Blogs from Central Coast, New South Wales, Australia, Oceania
September 17th 2011
Frank und Janet fahren uns zur Central Coast (im nagelneuen Be-em-doubel-u) und zeigen uns einige wirklich schöne Strände und Gegenden im Norden von Sydney an der sogenannten Central Coast. Lange Sandstrände wechseln sich mit Klippen ab. Eine wunderschöne Gegend, aber leider zu wenig Zeit um alles in Ruhe und mit Muße zu genießen. Es gibt so vieles zu sehen, und unsere Gastgeber wollen uns möglichst viel von der Schönheit ihrer Heimat zeigen. Wir essen zu Mittag in einem wunderbaren Restaurant mit toller Aussicht auf einen der Strände – wo es wieder einmal wunderbares Seafood gibt. Weiter Stops in wunderbarer Landschaft folgen – soviele, dass wir uns leider nicht mehr an all die Namen der Orte erinner können – daher können wir die Geheimtips leider nicht weitergeben. Schließlich sind wir plötzlich wieder „zu Hause“ wo wir geschafft ... read more
Returning "Home" to the Central Coast
Published: August 3rd 2011Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Central Coast
July 31st 2011
The main reason we decided to venture down under again this summer was to visit with friends who we haven't seen in nearly 5 years. We got lucky with the winter weather and enjoyed our trip "home" tremendously. Alex continued to be a wonderful world traveller and woke up singing, "it's plane day!" We grabbed a leisurely breakfast, then loaded the car for the airport. Alex enjoyed the quick flight (an hour) and we managed to track down our rental car fairly easily. One of our best purchases of this trip was the GPS. We navigated through Sydney without incident and made our way north to the Central Coast. Alex grabbed a quick nap while we enjoyed the familiar scenery. We knew we had arrived at our friends' house when we were greeted by a Kookaburra ... read more
Australia - Part Four - Final
Published: April 7th 2011Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Central Coast
January 29th 2011
Saturday January 29th 2011 A leisurely morning spent at Fiona's. I booked my flight ticket on the internet, for the evening of Tues 1st Feb, flying from Newcastle airport to Brisbane, reasonably priced with Virgin Blue and due to the daylight saving time difference, I'd be there in 10mins. My homeward bound flight was Thurs 4th Feb. At some point I'd have to work out how I was getting to the airport in Newcastle, but felt sure something would work out. My biggest concern was the weight of my bags. Knowing how restrictive the smaller budget airlines usually are - I felt sure my case was over 20 Kilos. Time to throw out some stuff..... Oh maybe not, some good advice from Fiona, put heavy stuff in my hand baggage, and she advised I could take ... read more
Will we ever be ready????
Published: October 4th 2010Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Central Coast
October 4th 2010
Oh the dramas of getting ready for an overseas trip!!! How many ways can we possibly procrastinate about packing? hmmm Guitar Hero, breakfast with the rellos, more Guitar Hero.....last weeks washing.....a tiny bit of Guitar Hero....shopping...... Robin Hood on BluRay....Nickleback ( on Guitar Hero of course).....Da Vinci Code on TV... maybe one more Guitar Hero session (cant let Bon Jovi escape my extremely talented - not - guitar playing)... oh dear..10 pm..no bags packed...maybe tomorrow!!!!! ... read more
March 29th 2010
Eleanor and I went away for the weekend to the Central Coast of NSW. Our first stop was Glenworth Valley where we went on a two hour horse ride, it was a lot of fun though Eleanor's horse gave her a bit of a scare when it "took off" early in the ride. My horse was well behaved but I got stuck behind a slow horse for so...me of the ride, when I got out in front I was able to get up a bit of speed, that was the best part of the ride for me. After the ride we continued onto the Entrance, I'd booked a room at Annabelle's Bed and Breakfast, it was very clean and the bed was very comfortable. The place is run by John who serves a great breakfast, the ... read more
January 28th 2010
The last week we have spent in Australia has been great, we have had our final catching up with everyone. We had a great night out with all the old friends. Down to The Entrance bottom pub before moving on to some lovely Thai and then finally on to Mingara (there was no where else to go!). We had Australia Day down in Sydney in a nice park near where my cousin Penny is living. The weather was very warm that day, the food was delicious and we had a waterbomb fight to cool off after a small bit of cricket, which I have to say I am really enjoying knowing that I won't be playing it again for a long time. It was a nice day and a good way to say goodbye to the ... read more
Canada Here I Come!
Published: January 26th 2010Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Central Coast
January 26th 2010
The packing is complete. Nerves, excitement, butterflies and a million other emotions beginning to rush through my body. Canada, here I come! As most of you know. I am moving to Canada as I have secured a job with the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. I will depart Sydney tomorrow (27th Jan) on Air New Zealand at 11:30, with a stop-over at Auckland, New Zealand at 16:35 and departing Auckland at 20:30 on Air New Zealand. I will then continue to Vancouver, Canada and arrive there at 12:45 (27th Jan). After battling my way through the baggage-carousel, customs, immigration and more than 100 other people, I will arrive to my Limousine Transfer awaiting my arrival, which will take me to my Hostel in Downtown Vancouver, Granville Street (Same-Sun Hostel Vancouver). Where I will stay til 3rd ... read more
More good times in OZ
Published: January 27th 2010Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Central Coast
January 17th 2010
Have been spending the last two and a half weeks catching up with everyone again, we have been busy and only had the odd day or two to relax. We went out to the Reptile Park near Gosford one day, we took the kids out and it really was a good day. Really warm but the shows the park put on are quite good and keep you entertained. My brother Troy and his girlfriend Jess took us out on their boat in Tuggerah Lake to be a spot of fishing which I really have been missing. Deb was a natural, caught a large flathead on her first cast out. We had a great time out there, caught a few things, flathead, bream and flounder most too small to keep, we just kept the flathead that Deb ... read more
Christmas and NYE Spectacular
Published: January 26th 2010Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Central Coast
January 1st 2010
Well being back in OZ for the first time in a while is great, and especially as we have 6 weeks here to enjoy without being in a rush, so it should be a good time to spend some time with family and friends as well as check out a few old haunts and hopefully get some good weather. In the lead up to Christmas Deb and I had family around to celebrate Debs birthday on the 20th of December and to catch up with them all after such a long time. The last time some of them had seen Deb was back in November of 2004 and we even had a few new babies to meet up with that we hadn't met. We had a great day, a good old BBQ (beef sausages mmmmm), a ... read more
Day 18 - Maitland to Central Coast
Published: February 14th 2009Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Central CoastFebruary 13th 2009
The rain has settled in, but in a sporadic way. Heavy showers are interspersed with dry spells where the heat of the day converts the wet-weather gear into a mini-sauna. Consequently I'm wet both inside and outside. My first stop for the day was at the Peacock Hill Winery. It was a good excuse to get out of the rain for a while, but I decided to taste a few wines (very small tastes only) and soon discovered that they produce a very enjoyable fortified wine. I took a chance and purchased a bottle which was very carefully packed in the top-box for the journey to the Central Coast. After stopping for lunch at the Hunter Valley Winery Information Centre, I headed towards Newcastle so I could take the 'scenic' route down the Pacific Highway and ... read more
