Sunny Sydney

Sydney Cityscape 

My first flight of 2013 saw Perth disappear beneath the clouds and Sydney appear on the horizon.
I had had a little trouble with booking somewhere to stay, but was saved by some extreme generosity and spent my first night in the city in the lap of luxury...my own room...at the Sydney Hilton! I dont normally post photos of the places I stay, but I thought this was worth sharing! I also found the coffee and cake to be mighty fine!

Having been properly spoilt I managed to find myself a good backpackers to stay in and set about a little sightseeing. Fantastically I was able to meet up with a few friends in the city and so really got to work the tourist angle and see lots of the fun things.

I was especially entertained when a friend in the states messaged me to say a friend of her's also from Northampton was in Sydney and that we should meet up and hang out.. So we did!

Hannah and I, explored the city, ate Kangaroo Pizza - it gives you a real spring in your step! And managed to get $25 tickets to the Opera House to see Blaze - http://blazetheshow.com/uk/ - We had a lot of fun!

Off to see Blaze with Hannah :)

I walked over the Harbour bridge, not the bridge climb though - that was super expensive! Drank coffee from Toby's Estate - excellent suggestion Rob :) Visited Sydney Hillsong (Hi Sebastian) and watched the sunset from Mrs Macquaries point (Thanks Laura).

From Mrs Macquaries point...

I also took the ferry to Manley where I was able to chill out on the beach as well as take the coastal path to the North Head look out and some pretty impressive cliffs. It was nice to get out of the city just a bit, especially as the whether was ridiculously hot on a few of the days I was there. I thought Perth was hot, but so far Sydney's 41c reigns at the top of my travel thermometer! (Blaze was right!)

But, this is/was it...my final stop in Australia, tomorrow I'm flying to Auckland and will go in search of Hobbits - a good thing really as the duck has finally found me!!
(Darling Harbour, summer festival madness! All just a little random)

I'm a little curious to know who owns the bath big enough for the giant duck...

The Augusta Experience.

Welcome to Augusta

Each year some of my Aussie family pack up and head to Augusta (3 1/2 hours south of Perth) to set up camp and while away the hot sunny December days until it is time to welcome in the New Year.

My new home!

So, as I was visiting them this year it seemed only right to join them! We (me and Kiren) drove south from Mandurah, stopping in at Bussleton Jetty and taking a little stroll in Karri forest too. We made it to Augusta armed with 2 chairs and an Esky! Our tent was already set up and we were a stones throw from the water... life on site was very chilled!
...Although if I got bored there were also lots of very cool children to hang out with during the day - especially cool when they take you and show you their secret base! (Win!) 




The days drifted by and in the evenings we sat outside enjoyed a nice cold drink and chatted til late.
I also discovered...
1.Don't forget your bottle opener.
2. Always bring chocolate for cousin Tim!
3.Try and remember which tent is yours..or it can be a bit awkward!

Me and Tim - If we lived closer there would be adventures!

Having spent 6 days and 5 nights here I have to say that this is the life!
In case you ever consider heading to Augusta I would just like to share a few key things with you...
What not to miss whilst in Augusta -

Uncle Glyn and Aunty Isobel at Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse - was a bit breezy!

A trip to the Colourpatch - I didnt say the service would be good, of that the place would be open, but the coffee is good and it's part of life here! You should also get breakfast at the Bakery (or if you get up a bit late maybe just raid the bakery van as it does its rounds on site!) You MUST chill, after which you should do a  bit more chilling. When you have recovered from that you should spend a day or two on one of the amazing beaches and take a trip to the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse. Enjoy a Vanilla Slice perhaps whilst sitting in the van listening to John Williamson? Have another coffee or more at the Jewel Cave cafe...(I never made it into the cave, but apparently they are great!). I did go to Boranup Forest to wander through the Karri trees - awesome! Oh and I dont know how often this occurs, but you might find yourself sharing your toilet cubicle with a tree frog (a camera shy tree frog at that!) - So, yeah..I think that covers it!

Another beautiful beach...

Would I recommend the Augusta Experience? Too right I would! Shame it it so far to go...still, if I start saving as soon as I get back...

Creature comforts

It seemed wrong to visit Australia and not see some of it's wildlife, I spent a few days with my cousin Clare and her family and whilst I was there we went to the Zoo so that Ruby and Joe (her 2 children) could introduce me to a few animals I should know! Below are a few pictures of some of the cool creatures there!

They quite liked me...or maybe it was the food?!

The Snow Kangaroo?

Shh, Koala Sleeping...

Run!!

Hello Possum!

Well, I'm off camping now... but I'm pleased I will know what to look out for whilst I'm out in the wilds!!

An Aussie Christmas!!

So...An Aussie Christmas eh, what does one of those look like? ...

Happy Christmas Everyone!!

Well, I hope you all had an amazing Christmas, I definitely did!
It was a completely different experience being here in Australia, but I like it. I also had two Christmas days :)
Christmas day 1 was on Christmas eve, the sun shone and we headed over to my cousin Tim's house where we all jumped in the pool and somehow or another I ended up being attacked by 8 children?!! I like to think I held my own, but it is pretty hard when so out numbered!
Following our morning swim we all went in convoy to my Uncle and Aunty's house and enjoyed a huge Christmas dinner. Quite different, but sitting outside in the sunshine, tucking into a huge dinner and enjoying ice coffee afterwards was definitely great. I missed the annual lighting of this Christmas pudding and it was very odd to be sitting in my shorts in 30c ... but being around family made this a really fun day!

Trust me, I know how silly I look.. But, so much fun!!

Bring on the waves!

On the 25th itself, we (Kiren and I) decided that a Christmas morning on the beach would be fun! However, a breakfast of coffee, fruit toast and ice cream were required  and I also got to open a few presents and cards that some pretty awesome people had sent from home for me!

After that there was nothing for it but to head to Silversands. As you can see from the photos we dressed for the occasion and made the most of a beautiful day!

I'm not sure I will opt for the same plan next year, but the crazy Christmas hat was hugely entertaining.

Following our morning out we headed back and cooked a very tasty steak for dinner...(not Kangaroo this time) We relaxed in the afternoon and then headed back to the beach to catch the sunset... :)

A beautiful end to an awesome Christmas!

Arriving in Oz

I'm here!! I've made it ... AUSTRALIA!!
Sunshine, beaches, family, fish and chips and yep, a coffee or two from Dome!

My cool cousin Kiren and one of her girls Mia!

I flew into Perth and now have 3 weeks to chill with my rellies! I'm loving catching up with family, playing on the trampoline, going to the beach and then watching Christmas films!! I'm not sure how I will spend Christmas, but it will be warm and I'm fairly certain I can leave my hat and gloves in the bag, crank up the Christmas tunes and go for a swim in the pool!!

Downtown Perth

On one of my first few days here, I went to explore Perth with my cousin Kiren and her kids, we had lots of fun, jumping on the train from Mandurah, eating dim sum, checking out the city and enjoying a walk through Kingspark. Will update you more soon but for now I'm back off to find the trampoline!

Kingspark.. no really! :)

Singapore Sling...

So, three months have somehow vanished and I've made it to Singapore..my last stop in South East Asia and the end of my travels with Sharon. Having spent longer enjoying the islands on our way south we had just a day and a half in Singapore. It turns out that this was probably about right as the weather was unbelievably humid and the rain showers frequent!

The city has changed and grown quite a bit since I was last here and the rather unusual building at Marina Bay (the picture below) was definitely new... I'm not convinced I like it!

Really...a boat???!

We crossed the Helix bridge, walked around the bay to the Merlion, who still keeps a watchful eye on things from Merlion Park. To avoid the torrential rain we sheltered in Chinatown, enjoyed a little chinese food and went in search of souvenirs! Shopping...

It is rumoured that everyone in Singapore loves to shop and judging by the number of shopping centres/malls here that may well be true. Orchard Road is the place to be, so that's where we went... although we were off not to shop but to see the Christmas lights! It is beginning to feel a lot more Christmassy now, although buying an iced coffee to enjoy as we weaved in an out of the lights is really not so much like home at all!

So large I couldn't fit this tree in one picture - I could however go inside it!

 Our final stop was Raffles, time to reminisce about the last few months and sit back and enjoy a Singapore sling! Tomorrow I fly to Australia and Sharon flies home...