Bernie and I toured around the city and loved the fact that there is a vast river network with smallish buildings dotted along the banks, instead of the massive high-rise blocks which sit imposingly along the Thames... the water is also blue not brown!
We borrowed one of Phil and Margaret's (our very good friends and hosts for the 12 days) iPhone and a highlight of the trip for me was using the map function to navigate (and watch a virtual navigation on screen) around the city!
Xmas morning with wife and baby - living the dream!
This cool lizard stood eating the insects that swarmed around us as we took its picture - everybody's a winner... except the insect I suppose!
Despite swimming as regularly as I could, I have still managed to put on 5 kilos over Xmas - not as young as I used to be! Some much needed cloud too!
Xmas breakfast consisted of large shrimps and smoked salmon with bread whilst the temperature soars!
Phil was the maestro and cooked ham, turkey, veggies and of course yorkshire puddings for us all whilst the ladies panicked for some reason!
I helped a little at the beginning and end - preparing and then hacking into the Ham, which is still being consumed by the extended family as of Jan 5th!
There were heaps of Cockatoos and (flaming!) Galas around the suburbs out to the west of Sydney where Margaret's parents live.
Xmas day - we needed regular cooling off sessions in the paddling pool! By the end of the day it got really warm and Phil and I were taking running dives into it!
The Opera House was much smaller than I expected, it was also beige and not white like pictures show it... impressive nonetheless.
The Sydney harbour bridge was as big as expected and we wanted to do the walk over the top arch (see the ants walking up the left hand arch?!), but obviously not a good idea when B is 24 weeks pregnant!)
There is so much for the tourist to see - we pawed over the Opals in an Opal museum (even significantly reduced they were still out of our budget!). We loved the Navy ship and Submarine parked alongside:
We cruised around the city and were impressed by the clean and compact place which is easy to scoot around as tourists.
Our favourite Sydney beach was Manly. Our travel card enabled us to ride on the buses, trains and ferries which weave all around the city and is vast water network. Manly is to the north of the main city and takes about 10 mins to get to. Despite this, it is clean, not too busy and has a great holiday atmosphere - not like Benidorm by any stretch!
It was rather contrived looking at the typical Xmas tree when its over 30 degrees and there are palm trees in the background, we had to have a photo!
This cool lizard stood eating the insects that swarmed around us as we took its picture - everybody's a winner... except the insect I suppose!
Despite swimming as regularly as I could, I have still managed to put on 5 kilos over Xmas - not as young as I used to be! Some much needed cloud too!
Xmas breakfast consisted of large shrimps and smoked salmon with bread whilst the temperature soars!
Phil was the maestro and cooked ham, turkey, veggies and of course yorkshire puddings for us all whilst the ladies panicked for some reason!
I helped a little at the beginning and end - preparing and then hacking into the Ham, which is still being consumed by the extended family as of Jan 5th!
There were heaps of Cockatoos and (flaming!) Galas around the suburbs out to the west of Sydney where Margaret's parents live.
Xmas day - we needed regular cooling off sessions in the paddling pool! By the end of the day it got really warm and Phil and I were taking running dives into it!
The Opera House was much smaller than I expected, it was also beige and not white like pictures show it... impressive nonetheless.
The Sydney harbour bridge was as big as expected and we wanted to do the walk over the top arch (see the ants walking up the left hand arch?!), but obviously not a good idea when B is 24 weeks pregnant!)
There is so much for the tourist to see - we pawed over the Opals in an Opal museum (even significantly reduced they were still out of our budget!). We loved the Navy ship and Submarine parked alongside:
We cruised around the city and were impressed by the clean and compact place which is easy to scoot around as tourists.
Our favourite Sydney beach was Manly. Our travel card enabled us to ride on the buses, trains and ferries which weave all around the city and is vast water network. Manly is to the north of the main city and takes about 10 mins to get to. Despite this, it is clean, not too busy and has a great holiday atmosphere - not like Benidorm by any stretch!
It was rather contrived looking at the typical Xmas tree when its over 30 degrees and there are palm trees in the background, we had to have a photo!
So we celebrated with a monster ice cream... well we each had a big ice cream and the picture happened to overlap!
We managed to meet up with Joanne (Bernie's cousin) and her boyfriend Sven a few times which was really nice. They live West of Sydney and spoilt us with more fine wines and food!
We visited Bondi beach on Xmas eve. Bars and restaurants flow onto a big sandy beach with pounding surf... unfortunately we didn't have time for me to try surfing... I was quite relieved!
I had a swim, but it was survival rather than swimming! The pictures don't do the swell (or me!) justice!
Xmas day and the Adnams was flowing - Phil had managed to find two cases of the beautiful brown nectar for us to enjoy over the festive period along with the odd case of wine! Bernie and baby enjoyed a small glass of Champagne too!
We ate our sumptuous Xmas dinner with the blinds shut and air-conditioning on full blast in order to escape the 35 degree heat!
The blue mountains are inland from Sydney and are named for there obvious colour. The three columns in the foreground are called the three sister and have importance to Aboriginal culture - as does the whole region. Although it has similarities to the NZ bush, it is much more arid and filled with poisonous things for us to want to venture out for days on end as we do in NZ!
An awesome blow-hole which spurted water some 50 metres into the air!
We managed to meet up with Joanne (Bernie's cousin) and her boyfriend Sven a few times which was really nice. They live West of Sydney and spoilt us with more fine wines and food!
We visited Bondi beach on Xmas eve. Bars and restaurants flow onto a big sandy beach with pounding surf... unfortunately we didn't have time for me to try surfing... I was quite relieved!
I had a swim, but it was survival rather than swimming! The pictures don't do the swell (or me!) justice!
Xmas day and the Adnams was flowing - Phil had managed to find two cases of the beautiful brown nectar for us to enjoy over the festive period along with the odd case of wine! Bernie and baby enjoyed a small glass of Champagne too!
We ate our sumptuous Xmas dinner with the blinds shut and air-conditioning on full blast in order to escape the 35 degree heat!
The blue mountains are inland from Sydney and are named for there obvious colour. The three columns in the foreground are called the three sister and have importance to Aboriginal culture - as does the whole region. Although it has similarities to the NZ bush, it is much more arid and filled with poisonous things for us to want to venture out for days on end as we do in NZ!
An awesome blow-hole which spurted water some 50 metres into the air!
We headed down to coast about 150km to a remote bay with Maraget's sister Kat and her fiance John joining Phil, Margaret, Bernie and I. It is very quiet and boasts the worlds whitest sand (which squeaks when you scuff your feet!). Here's Kat, John and Margaret having a dip to cool off!
There were dozens and dozens of gorgeous parakeets hounding people for food. There are signs instructing people not to feed them as they become dependent on people and many die in winter, but that didn't stop people!
The trees were filled with them too!
We had so much sun and plenty of beach time on this holiday and we are so indebted to Phil and Margaret for all they did for us whilst we there there, but it is always nice to come home!
Since arriving home, I have attacked the relentless lawn and weeds in the garden and have attempted to wear the Bobby (who is fully fixed) by taking it up mountains on my bike. Bernie has been pottering around the house, making it right again after our house sitters left. We are waiting for our midwife to visit us. She visits once a month and checks B's health, answers questions, signs us up for ante natal classes and best of all, listen to baby's heart. Bernie and I have both dreamed that we're having a girl, but I think we're having a boy still... 15 weeks to go (hopefully!)
The trees were filled with them too!
We had so much sun and plenty of beach time on this holiday and we are so indebted to Phil and Margaret for all they did for us whilst we there there, but it is always nice to come home!
Since arriving home, I have attacked the relentless lawn and weeds in the garden and have attempted to wear the Bobby (who is fully fixed) by taking it up mountains on my bike. Bernie has been pottering around the house, making it right again after our house sitters left. We are waiting for our midwife to visit us. She visits once a month and checks B's health, answers questions, signs us up for ante natal classes and best of all, listen to baby's heart. Bernie and I have both dreamed that we're having a girl, but I think we're having a boy still... 15 weeks to go (hopefully!)Happy New Year to all who know us - whilst you're all so far away, we think about family and friends constantly.
Here's to an awesome 2011!
Love from Chris and Bernie
Love from Chris and Bernie
I love chrisandbernie.blogspot.com! Here I always find a lot of helpful information for myself. Thanks you for your work.
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