Melbourne, Wollongong and Sydney

Wednesday 18 February 2009



12/02
The morning is gone quickly as we have to take a plae at midday so we do a quick shopping in Alice Springs around town then drive to the airport, we dsay bye bye to our fun 4WD then it is a long flight back to Melbourne.
We pick up the new car, the last one here, we will then use public transports, and back to our little hostel in Melbourne. We spent the eve watching tv and I eat lots of nutella!!Naughty me...nice to chill out and do nothing...

13/02
We sped the morning in the Queen Victoria Market, the mother of all Melbourne markets. I leave quiuckly as I decided to do the cheesy Neighbours tour!!Yes!!!! Fab goes to the barber, gets his hair cut, then shops for a bag in the Crumpler factory. I have an OK time, atching the sopa set, meeting some member sof the cast,. seeing the street, the famous Ramsay Street!!How cheesy is that!!!
WWe met aain around 6.30pm whee we leave Melbourne and reach Albury at 11.30pm. Such a logn drive to reac Syden, going to taketwo days....We find a motel as we are too tired to drive more. We need to be in Wollongong at Amy and Dion's on the 14/02. Luckily enough, we get a nice room at discounted price, nice t have a bit of luxury: an esnuite bathroom!!
We reflect on the bushfires, we saw the desolation, the consequences of those horrible fires in the north of Victoria, desolated empty burnt lands, very depressing...

14/02
We leave the motel around 10.30am, drive all day along the Hume Highway. we do a little stopover to see Jervis Bay under the pouring rain, one of the most stunning spot in east coast, white sand and blue water apparently...We found everything grey and it is a bit depressing!! We see some dolhins in the grey sea...nice! We drive off to Wollongong to Amy and Dion's. Amy is a friend of Fab from wor, and she moved back to Oz a year ago. We meeet up with Baby Sofia. We hae an amazing dinner, Dion is a real chef! The house is beautiful and it is nice to be with friends in a home. we are only 82 kilometres south of Sydney.we chat, drink and eat until 2.30am, we talk about travelling, life, baby, Oz, etc. A relaxed time for us!

15/02
We have a good morning, very chilled, we ae being pampered, Dion cooks us some pancakes, with fresh fruits and honey. It is pouring rain again, funny to be in Oz and see so much rain, remindsus of London!! But it feels very tropical here if a little cold. We chat till 2pm, then make our way to Sydney. Was so good to catch up and be in a home, and be looked after!!
It rains the wole journey, we just have time to go and see the Sydney Harbour, the soul of the city. We get a glimpse of the Sydney Opera House, such an icon in Oz and the nice Harbour Bridge, built in 1932. We then drive over the bridge to Tanya and Mike's in an affluent northern suburb, Mosman. Tanya is our friend Cara ' sister, so nice to be welcomed in another home!! It is a beautiful Federation house. We meet up wit the kids, William and Lara then have a nice dinner, finding out more about themselves, their experience of Oz, quite inspiring. Again nice to be with people in a very homely atmosphere.

16/02
We start the day, relaxed, doing our washing machine and chatting with Mike about life here, we then drive off to Bondi Beach. Bondi Beach is one of Australia's most famous beaches and among the world's most well-known beaches!!Funny to go there! Miraculously the weather cleared up on another one of Sydney's icon and we get to see it with a bit of sun...won't last tho!!It is a cool place, shabby chic, a great beach with impressive waves. Lots of surfinghere, surf life saving was started in Australia and the Bondi Surf Bathers' Life Saving Club was formed in 1906. We sart the long coastal walk from Bondi to Coogee along the clifftops via Bronte where we have lunch in a lovely cafe. We see may swimming baths, panoramic views, big waves. But is now pouring rain again and badly, we are so wet!We fight with the wind. How funny to be in of the sunniest spot of Oz under the rain! we watch the rain, the sea, we talk about sharks, a shark attacked a surfer here yesterday, almost severing one of his hands. It was one of the first reported attack in 80 years on Bondi!!
The walk back is exhausting, we are wet and a bit fed up!!!We stop over at the skate park (weather cleared up again on Bondi!!!), Fab feels he wants to ride again, nice to watc tem , they are really good! We observe the joggers, there are so many of tem, eery body is fit and healthy, running around the bach, impressve!!!A real cliche but a nice one...people go running before or after wor, the beach lifestyle seems nice. We go back home and have a nice dinner with Tanya and Mike, nice to be with people, to hear about their experience here as expats. Bed time.

17/02
The morning is very relaxed, we have a chat with Mike, then he drops us to the ferry, we ride to the city, it is nice to be on the water, there are great views of the Opera House, the bridge, the harbour, nice. We decide to do a bit more visits ad walk around the Rocks, the site of Sydney's first European settlement, many old buildings, wharves, old pubs...nice walk in an interesting part of town, we learn about the history, the wharf workers, te bubonic plague in 1900, the construction of the bridge. We then walk to the Opera House along the waterside, it is such an amazing building from every angle, there are so many tiles, it feels light, airy and so ahead of its time. Revolutionary really and such an incon in the landscape! We both reflect on how architecture can influence the feel and vibe of a city, defining it deeply. We have a light lunch close to the water, then we take a ferry to Manly, despite the bad weather ad grey clouds. Nice ferr ride, atching the water, the beaches, it is a really nice laid-back suburb with great views of the city, the harbour and apparently an amazing coastal walk to do but we are unlucky and it starts pouring rain so we rush to get the bus and back to Mosman to get our car back. We drive to Epping where our friends Nadia and Keith live. so cool to see them in their place, we spend a great eve, chatting, catching up, remembering our trip to the Cook Islands, Keith bbqued for us and it is great to be together. Late night then off to bed!

18/02
We have a good breakfast and time with Keith, then we drive to Newtown on the way to the airport, it is a nice suburb, edgy, trendy, with many shops and restaurants...a good bohemian vibe...nice litte stop before rushing to jump in a plane, we are now off to Cairns to do our diving course!

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

hello guys- watching with envy. Heard youre spending some time with NIgel!!!!!

fantastico. Hope youre happy. Miss you loads

francis