Another wonderful day! 29/12/2010

 Today Suzie drove us to Calalla Bay  It was a 3 hour drive as we took the scenic route which was quite breathtaking.

We stayed at her friend Karen's home which is the most wonderful large 2 story open plan house.

After lunch it was a drive to Currarong beach which is quite different to the beaches we are used to as  grass leads to the rocky shore and there are picnic tables around, it was great for me as I’m not a sand person.

Pino was able to use his snorkel and swim with colourful fish in a natural rocky basin.

Suzie’s friend Karen then took us to visit her sister who has a large beach front home the garden leads down to the shore. The homes here are quite magnificent!

We are spending the night at Karen's and will be exploring more of the area tomorrow before returning to Sydney.  Everyone’s making us feel so welcome, we are having the most wonderful time.

Life on the ocean waves! 28/12/010

What a wonderful day. 

Suzie drove us to Cronulla Marina where friends of hers have a 48 foot yacht.

The weather was just right, sun and cloud so not too hot.  Of course when you are on the open waves it is nice and breezy, even though we didn’t actually set sail.  It was prawns again for lunch, oh boy I could get used to this!!!!  The company was great, we had a good laugh, good food and good wine! 

After leaving the yacht we drove to Bass and Flinders Point named after two English explorers who discovered the area in 1796, in a boat called Tom Thumb.

We did a nice long walk along the coast line watching the optimist regatta done by 8 to 12 year olds.

We then drove to Kurnell where Captain Cook landed in 1774 where he was met by an aboriginal tribe, so every year they have a celebration of that landing.

Some more driving along the coast line then back home for a nice fillet steak supper.

Blues on the Blue Mountains! 27/12/2010

Today Suzie drove us to the Blue Mountains where there are the most lovely landscape views, NORMALLY!

We drove to Katoomba and couldn’t see a thing, the mist was so heavy we 
could just about see in front of us BOO!HOO!

We had taken a picnic lunch and found a man made cave where we were able to eat our lunch. 

Afterwards in the fine rain we drove to Leura, which is a lovely little town, lucky enough the rain had stopped and we were able browse around all the local shops.
One funny thing happened, we saw a cafè named “Metta Cafè” we asked if it was the surname of the owner but found out “Metta” is a Sanskrit word meaning compassionate.

As we drove back to Sydney the weather started to improve but it was still not great so it was just back home for the evening.

Fish! Fish! Fish! 26/12/2010

Boxing Day in Sydney. 

We woke up to a wet humid morning.   

We drove to Balmain to have a view of the Harbour Bridge and the City Sky Line, after which we made our way to the Sydney fish market, oh boy is it huge! We have never seen so much fish in one place. 

This market at Christmas stays open for 36 hours continuously from 23^rd December until  Christmas Eve evening.  Mainly the fish in this market are lobster, crabs, prawns ( which there are a huge variety) and oysters.  Of course there are lots of other sea food as well.

We started off having for lunch fish and chips which we have been wanting to try, no cod or rock salmon for us, it was calamari and prawns they were absolutely delicious.

We bought oysters, king prawns and baby octopus which Pino cooked for our evening meal YUMMY!!!!!!

Coming home from the fish market the weather had turned out really hot and sunny so we got into our swimsuits and went to the beach.  We had Sue with us who refused to swim outside of the nets, and guess why? There are sharks in the water.  On Christmas Day we didn’t know that so when Pino went in for his swim it was a good job the sharks hadn’t been looking for an early Christmas lunch HA! 

Tonight we are having a Summer thunderstorm.

Well our Christmas is over and now it’s the countdown to New Years Eve, we will be the second country to enter the new year.

Christmas Day in the sun! 25/12/2010

Today was hot! 

After breakfast we walked down to the beach, There were a few people getting ready at the picnic tables that are around for their picnic lunches.  The sea was a bit chilly but Pino jumped in and had his first swim.  

There was a lovely breeze which made sun bathing comfortable, but also dangerous, after our first walk around I realise just how strong the sun is here.    

It was so funny to have all the Christmas trimmings like roast dinner and Christmas crackers then have water melon as our fruit.

While I am writing this our day is coming to an end and yours in the U.K. and Italy is only just beginning.  The U.S.A. still have to start theirs, how strange it is when you travel afar.

Christmas Eve, a day on the Harbour! 24/12/2010

Today we took the ferry from Sydney Harbour over to Manly a wonderful surfing beach.  It has two parts, the harbour side and the surf side which are connected by the Corso where all the festive activities go on. 

From the ferry we had wonderful views of the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge, which is called the coat hanger because of its shape. 

The weather was perfect, at Manly beach people were going around in swimsuits and Santa hats!  On the beach someone had built a snowman made of sand!

Fish and chips here are crabs, prawns, scallops and squid, we will have to have some before we leave!

After a really lovely day we went to get the train home and that is when I got lucky, or so they say, a pigeon decided to do his business all over me! Good job it was the return journey HA!  

How different Christmas is in this part of the world.

Santa Claus arrives a lot earlier down under! 

Today it was sun lotion! 23/12/2010

The sun is really strong here as I found out yesterday after my walk. 

After lunch we went to the beach for the first time covered in factor 30 cream.  Only stayed an hour as we didn’t want to over do it.  The sea is lovely and clean, we only paddled today but soon it will be full immersion, at least for Pino.

It is so lovely and quiet here where Suzie lives.  The homes are all so different, going from ultra modern to more traditional. 

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and another blog day. 

First day in Sydney! 22/12/2010

We are in Australia!!
The flight went well and customs was easier than I expected, Suzie was waiting for us at the arrivals.
Today is a day of relax. We took a nice long walk along the beach front, a bit windy but so nice to be breathing in the sea air, and to feel the sun. We have decided that if the weather permits Christmas day that is where we are going to spend our morning.  This afternoon I realised I had caught the sun! My arms, shoulders and neck were bright red! and that was just from taking a walk, tomorrow sun lotion.
This evening Suzie's niece came over with her husband there was also her son and daughter.  We had a wonderful evening as you can see by the attached photo.  Gabriella, Leanne said to say hello she remembers you from our visit 36 years ago.
We are having a wonderful time! It doesn't feel like Christmas!

Just a quick flying note. 21/12/2010

For the first time in my life I am writing from 39,000 feet of altitude, I bet it's colder outside than England HA!

1 hour ago we crossed the equator.  Another 4 and a half hours to our destination.

Although I feel sorry for all who were unable to get flights because of the snow it worked out well for us, the flight is half full so we have no one sitting in front of us with their seat reclined AH!

All the other missing passengers are probably stuck in Europe.  

Tomorrow starts the news from Sydney!

Bye Bye Hong Kong! 21/12/2010

We are in the departure lounge of Hong Kong airport.  Check in went smoothly. We did have a surprise when we entered the airport by the amount of people - it was only 7 a.m -  but I think that is due to all the flights that have been cancelled, we are heading in the right direction HA! We saw the weather forecast for Thursday in Sydney and it was sayng 28° thought you might all be interested in that lol.
Now to board the flight and in 9 hours time we will be in Australia.
Ciao!!!!!!!!

Round up of our Hong Kong experience!

So the first part of our Christmas journey is near to an end.  We are having our last happy hour but I'm sure we will be having lot's more happy hours when we are with our dear friend Suzie in Sydney!
Hong Kong was a wonderful experience, so clean and the people so friendly. We have been very happy with the hotel that we choose and would recommend it to anyone thinking to visit here.  Four clear days were enough to see lots of different things, of course if you wanted to go further out more days would be needed.  Even though there are crowds of people the pace is easy.  Apart from the cold spell on our first day (which is unusual) the weather has been quite comfortable.
Tomorrow is a very early start and a 9 hour flight.  Next posts will be from Sydney Australia!

Auguri!!!!

Last full day in Hong Kong 20/12/2010

The weather today was how it should be nice and warm.

Today we visited the Wong Tai Sin Temple, it is the biggest and busiest temple in Hong Kong, it is dedicated to three religions: Taoist, Confucian and Buddhist. The incense fumes were quite over whelming.

It was then an underground ride for the last time.
We took a lovely walk along the seafront and were nicely surprised that we were on the Avenue of Stars, it is the Hong Kong version of the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame.  At one point I was surrounded by a group of young Chinese women who wanted a picture taken with a western woman, every time I thought I could move another girl came to me, Pino was quite jealous!

It's almost time to use tee shirts! 19/12/2010

Today was so nice and warm, I was sorry that I had put on my sneakers!
We took the shuttle bus from the hotel to Tsim Sha Tsui (star ferry pier).







We took the ferry ride over to Central District Hong Kong and it upset Pino that he didn't have to pay the ride for his age HA!!!

It was then a bus ride to Aberdeen, no snow in Aberdeen Hong Kong!!!!!! It is the island's oldest settlement, and is the home to the 'floating population' they spend their entire lives on the junks (boats) in the harbour, some proudly claim never to have set foot on land, except for funerals which don't count.

We then visited the Tin Hau Temple, there are lot's here a bit like churches in Rome!

Time to head back to catch the ferry and I must say it is the first time I have read the word END and made a sigh of relief.  Why you ask? well there are renovations being done along the Harbour and of course detours to walk to get to the ferry, the 2.800 meter walk we did around the peak was nothing!




A shower, happy hour and then back into the centre to see the Swarovski Christmas tree.