Koala&Kiwi

Well, what a holiday, so many new experiences for us and the trip of a lifetime.    Sadly, this was our last weekend, but before we headed home  - more memories to be made. After doing a bit of "office" work and washing we went to Circular Quay and began our day with a coffee at Guylian before heading to the Botanical Gardens. Larakeets kept us amused for a while as they took wrapped sugar sticks out of the pots on the outside tables and enjoyed their spoils once they had managed to get the wrapper off. Naughty birds. We strolled through the Botanical Gardens heading to Mrs. Macquarie's Chair, lunching at the outside cafe where Ibis were collecting food from the ground.                                                                    We sat a while and watched an outdoor  wedding ceremony. I sa...

After late nights, naughty birds and early rising, this morning we awoke at 9.45 to yet another sunny, hot day.   All showered we set off for the 12.30 ferry to Pyremont and the Hard Rock Cafe. After lunch we headed to Westfield and the QVB, originally built as a market the QVB now houses 180 shops and takes up the entire block on George St.   It is here that the Swarovski Christmas Tree is housed, a 24mtr high tree and is decorated with 65,000 lights and 82,000 Swarovski Crystals. Quite a sight. We all wandered around for a while but Jon & Caz went on to shop whilst we headed back on the ferry, later all meeting at Blues Point. We headed home at 9pm and thankfully missed the thunder storm. Quite a sight to see the lightening flashes. The day after, Jon & Caz returned to work and we decided to have a guided our of The Opera House. We did some washing whilst having breakfast and then headed out to Circular Quay on the 10.35 ferry.  Not long after we ar...

Here we are, one of the biggest notable celebrations, New Year's Eve in Sydney, an iconic piece of tv reporting. Here we are, going to be part of it. We awoke early to rain and a dull morning, luckily, it soon burnt off and we had yet another good weather day. A day where people were in the apartment's pool, on the edge of the Bay. Can this really be New Year's Eve? After breakfast, Jonathan cut Neil's hair, I messaged a few people & sorted souvenirs, Caroline got the picnic sorted before we headed off to the garden at 2.00  Up to twelve guests can be invited by each tenant/owner and a list of invited people have to be given to the gate's security person. North Sydney, McMahon Point are sealed off by the Police and people who camped out overnight have to move off from the Point by 3/4.00 am New Year's Day. 2.00pm?  Wasn't this far too early? What we do for 11 hours? Well, the time passed by so quickly and there was so much to do and see and to savour....

No standing still for us!  We awoke at 10.00 - another hot and sunny day, how lucky have we been to have had very minimal rain and what has been the "heavy" stuff has come overnight. Summer clothes all the way, so far. Jon & Caz went out to return goods and we toddled off to "Breadworks", a new bakery with coffee shop attached. We caught the train to Central from Nth Sydney to meet up with Jon & Caz and their friends to have a bite to eat in a pub before moving off to Sydney Cricket Ground to watch Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash League. An experience which is another first for us. I had pink dye put in my hair and had pink painted on my cheeks - well you have to have an "immersive experience"! I shall say that it is an interactive affair with a Snog Cam & Wiggle Cam, Mexican Waves are frequent as is bashing a beach ball around. Good Fun. The game came right down to the last ball and Sydney sadly lost. We returned home by bus and train leaving ...

Well! This was going to be a first for us, Christmas in the sun and what a magical place to be - Oneroa, Waiheke Island. A Christmas that will never be forgotten. Shavari We left the Hotel in Auckland at 9.20 and made our way to the port for the 10.15 ferry to Waiheke, a journey of an hour. Christmas Day - Cheers Another beautiful, sunny and warm day meant that we sat on the top deck to soak up all the views. What a Christmas Eve!! the AirBnB was a short drive from the ferry port and Wow and Wow again, what a place. The owner came to introduce herself and soon it was off for lunch before going to the Countdown supermarket to buy Christmas food and supplies which felt rather weird - not to be shopping on a cold dreary day as it usually can be. Caroline had a comprehensive list and all worked out perfectly.  Lunch was next and sunscreen was brought to the table for us to use. Later in the afternoon we went to the beach and ventured in to the lovely warm clear water. A...

So, Today was our last day in Raglan and we were going to enjoy the prospect of spending our time here. We awoke at 7.15 to the sounds of a group of lads who were packing their two tents and belongings, I was highly amused to see them simply lift their fridge and put it in the boot of one of their cars. We walked into town and had coffee and eggs on toast and enjoyed talking to the cafe owners. All the shops are independents, (even the mini market), artisan, goods are made: clothes, shoes, jewellery, and artisan bakery to name a few. Basically the town's ethos is: Shop local, buy local and enjoy local. A town run by the town for the town. We came across a skateboarding Santa and his Elf, who were inviting folk to take a Christmas Cracker, not to be rude, I did just that on the assurance that everyone contained a prize. Ha! Every cracker contained a business card and voucher for their bespoke skateboards! We mooched around and relaxed by the jetty, watching youngsters divin...