed but only after having to rearrange things because one bag was 6lbs over. The checkin lady said you should just be able to take a pair of shoes out and that will be the 6lbs. Really? Who has a pair of shoes that weigh six pounds?
Anyway, we got there in the end and by the time we were through security our flight was boarding – it was all a very close shave!

After the short flight back to Seattle, we sped through the airport, collected the car and went home. Luckily the house was still there – I always worry and think the house might not be there when we get back from a holiday! It always is but you just never know!

With the car unloaded I offered to sort dinner. So we all got back in the car and went to Red Robin! As we had our meal we reflected on the lovely holiday we’d had and we asked Harry what his favorite thing in Sydney was, to which his reply was, “the museums”. We didn’t go to any museums. Nothing is wasted on Harry.

After polishing off the burgers it was back home so we could all go to bed and recover. There was just time for Toby to have a cookie and a glass of milk before bed and then he made himself laugh because he “burped into his milk”. It was the “funniest thing he’s ever done with his milk”. He didn’t want to finish drinking his milk though because it “had burp in it”.

Oh dear oh dear! Still it was nice to be home again!

The time had come to leave Jervis Bay and it’s beautiful beaches. As the weather had been horrific on the drive down we had the choice again of beautiful coastal route home or Kangaroo Valley – and we decided to go with Kangaroo Valley. Jeremy had told us it only took about 10 minutes longer but clearly he had no idea about timescales as it took a lot longer.

First stop after leaving our house was Camberwarra Mountain Lookout. It gave a good view of the valley below but it was a little hazy so we continued on our way towards the Valley of Kangaroos. Despite lots of signs promising us kangaroos and wombats we didn’t actually see any which was a little disappointing but then I guess it was probably quite unlikely anyway – it was nice to just see the real life signs though!!

Kangaroo Valley itself was lovely – and very English. The towns were full of campsites, garden centers and little shops – it had a strong feel of Derbyshire about it – but although it looked lovely there was no stopping until we reached Fitzroy falls. Again there were signs talking about wombats or platypus but unfortunately they are all sleeping in February (allegedly) and as a result there was no sign of them. There was, however, a pretty impressive waterfall and view along the valley too so we shouldn’t grumble:

After leaving the falls we continued up to Bowral where we stopped for lunch. Bowral looked my kind of town with some very nice houses on the outskirts – not sure how expensive they would be there but they were very nice.

We stopped for lunch at a wild food cafe which was very nice and then we filled the car up with gas and then set off back to Sydney. We left Bowral at about 13:15 and at 13:19 Harry was given a talking to about the inane prattle that falls out his mouth continually once he is in a car. At 13:24 he was told off again for starting to make that very same drivel again. By 13:32 he was in trouble again and we turned the radio on in an attempt to drown out the noise. I don’t know what it is about Harry and sitting in a car but it makes him talk utter nonsense!

At just before 4pm we arrived back in Sydney at our next and final hotel – the Swissotel. It was right in the middle of Sydney and would be a good base for our last few hours in Australia. We unpacked what was required for the remainder of our stay before heading out to the streets of Sydney for some last minute shopping. Then it was back to the hotel where we took advantage of having a proper sized bath before heading out to find something to eat. Although it was clearly a premium price for the tourists we ended up in the circular quays – down near the Opera House – where we found what looked like a nice Chinese. Luckily it turned out to be an excellent meal that was only nearly ruined by Toby having a tantrum about not getting a king prawn dish. Fortunately the crispy shredded beef dish made up for the lack of prawns which should come as no surprise as the best crispy shredded beef was the best that Tracy has ever had – high praise indeed; the chinese van in Turvey needs to raise  its game!

After a short walk to the Opera House to take a few pictures we walked our way back to the hotel and collapsed into bed for our last sleep in Sydney. Shame!

A few extra pictures here…

A good nights sleep only ended when we were woken by the sound of little boys chatting in their bunk beds. We woke to sunshine and that could only mean one thing – time to check out the beaches of Jervis Bay. We checked our Jervis Bay beaches book and cross referenced this with the recommendations we had been given and then we packed the car up and headed towards Booderee national park. We did have to stop briefly on the way, just outside Hyams, to take a photo of the kangaroo sign post. It was one of those most take pictures – you can’t go to Australia without taking one!

Our first stop was Murray beach. As we pulled into the giant car park (it was to be the site of a nuclear power plant) Tracy spotted a Wallaby in the nearby bush – her animal sense was as finely tuned as ever. We stopped the car, reversed a bit, went forward, back a bit, forward again and eventually Harry, Toby and I had managed to all get some pictures.

We then parked the car and set off down the track to the beach, about 300 yards through the bush. The beach we arrived onto was amazing, absolutely amazing. We would go on a few more across the day but this was definitely the best Australian beach for me.

What made this beach so nice was the fact that it was so stunning and that there was wildlife about. As we walked along the beach giant white bellied sea eagles flew over head – they were whoppers.

Then after climbing over some rocks at the end of the beach we then started walking back along the beach until Tracy’s wildlife spotting sensor kicked in again.

Before the words “oooh look at that” had hardly left her mouth we had turned and were running back to the rocks! As we climbed up, Toby and Harry were shouting “what?”, “what is it?”. Tracy was pointing and saying “look, there, look”. As Tracy directed the boys eyes I was climbing the rock and changing camera lenses – why do I never have the right lense on!?

We then stood there for about 10 minutes watching about 40-50 dolphins swim past probably no more than 30 yards off the shore. All the time that the dolphins swam by Toby hummed a Taylor Swift song non-stop. Whenever I hear that song now I will always think of dolphins!

Nothing could top the excitement of the dolphins at Murrays Beach so we decided to move on to the next one which was the Hole in the Wall beach. This was Tracy’s favourite beach because of the entry through the bush onto the beach. It was impressive.

After Hole in the Wall it was off to Green Patch beach for a nice walk. With the warmth of the sun kicking in we went back to car and headed back home for some lunch although not before we had taken some pictures of the Australian King parrot – what a colorful little chap he was!

With lunch taken care of it was time to visit the other beach at Hyams which has the whitest sand in the whole world. Allegedly. To be fair the sand was pretty white but I’m just not sure how you prove which is whitest. Anyway, we didn’t really care about the color of the sand we just needed a cricket pitch! A few hours of cricket and wave jumping followed along with building sand castles before going home for showers, dinner and some relaxing. It’s not easy all this playing, swimming and lying around on a beach – in fact it’s really quite tiring!

All the beaches and parrots and dolphin pictures are here.

Some mornings you wake up and have a conversation that goes a little like this… “Did you hear the rain in the night?”. “No”. “Oh. Well it was really loud”. Today the conversation, had we had it, would have gone a little like this… “Did you hear the rain last night?”. “What?”. “Did you hear the rain last night?”. “What?”. “Did you hear the rain last night?”. “Sorry I can’t hear you the rain’s too loud”.

The rain woke us at about 3am. I’m not sure what the criteria is to get rain classified as a tropical monsoon but I’m pretty sure this would have got close to meeting it. It was amazing. We’ve never heard anything like it. Despite lying next to each other we couldn’t hear a word each other was saying! The thunder was crashing. The lightning lit up the sky. Any second now we expected to hear the cry of “mummy” from the boys bedroom. Although we wouldn’t have heard it even if they were shouting because the rain was too loud! I decided to check on them but Toby was flat on his back asleep and Harry was on the top bunk fast asleep. How they could sleep through this is beyond me! Anyway Tracy and I lay in bed shouting at each other and waited for the sun to rise.

Once the kids rose from their beds and we’d polished off some tea, coffee and TimTams we thought we should investigate the nearby beach – the rain had stopped and the waves sounded impressive. On the short walk we saw some very brightly coloured birds – maybe parrots – and laughing kookaburras. This was our first wild kookaburra so I grabbed my camera and told the boys to be quiet as it sat in the tree above us. In Harry’s world “be quiet” obviously sounds like “make loads of noise pretending you’re a kookaburra”. Fortunately the real kookaburra must have thought Harry was real and he carried on laughing away up the old gum tree.

Next stop was the beach and even though it was cloudy it was warm and beautiful. The waves were crashing and two little boys started charging around, chasing a tennis ball and resisting the urge to get soaked in the sea before 8am! In amongst the shoreline we saw two puffer fish. Unfortunately neither had survived the wild night but the nice thing was that they had a smiley face even though they were no more.

After a nice walk along the beach we returned home and had breakfast – all this before 9:30am, most impressive! Then we loaded up the car and set off to Huskisson for a little exploration. First we walked on the beach – another one – and then round the small town where we bought some sea shoes for me and a nice top for Tracy. Then it was back into the car and along to …. beach. This was a beautiful beach combined with Moona Moona Creek which was coming down the valley to the sea. The combination created a lovely area for kids to play in – lots of shallow water and sand bars.

At this point it was getting hot in the mid-day sun so we went back to our house at Hyams and waited out some of the heat. Just after 2pm we drove the short distance along to one of the two beaches at Hyams Beach and we spent the afternoon playing cricket and flolloping in the sea. The particularly good thing about the beaches in Jervis Bay are that there weren’t any blue bottles so Toby was completely relaxed about playing on the beach and in the sea – thank goodness!

After a few hours on the beach it was time to go home, take a nice shower and a relax. Then, as we were in Australia it was time for dinner and a barbecue. Some steak, lamb and chicken were expertly cooked (can you guess who was cooking!!) and then we settled down for some Sunday night TV. After the noise of the night before we all trooped off to bed hoping for a quiet night and some sleep!

Pictures are here.

So after a week in Sydney it was time to pack our bags and head south. The wind and rain had lashed Coogee over night and it was still raining as we packed. I jumped in a cab over to Sydney and collected the rental car and slowly drove back to Coogee and tried to re-orientate myself with driving on the right/wrong side of the road again!

After checking out of the hotel and loading the car with a lot of bags – not sure what we had acquired but there was a lot. For the drive down to Hyams Beach we had a choice of two routes – the scenic coastal route or via Kangaroo Valley. In the end it didn’t actually matter which way we went as we couldn’t see a blooming thing because the rain and fog was so incredibly dense that we could barely see 20 yards in front of the car! For the record we took the coastal route but I’m not sure we saw the sea at all!

We stopped at a supermarket in Nowra to get food for the house and to have a McDonald’s – checking to see how an Australian Big Mac compared to an American one. Interestingly enough I can say that they’re the same! Although it was very wet when we stopped, what was nice was that it was still warm with the temperature holding steady around the low twenty’s.

As we got closer to Hyams Beach the road signs had been warning us to look out for kangaroos. With our hopes raised and excitement building we did slow down and try our best to spot some but it wasn’t to be – there were no kangaroos for us. We arrived at Hyams and our home for the next few days just before 3pm. The rain had eased off and we took the opportunity to unload the car and unpack.

As we relaxed for a few minutes Tracy and her newly found animal sense kicked in. For no reason at all she decided to draw the curtain back and looked out the window and there it was – a kangaroo in our front yard having a munch on the fresh green grass. We all grabbed our cameras and started snapping away – this could be our first and last ever chance to see a kangaroo in the wild (in our garden!). After taking some pictures we decided to go outside and see if we could get some closer pictures without it kick boxing us.

 

After a car went past the kangaroo bounced round to the back yard and spent a good hour of so munching on the grass until a tiny little dog walked past on a lead and scared it! Silly thing!

With that excitement past we decided to take the short stroll to our local beach – Chinamans beach. Although it overcast it was still warm and it was lovely to hear the waves crashing onto the beach. As usual Harry and Toby decided that they wanted to play near the sea but they wouldn’t get wet. We all know how this story ends though and this time was to be no different. As a big wave came crashing in we all turned and ran to avoid getting wet. As I clung to my camera I looked to my left and saw Toby falling flat on his face on the beach and the sea washing round him. He lifted his head so it stayed above water and then as the sea withdrew a soggy, laughing Toby stood up:

With a soggy boy in tow we walked back to the house. The rain started to fall again and we all relaxed listening to it get heavier and heavier until it was time to head to bed. At least the rain was falling at night time – tomorrow was bound to be a beautiful day.

More kangaroo pictures are here.

Friday was our last day in Sydney so we decided we should take the ferry to Manly. After the rush hour has passed we caught a taxi into Sydney and went down to the quays to buy our ticket. We were just in time for the 10:30 ferry so we went on board and took some seats for the journey.

As we left the quays we got great views of the opera house and the bridge and then on round as we went north towards Manly. Not long into our journey the captain spoken to us over the tannoy system and said that “people may want to move inside as it was unseasonably rough out across the head of the channel”. We thought about it and decided it was probably ok. Then Tracy looked out and saw another ferry coming back from Manly towards us. As she saw how the ferry was rolling and lurching we quickly changed our mind and went inside.

Not everyone made the same decision and they would soon regret it! As we continued the ferry slowed down and the waves got bigger. The squeals and screeches began as we were tossed about by the waves. The noise of water splashing on the ferry was nice and loud as were the screams as people got soaked! Harry looked quite ill and Toby clung to my arm and Tracy laughed but I’m not sure if it was from nerves or because it was like a roller coaster ride. At one point as we flooped about we looked out the water and could only see the surface of the water – the horizon had disappeared but as quickly as it started it was over and we were through the part that became affectionally known as the “Gap of Doom”.

On arrival in Manly we walked through the main street from the ferry terminal to the beach. The wind that had made the Gap of Doom so choppy was also making some fabulous waves crash in onto the beach and the surfers were out and about.

We’d had a recommendation that Shelley Beach at the south of Manly was a nice area and there was a good restaurant there too so without further ado we started walking that way along the coast. As we left Manly we saw a sign telling us not to touch or annoy the water dragons. Although we had no idea what they were, they sounded impressive and hoped to see one – and we did: 

Across the course of our walk we actually saw quite a few. By the time we reached Shelley beach it was lunch time and we so we checked out the recommended restaurant. It was very good – burgers (as usual) for the boys, fish and chips for Tracy and some yummy prawns for me; all washed down with nice wine and beer!

After lunch it was time to walk back to Manly, stopping in a few shops along the way (and buying a big white apple). I also bought some new flip flops as my sandals had given up the ghost that morning. Poor sandals had been my faithful holiday companions for about the last 10 years, since I had bought them in Ozzies on the Wellingborough Road when we lived in Northampton. There must be something about Timberland footwear in Sydney. When I came here 5 years ago I had to leave some old knackered boots behind and this time the sandals went.

As it was mid-afternoon it was time to think about going home and that could only mean one thing. The Gap of Doom. Harry and Toby were not looking forward to it but having told them that there was no other way to get back to the hotel they gave up and accepted that we had to go on the ferry again.

We decided just to sit on the inside straightaway this time and as we sat down and reassured the boys would everything would be fine we couldn’t help but notice that there was a lot of water on the inside. No problem – it will be fine! As it turned out, it wasn’t as bad as on the way out but there was still a bit of flopping about! We made it back past the Gap of Doom and then enjoyed a pleasant trip back into the harbor.

Then it was into a cab and back to Coogee Beach and the hotel. The wind was still blowing and the windows of the hotel room were banging! As we looked out from our balcony the waves were crashing onto the beach. The weather report was suggesting that Sydney and the surrounding area was in for a rough ride over the next few days and it looked like for once they were going to get it right! It was time to hold on to our hats and put the earplugs in (if we’d got some!).

Check out lots of pictures here.

Poor old me. Tracy, Harry and Toby had a week of relaxation planned but I had to go to work! Across the week this is what they got up to.

Monday
The day was spent flip flopping between the beach and the pool after a brief trip into Coogee town centre. The boys had got a body board and a bucket and spade so they were well equipped for a week playing on the beach. In the afternoon Toby braved the sea for a short while and went on the body board with Harry assisting him. In the evening after my tough day at work we went for dinner at an La Spaggia, an Italian restaurant which was very good. Then it was a walk of the beach and back to the hotel for some TV and bed.

Tuesday
It was an early start today as Tracy, Harry and Toby came into work with Jeremy and I because they were off for a morning at the aquarium and wildlife park. Harry’s favourite animal of the morning was the manatee and Toby’s was the kangaroo. Even though both had spent their money they both managed to wangle a new cuddly toy each – opting for a kangaroo with a joey in its pouch. Toby called his roo Nigel, Harry called his Billy.

Their afternoon was again spent taking the tough decisions on here to spend the time – beach or pool, beach or pool. Not easy, I’m sure you will agree.

In the evening we walked up the hill towards South Coogee which is where Jeremy lives. He was cooking us an Aussie barbecue consisting of ribs, steak, roast potatoes and salad with a Golden Gay time ice-cream for dessert. We had been nervous about going round there after his spider stories earlier that day but we needn’t have worried as we didn’t encounter any tonight! The added bonus to the night is that Tracy got to see lots of planes as the airport and flight path wasn’t too far away.

The walk home would have involved walking past a cemetery late at night and Harry and Toby weren’t keen. They were so reluctant that they asked Jeremy if he could drive us home. Fortunately he took pity on them and did give us a lift back to the hotel where it was straight off to bed.

Wednesday
Today was another beach or pool dilemma day but little did they realise how exciting/traumatic the day would be! With the body board under their arm it was down to the beach for a morning of fun in the sea. the morning of fun turned out to be just 20 minutes because Harry emerged from the latest wave crying and with snot pouring from his nose (that’s Tracy’s description by the way). As legend goes, Harry had been stung by two blue bottles on his legs. Tracy took him up to the medical area at the back of the beach but there was no one there. After a trip to the hotel reception to get the correct medical advice (soak in hot water) it was up to the room for a hot bath which made everything better (along with Toby pulling funny faces to make him laugh). Just to make sure he was completely better he managed to persuade Tracy that chocolate would also help!

Once the trauma of it all had gone it was down to the hotel pool for an afternoon relaxing and recovering. In an effort to help persuade the boys to go back on the beach I bought a beach cricket set from the local sports shop – surely the lure of cricket would out weigh the fear of blue bottles!?

That evening we went to a lovely restaurant called Barzuka which was at the south end of Coogee beach. It was very busy but still had a little room for us so we tucked into a fabulous meal – one of the best of the holiday. The day ended with the usual routine of beach, TV and bed.

Thursday
The best post blue bottle sting activity? Shopping! And luckily for the three of them the shopping mall at Bondi Junction is the largest in the southern hemisphere (apparently). The morning was spent mooching around the shops and Harry and Toby both found a new pair of soccer boots they wanted. Neither of them need new boots however upon seeing the new shiny boots Harry revealed that his boots had been rubbing his feet for a while now and Toby’s were just too small! Funny that – there had been no mention of this until this point!

Afterwards a short cab ride back to Coogee it was back to the usual tough dilemma, beach or pool. Because Toby was still worried about Blue Bottles, it ended up being an afternoon at the pool which was probably the most sensible place to be.

That evening, dinner was at another Italian restaurant but although nice it wasn’t as good as the one earlier in the week. Ice-cream at Gelatissimo followed and then some playing on the beach until it got dark. Ten it was time for the usual bed time routine to kick in ahead of our last day in Sydney before venturing out of town on Saturday morning.

Tracy was woken at 6am by the planes going over and the rest of us were all awake by just before 7am. There were some clouds in the sky but it looked like it was going to be a lovely day and the beach looked like it had been freshly ploughed (which as it turned out it had been; or at least raked).

As we had a city based day yesterday, today was going to be more water/beach focused. By 9am we had had breakfast, got dressed and taken a short cab ride to Bondi. The plan was to relax for a while on the beach and then walk the 6 kms back to Coogee along the coastal path.

Bondi is quite underwhelming for such a world famous beach. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very nice beach – similar to Great Yarmouth as Tracy pointed out – but you sort of expect more when you arrive. It has a lovely sweeping sandy beach with grass behind that and then a range of Victorian buildings across the road from that. I suppose you could argue that Great Yarmouth is even better than Bondi because it has a pier. But then you could probably say that Bondi has the weather, beautiful clear sea, warm sea, great waves for surfing and people doing yoga! And on New Year’s Day it has about 30,000 people on it – it looks horrific!!

The people on Bondi clearly love themselves very much! They like to stand at the waters edge stretching before they start surfing. They like to jog along the waters edge showing everyone how fit they are. They like to stand on the path at the back of the beach doing all sorts of yoga moves. There was also one old man doing some sort of strange dance type manoeuvres which I assume he thought was yoga or he was just drunk. Anyway, maybe it is the people that make Bondi so interesting and famous. Whatever it was we took a few minutes to enjoy some people watching, have a splash in the sea and then we set off on our walk.

As we walked the coastal path we spent some time educating the boys to have some spatial awareness and keep out of the way of the many joggers. I’m not sure they learnt much. I also spent some time debating with Toby about whether it would be better to put his sandy feet into his crocs or to walk bare footed and step on some glass. It’s amazing how long it takes to have what you would think is a reasonably straight forward conversation. His conclusion was, believe it or not, that sandy feet inside crocs is worse than stepping on glass.

The next beach we arrived at was Tamarama or Glamarama as the locals call it (according to the cab driver anyway). Tracy did find out the name of someone famous who lives there but I can’t remember who. It was a small little cove but very nice. All the houses round here cost upwards of a couple of million (this interesting fact was, again, supplied by the cab driver).

There was no stopping at this beach though, we had to try and get back to Coogee before the midday sun burnt us all to a crisp! Going round the next headland bought us to Bronte beach. We’d been walking for about 45 minutes and had worked up a bit of a sweat so we stopped for slush puppies and water. Inspired by all the fitness freaks running the coastal path we decided to join them and had egg and bacon rolls and sausages in a roll, cooked fresh on the beach side barbecue. It was proper bacon and the sausages were almost English in quality too.

Fully refreshed we set off again, heading this time towards Clovelly. This beach was different to the rest. It was much more narrow and the water was calm due to some creative concrete edges. Apparently it is a good place to start snorkelling as the waters are shallow, calm and there are some cool looking fish in there too. We didn’t go in the water though as Toby was concerned about the Blue Bottles or Blue Bubbles as he preferred to call them. To be fair there were quite a lot of the little stingers around, washed up on the sand but there was no need to be so dramatic! In fact the good thing about them is that they made a rather nice popping sound when trodden on (fortunately I had my sandals on at the time).

The walk continued past Clovelly and onto Coogee, where we arrived just before midday, all suitably sweaty. The beach was busy but not overwhelmingly so, so we walked along to the bit monitored by the life guards and went in to the water to cool off. As lovely as it was Toby was still reluctant to go in the water because of the blue bubbles. Harry had no such problems and was soon leaping over waves with me. After a few minutes Tracy took Toby up to the hotel pool as he wasn’t happy at the beach. Harry and I played a little longer but we soon joined them. Jumping waves was fun but not that good when your shorts keep falling down! I knew I should have bought some new ones before we left America! The shorts should fit again by the end of the holiday as I have eaten like a big fat pig but I don’t think this should stop me from buying some new ones for the summer season!

The lounged by the pool until mid afternoon and then it was time for a quick tidy up before Jeremy and his family took us into Sydney for the late afternoon/evening. First stop was Darling Harbour and the kids water park. We hadn’t got as far as this yesterday on our exploration so it s good to go there now. Harry, Toby and Stella spent some time playing and getting soaked before we dried the off and went to have dinner in a nice South African steak and ribs restaurant.

After stuffing ourselves silly, we went next door into the English sweet shop and stocked up on supplies like Picnic bars, Double Deckers, Refreshers and Palma Violets. After spending a fortune on not very much, we walked back to the car and drove back to Coogee. Once again, we were all exhausted from the fresh sea air and we all collapsed into bed and watched TV before falling asleep.

They’re hard work these holidays!

Here are the pictures from the day…

Considering we went to bed so early we did well staying asleep until 4:30/5am. The sun was yet to rise so we lay in bed listening to Harry saying “Toby get over your side of the bed” and Toby saying “Harry get over your side of the bed”. It is surprising how long this relatively simple conversation can last. Indeed it kept going until both Tracy and I told them to get over their respective sides of the bed, and even that didn’t stop them for long.

Overnight, as we slept, the flight route into Sydney airport had obviously changed because we woke to the sound of planes coming in overhead. Tracy was very happy – she’d love to live under a flight path (or near a ferry route). At 6:30am, after a nice cup of coffee, made by a kettle – how novel – we ventured out onto the balcony. It’s clearly a different lifestyle in Australia as 6:30am is obviously rush hour at the beach for joggers! Inspired by the exercise of all the joggers and swimmers we had breakfast of fresh bread and fruit which we’d purchased the day before.

As we prepared to go into Sydney we watched Australian TV and reminisced once more as we enjoyed Lunar Jim and Pingu. It’s so English over here, although it may just feel a lot more English because we have been in American for a couple of years.

With hats on, sun cream sprayed and cameras packed we jumped in a taxi and set off to the Royal Botanical gardens. Walked slowly around the gardens towards the Opera house, stopping to take pictures of the Opera house and harbour bridge, dodge Japanese tourists who appeared out of nowhere, to see the oldest bridge in Australia and see if we could spot any giant spiders (we couldn’t).

I’d seen giant bats hanging from the trees last time I had visited these gardens but this time they weren’t there. They had probably been driven away by the very noisy sulphur winged cockatoo’s which seemed to have taken over the place. Man they are noisy. Stupidly noisy. Noisy to the point that they annoyed Toby and he spent many days moaning about how noisy they were and he wished they weren’t about!

We continued round, past the Opera house towards the ferry terminal, stopping into a couple of souvenir shops on the way. What a mistake that was! At the first shop we went into Toby found a cuddly koala which he wanted. He had $20 to spend on the holiday and in the first shop, on the first full day he wanted to blow it all on the koala. We tried to reason with him and say that he should look in more shops, that we could always come back again if there was nothing else he wanted but this stubborn little boy was not for turning! He left the shop in tears.

Some ice-cream, a few minutes later managed to soothe him a little – in fact it turned out to be 1) the best ice-cream Toby has ever had, and 2) the first of many visits to the Gelatissimo ice-cream shops across the next two weeks.

After devouring the ice-cream we went back round to the Opera house as we had an 11am tour. The timing was perfect because just as we started the tour the heavens opened and it absolutely hammered it down with rain. Fortunately by the time the tour ended an hour later it had stopped and the sun was coming out again.

It was interesting to hear all about the construction of the Opera house and I hadn’t realised that the architect had been sacked part way through the build and had never been to see the finished building. They had planned to take 3 years and $7m to construct it but it actually took 16 years and cost $102m – i think it is the project manager who should have been sacked! In the end they had to start the Sydney/Australian lottery to help pay for it! Very sneakily I took a recording in the main concert hall, so here you go, a very special recording of someone tuning the piano ahead of the evenings performance:

httpv://youtu.be/5D1CsTh-HaI

After leaving the Opera house we walked back past the koala bear shop and Toby spent all his holiday money. He’d regret this impulsive behaviour just a few hours later when we found 1) the very same koala half the price in another shop, and 2) a much bigger koala and kangaroo cuddly toy which he could have bought for the same price. Still Toby knows best, although we will see if any lessons are learnt!

Next stop was The Rocks – a famous old part of Sydney. We walked around the market area and then continued on down to an area called Walsh’s Bay. This, as we found out later is a highly desirably part of Sydney where people like Nicole Kidman have apartments. We were oblivious to all this though as we were focused on finding somewhere for lunch!

Eventually we located a nice looking Lebanese restaurant and picked a nice table just inside the patio doors. Minutes later the heavens opened again and all those who had been eating outside in the sunshine just moments earlier got soaked! Clearly the devil was looking after his own today!

With our bellies pleasantly stuffed we walked up the main street in Sydney – George Street. From there it was down to Darling Harbour which is the area that has the aquarium, wildlife park and lots of shops and restaurants. By now it was late afternoon and the boys were getting tired from all the walking (and surprisingly little moaning!). There was just time for the next instalment of ice-cream and then it was into a cab and back to the hotel.

Exhausted from all the walking we Relaxed in the room for a while before heading out for dinner! Even on our first full day in Sydney it was clear that eating was going to play a significant part in this holiday! Tonight’s choice was fish and chips which we ate on the beach. We successfully ate it all before the seagulls got too confident and then it was time for the boys to play in the sea. Toby had forgotten about blue bottles for the time being!

httpv://youtu.be/Dsjc4IVslb0

As darkness fell it was time to head back to the room for wine, bath and a Shrek movie on the TV! A relaxing end to a busy day.

Here’s the pictures…

After waiting around in Los Angeles airport for what seemed a very long time, surrounded by foul mouthed Australians we boarded the giant Airbus and got ourselves comfortable for the 15 hour flight. It was a big old plane which had some real oomph going down the runway. It also had a funny affect on Toby because within 90 minutes of being on it he’d been to the toilet 3 times and sick twice! Post puke he settled down for a nice sleep and although he looked very pale his sleep made him better! We’re not sure if it was tiredness or excitement but whichever at least it didn’t last the whole journey!

Other than that the flight was pretty uneventful although the good thing about this new plane was that it had a camera on its tail so you could sit and watch the plane flying through the air. This made particularly interesting viewing at landing as you could watch us come in over Sydney and then land on the runway. It was reassuring to see how much runway was left once we had slowed right down – I’d always wondered how much space was left and now I know!

After whizzing through security we collected our bags and then stopped by the Vodafone shop to get our phones working. At this point the repercussions of being stuck on a plane for so long were starting to kick in. As I stood in the Vodafone queue I could see two little boys getting into all sorts of trouble!

With the phones sorted we left the airport to find the taxi rank and it was like we’d never left Seattle – it was pouring with rain! It still felt nice and warm but we hadn’t travelled all this way to see rain! The taxi ride to Coogee didn’t take long and 29 hours after we left home we had made it to the hotel. A it a early the room wasn’t ready so we left our bags and went to the beach.

As we walked along the beach we saw some strange blue jelly like creatures lying around. As it turns out they are called blue bottles which were like mini jelly fish (prawn sized once peeled) and with a long dark tail – about the width of a piece of string. The string is the part you have to avoid because that’s what stings you – although they can’t sting the bottom of your feet or your hands for some reason. This knowledge, gained from a lady walking along the beach and once informed of this Toby freaked out! The beach was now a very scary place to be!

By the time we discovered this Toby and Harry’s trousers were already wet from running in and out the sea so we decided to walk along the beach, up the cliff at the end and start round the coastal path to Gordon’s beach. If you carry on you reach Bondi but we saved that for another day when we were dressed more appropriately and not sweating!

Throughout this short walk Toby continued to ask if there were blue bottles about, didn’t like the ants and was generally scared of everything. Australia clearly had a funny affect on him as spent the entire two weeks being a big girls blouse!

We were still waiting for our room to be ready so we walked back through the small town of Coogee which was very similar to a English seaside town. It had a bit of a run down feel about it but at the same time, unlike English seaside towns, it had some fab looking coffee shops, bars (which children are allowed in!) and restaurants. As we walked the streets we reminisced about kebabs, Indian takeaways and proper bakers with real loaves of bread! Yum!

As it was only 11:45am we went to a bar for a drink – Tracy was instantly feeling right at home! Again, it felt more English than American because just after mid-day there were lots of people in their with pints of beer and wine and kids were in there! While having a drink we got the call from the hotel to say our room was ready so we went back and checked out our ocean view room – home for the next 8 days. It definitely was a room with a view.

After unpacking it was time to go get some lunch so we went to the Black Pony and had some lovely crispy chicken, snapper and fries. All separate dishes, not together. After leaving there it was next door for some stocking up on bread, fruit and wine for the room and an ice-cream for dessert for the boys.

With our goods deposited back at the hotel and toby still scared of blue bottles we decided to spend the afternoon down by the pool. A lazy afternoon was required and well deserved – even if I do say so myself. After some sun and a swim it was back up to the room for showers and watching some TV lying in bed.

At 7pm the first few Tracy snores began. By 7:30pm the boys were out for the count and by 8pm it was a room full of sleeping people.

Who would have thought packing/travelling could be so stressful!? Who would have thought that I would have to make last minute dashes to Sports Authority because I just didn’t have the right trousers to travel in!? Imagine how high my stressful levels went when Sports Authority didn’t have the trousers I was looking for. In the end, after much mocking from Tracy, I managed to select some trousers about two minutes before we were meant to leave, only for Tracy to then have a last second panic about her jeans – she couldn’t find the “right” ones! What a pair – people not jeans!

Having parked the car and taken the bus across to the airport we then had some time to kill and what better to do than shop and eat, so we did both. Although I had made my trouser selection I did manage to find just the pair I was looking for at the airport! So without further ado, I tried them on and bought them. Trousers sorted.

After a quick pizza and wrap snack, we were soon boarding our Virgin America flight. It was a pretty uneventful flight. The boys played on their DS’s, Tracy read and I watched the moving map for two hours. The highlight was seeing the Hollywood sign up on the hill as we flew into LA. even amongst the enormous sprawling mass that is Los Angeles it still stood out bright and clear.

On arrival at Los Angeles we collected our bags and then walked around to the international terminal. Although American airports are totally rubbish, it has to be said that LAX has improved a lot since Tracy and I last flew out of there – about 11 years earlier returning from our honeymoon. Improved, but still no Heathrow Terminal 5 and definitely not enough to keep us busy for the six or so hours we had to wait until the Sydney flight departed.

After dropping our bags, we walked round the 4 or 5 shops and then decided that the best way to spend time was sat in a restaurant eating and drinking. We managed to drag this out quite well and it clearly wasn’t an unusual thing as the waitresses were ok with us ordering a round of drinks, then waiting a bit. Next we ordered a starter, then we waited a bit. The boys meals were ordered after that and then another round of drinks. Unable to drag it out any longer we ordered our food.

With food duly demolished we left the restaurant and went through security. On those odd occasions that you wouldn’t mind a long security line there wasn’t one. We were through in next to no time and only had about three more hours to kill! Most of that time was spent listening to Toby saying “I’m bored”, “how long until we board”. In the end, as Harry sat reading the Hobbit, Toby was given the iPad to shut him up. At the sight of Toby being allowed to play on an electronic device Harry immediately put the Hobbit down and grabbed the DS and that was the rest of the wait sorted for them.

Tracy had a mooch round the couple of shops for a while and I changed into my new trousers (perfect travelling trousers may I add). And then we just sat and waited, listening to foul mouthed Australians and thinking how awful it a going to be stuck on a plane with them for the next 15 hours. Fortunately these particular ones were not sat near us so Harry and Toby didn’t get to learn any new phrases!

It’s nice going on holiday but it has to be said it is a right pain getting there and this was a particularly tiresome set of travels!