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With very little sleep on our flight from Singapore to Sydney, we walked up the road from our hostel to meet two very special guests...It was finally time to see mummy and daddy! We wandered around the city centre catching up on all the news, the stories of bad weather and sharing our travelling tales (that I probably had already mentioned on various social media applications eg. offexploring/Facebook/Skype/whatsapp)! The next day we visited the beautiful botanic gardens in the sunshine and got terribly burnt, including my dad who later on in the week had peeling (facial) cheeks! We spied the iconic harbour bridge through the palms and we were immediately excited. The view of the harbour from Mrs Macquarie's chair on the edge of the water was breathtaking, as you could see the shining opera house, the harbour bridge, the rich suburbs to the north and the captivatingly huge cruise ship occupying most of circular quay. We then walked to the opera house and towards the first inhabited area in Sydney, The Rocks for the discovery museum, the Ken Done art gallery and a typically Australian beer at the Lowenbrau brewhouse! It had been a great day, so great we almost forgot why we were in The Rocks- to go up the Harbour bridge pylon. We ran to make it in time before closing, and managed to get a full 30 minutes at the windy top with more amazing views over the harbour, the shiny white opera house and the city itself. Just to wear my parents out even more we walked over the bridge for yet another perspective of the circular quay.
The next day we escaped the city and took the ferry to Manly, which was an attraction in itself. We hired bicycles and road along Manly beach past the national surf competition and beside the creek. We then walked along the coastal walkway to Shelly Beach, an almost empty cove with the clearest but coldest water, which I've come to learn is standard in Australia. Behind the cove the 2 hour coastal path took us up through the bush covered headland, which had great views of the pacific and northerly beaches. We passed many birds and lizards, and a couple of signs saying beware of the bandicoots. Almost back at Manly pier we came across two more empty and beautiful coves. Only in Australia would this happen.
So the three days of sunshine was too good to be true, and instead rain and clouds took it's place. Thankfully our trip to the blue mountains was not spoilt, as the clouds were just high enough to see the vast jungle covered valley and the three sisters, and then take the terrifying glass bottomed cable car to see Katoomba Falls. We walked through the jungle and took the steepest railway in the world (made steeper by the adjustable cliffhanger seats), which climbed and cut through the rock to the top! On this tour we also stopped off at an Aboriginal show, caught the boat back to Sydney from the Olympic Park and visited Featherdale wildlife park, where we got the token picture of us and a docile koala, saw lots of wallaby's and a cute Tasmanian devil (which looked more like a vulnerable giant mole than Taz himself).
The weather was still pretty dire the following day but we stuck with our decision and took the bus to Bondi. Worst idea ever. The moment we hopped off the bus we all got blown around by the pacific coastal wind which was made especially bad by the rain. My parents even went in search of warmer clothes and came back with ponchos and two matching tourist hoodies sporting the word 'AUS' in giant writing! We saw the infamous Bondi lifeguard tower (if you're a fan of Bondi beach rescue on CBS Reality you would know it!) but the beach did not look like the photos. We would have to come back in better weather. So we wolfed down a warm and comforting Harry de Wheels tiger pie which comes with a dollop of mashed potato, mushy peas and a ladle of gravy on top- Recommended. And then quickly took the bus back to escape the weather, had a rest and then met back up for an awesome thai and a beer tower in thaitown, followed by fireworks in the rain at Darling Harbour.
The weather started to brighten up in time for our Hunter Valley wine tasting tour the next day with Kangarrific tours. This was a great day out, the sun was shining and the vineyards were beautiful. But first we stopped at a wildlife park a thousand times better than featherdale, accompanied by the 'skippy the kangaroo' theme tune. There was noone there and the animals were allowed to roam free. We saw lively koalas that had real character and who actually wanted a cuddle and many kangaroos including 'baby girl' who had been hand reared, who actually attempted to box with an emu in our presence! We then stopped at three separate vineyards to taste about 5 different wines at each. We all decided we like a good semillon (we can say that now we are experts!), a white wine with citrus tones, so my dad bought a few for home. We learnt all about wines, including the fact that rosè is a type of red wine that has had less grape skin soaking time (only a few hours where as red wines have had days)- how interesting! We even stopped at a brewery for some samples (200ml!) and my mum got brave and tried the bacon flavoured 8% beer, which was actually pretty nice and tasted exactly like frazzles! On the way back we were dropped off at the opera house and sat at the opera kitchen for dinner, whilst watching the sunset over circular quay and the harbour bridge. You couldn't have asked for a better backdrop.
The last full day with mummy and daddy was spent walking the 7km coastal path between Coogee to Bondi beach. The sun was shining but the only people we tended to see were joggers and men in the outdoor gyms. The best beaches had very few people on them, including Bronte and Clovelly beach. Most even have free swimming pools too! We even saw a pack of dolphins swimming slowly around the cliff! It took most of the day to do this walk (with only a few complaints), but it had amazing views from every corner and we even had time for a dip in the freezing pacific at Bronte. Bondi beach also looked like the pictures this time, a bustling white sandy beach with tons of surfers. I even saw the Bondi Beach rescue film crew! To finish off the trip we went to the Hard Rock Cafe overlooking the stunning Darling harbour for some cocktails and food that we could only afford because mummy and daddy were here!
It had been a jam packed first week in Oz and we did the best we could to show my parents everything that Sydney and the surrounding area has to offer- despite never having been here ourselves! It was amazing to see them and waving them off was pretty difficult. So to distract ourselves on our last day we took the ferry to Mosman bay, the posh suburb opposite the opera house and did the coastal walk until we reached the outdoor swimming pool, where it started to pour again! We took the ferry and the busiest free 555 bus back with other smelly wet people and cooked our first meal in the hostel now we were poor again- come back mummy and daddy!
It was time for us to leave Sydney.
- comments
Mum Great to recount our trip! I can't believe it went so quickly! But it was so good to see you both! Enjoy your road trip adventure, can't wait to hear all about it xxxxx