Busy in Sydney

Our trip to Sydney seemed like several mini-trips, and in many respects it was. All of our experiences were great!

On our way from Canberra we drove directly to Bondi Beach, likely Australia's, and definitely Sydney's, most famous surfing beach. On our Qantas flight over, Jack watched a whole season of a program called Bondi Beach Rescue, and we all became fans of the show. It is a reality tv show about the lifeguards of Bondi, and it shows the guards' responses to the bone-headed activities of the tourists on the beach. So, the boys were star-struck when the first person we saw on the beach was our favourite lifeguard, Harrison the Kiwi (aka Fush & Chups)! He came riding by on his atv and stopped right beside us to talk through his megaphone to some careless swimmers. Jack wouldn't let me ask for a photo. He said it was because Harrison was working, but I know it was because he was too embarrassed to have his mom ask. I managed to stealthily snap a couple photos anyway.

Fush & Chups in his ATV

We began our stay in Sydney with a couple of nights at a YHA right in the CBD. It was located in what was formerly a train sorting station. Some people actually stayed in train cars, but we had a regular room -- much to the disappointment of the kids. I suspect the train cars were either dorm rooms or private singles, in either case, not for us! We quickly discovered that with large hostels in large cities, like Canberra and Sydney, comes anonymity. That means that people didn't clean up after themselves in the kitchen, making it a challenge to find fridge space and adequate clean cookware and dishes. We dined with another "mature" couple one night (from Brisbane, visiting their adult children), and when we were doing our dishes the woman told me she had emptied three dish racks before dinner and by the time we finished eating they were all full again. She began drying and putting away yet again. I just kept my head down: Bill and I were not about to clean up after other people's kids!

We really made the most of our first full day in Sydney. We bought a 5 attraction pass to some of the more popular places to visit with kids, and that day we saw the SeaLife Aquarium (where we saw a platypus at last), Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, and WildLife Zoo (where we saw a cassowary). Fortunately, they were all side by side in Darling Harbour, a really lovely part of the city. We also visited the best kids' playground we've ever seen (absolutely massive!) right at the harbour. We had a thoroughly exhausting and really fun day!

Easter egg painting

The next day, Good Friday, we decided to return to Bondi Beach for a swim before heading to Manly for our week-long rental. To be honest, there were so many swimmers and surfers all concentrated between the flags that I didn't find the swimming enjoyable at all. I was too worried about crashing into a kid or getting whacked by a surfboard. And though we didn't recognize any of our lifeguards from TV, we did witness an intense search of the beach and ocean for a missing child. We left before he was located, but didn't hear anything on the news.

Finally, the boys couldn't stand the suspense any longer and we left to find our place at Manly Beach.

Here's Sydney up until this point:

We had rented a house in Manly Beach with my old BFF Sherri, her partner Paul, and their two dogs. Manly is a very nice, higher-end, more suburban beachy area of Sydney. It's a 20-ish minute ferry ride across the harbour from the famous Opera House, and the drive from Bondi was easy and scenic.

Easter brunch

As we were driving there, we received a text from Sherri that Will, Kate, and baby George were due to be at the Manly Beach Surf Life Saving Club that afternoon. That explained why we were unable to find a place to park on the street of our rental! By the time we were unpacked and fed, we were too late to see the royal family, however. No big loss. Although if I had known just how close we were, I might have made more of an effort.

Before long Sherri and Paul arrived. It was Sherri's 33rd birthday (because Brody knows I'm only 32 and Sherri was born the same year), so we baked a cake and attempted to make pizza in the wood-fired pizza oven in the backyard. Well, the kitchen oven was only marginally better than the pizza oven (numbers worn off the temperature gauge and incoherent symbols on the bake/broil/convection/etc setting knob and, oddly, no on/off switch -- truly bizarre and European), so when the pizza-oven pizza was a disaster, we made the rest inside and followed it up with slightly burnt cake. In the end, we were all pleasantly satisfied. The Aussie wine helped...a lot.

The famous picnic

The rest of the week went by far too fast. We sort of mastered the pizza oven and more or less figured out the kitchen oven (enough to get by anyway). We drank much wine and yummy cappacinos (I'm quite addicted), and ate like royals. (Sherri brought enough food and wine to feed a large army). The boys fell in love with the dogs and played countless games of fetch in the yard and accompanied Sherri and Paul on walks at the neighbourhood dog parks, particularly once pancakes and chai lattes joined the routine.

Blue Mountains

Sunday was Easter. It has always been our tradition to have a big Easter Sunday brunch, so we moved that tradition to Manly. We all decorated eggs in the backyard, and I made my now-traditional (since last year, but requested by the kids) Italian Easter bread. The Easter bunny spoiled everyone, for brunch we made eggs Benedict, and we ate too much chocolate! Later we ate steak and prawns for dinner. Ugh! But, Super delish!!

One afternoon the four of us took the ferry back over to Sydney. We saw the breath-taking, (Danish-designed) Sydney Opera House, walked halfway across Harbour Bridge, explored The Rocks district, and met up later with Sherri and Paul, and another old friend Ian and his partner, Grant. Ian, an Aussie, and his family had lived in our neighbourhood for a few years when we were all kids. Ian and Grant took us to the best place in Sydney for a sunset picnic, and I'm not even exaggerating like an Aussie! We were in the Botanic Gardens, sitting below the two oldest trees in the city, right in front of the Opera House and overlooking the Harbour Bridge -- and no one else was around. We sipped wine, ate cheese, chatted, and watched the sun go down. Really lovely! We were joined by another friend from Whitby, Jim, and his partner Christina, and we went to a small club overlooking the harbour for a cocktail. Ian and Grant gave me some great tips for our trip up the coast, and we all shared some adult conversation. It was a great evening! As we were leaving, we learned our server was from Guelph, and the manager was from London, ON, though his parents were from Glace Bay, NS (Bill's mother's hometown in Cape Breton)! Small world.

The four of us took another day trip to the Blue Mountains region. (They're called "blue" because of the bluish eucalyptus mist coming off the gum trees.) We went on a great hike and admired some really breath-taking views. It was a worthwhile sidetrip, and we burned off a few Easter calories.

Another day, Bill and Jack took a surf lesson. Please enjoy the video below.

Before long, our week was up and it was time to say goodbye. Sherri and Paul took us all out for an incredible breakfast first, and then we went our separate ways. It was a perfect week, just at a time when we all needed to see some different faces and have a sense of family...doggies included!