We packed up our apartment in Terrigal and took off around 9 am on Thursday 16 January. The rain was just starting as we drove out of the secure car park and it quickly became heavy…and then it became biblical…and, as we joined the motorway it was downright dangerous. We couldn’t see the road ahead and we pulled off at the first opportunity to a service station. We sat there for a while but there was no sign of this abating any time soon – but it did start to ease enough for Richard to be confident in driving again. So we headed back onto the motorway and carried on. This was supposed to be a seven hour drive anyway so not exactly the best start to the day. Suddenly the torrential rain started again and this time there was thunder and lightning thrown into the mix – think they call this a supercell storm and we pulled off the road again. We found a local KFC as this would, at least, give us access to toilet facilities. We weren’t happy when an UTE pulled in alongside us and, in her hurry to get out of the rain, the blonde airhead whacked our door with hers…. I needed the loo so quickly got out – checked the door (couldn’t see any obvious damage) – and headed into KFC. OMG it was like Armageddon as I came out and looked across the main road, to see water bubbling up from the storm drains and it was flooding the roads pretty quickly. So we needed to get out of here quickly before becoming stranded! We drove on and, as we pullled away, we could see that flooding was going to be a serious issue for the residential properties very soon.
Relieved to be leaving that behind we were delighted when the weather cleared up a bit and the rain started to ease. We pulled into the next service station to get fuel to find all the pumps cordoned off…we used their facilities anyway and got a couple of wraps for lunch…to find that the station had been hit by lightning and that’s why the pumps were inoperable. It was a pretty big storm if the size of the hailstones were anything to go by as reported by Higgins Storm Chasers,
Luckily for us we still had half a tank we were just using this opportunity to change drivers. So I took over and continued north towards Byron Bay, our next destination. The rain continued on / off all day and we finally arrived at our Air BnB at 7pm. We found the cul-de-sac easily and the apartment – which was actually a loft apartment / granny annex in the bottom of the proprietor’s garden with separate access. We had stopped off at the bottle shop on the way and picked up some provisions at the grocery store too so had an early night after a long and quite challenging nine hour road trip.
Friday morning we decided to explore and headed first to the lighthouse. We were lucky to get parked about two thirds of the way up the hill and walked the rest. The forecast was for dangerous surf in the region and boy was the area getting pounded…. Was really hot so we stopped at the cafe for a cold recuperative drink before moving on.
Next stop was Ballina – this has an inlet which is notorious in big swells – so we wanted to walk the sea walls and have a look. OMG the sea was raging and this would not be a day to either enter or leave this area for sure – absolutely treacherous. We bumped into some locals who knew someone in London and did we know them?? It’s amazing how many times we get asked this type of question LOL. No concept of how heavily populated the UK is.
After Ballina we headed to the hinterland and enjoyed a walk around Bangalow – quite a historic old town. Very charming and we enjoyed checking it out.
Afterwards we headed towards Mullumbimby for the Crystal Castle and Shambhala Gardens This is like a theme park for crystal lovers and it is home to the largest natural crystals where we did actually sit in an ancient amethyst cave.
We wandered the tranquil gardens too, including a Kalachakra Stupa (sacred monument to Tibetan Buddhists to represent universal divinity). This is unique in the Southern Hemisphere and only the seventh in the world. We span the beautiful brass prayer wheels and walked around the stupa to lend wings to prayers of peace. Felt quite serene.
Check out some of the huge natural crystals which are allegedly the biggest and most beautiful crystals in the world.
We also visited the Peace Dome and joined in on a healing meditation session where we listened to Crystal Singing Bowls being played which was fascinating. All very zen LOL.
Moving on we returned to Byron Bay and visited the historic Northern pub – which was very very noisy and the live music wasn’t to our taste. We then found Woolworths to pick up some more supplies before going to the Tree House for dinner followed by a short walk along the beach before returning back to our loft.
Saturday we headed to the town of Mullumbimby and found it was market day. So we parked up and wandered through checking out the ‘magic people’ along the way. So this was full of hippies – young and old alike – and we were even offered blue methylated spirits by a couple of people LOL. In the middle of the stalls there were two guys playing live music so we grabbed a coffee and sat down to watch them.
Sadly very quickly the rains returned and we headed back to the car. Such a shame…. This didn’t stop us though as next stop was Scarabelot’s lookout where we watched the clouds scuttling across the sky.
Having left the countryside behind we headed back to Byron Bay and wandered around the main drag Jonson Street. Not a lot going on – lots of tourists like us – but didn’t quite have the hippy vibe that we had been expecting. Oh well, guess places change over time. We walked to the Beach House Hotel on the promenade and enjoyed a drink with snacks and live music. Afterwards we went to main beach to have a look but found it very busy. Of course the rain returned again so we headed back to our loft and had a quiet night in doing the laundry!
Sunday morning we awoke to a kookaburra singing away on our fence outside the door. Love these birds! We had decided that this was going to be “a sitting overlooking the beach” kind of day but, of course, the minute we got parked and found a bench to sit on the rain started again. What a shame!
So back to the apartment we go…. I decided to use the unexpected free time to write the Terrigal blog. In the evening we returned to the Tree House for dinner – good food and a great happening place, very popular with locals, tourists and backpackers alike. Was a good evening – Richard was very good and let me have a glass of wine whilst he was the designated driver. Arriving back we had some wine in front of the TV before climbing the stairs to bed. Had been a good last night in Byron Bay, just a shame that the weather didn’t play ball for our time there.
In the morning we were moving on again – returning to Queensland after a two and a half year absence – to Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast. Bye for now and come back soon for the next part of our Australian adventure.
Thursday 9 January we were up early, packed, had breakfast, paid our bill and drove to Terrigal on the Central Coast away from the beautiful Blue Mountains. It was still drizzly but not too bad. We deliberately drove via the mountain roads rather than via Sydney and I drove most of the way this time but felt nervous about close quarters and parking the beast so handed over the reins to Richard just before we arrived in Terrigal.
I enjoyed driving this vehicle but found the wing mirrors a bit too large as they impeded visibility at times….we arrived just after 2pm, just in time to check into our Air BnB apartment. We found the key box, located the secure car park entrance we needed to find our allocated space inside the multi-storey apartment block, parked up, located the correct lift block and headed to our apartment. This was lovely! Very modern, fresh and spacious with separate kitchen, bedroom, wet room, utility room, lounge, dining area and balcony (overlooking the Crowne Plaza hotel). Very nice too!
We emptied the car and then headed out again to the local supermarket for some shopping. We didn’t realise that our nearest Coles supermarket was actually at the huge Erina Fair shopping mall so we enjoyed the familiarity of returning to the place. Back to our apartment we decided not to go out for the evening so had a basic dinner of jacket potato with beans and cheese for tea. Wanted something simple…. We then spent the rest of the evening vegging out in front of the TV (which we had forgotten was pretty dire with lots of UK repeats / programme copies). Oh well, never mind…
Friday morning we headed over to Avoca Beach – our favourite in the area – but it was a bit drizzly so we checked out the Surf Club and enjoyed watching the surfers / life guards in action.
Afterwards we headed back to Erina Fair for more shopping – this time our mission was to pick up some desserts for the evening as we were going over to see Hayley and her family for a BBQ. We had never met her mum, dad or nan (Heather) so that was great to see them, along with our great nephews Jack and Adam too. Heather has been a supporter / follower of the blog for a long time so it was nice to see her in person, especially as she is now 93 years old! What a great lady….
Was a lovely evening and we enjoyed checking out all the renovations that had been done to the house since our last visit – the new kitchen, the pool, the new furniture in the lounge, newly redecorated walls etc. The changes were stunning and made such a difference to the house. Looking forward to staying there again at the end of our trip in March. Budd remembered his best friend Richard so got the zoomies a couple of times but otherwise he was pretty well behaved LOL. While we were there we picked up our shade tent which we had left in the garage on our departure in May 2022. So we were now equipped for the beach again…yay….we just needed some sunshine LOL. After leaving the BBQ we headed back to our apartment and had a final glass of wine in front of the TV. Well final for me, first few for Richard as he had been the designated driver.
Saturday morning – Happy Birthday to me! Had a leisurely start (after opening my cards – thanks to everyone that was organised enough to give them to me in advance) – eggs on toast for breakfast and then headed to the beach as the sun had finally come out! We were well equipped with shade, drinks and sun tan lotion and had fun. We both got a bit of sun but found it very intense. Our UK factor 30 suntan lotion really wasn’t up to the job so we need to get a stronger one next time we are out and about. After a few hours we headed to the surf club for some nibbles before returning to the apartment. We had a leisurely afternoon and did some laundry.
Later on we walked to our favourite Indian restaurant The Grand Palace and met Jamie there. We caught up and enjoyed sharing our birthdays together for the first time in many years (his was the previous week). Was really lovely. Afterwards we headed back to our apartment for a nightcap and so to bed. Had been a great day.
Sunday we were having a lay in when we could hear this alarm going off…..evacuate now….evacuate now…. We honestly thought it was the hotel across the road but when I went out onto the balcony and saw people on the street below (as well as fire engines) realised it was actually our building! We opened the apartment door, got the full force of the tannoy announcement, vacated and found the emergency stairs. Got downstairs onto the street – grateful to be only on the 2nd floor – and were given the all clear pretty quickly. Phew! That was an unexpected start to our day. Have to say the alarm was not a sound either of us had heard before which is why it didn’t register immediately…very strange noise….
In the afternoon we decided to go on a Terrigal pub crawl – wandered down the promenade admiring the beach (which was much narrower than from memory) and then went to the Caribbean rooftop bar, Mumbo Jumbos. Bit of a grubby place to be honest but they served cold beer and we could watch people below so it fitted the bill….
Leaving that behind we headed to the Beach House which is part of the Crowne Plaza. This was really busy and had a live band so we stayed a while. Was great….
Later on we returned to our apartment across the street and had dinner at home.
Monday morning we were out shopping again – picked up some factor 50+ suntan lotion – and went to Avoca beach again. This time we were getting constant warnings about bluebottles (jellyfish) in the sea from the lifeguards. We did set up the shade tent but also went for long walks as well in the sand watching out for the tiny jellyfish which resemble Portuguese man-of-war with their ‘sail’ and have very long and thin stinging tentacles, looking for all intents and purposes like a cotton thread – impossible to watch for in the surf although easier to spot on the beach. Not nice. Lots of kids were getting stung and there was no way I was heading into the surf without a wet suit LOL.
In the afternoon we headed back to the apartment having had enough sun – the sand was so hot it was impossible to walk on without shoes – and had a quiet afternoon doing more laundry, Richard also vacuumed the car and the apartment while I did the Blue Mountains blog.
Tuesday morning we got up early and headed over to pick up Adam and Jack. They are still on school holidays so we had offered them a day out of their choice. Well, they had chosen a two hour Splash and Slide Dolphin Watching cruise which departed from Nelson Bay at 12.30 pm. This was over a two hour drive from their home so we left at 9.30, having first deposited food in the fridge for dinner later, and took off. Richard was driving and it was challenging in places because of all the varying speed limits – we really don’t know what constitutes the difference between a 60 kph and a 80 kph road other than the changing sign to warn you. NSW is very sneaky with speed cameras located in unmarked parked vehicles alongside the road with little or no warning so Richard was trying to keep within the limit at all times although Jack (who is a budding petrol head and now learning to drive at 16 years of age) was now commenting too. Poor Richard – getting suggestions / comments from two of us – and Adam just went to sleep as he is a tired boy most of the time LOL. And that’s without the dangerous behaviours of some of the Australian drivers – no courtesy shown, don’t look before pulling out in front of you (resulting in one emergency stop to avoid a collision) and constant ‘undertaking’.
On arrival in Nelson Bay we were very lucky to find a long-stay (9 hour) free car parking space and went for ice cream. We then boarded the boat and were overtaken by a huge Arab family group pushing for space, Luckily we were able to get seated at the bow on this large motor catamaran so took our places and weren’t going to give them up for anyone LOL. We sat tight as we pulled away from the dock and headed into the bay…. It was pretty windy so didn’t really feel the sun so it was lovely.
Eventually dolphins were spotted in the shallower water and we watched them for a while. Everyone was pretty excited to see them but, of course, we were pretty blasé having watched dolphins play around our bow on Morphie on numerous occasions. So nice that we saw a them but shame that they were so far in the distance.
The crew then picked up a mooring ball and deployed the boom net and the slide. Jack decided not to go in the water declaring it too cold – I was never going to do it to be honest – Adam and Richard thought about it but the whole area was rammed, so they decided against. Oh well, never mind…
After a couple of hours cruising around we returned to the dock and got off. Jack was hungry by now – and we know that most places close their kitchens in the afternoon – decided it would have to be a fast food place so we could guarantee service. So we headed to the nearest KFC, placed our order and sat down. Jack wanted to eat in the car not inside the restaurant but we over-ruled him – as we didn’t want the smell nor the potential for mess inside our hire car. We then lived to regret that decision because the Arab family came in and the boys ran amok – including one lad who was so tubby he had an overhanging belly and moobs without a shirt on. This actually offended me when I’m trying to eat and I was seriously hoping the young manager would ask the family to ensure the lad was appropriately attired but, no, everyone seemed very nervous about this big group spending a fortune on a mountain of food…. Oh well…just confirmed Jack’s view that these places are not nice LOL (although he enjoys the food).
We packed up and headed back home with the boys who by now were flagging and snoozed all the way back. On arrival I took over the new kitchen and cooked us all a lasagne and made salad for dinner. We had a nice evening before heading back to Terrigal for pontoonies. And OMG did I get burnt to a crisp on this trip….everyone else was fine…just me! Clearly I need to learn how to apply suntan lotion LOL
Wednesday was sadly our last day in Terrigal and we had a few admin things to do – first was to renew our Medicare cards (required by our travel insurance policy) – this usually involves a difficult session at the local office but I found a get-around online – so tick, all done. Richard needed new flip flops (or thongs as they are called here) and had his eye on a nice pair at the Ripcurl store just down the road….so we headed down there and purchased them. So he now has a pair for ‘best’ LOL.
Later on we spent a few more hours on Avoca Beach before returning to the apartment. Having got ourselves cleaned up we then headed out to meet Jamie for a Thai dinner and to say our farewells for now. Lovely time together as always. We had to curtail it though as a big thunderstorm came through and we wanted to get back. On arrival back in Terrigal we stood on the balcony and watched this incessant lightning all around…pretty impressive to say the least….
So that wraps up our time in Terrigal – so bye for now and return soon for our next instalment of this Australian adventure.
Monday 6 January we left Sydney behind and, in a Tesla Uber (first for us), we headed to Mascot to pick up our hire car. The driver dropped us off and, heading into the office, we realised that this was not Ace where we had made the rental car reservation. Luckily it was only across the road so we manhandled our luggage to the correct office. A really useful woman helped us with our reservation and we were delighted to find that our car was ready for us (30+ minutes earlier than booked). We did the paperwork then headed out to load up the car – a white Toyota, a Corolla Cross SUV, which is a hybrid (not a chargeable one). So a different driving experience for sure and was a bit larger than we had been expecting.
The vehicle was in good order and we worked out the controls and took off towards the Blue Mountains with Richard behind the wheel We knew the check in at our hotel was 3pm but decided to drive directly there first….we arrived at around 1.30 pm, parked in the car park and I headed into reception. Luck was on our side for the second time in a day, as our room was ready! So picked up the key and returned to Richard and we got our luggage installed in the room.
As it was a lovely sunny day we headed out to explore and went straight to the Three Sisters viewpoint – but struggled to get parked. Eventually, having gone around a few times, we picked up a metered parking spot and were not impressed to have to pay $8 for two hours….welcome to tourist Australia! We enjoyed checking out the rock formations – absolutely stunning scenery all around – before finally, having had a restorative ice cream to recover from the heat, we headed back in the car to the Katoomba Falls.
We followed the path and came across the Falls which were small but pretty nevertheless. Leaving the scenery behind we headed into town to pick up some supplies at the supermarket followed by an excellent Thai dinner in Katoomba high street having been fleeced for more parking fees. Back to the hotel we enjoyed the spectacular views from the terrace with a glass of wine watching the rain clouds build over the hills…. The bar guy was a trainee, according to his badge, and although incredibly welcoming and friendly he was tortoise-like in his delivery LOL.
So back to our room for an early night and we were watching TV in bed (surprised to be able to get UK news channels) when the lightning started. So we turned every thing off, drew back the curtains, and laid in bed and watched the show. Then the thunder started…this was going to be a doozy! Oh, and of course, we had really heavy rain to accompany it. We snuggled down and, eventually, fell asleep to the sound of the angry weather.
Tuesday morning it was raining, hard, and the clouds had descended upon us. So we had a leisurely breakfast (which wasn’t so good sadly although the fat toast was superb) and then decided to stay put. And although breakfast was included in our room rate, barista coffee wasn’t, so got grabbed by the wait staff as we left for a measly $3! Felt this was a bit swingeing as we had a few more days – if they had explained we would have happily signed the chit on another occasion. The trainee waiter told us everything was included and we could have whatever we wanted! We decided to stay put in the lounge area and I started on the Sydney blog. Later on we decided to go out – feeling a bit stir crazy – so headed to another small historical town Leura. We managed to get parked easily (along with another expensive meter cost) and got soaked walking around the corner to a small cafe. We had a coffee and muffin and decided to return to the hotel. This was not a day to be out and about for sure – it was really quite cold.
In the afternoon we lounged in our room – I finished and published the Sydney blog – before getting ready to go to dinner in the hotel restaurant. We weren’t expecting too much after the average breakfast but the menu was good so we went straight in for main courses. Richard had beef cheeks and I had shoulder of lamb. Well, it was absolutely fantastic – especially the creamy mash sides! We also met a nice couple on the adjoining table who were from London, Ontario, and had stopped off in the Blue Mountains before travelling to Melbourne for the tennis. We never got offered deserts – shambolic inexperienced service just about sums this place up – so left for the night.
Wednesday it was still raining although not quite as heavy and as we were above 1000 metres we were inside the low clouds. Here we are checking out the view LOL.
We decided to head off to Scenic World which is a bit like a theme park – we started by talking to the animated dinosaurs at the entrance which was fun. Some of the kids were quite frightened by them surprisingly.
As the park had only just opened for the day there were few people around so we wanted to go on the Skyway first across the ravine – having purchased waterproof ponchos to keep us a bit drier and warmer. Obviously we couldn’t see a thing…what a shame! We wandered around for a little while on the other side before catching a return trip back to base.
Then we went on the train which is the steepest cable-driven funicular railway in the world, with the steepest incline an astonishing 52 degrees. Passengers embark on a thrilling, unique journey in the 84 seat glass roofed red train carriage. The train travels through sandstone cliffs, through a rock tunnel beside the tree covered Orphan Rock, before emerging to stunning panoramic views of the lush, ancient rainforest
The railway line was originally built to service the coal mine – when an entrepreneur decided to build a carriage for guests that could take people up and down on a weekend with tea, scones and cake at the bottom. This was for the princely sum of sixpence which was a large sum of money back in 1928. This was before decimalisation of course so at that point this was half a shilling of which there was 20 to the pound. And yes I’m old enough to remember this changing to 100 (new) pence to the pound back in 1971.
The train was fantastic – a very strange angle to climb into with the tilted seats – and Richard pushed the button to have a ‘cliff hanger’ ride which tilts the seats even more! Felt very smooth at the start then suddenly we are tumbling down between rocks…cliff hanger was the right word LOL.
At the bottom we decided to walk through the rainforest on a loop which incorporated Dinosaur World. Obviously all animated LOL. The elevated boardwalk path was great and we enjoyed checking out all the trees as we wandered around. It had stopped raining and, because we were in the bottom of the ravine, we were no longer visually impaired by the clouds either. We reached the end of the path and returned to the main area via the cable car – again nothing to be seen. At the top we had a coke and sat down for a while to rest the weary legs after quite a lot of steps, stairs and slopes. Having met a new friend in the main reception area and Richard had a silly half hour LOL.
We decided we wanted to ride the train again as this was the best experience by a long way and this time we did the cliff hanger ride up and straight back….going up backwards looking down the cliff was very unusual to say the least.
Anyway, after this we headed out to Wentworth Falls….and could see nothing! Here is our best picture of the day checking out the scenery LOL.
Richard was determined to see the Falls so he took himself off on a hike down the hill leaving me at the top in the rain. He was gone for more than 40 minutes so I was starting to worry a bit – he had the Australian phone with our data plan and the car keys – so I was pretty useless if anything had happened! He came back, soaked through, and puffing a bit – said the walk was much tougher than the information boards had led him to believe. But he did make it to the bottom and got some shots of the waterfalls which were quite pretty.
We then headed back to the supermarket for more supplies as we had found a really nice NZ Sauvignon Blanc for $10 a bottle which was a bargain….so wanted to get some for our next stop which was an apartment in Terrigal on the Central Coast.
Back at the hotel we were both wet and cold so headed to our room for a restorative hot shower. Got cleaned up and went to the lounge – we didn’t fancy the posh restaurant again – and decided to have a bottle of wine with some bar snacks. We ordered a club sandwich each and played UNO. Eventually after quite a wait the sandwiches turned up. They were supposed to come with string fries but instead it was huge fat chips…that’s fine prefer them anyway…but the sandwich was not the triple decker we anticipated. So it was toasted ciabatta, cremated fried egg, burnt and dry chicken schnitzel, tomatoes, lettuce and some unrecognisable mayonnaise. This was not freshly made (despite the time taken) and it was horrible! We picked at it and ate bits – my chicken wasn’t as bad as Richard’s – but felt very disappointed by this offering. So clearly the chef can do fine dining but nothing else! What a shame for our last night in this beautiful historic hotel. We finished our game of UNO (and yes I won) and headed back to our room.
So that finishes the blog in the Blue Mountains – come back soon for the next instalment. Bye for now, Jan
Sunday 30 December we were picked up by Alison at 3am to head to Heathrow. Thankfully the fog that had blighted airport departures/arrivals in recent days had started to disperse. Arriving in good time for check in (even allowing for the additional hour required for flights travelling to the Middle East). We were straight onto the machines (having already checked in online) but the machine said ‘no’ and we had to wait for a human to check our documents. Finally we were given the all clear to go to the baggage drop machines which was quick and simple and we were finally free to clear through security. Security queues were minimal and we were delighted that new scanners had been installed at Terminal 4 at Heathrow which meant that we didn’t have to decant most of our belongings to go through the scanner (including the electronics and liquids).
We then headed to Costa Coffee before making our way to a seating area where we waited for our gate information to become available. The airport was pretty quiet so it wasn’t too much of a struggle sitting around waiting…..once we were informed of the gate number we made our way there….only to find there was in fact a 30 minute delay to our flight (although relieved to find the plane parked there in readiness). Finally we boarded and we were very happy to have secured upstairs seats on the double decker A380, 2nd row back in their small dedicated economy section (just behind the business class bar). Much better than being in the main body of the plane downstairs in rows of economy seating which means usually that your choice of meal is unavailable by the time they get to you LOL. So we settled in quite happy for the first six and a half hour flight. Unfortunately the woman in front of me was pretty inconsiderate in that she preferred her seat reclined, even during meal service. This pattern continued throughout the flight and I just had to suck it up! Eventually we landed at Doha and disembarked…we found the Red Bar and purchased their cheapest bottle of wine at £53. Wow! But actually considering Qatar is a ‘dry’ country suppose we were lucky to be able to purchase alcohol at all LOL
After a couple of hours we made our way to the next gate to rejoin another A380 aircraft. Again, happy to be 2nd row back in the upstairs economy compartment. This journey was also somewhat marred by the irritating German woman in front who appeared to be unable to manage her seat controls – so it was up, back, back, back, back, up, back throughout the 14 hour flight. At this stage I have to ask why me??!!?? LOL
We arrived into Sydney and got through immigration quickly using the e-Gates and, after retrieving our baggage which took a while (although with the Apple tags we knew they had arrived in Sydney with us) we headed over to the red channel to clear customs. If in doubt you declare everything in Australia – they are pretty hot on everything – so we declared our tea bags, our prescription medication and our packet sauces (as we intend to self cater throughout this trip). Quickly we were cleared and off to exit the airport. We booked an Uber to bring us direct to the Rocks area of Sydney which was to our base for the next 7 days. We arrived, got checked in, dumped our bags in our basic but completely acceptable en-suite room and headed to the roof top bar to check out the view. This did not disappoint although the wine selection was awful! Anyway, after a very long travelling time (28 hours door to door) we didn’t linger for too long before heading to bed.
For those wondering where this gem of a place is…well sit down prepare for a surprise…it is the Sydney Youth Hostel, The Rocks. Not the sort of place we would usually stay but getting a room with a view for New Year’s Eve in this area is very difficult.
After a really good night’s sleep, we woke up reasonably early and headed to the breakfast buffet – basic but adequate – and met some Australians who lived in the country who had come here to watch the fireworks too.
We headed out with a shopping list of things to do – the most important was to check the credit on our Opal cards (which we had from last time) so we could use the transport system here in Sydney. But this became insignificant when we realised that we had no internet coverage so couldn’t use our phones to navigate around the city LOL. Way too expensive to use our UK plan here so the need for a local SIM became the number one target. We walked for miles…it was very hot and humid….and the crowds were building. At every turn we increasingly came across security checks and areas sealed off for the NYE event….and there were security officials and police everywhere. So after scrambling through crowds we called it a day and returned to the sanctity of our room. Amazing that by 12 noon many public locations to watch the fireworks were at capacity and people were being turned away. Can’t imagine waiting 12 hours or longer sitting around on blankets for the event to begin! Complete madness.
At around 6.30 pm we headed to the rooftop bar, received our wrist bands, enjoyed our complimentary first Prosecco of the night and found somewhere to sit. At which point the food started circulating on platters….sushi, oysters, tiger prawns, satay, beef sliders, curry puffs….which continued to be served throughout the night. We knew the NYE party (which was included in our room rate) said that food was included, but this was exceptional in both quality and quantity.
Around 8pm a male singer / guitarist started on his set and he was amazing. The youngish crowd were keen to engage and the dance floor was full….despite the music being more our era. Check out the crowds below us lining the streets…..and the tall riggers all lit up for the party…
Anyway, around 8.50 the guy took a break and the countdown started for the first fireworks of the night at 9pm. These were noisy, amazing, inspirational and emotional all at the same time. This was bucket list stuff….and it wasn’t even midnight yet!
After these we enjoyed listening to the guy again and chatting to our neighbours – who were from Lincoln here to explore the East Coast by renting an RV up north (Cairns) to drive back towards Sydney over a 11 week period. We discussed problems with securing house / travel insurance that we had encountered in trying to put this trip together which, thankfully, we had both overcome but agreed that it had been a more difficult process than it should have been!
At 11.50 pm we were each handed another complimentary glass of Prosecco and made our way to the rail in preparation for the big show. At midnight, the church bell rang and the city exploded before our eyes – the noise was something else – and the smoke created was significant. We could also see people on privately owned penthouse balconies doing their own thing…guess that would cost more than a lottery win LOL. And they had the same view as us!
Anyway, as you can probably tell, we would recommend this place for New Year’s Eve festivities. It is not as cheap as its name suggests but considerably less than the 5-star swanky places around whom don’t even have a rooftop bar for guests to watch the fireworks…..So win win for sure.
New Year’s Day we were back out on a mission to get our list completed – but, of course, it is a public holiday so many stores were closed. First stop was the Hat Shop where we picked up some nice breathable matching ones then jumped on the Big Bus for the Hop on Hop Off City Tour. We managed to get seats on the top deck and enjoyed the breeze but the hard moulded plastic seats were incredibly uncomfortable.
We didn’t particularly want to visit any of the stops as we realised that we had seen much of this the last time we were here. Feeling uninspired and very hot and bothered we got off the bus having done the whole loop and started walking. We found a supermarket (closed), couldn’t find a Telstra store that was open (for the SIM card) and having got our Opal cards sorted we returned to the hostel on the train network. Enjoyed the historic Museum station…
We went to a local old pub for an early dinner and, realising just how tired we were, went back and crashed. Another 10k steps day in the bag…phew! Finding this a bit challenging in the heat and humidity as my legs still hadn’t recovered from the long flight.
Thursday 2 January we finally found a Mall that was open and had a Telstra store. So SIM card purchased and Coles supermarket visited, we headed back to the hostel. We picked up their WiFi and got our Australian SIM up and running. Was very pleased to be connected again LOL.
At lunch time we went back down all the steps to the Fortune of War pub – Sydney’s oldest – where we had agreed to meet Ernest and his son Jack. Thought Jack might be shy around strangers but he wasn’t and completely embraced us (literally at times LOL). As it was a cruise ship day the area was rammed so we picked up Ernest’s van and headed out on a drive around. First stop was a famous pie shop Harry’s Cafe de Wheels which was opened (originally in 1936) and then again in 1945 near the Naval Dockyard in Woolloomooloo when Harry Edwards realised that it was impossible to get good late night food anywhere in Sydney. The wheels came because of a by-law at the time that food trucks needed to move 12 inches each day to remain legal – so it was dutifully moved every night to comply. And it serves amazing pies / hot dogs etc….in fact the day we were there we had to queue up for at least 10 minutes. And yum….probably the best pie we’ve had in Sydney….
Moving on we headed to Rushcutters Bay (which is the location for the start of the Sydney to Hobart race) and where Ernest and his family had been based prior to their circumnavigation when he was a child. Very brave back in the day without all the things we take for granted now like GPS etc and his parents were complete novices. Ernest never lost his love for the ocean and now lives on his boat SV Crossbones. We originally met him in Cuba and multiple times in Queensland during the covid restrictions. Such a great bloke and, as this was the first time we saw him with one of his sons, we realised he was a great father too….
We continued down the coast stopping at various bays and coastlines admiring the scenery – interesting to drive through some very affluent neighbourhoods and some not so…. We travelled beyond Bondi Beach and continued following the coastline trying not be pranked by Jack along the way LOL. Oh yes and admiring how a Ferrari managed to smash into someone’s property in the middle of the afternoon.
After a really nice visit catching up with Ernest he drove us back to the hostel – thank you guys for a great tour – and then went to the rooftop bar for a BBQ. It was nice but chilly so we decided to have an early night. We did try to buy a bottle from the bar to take to our room but was told that this was against the rules so definitely not allowed. Guess they don’t want people partying in the rooms…and there can’t be one rule for a couple of oldies sharing a private room versus a dorm full of backpackers.
Friday 3 January we went out and about and decided to explore by Ferry….so took the 90 minute trip to Parramatta. The river was nice to check out but, because of the height of the tide, we couldn’t get under the final bridge and had to get a bus replacement for the last 10 minutes or so. Arriving into Parramatta we went for a wander into the mall and that was about it. We headed back to the quay to find a huge queue waiting for the first ferry of the day…we managed to get onto the boat when it arrived noticing that it had dropped its navigation lights on the top deck to get under the final bridge. The water level had dropped but not significantly…
On the return trip we got off early at Darling Harbour and had happy hour Indian beers and snacks for a late brunch. Lovely it was too…. We then walked back up the steps (and there are lots of them in the Rocks area) to the hostel, got cleaned up, and headed back down to the quay to meet Richard’s ex-NDY colleagues in the Cruise Bar on the dock. The scenery was marred by a huge ship but, not long as we all met up, it departed so the Opera House came into view again. Sam and her parents (who are currently over from the UK visiting) arrived first shortly followed by Margaret and her husband and young son. Her husband and son left us shortly afterwards having done the introductions and left Margaret with us. `It was a lot of fun as they all caught up on their respective news….
Saturday 4 January we explored again using the train / tram network – this time we headed to Chinatown and eventually ended up in Paddy’s Market which was good as I needed to buy a pink hat (explanation later LOL). Afterwards we had some Chinese street food before returning to Darling Harbour where we had a couple of beers watching the acrobats who were running a training school during the Sydney Festival. Lots of fun! We then walked back to Circular Quay and had a drink in a lovely Turkish restaurant before heading back up to the hostel for the night. All those steps!
Sunday 5 January we were up early and got kitted out all in pink to go to the cricket. This was the final test between Indian and Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. This was held at the Sydney Cricket Ground and all monies raised were for the McGrath foundation which is a cancer charity (hence the pink). And boy was it a sea of pink! We used the light rail network to go from Circular Quay to Moore Park. On arrival we met up with my nephew Jamie and one of his son’s Adam. Was lovely to see them again after such a long time….
It was such a fun atmosphere and Australia needed to bowl India out so they had the target for the day. The match started well for Australia – the crowd were completely engrossed – and we had to learn lots of Aussie slang and hand signals for fours as well as take part in Mexican waves. We had lots of Indians in the audience too and the noise of the drums and musical instruments was pretty loud. Finally Australia were batting for the cup……and the crowd got louder and louder LOL. Eventually at around 2.30 pm the final ball was bowled and Australia hit a six. The crowd erupted. This was the first time that Australia had won the cup for 10 years! A historic moment and we were there to see it. So grateful to Jamie for inviting us along to be part of this day. Plus the Foundation raised over 6mn AU $ too….amazing!
Although sitting in full sun for much of the day in 38 degree centigrade temperatures was pretty brutal – and even though we happily indulged when the men came round with sun tan lotion for all and water refills we still managed to get a little crisp in places….my neck got burnt between my bandana and my blouse. Damn….
After the cricket we headed back on the Light Rail to Circular Quay – was like a commuter day in London LOL. We were enticed back into the Cruise Bar by a really good two piece band – the girl had an amazing voice and her rendition of Amy Whitehouse was as good as any.
But it was dead….nobody around….perhaps all the cricket fans peaked too early LOL?? Anyway we decided to check out the Rocks to see if we could find somewhere to have dinner before returning back up the hill. We ended up in Munich Brauhaus which was strange but fun. We had a reasonable meal and bottle of wine before retiring. Pretty early by our standards because we had to pack for our morning departure.
Monday morning we checked out and stayed in the hostel whilst we chatted to some young British backpacker women who were all travelling solo. One of the best things about being in the hostel was mingling with such a variety of guests of different ages / nationalities and backgrounds. Anyway, so that wraps up our stay in Sydney – come back soon for the next instalment of our Australian adventure.
