Australia! - Part two - Sydney.

Having left Hong Kong we flew on to Sydney.  I don't think until you've flown over Australia for HOURS that you begin to appreciate just how big it is.  Having flown for hours we arrived tired and then faced our first big challenge.  How to fit 5 suitcases, a buggy, 4 adults, a baby and all our small bags etc into one car.

The car was an Audi Q7 which is a lovely car, 7 seats plus boot space which we increased by folding the extra 2 seats down but packing it was a nightmare.  If you've ever had one of those puzzle boxes filled with bricks of various shapes and sizes that you empty out and then have to work out how to put it back together you will get the idea!

A tip for anyone in this situation - move the middle row of seats forward - we worked that out AFTER we'd been in Sydney a couple of days and it made things so much easier!

Great, the car was loaded, Becca nominated me to drive, all we had to do was go.  Or it seemed press the START button in the car.  Right?  Wrong!  Well you do have to press a button (no key required) but you also have to have your foot on the brake pedal or it's not going anywhere.  Who knew?  Not me.  We eventually found someone from the car hire office who enlightened us.  And finally we were off and navigating our way out of the airport to our first Air B & B.  Thankfully Australians drive on the same side of the road as we do and the signage is very similar, that plus a satnav in the car meant it didn't take us too long to get there.  We'd also arranged an early entry into the house as it was still only mid morning.

We were staying in Bronte Bay which is a beautiful location and the house was lovely and roomy.  We had 8 nights there which was good because it gave us time to recover from jet lag, do our sightseeing and also have some down time when needed.

The highlights were some lovely coastal walking - we walked north from Bronte Bay  up to Bondi Beach.  We also drove south and then Nick and I walked back while the girls drove.  We explored the city centre, relaxed in the Opera House Bar, catching up with 2 of our nephews who are there now.  Nick and I also caught up with an old school friend of his.  Gerry and his family emigrated when he was 13 and Nick hadn't seen him since.  They'd made contact recently on Facebook and we caught up with him while in Sydney.  We enjoyed a meal out with him one evening and then he took Nick on a pub crawl and on the Saturday we visited his home and met his wife, Leonie.  They live in Ramsgate, a suburb to the south east of the city.  We also took Nathan to the aquarium, visited Watson's Bay and Manley. Here are a selection of the many photos we took.  Coming soon, part 3, Blue Mountains.

Nathan enjoying the Aquarium

Catching up with old friends

Pub crawling

The obligatory Opera House & Bridge shot

 

Nephews meeting Nathan

The house garden welcomed many birds every morning