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Published: February 15th 2011
... it has been a long time snce my last blog!!
Firstly I would just like to apologise to everyone who has been waiting for us to update the blog. Australia was rather hectic and flew by and we have found very little free internet available once in New Zealand. Secondly I apologise for the fact that you will get a few blog updates in one day and then probably not a lot for a little while again!!
So here goes... Family, fireworks and fishing After a delay at Bali airport we were a little worried about making the connection at Singapore onto Sydney but the pilot managed to make up some time and we landed on time so spent our last hour in Singapore airport. We arrived to a very warm Sydney airport to be greeted by the whole Eaton mob! On the way back to ’Hotel Eaton’ we took a slight detour around the sights of Sydney. We swung by the Opera house and went over, under and around the bridge before finally heading to the house. In traditional Aussie summer style we had a BBQ with proper steaks and sausages for dinner before inflating
our bed for the night!
The following day we took a proper tour around the Opera house and took the obligatory posed photos in front of the bridge and the Opera House. Eddy nearly got blown away in the wind and was happy at being able to touch the Opera house. We walked around to the ferry that we were going to take over to Manly beach and town. On the way there was an aboriginal group performing so we became ‘real tourists’ and had our photo taken with one of the guys and Mark even bought the CD as it was a didgeridoo being played over a good bass beat!! So we headed over to Manly beach on the ferry as this takes in all the sights of the harbour without having to take a Harbour cruise and you get to see Manly too!! Manly is a seaside town with a large beach and very busy beach that seemed to be quite good for surfers. Natalie was absolutely enthralled by the sand and enjoyed playing in it so much she didn’t want to leave!! We didn’t stay very long as we had to get the ferry back in
time for me and Mark to go on the Bridge Climb. The Eaton’s had bought us the climb for a Christmas present and had booked it for us for when we were there. It was a night climb so you could see the Opera house and Skyline by night which was just beautiful. Luckily it was a calm night and there was no wind which meant it wasn’t actually that cold. When you go on the climb you get given a ‘beautiful’ grey overall, a headset and radio as well as a harness that you are attached to the bridge with!! Our climb time was 9.10pm and Matthew picked us up at about 2am in the morning!! We spent about 2 hours on the bridge and it was a wonderful sight. You could see all over the Sydney skyline with the lights of the Casino flickering away in the distance and the Opera House all lit up!!
On New Years Eve we spent a quiet day with a short trip into the shopping centre to buy us a phone and sim card for our jaunt up or down the coast as we still hadn’t decided!! All we knew
was that we were going to be spending the night in Sydney Harbour for the fireworks!! Unfortunately we weren’t able to spend it with Matthew, Pip and the kids as none of the restaurants and places would allow children - which was disappointing. So Matthew dropped us at the train station and we headed into the Harbour along with the other 1 ½ million people!! We decided to get off at Town Hall station and walk the little way back to the harbour stopping for some food on the way. We then headed straight for a pub that we could get into!! We stayed there until the 9 PM fireworks when we went to find a spot to watch them and happened upon a great place which had a view of the bridge and the Opera House. So we stood by the bridge to watch the fireworks going off behind the Opera House as they don’t use the bridge for the ‘family’ fireworks at 9 PM. It was amazing!! The Opera House was all lit up around the base and the fireworks just illuminated it. Once the fireworks finished we headed down to the Quayside to see how busy it
was and if there was ay better view than where we’d just been standing - well talk about party in the streets!! The atmosphere was awesome and people were drinking and dancing in the streets and bands were playing on the rooftops of bars and music playing in the streets!! Eddy got into the swing of it, he had a few drinks and got interviewed by channel 10 before getting a quiet word in his ear from a nice policeman!! After wandering around the streets for a little while we decided that where we had been was better to get an overall view of the fireworks so we headed back to the pub we had started at to wait to see in the new year!! About 11.45 we went to claim a stake for our spot and it was just as well we did - people were walking around trying to find a place to be and suddenly stopped where we were when they realised you could see the bridge and the operas house!! There were also two rather large police horses right next to us which were beautiful but intimidating at the same time! The fireworks were fantastic and
the atmosphere was great so an absolutely brilliant night was had and another late night pick up by Matthew - so thank you very much!!
Despite the late night for all of us we managed to get out on New Years Day to the Blue Mountains. Lily and Tim had stayed at their grandparents so Matthew, Pip, Natalie, Vicky, Mark and I made the trip inland to the Blue Mountains. It was a couple of hours journey and we stopped at a lovely little café and shop on the way called the fruit bowl which are famed for making delightful apple pies as the shop is attached to an orchard! We were heading for Scenic World which overlooked the three sisters and went down into the valley floor with walkways around it. The cable car down was nice and sedate with great views across the mountains and down into the valley. We then wandered through the valley and around to the train back to the top - which was a little less sedate!! This involved laying back in the seat and then being taken back up the mountain where the carriage tipped to a sitting position and you had
to brace yourself using your legs!! Natalie was sat between Mark and I and I used my arm to brace her into the seat!! The valley contains old mines and you can see the remnants of the metal buckets where they fell when the cables snapped!! They still have one of the mine entrances open and you can feel the cold air blowing up through it.
After this we drove around to the viewing platform and walk for the three sisters. Mark and I headed out to walk across to the karsts but as we headed down the first set of steps my knee gave way so we unfortunately had to turn back!
As we were due to leave (we still hadn’t decided where to yet) in the next couple of days Matthew decided to do another BBQ - and as it’s the Aussie summer and family are around what other excuse do you need!! So the steaks were prepared, onions cut, salad done and BBQ was hot - surely nothing can go wrong? Just as the steaks hit the grill so the rain started. Matthew and Mark tried to play it down saying that it wasn’t much
but I think the need for the umbrella betrayed that argument!! So Mark duly held the Umbrella whilst Matthew cooked the stakes as the rest of us patiently waited for dinner to be served, whilst finding it all highly amusing!! I only wish I’d had the camera with me when they tried to time a run across the lawn to the back door - as Matthew dashed for the door Mark came running behind arm outstretched trying to keep the umbrella over the food - looking like a cartoon man being pulled by a dog on a lead!! Needless to say the boys didn’t find it very funny by Pip and I did!!
We decided to head off to Ulladulla for a few days in order to explore just a little of the coast before returning to Sydney to see the school. We searched for accommodation and came up with one but after putting the phone down on the woman when I rang I searched for another couple of hours for an alternative. When the only alternatives were triple the price we decided we would have to grin and bear it!! So Matthew dropped us off at the
train station and we headed into Sydney Central to catch the bus. 6 hours later we arrived in a small fishing town and headed up the hill to find the one and only backpackers place!! It was a nice enough hostel but the lady who owned it with her husband was a nightmare!! She was very brash and aggressive in the way she spoke there were notices everywhere warning of things you could and couldn’t do!! Her husband was lovely though and took me and Mark out for an evenings fishing one of the days!
Ulladulla itself is quite small and on hindsight we didn’t need so long there. We walked around the headlands and went to see the lighthouse where we could see some Sea Eagles hovering over the trees. We walked to Mollymook beach (which is about 1km away) and laid on the beach for about an hour at which point Mark had got burnt!! We also went fishing a couple of times as the hostel had rods we could borrow and Mark bought a 3 day licence and some bait in order to fish. The first day we went, Mark (the hostel owner) took us to
the Burrill lake to fish. With only a Puffer and seaweed to show for their efforts we moved to a nearby beach to try sea fishing for Salmon as the tide came in. Mark had a bite on his rod but when he went to reel it in the line broke!! So as the sun went down and I got colder we decided to call it a night. However on the way back we decided to try fishing at the harbour for a little while before returning to the hostel. Still we never caught any fish for dinner!! The next evening we went to the harbour to fish again but tried a different spot with no luck. Mark did try spinning for squid but lost his lure to what we think was an Octopus!! So after a couple of days reading indoors as the rain had arrived we headed off to Bateman’s Bay.
Again there was only one backpackers place in the whole of Bateman’s Bay which was a YHA attached to a caravan park. The only doubles they had left when we looked was a double caravan so we decided to book that rather than spend 5 days
The opera house
As viewed from the ferryin a separate dorm rooms. When we arrived we had to walk about 1 km up a hill in order to get to it. Bateman’s is a small village with little to do unless you have a car and spare cash as all the attractions are far away and need money to do them. Again in hindsight we could have spent less time here and then maybe gone on to another place and seen somewhere else. So we walked over to the next village which didn’t have a lot more to it than a beach and a few shops so we walked back the 2 ½ kms back to Bateman‘s. On the way back we decided to sit on the bench by the harbour and as we did so a dolphin surfaced just in front of us!! We then sat for the next half an hour watching it frolic around the back of the boats in the harbour and surface regularly - this was a definite highlight for me along with all the cockatoos and parrots that were around and the Pelican that was asleep on top of the lamppost!! Again a couple of days were spent reading as the
the bridge
as viewed from the ferry rain decided to follow us! So after a lazy few days we headed back on the bus to Sydney.
Matthew took me to Vern Barnett school which I had arranged to visit on the Monday. It is a school specifically for children with Autism but was not what I was expecting. They only take those pupils who they can transition successfully into a mainstream environment or those who are in mainstream and just need a little support to stay there. Any pupil who the school can not cope with is transitioned to a generic special needs school. So despite being a school specifically for children with autism it can’t cope with pupils with severe autism!!
Due to a change in the exchange rate and dwindling funds we decided to change our flight to an earlier one so we just relaxed at ‘Hotel Eaton’ for the next few days, playing with the kids and attempting to keep dry with another BBQ. We had an absolutely amazing time and really enjoyed our time in Oz. It was great to visit Matthew, Pip and the family and really get to know them more.
Thank you for everything we are gonna
Fort Dennison
Used to be a prison rock miss you guys!!
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