Happy Christmas Everyone

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Happy christmas to all those snowmen and snowwomen in England😊
We were in Mudgee for christmas which is 4hrs drive inland from Sydney with Carina's family. We were all ready for our first hot christmas to wake on Christmas morning to find it drizzling.....and it drizzled all day!!!! Auntie Dolores was exstatic it was raining as it rained 51ml and it hasnt been that heavy since April. We, on the other hand, werent quite so happy....but never the less it was lovely to spend the day with family. Carina was once again doing as the locals do, and went swimming as its supposed to be hot in OZ on christmas day (I lasted about 5mins, enough for photos and to prove a point!) Russ was taking on Australia in Monopoly....which he drew. We had a traditional lunch and ate far too much and it was yummy yummy yummy. Thanks again Ledgers for letting us join your christmas, and may I say what a beautiful tree hehe xx


So how did we make it to Sydney.....here is how we ended our trip in Mitch.

So we left u looking forward to seeing the turtles in Mon Repos. About 60 ppl were taken down to the beach to watch a turtle lay its eggs which we eventually saw after battling thru the crowd! It was amazing to see, and Carina took hundreds of photos.
From there we continued down the coast to Harvey Bay. We didnt stay long as we had missed seeing the whales by a few weeks. We also saw Frazer Island, but we didnt go and camp as the island is all sand and we didnt have a 4x4. Made are way to Tin Can bay as at 7am every morning volunteers feed wild dolphins. We joined the crowd and fed a fish to Mystique the main male dolphin. Then we waited for the female to swim over and the crowds left so there were just 4 of us feeding her, amazing!

We spent a day at Australia Zoo, the home of Steve Irwin so Russ was in his element. We were the first in and the last out....just enought time to see everything it was huge. Saw the famous croc feeding show and the noise when their jaw snaps shut was so loud, im glad we werent sitting in the front row.

From there we drove to Uncle Keith and his family who live just north of Brisbane. We spent a few days staying in a real bed and running water, total luxuary. Thanks again for having us and Brooke and Jade who gave up their bed😊 and Chole who makes yummy scrummy chocolate cake. From there we spent the day in Brisbane, walked the Storey Bridge and along the river, and looked around the CBD (Central Business District).

South of Brisbane we went to Surfers Paradise where it rained while we were on the beach, Coolangatta, Tweed Heads which are all beach areas famous for their surfing and surfing compititions. Drove to Coffs Harbour where we walked around the Big Banana plantation. Carina ate a frozen banana covered in choc....as an ice lolly....not sure it will catch on! Saw a koala hospital in Port Maquarie where they were recovering from dog attacks and being hit by cars. Drove to Canberra where we stayed a few days with Karen (Mum L friend). We got a welcomed by her 2 dogs who kept licking us...... we may have been quite dirty when we go there ...opps we think they were licking off the sweat......ewwww hehe. We looked inside Parliment buildings were we drove Mitch into the carpark under the building with no security check...amazing. The city itself has very confusing circular road system so we took the scenic tour many times.
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Then we drove down to Melbourne where the temperature finally cooled down to about mid 20's, a nice relief. We did the neighbours tour, and met an ex neighbours star. The only thing was when she turned up we thought she was just another person on the tour. Russ had no idea who she was, and Carina had to look hard. It was Janelle Timons, Stingrays Mum who now has brown hair and shiny bright teeth, anyone remember? We saw the old Jail which was where Ned Kelly was hung, before driving to Philip Island to see the Fairy Penguins. Every evening at dusk they come out of the sea and waddle up the beach with full bellies to feed their chicks. The chicks were all waiting in their nests built into the sand dunes calling to Dad to waddle faster.

Our next adventure was to drive the Great Ocean Road, the most scenic drive in Australia. We planned to take 1 or 2 days and ended up taking 3! The temperature really dropped and it rained on an off for the 3 days but it was still beautiful. The road follows the coast and there are very quaint towns along the way. We saw koalas sitting eating in trees on the side of the road in Cape Otoway, stopped the car and ended up seeing 13 wild koalas eating, sleeping and calling to each other along about 100m of road, so exciting😊 Saw the Cape Otway Lighthouse and watched kangroos resting on a golf course. We also discovered that u can cook pasta in hot water as that night our gas ran out half way thru! Drove along to see the 12 Apostles in the pouring rain, The Arch, London Bridge and The Grotto which are all either stumps, stacks or caves.

From the Great Ocean we went north to Grampian National Park where we trekked down to the bottom of the Makenzie Waterfall, and saw some Aboriginal Rock paintings. We were walking in the bush looking at the rock art and an Echidna walked across our path!!!!! He was digging in the ground maybe for bugs and wasnt bothered about us at all. Again Matt loads of photos taken. Kept driving north to Bathurst and took Mitch on a real race circuit, but saidly only at the max speed of 60kph and not 200kmp like the professionals. We than had quite a long slog up to Mudgee where we stayed the night with Uncle Steve and Auntie Dolores before going down to Jeolong caves. We were unable to go and see the caves as it was fully booked but we did drive repeatedly thru a big arch which you have to drive thru to get to the carpark. The arch was just wide and high enough to fit a coach thru.

Finally arrived in Sydney and what a relief to find Taryn and Claude's house (Carinas cousin) who we are really greatful for putting us up and feeding us up again. No more size zero for Carina.......

In Sydney we did the bridge climb which was really good fun. Took us ages to prepare for it, with puttin on the jump suit, and harness and tieing sunglasses on etc, even had to have a breathe test before we set off. Then they attach u to the wire and off we went. Was an easy climb up, not really climbing more of a walk. Stunning views of Sydney at the top but you cant take a camera up as it might fall so no photos! We got on a ferry across the harbour and saw the bridge and opera house from another angle. Russ went on a tour of the opera house and into the maritime museum when Carina went up to Mudgee early to see the family.

Plan to see in the new year over looking the harbour, and hope all readers enjoy there new year where ever you are.

Russ and Carina

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