Central Coast Aus

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We headed to the central coast to a small place called Point Clare near Gosford to stay with Katy's great aunt and uncle. We were made very welcome and were able to rest up and plan the next part of our trip after a very hectic but wonderful Christmas and New Years in Sydney.

Mon 3rd of Jan- We had settled into our little annex below Lynne and Pete's house, which has amazing views and a really nice garden and had been made very welcome by them. After some much needed sleep they took us for a drive around the area where there are rivers, bush land and beaches. We had a coffee by the sea in a nice seaside town before heading back to the house and having a BBQ.

Tue 4th Jan- Had a chilled out day at the house trying to sort out the next stages of the trip. Due to the flooding in Queensland plans have all had to change but got from here to Brisbane sorted using Greyhound and stopping at various places between the 11th and 31st of Jan. Lynne made us feel at home by cooking us a roast dinner.

Wednesday 5th Jan- Pete had to go to work in Sydney so it worked out well as we got a lift back into Sydney and went to STA and Greyhound to sort out our bus passes. Then spent a bit of time at Darling Harbour having lunch and looking in a few shops before we left and headed to Botany Bay which is the first landing sight of Captain Cook when he discovered Australia. We has a drink at a few pubs on the way back and stopped in at Pete's office to meet Mike, Lynne and Pete's son before heading home. That night the next door neighbour Gary came over for a few drinks and as he is an air steward and has travelled to many places we were asking him which places he thought were worth visiting in Asia.

Thursday 6th Jan- After a morning downpour we decided to risk the weather and take the ferry to Palm Beach, the ferry was a little rough on the way over because of the wind but once we got there the weather was hot and sunny. We walked from the main Palm Beach area to Anna Bay which is Summer Bay in Home and Away which is filmed there. Due to the Christmas break we did not see any filming but spent the afternoon on the beach before catching the ferry back.

Friday 7th Jan- We took a nice walk along the scenic bike path that follows the water's edge from Point Clare to Gosford and had lunch in West Gosford, stocked up on some supplies and then walked back. In the evening we all had dinner and watched a movie.

Saturday 8th Jan- We headed to the Hunter Valley for the day where the first stop was a vineyard owned by one of Micheal's friends parents and James his friend showed us around before taking us down to one of the winery's and giving us a behind the scenes tour of how the wine is produced. We then went to look around the boutique shops at the Hunter Valley Gardens including the English Sweet Shop which had things for sale we hadn't seen in 6 months. Seven dollars for a box of Jaffa Cakes seems a little excessive though. We then went for lunch and Lynne and Pete's favourite Irish Pub in the Hunter where the food was amazing before going to the winery that produces Sparkling Wines which you could taste for free, they even produce sparkling red's and the only sparkling desert wine in Australia. We also went to the Wyndham winery where they produce award winning red wines before heading home via a small village on the Hunter river.

Sunday 9th Jan- Mike and his wife Shell came up from Sydney for lunch and we sat in the garden all afternoon and eat homemade pizza's cooked in the wood burner which were yummy and went down well with the sunshine and a few glasses of wine.

Monday 10th Jan- Was a chilled out day at the house before Lynne and Pete took us out in the evening to their favourite all you can eat restaurant which has every kind of food under the sun for you to try as well as amazing deserts.

Tuesday 11th Jan- It was time to pack up and move on to Newcastle for the start of our travels up to Brisbane between now and the end of January.

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