Sydney was magnificent and a cherished part of our trip … special too because of the people we shared the trip with.

On Wednesday (3rd) Kaye, Greg, Mark and Shirley returned to Melbourne … where we would be catching up again with them in a few days time.

Then on Saturday morning it was time to travel to the airport with Alice and Marc to say our goodbyes. Time had come for them to travel up to Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef … and then on to Bali and Singapore before heading home to UK. We’ve so loved sharing parts of this journey with them both, it has been really special … but they must have their own adventures … and so must we – still some tears though. 😂

We had booked into an airport hotel for the night as Tom was leaving that day too, but not till late – it gave us the opportunity to eek things out and spend one last day with him. It was a beautiful day so we headed out to Yarra Bay (where Steve had run the Parkrun that morning) … had lunch in the sailing club and a final swim. The first stretch of water we’d been to in Australia that didn’t have huge rolling waves – it did however have wind and currents …. and so many inflatables … ducks, flamingoes, peacocks, crocodiles, sharks, even slices of water melon … and we watched several of them get blown away out of reach – several dollars down the drain (or out to sea I should say)!

We then had time to kill before saying farewell to Tom … and that time extended as his flight was delayed – yay … we had him for a bit longer (we are the archetypal ‘helicopter parents’). Fortunately the hotel had a relaxing rooftop bar which overlooked the runway – really fascinating … and highlighted the fact that we were all flying off in different directions!! Embarrassingly we escorted Tom to check in (he is very tolerant) and so more hugs and tears later he was through to departure.

And we were on our own again … well for one night … in Sydney. On Sunday we flew back to Melbourne to our amazing buddies – Kaye and Greg … it felt like coming home. 😊

On Wednesday night, Steve and Tom made their way to the Barmy Army pre-test match drinks at the Cargo Bar in Darling Harbour. Alice and Marc were out on their own shopping and sightseeing trip. So I indulged in a ‘night in on my own’ – the first since we had left home in July!!!! And I loved it … didn’t even bother to cook – just ate snacks and watched TV – heaven – sounds crazy but you just miss these simple things.

Steve returned about midnight having had a fun night of Barmy Army drinking, singing and dancing – Tom returned some time later, having partied on with Tim Brooker, a fellow drinks rep from back home. We were amazed when Tom got up so willingly in the morning – the five of us set out for our day at the Sydney Cricket Ground. (I have to say, Tom certainly looked better than Tim looked the morning after)!

Unfortunately rain delayed the start of play … and so an early lunch was declared … this meant the drinking began. Some of us were more moderate than others!! England won the toss again (what a victory) and elected to bat. Although Steve considered this a mistake for England chances it did mean more interesting viewing – watching England bat as opposed to Steve Smith monopolising the day.

SCG is a beautiful ground, some beautiful old pavilions and some stunning backdrops of the city skyline.

Enjoyed the afternoon’s cricket … not as many runs as hoped … but the Barmy Army kept up their spirits.

And then, disaster of disasters, we lost two wickets in the last 5 minutes – Bairstow and Root … AND THEN … we lost Tom (Quelle Surprise)!!!

Tom had wandered off for a last minute cigarette saying he would meet us at gate 7. After a long wait we gave up – we moved on!! Tried to get into the first Barmy Army meet up at an Irish pub … it was heaving … found out afterwards that Liam Gallagher was performing across the road later hence the crowds and singing. We moved on to the Cargo Bar where we met up with Tom, ate and drank and home by 11.00pm for a much needed sleep (especially Tom) 😊❤️

That was our last Ashes Tour attendance … we’ve loved the experience and it’s especially been a big tick off the list for Steve … and he’s enjoyed sharing it with us all. Continued to watch the cricket over the following 4 days on TV – not a great end result – 4-0 to Australia … but there’s always another time!!

We spent many lovely days in Sydney – walking, beaching, sightseeing, even some shopping … but one of the best days we had was a trip out to the Blue Mountains, a recommended experience if in this magnificent city. There had been many planning discussions – Greg had gathered hundreds of brochures, Mark had discussed with their hotel reception, Steve had googled train routes, hop on/hop off bus routes etc. – Kaye, Shirley and I just sat back and awaited instruction!!

So we met at Central Station and caught the train to Katoomba – a pleasant, scenic ride. Alice and Marc had joined us too so we were a party of 8 – (Tom chose to do his own thing, continuing to discover the city areas, inspecting the bars). Katoomba is a beautiful little town with its colonial style properties – full of speciality shops and cafes, and the Art Deco styled Carrington Hotel, built in 1880, a unique heritage property. From here we selected to use the Trolley Tours hop on/hop off bus … and after some refreshment we set off to discover the 29 stops of this beautiful Blue Mountain area. We had already carried out our research and discovered that the ‘blue’ is a result of the moisture from the Eucalyptus trees (which famously keeps the koala bears in a drugged condition) creating a blue haze in this mountainous area.

The bus ride involved some steep climbs in a fairly old bus – seemed at times that we might have to get off and push! And of course that meant steep descents too, sometimes with heart-thumping drops at the side (just don’t look). Stopped occasionally for photo opportunities but kept the bulk of our time for the area known as ‘scenic world’ (or in my words, the land of transport terror – cable cars and a 52 degrees railway ride)!! Alice and Marc alighted at Gordon Falls and did the hour bushwalk to Leura cascades – they said it was stunning – came across a few creatures on the way!!

Scenic world starts with the Skyway ride over Jamieson Valley and Katoomba Falls. Bravely made my way on this great thing in the sky – there was no getting out of it – have to be honest, actually enjoyed it. It was incredible looking down on the ‘tiny’ people stood on the rock levels below, near the Falls, some precariously close to the edges – what is it with backpackers these days!?

From the other side we had an amazing view of the Three Sisters and the Jamieson Valley. (Aboriginal legend has it that three ‘nasty’ sisters were set in rock – so beware)!!

Our route from the skytrain led us through some retail opportunities which we managed to resist and into the queue for the ‘scenic railway. Well, what is scenic about tipping over the side of a mountain into a dark tunnel whilst screaming and cursing is yet to be explained to me!! As we made our way to the front of the queue and witnessed the carriages literally tip over the side of the mountain in roller coaster style, I was all for going back … but oh no, we were just ploughing on with it. When the train started with us on board, it was that impending doom stuff as we neared the edge … I just held onto everything I could and kept me eyes closed … Shirley and I screamed our hearts out … after the initial ‘tip over’ it levelled into a 52 degrees descent and we reached the bottom of the valley in no time!!!

At the bottom we embarked on an hour’s walk in the rainforest – stunningly beautiful – this was the ‘scenic’ I was looking for. A fair few steps and plenty of looking out for all things slithery but a fabulous experience.

Then we had to choose between a long arduous walk up (which Alice and Marc chose to do) or the ride up in the cableway. By now we were all brave (and couldn’t face the 190 steps!) so cableway it was. Very manageable … and scenic views (probably because I actually had my eyes open)!

Hopped back on the bus after this … and by this time the heavens had opened. Back in Katoomba we decided to drop into the Carrington Hotel for refreshment, while we waited for Alice and Marc. Some drinks and shared platters – just the job … and lapped up the history and splendour of this magnificent hotel.

By the time we left the hotel and met up with Alice and Marc it was a full blown hail storm.

So, some soggy passengers made it onto the return train to Central Station, Sydney. Still feeling a little damp on arrival we were pretty indecisive about our next move – should we go home and change? No, we headed straight for an Irish pub – Tom came to meet us there and we ate the most incredible beef and Guinness pies and enjoyed the crack!! Some delays with some of the meals and the pouring of Guinness but all ended well … a great end to a great day. 😊☘️

So New Year’s Eve is our Wedding Anniversary … always a funny day to celebrate as everyone and everything is so busy. We had both only remembered ourselves the day before as we lounged on Bondi Beach … and so made an agreement to skip the last minute shopping for Anniversary cards! But 23 years is not a bad milestone … 2 years till the Silver. I started the day with a trip to church (being a Sunday) – even got to sing some Christmas carols. I had forgotten my glasses though and so had to wear my prescription sunglasses to read the words – felt very self-conscious of the rockstar image I was portraying!!! We had a chilled day, Tom treated us to lunch and then we all started our New Year messages on social media. An early rota for showers was necessary as we had to leave the apartment at 5.00pm – they start celebrating early here!!

All 9 of us had tickets for a party at a Boutique Hotel in Watson’s Bay – this included dinner, free drinks from 6.00-9.00pm, music and dancing and full view of the world-famous firework display at Sydney Harbour Bridge. We ‘ubered’ to the venue and met up with Kaye, Greg, Mark and Shirley there. Once again we found ourselves amongst the Sydney glamour set – beautiful women (and men!) all dressed to the nines! We mingled in quite easily!! At 6.00pm the cocktails were declared ready and we joined ‘the posh set’ in racing to get stuck into the free drinks. Aperol Spritz, Pimms and Prosecco in plentiful supplies. From the offset I felt ancient as young person after young person offered me their stool to sit on (did I really look that wobbly at the start of the night)!? Of course they were very polite and glamorous young people and it was an honour to be amongst them. This was reinforced later in the evening when a lady from one other ‘elderly’ group took the time to come over to us and say “it’s nice to see some other oldies here!!”

The food was absolutely incredible – a shared seafood platter to start – everything from the sea you could imagine.

This was followed by lamb, pork and more seafood (trout and prawns) and then pavlova – it really was a first class meal, all served at the table (no queueing up for buffet -yay!!) And boy did we indulge!! And the wine and beer flowed too – there was certainly no scrimping – so by 9.00pm when the free drinks finished we were more than ready to party.

In line with the ‘target audience’ the music throughout the night was of the electronic funk kind (think I got that right)!! Tom, Alice and Marc sensibly escaped into the crowds after the meal to party 🎉 And us oldies had a go at strutting our stuff – once again the young people around us smiled patronisingly!! Full credit goes to Kaye and Greg who managed to perform their ‘rockabilly’ moves to the heavy drum and base beat!! We didn’t see much of Tom during the evening (who can blame him) but when we did meet up at midnight he had made a fair few friends. We watched the spectacular firework display together – it really was something (a bucket list item I would suggest). Partied on till 1.00am and then it was time to try and find transport home (that old joy on New Year’s Eve)! And the whole of Watson’s Bay was rammed with partygoers.

Luckily they were running free buses – we even managed to get Tom onto it. The downside was that it inched its way home due to traffic. So much so, Tom decided to get off half-way so that he could walk … he got home 6 hours later, fitting in a couple of house parties on the way!!!!

Happy New Year everyone. Hope 2018 brings peace, happiness and contentment ❤️

On 29th December we took a Qantas flight from Melbourne to Sydney … all good apart from the turbulence at different parts of the journey, but particularly on landing!! It was the ‘no hot drinks served for health and safety reasons’ stuff – so we arrived white-knuckled but happy and excited to be back in Sydney. We had arranged to meet up with Kaye, Greg, Mark and Shirley at the airport – they were flying Jetstar but were arriving at a similar time and staying in a similar area so we had pre-booked a large maxi-taxi to accommodate the nine passengers plus luggage. We arrived first and found our friendly driver, our Aussie friends however were almost an hour late … Tom kept the driver engaged in ‘happy banter’ while Steve went off in search … and unbelievably the driver remained absolutely cool – just couldn’t imagine that back home!!

We (the 5 poms!) arrived at our accommodation in Bondi Road, a huge tower block – luckily we were only on the first floor. Inside it was decorated to a very high spec – the shared areas left a little more to be desired, including the lift!! We were met by our host, Anna, a stunningly beautiful blonde Russian girl, with the shortest skirt and the highest heels I have ever seen! The tour included a trip up in a rickety lift to the 11th floor where there was a swimming pool – incredible views over the whole city – bit of a party atmosphere around the pool (not quite our scene). As with all accommodation, there were pluses and minuses – huge comfortable beds and kitchen drawers full of complimentary items such as teas, coffee, hot chocolates, biscuits, chocolate bars, crisps, sweets, cereals, spreads … on the minus side there were no wardrobes! – just a wooden ladder in each bedroom with a few wooden hangers! We were aware that there was only one bathroom but the website had indicated use of two extra toilets – well … they must have been up by the rooftop swimming pool because they certainly were nowhere near our apartment. But we managed, of course we did … some strict shower rotas especially on New Year’s Eve.

It was a fabulous location, a 15 minute walk to Bondi Beach – backpacker’s paradise. Exceptionally busy beach and an area full of bars, cafes, restaurants, shops – over the 8 days we were there we grew to love it. Steve and I pretty much stood out though as we were probably a couple of generations older than anyone else!! We just go with it though – found ourselves a little spot on the sand on the first day – tried to switch off to the Sydney glamour set around us and to the fact that the beach is one big ‘pulling arena!’ Even braved the sea (despite Tom’s scary stories of shark attacks). The waves were incredibly strong and it was quite seaweedy so I didn’t go in far – Steve went further and managed to get himself into a little trouble – found himself suddenly out of his depth and struggling to beat the current to get himself back in. I was waving to him with OK signals but he wasn’t returning the OK. I was aware that the lifeguards were stood behind me talking about Steve, suddenly the one with the fancy bonnet said “I’m going in to get him.” I thought Steve’s gonna love that!! But in the next breath he said “Oh he’s standing now” … I was relieved it didn’t end in a full scale rescue!

And the first couple of evenings we spent in the Sydney Harbour Bridge area … because it’s such an amazing place to be – iconic sights and a great vibe. Steve and I met up with Kaye, Greg, Mark and Shirley there the first night – the younger members of the ‘team’ having gone off to explore Sydney for themselves. When Alice and Mark finally caught up with Tom, he had been wandering all over the city and had discovered many quarters, including 2 hours in the botanic gardens. They sampled some bars in the city area before stumbling upon a rooftop pool party which somehow they managed to get invited into – by this time they had had a fair few drinks so were totally uninhibited by the fact that the partygoers were Sydney’s glamour set and they just blended themselves in … including Tom taking a dip in the pool – a true first night of the holiday experience. Steve and I had a much more sensible first night as it was the Parkrun in the morning!!!

We returned the following evening to the same area because we so wanted Tom, Alice and Marc to see the bridge and the Opera House and of course they loved it. Took a ferry trip to Darling Harbour, had great views of a visiting Cruise Liner.

And this was only the start … we had lots of lovely days to come ….

Footnote: the lack of Tom in the photos is due to the fact that he constantly went wandering … as he does!!!!! 😉

Still catching up on myself.  Just wanted to post up on the blog some further happenings during our time with Tom, Alice and Marc in Melbourne, before we flew off to Sydney for New Year.

Of course there was further cricket to watch and it was (as that point) decent cricket … Steve went along to the MCG again on the 4th day and saw Alistair Cook getting his 200 runs (very proud moment)!  Sadly rain stopped play and the result was a draw. The viewing had been much more chilled though and we could hold our heads high back out in Aussie world again. I have to confess to acquiring quite an interest in our national cricket – if you can’t beat them, join them!!

Had a great night out in Melbourne City – Tom had discovered a good bar on the Yarra River where we ate and this was followed by a rooftop bar crawl – the whole gang, including Kaye and Greg.  A great great city … the guys loved it and definitely want to come back for more.

The braver ones amongst us – that would be Steve, Alice and Marc, took up Greg’s very kind offer of a ride on his pride and joy – (no, not the new fitted kitchen!!) his Harley Davidson.  They each in turn had to get dressed up in the leathers – for safety of course but I’m sure there was an element of looking the part too!!! Tom and I declined!!

Greg also introduced the guys to his other ‘pride and joy’ – his Man Cave!! Steve and I had partied in the ‘Cave’ on our previous visit to Melbourne, it really is quite something to behold. Tom said he had been expecting it to be the equivalent of the shed – the British Man’s escape!! But they just couldn’t believe it, so much to look at, lots of things macho, boys toys, everything you need for a fitness regime, a cool seating area where Greg gathers with his friends for card nights (ETC!!), big boy vehicles!! Tom and Marc were blown away but even Alice said she could live there. Greg spends hours collecting and fixing up his cave – its incredibly creative – loves to water his plants too (when his mates aren’t looking)!! It’s quite a thing in Australia for a man to have this sort of space – I guess it gets them out from under your feet, but ladies, you have some catching up to do!!

Absolutely love Melbourne – we will be coming back here many times. Of course, couldn’t leave this post without pointing out a couple of their local signs.

Just love the graphics!!