Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
The next chapter of Sydney is much the same working full-time and spending Saturday mornings and Sundays to do our exploring. Following on from our last blog around mid July, we enjoyed a weekday meal out one Thursday at Sydney's Chinatown was a gorgeous meal of funky duck and salad and ice cream to finish and walk through the bustling area. The next weekend we had a productive Saturday morning before work at the movie shop together at 3pm. We headed into city to Darling Harbour bought a yearly annual pass for $100 which gives us free entry to 12 attractions around Australia including the Sydney Aquarium and Wildlife centre which is were we spent our Saturday. The aquarium was really cool, they had Little Penguins which was first time we had seen them so cute and adorable. They had massive tanks with thousands of fish, turtles and sharks inside which was so amazing just to sit and watch, like being in the sea with them. The wildlife centre was like a mini zoo with Australian wildlife with a big croc called Rex and a lovely Koala area on the roof with couple of Koala's chilling in the trees and a kickass view over the harbour. Afterwards we also fitted in our first monorail ride across Darling Harbour to the Paddy's market nearby, a market full of souvenir and typical market stalls we pottered around but not for long as the KFC opposite was dragging Gary towards him. The next day, Sunday we hopped on bus to Paddington to visit the Paddington market not far from Bondi, from us Paddington is on the way to the city so 5-10 minutes on the bus. Unfortunately, the market only runs on Saturdays so we ended up going to breakfast at Mickey's cafe we chilled upstairs in a cosy corner looking out onto the street we had a lovely morning, got a gorgeous chai tea and food. We have booked tickets for AFL game Sydney Swans vs St Kilda Aussie rules game and the stadium grounds was just down the road from Mickeys cafe, nice and convenient so we headed out, through the Centennial park which was lovely scenery with great big palm trees passing ANZ stadium and into the Sydney cricket ground. Neither of us knowing any rules or the basics of Aussie Rules we struggled to understand at first but by the 2nd set Gary was picking up the scoring and we figured out the game. It was really good fun the game was neck and neck the whole so the excitement and vibe around the grounds was awesome. Kick off was 1pm and the game finished just before 4, we had good seats in the middle surrounding by lots of Swanny fans :) The weather was really nice, there was spots of rain every now and then with big dark clouds which luckily passed, we didn't want to waste the clear night that was coming so we walked into the city from Centennial parks to the Sydney Tower 20 or so minutes away and with our entry included in our annual pass,we went up the tower and enjoyed the stunning twilight views of Sydney. We were there perfect timing to see the views in the daylight and watch the sun setting and the city light as Sydney switch on. 7pm that night we had an all-you-can-eat Indian Scoopon deal booked in the city, we were greeted with free glass of wine, given choice of 5 curry dishes of which we could eat as much as we liked along with the rice and naans, however we both only managed the one dish, it was very yummy but after the food we were shattered and ready for home.
The following weekend, last weekend in July Gary and me had the Saturday off work we were planning to go on a boat trip and booked weekend off but unfortunately the boat trip was fully booked, but the silver lining was we got free weekend in Sydney. On the Saturday we were up early for a day at Taronga Zoo, got bus from Bondi to Circular Quay then a ferry over to Taronga. The zoo was lovely, we got a cable car to the top and enjoyed good 3-4 hours in the zoo. There was amazing views of the city from the zoo and they had all kind of animals from goats to giraffes, elephants, penguins and a really good seal show. There were a few quirks to the zoo like one enclosure was shared with 2 different species of bears, working intervals in the enclosure hmmmm. We had great weather, rather windy but clear day and the animals were all out to enjoy it, we had a great time. We headed back home for an hour or so to change and have few cheeky bevy's before catching bus to Coogee. Mandy talked a lot of Coogee Bay Hotel and it is also mentioned as a great place for live music and night out so I have been dying to go. Since we actually had a Sat night off we decided to go and make the most of it. We chilled in the massive outdoor area, with a big screen with Olympics showing, heaters and great atmosphere we were there nice and early to witness the sun setting down behind Coogee Beach. We enjoyed our meal and then headed indoors and enjoyed numerous jugs of beer, Tooheys New, our favourite over here. However, after 10pm jugs, shots are all done with :( so we enjoyed some whisky and enjoyed the live band, they were awesome! The lady singer was so so so good, the bar quickly got busy and a lot of dancing was going on so we also got a boogie on. Around midnight ish our flatties Alicia and Mark joined us which was great as it was their last weekend in Sydney before going home. Before we left Mark bought us a round of shots (which had a mixer in, Australian spoil sports haha) and we toasted to awesome flatties, really good night. Sunday we had a lazy morning, one of us was a little worse for wear (Jen). Nevertheless, we headed out for the afternoon to the Rocks area as there was a festival called Aroma on, a festival filled with stalls of tea, coffee and chocolates and random camel rides. We enjoyed the atmosphere and walk around but ended up in a cosy Irish cafe by the Rocks market stalls and loved our afternoon tea, the scones were to die for, freshly baked, warm and soft. That night we continued the cosy feel with having an Indian take-away and movie night on the couch.
Doing the next week, Alicia and Mark left the flat on the Wednesday beginning of August :( very sad to see them leave. The following night, two friends from UK that are travelling around the world were available to met us for drinks down at Bondi beach. I had work until 9.30pm so Gary met up with Faye and Stu for couple of hours and I met up with them later on. Was great to see them and hear stories they had of South America and US. We met again for tea in the city the following night at Star Bar before they got on the greyhound bus up the East Coast. Gary and me headed on that night to Scubar for cheap cocktails and drinks, another awesome night. That weekend, we made it to Paddington market on the Sat morning, which turned out to not be of much interest to us, mainly expensive stalls, we did make most of our morning and had lunch at cafe nearby before bus to work followed by early night. Up early 5am the Sunday to get 7am bus from central to Katoomba fitting in a quick dash to Hungry Jacks for breakie, The train journey is 2 hours to Katoomba, the town of Blue Mountains. On arrival we book daily bus tickets and maps for the day and headed straight to Scenic World. Consisting of skyway, a glass bottomed type cable car across mountain range passing views of Three Sisters, then the steepest railway journey down to rainforest where we walked for half an hour or so, learning about the mining history and enjoying the rainforest. Then another cable car back up to the top of the mountain range, totally awesome! From there we got our shuttle bus to Gordon Falls, the journey took us through the town Leura, really quaint, English looking town with quirky ice cream parlours and little shops. At Gordon Falls we headed out to the viewpoint over the Jamieson Valley and we decided to spend the afternoon walking along the Blue Mountain National Park passing through waterfalls, various viewpoints and Cascades up to Echo Point where the Three Sisters are. We walked right up to the first sister. After all the excitement and walking we headed up to the Three Sisters cafe for afternoon tea, taking in yet again the stunning views over Blue Mountains, before having a sneaky beer in Katoomba before our train home. We got home around 7pm enjoyed a hot shower and massive Big John Burger take-away watching the Olympic Marathon through London, before collapsing in bed.
Following week, Gary and I had our usual weekly cinema date on Tuesday however, we thought we would try out Max Brenner, a chocolate restaurant chain over here in Australia. Oh my god I wish it was a chain in the UK, the menu is all puddings, pancakes, waffles, chocolate fondue which we opted for and counter full of cakes, brownies you name it. The fondue came with two tubs dark and milk chocolate with marshmallows, banana, strawberries and banana bread to dip in, heaven!! I had the Friday night off and so met Gary from work and headed to our usual Scubar for cheap drinks which ended up being quite an early night. Saturday morning we got bus to Rocks to pick up some aboriginal paintings we ordered from the Rocks market before getting a ferry across to Fort Denison, a little island with a history and a lovely restaurant where we enjoyed an a la carte lunch which was gorgeous. The next day, I was feeling a little off so we had a nice relaxing Sunday, enjoying having flat to ourselves, watching movies, cooking breakfast. That afternoon we walked in the crazy hurricane wind to Westfield, had a little shop around the shops before drinks in cinema bar before Magic Mike (random very weird movie) then a lovely meal at Kelly's bar and grill, one of our favourites.
Wednesday 15th August to Friday 31st August I went home to UK for my parents Ruby Anniversary and renewal ceremony as a surprise for my Dad and family. I did intend only staying a week but changed my plans for an extra week. I had a great 2 weeks spending time with the family, getting to go to my beloved Sainsburys and see friends. Gary, however, stayed in Sydney working his job and helping at with my hours at the movie shop, bless him. Luckily by the second week we had new flatties move in so he had some company :) New flatties are Ocean and Dean, another Irish couple, really nice and easy going couple which is great, shame we wont get much time together as Gary and I are leaving Sydney in only 4 weeks now for Adelaide.
- comments
sheila lorraine another great blog, just love the way write just as you speak. miss you both. Sheila xxx