Back to Oz during Omicron

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After a week's delay due to all the bureaucracy to get into Australia we finally arrived in Sydney to be greeted by daughter Helen and her fiancée Blowy. They drove us up the coast to Avoca Beach which is their home town. We settled in to a nice apartment near the sea. The following morning we walked along the beach and Helen's dog Metta remembered us and came bounding over to give us a warm welcome. The next few days were spent meeting Helen's friends and Blowy's relatives, eating out and getting to know their way of life. Helen and Blowy live in a shed on a plot of land on which he intends to build a house. We drove up to Hunter Valley and did a wine tour with a good crowd, 9 of us in the van. Lots of wine and good eating for a couple of days before moving up to Newcastle to a 5 star CrystalBrook Kingsbury hotel for another few days. I got the chance to go to a hairdresser. They serve a glass of wine while blow drying- bliss! Krysta, Helen's best mate throughout lockdown came to stay one night so once again it was mainly fine dining and wining. There was an amazing thunder and lightening storm which was great to watch from the rooftop bar of the hotel. We also got to meet an old school friend of our Peter's who had emigrated years ago. At the weekend it was time to move back to Avoca Beach to another apartment on the seafront. This was smaller than the first and had no aircon so it was a hot and sticky week. There were many rain and thunder storms but when the sun came out we headed out for walks along the beach and even a morning canoeing which was fun. Avoca is a place for people who love to be in the water and like to surf, not really my scene but nice to watch. There are some good restaurants around and in the next town Terrigal. We also ate around at Krysta's a couple of times and Stefan cooked his famous Paella and also the Spag Bol, which all got eaten up. One evening at Helen's we had a Hibatchi which is like a table BBQ, which is fun. The Avoca Beach House does good seafood and we ate there at least 3 times. Australians are very friendly and it is easy to get into conversation with a stranger. Helen has bought a BBQ which will make cooking up at the shed so much easier.

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