Sydney Catch Up

So it’s been a while because we have been so busy.  So let’s see…

The last weekend in August we went on a Sydney Harbour boat cruise for a coworker’s farewell.  It was a four hour cruise around the harbor with a nice dinner buffet. 

The next day we did the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb.  It was a three hour climb up to the top of the bridge.  We did the twilight climb so we went up in day light and came down in dusk and eventually the dark.  It was the perfect time to climb because we got to see Sydney by day and by night from atop the bridge. 

The next day we finally took the ferry to Manly and did a 10k walk around Manly.  The ferry ride is talked about by all and it was indeed beautiful. 

The first weekend in September was a work trip to Hunter Valley for wine tours.  Hunter Valley was about a two hour drive north of Sydney and we stayed in fabulous villas and bonded with coworkers.  It was finally one of the first weekends where I didn’t have to wear a coat so spring was finally showing its face. 

September weekend number 2 was a visit to the Paddington Markets, Chinese Garden, Paddy’s Market, manicures and pedicures, and Bondi for the Festival of the Winds – a day of kite flying.  We had a great Sunday secondee dinner of Japanese BBQ where we grilled our own food at the restaurant!    Somewhere in here was a visit to the Opera House to see a traditional Opera sung in Italian - La Boheme - it was a very talented cast and crew and quiet an enjoyable evening that started with lovely tappas and dessert at the Opera Bar.

This past weekend was full of adventure.  On Saturday we rented two cars and drove 200k about 3 hours each way to get to Hyams Beach which has the whitest sand in the world according to the Guinness Book of World Records.  Unfortunately the weather forecast lied to us.  It was supposed to be 80 and sunny but instead it was chilly and very windy and quite cloudy.  Nevertheless we tried to make the best of it and bundled up and enjoyed the picturesque views of Hyams Beach while we had a nice picnic.    
 To warm up a bit we changed locations to see what else was in the area.  We decided to go to Murray Beach and upon driving to Murray beach we spotted a wallaby in the wild.  It was so cute and posed for us.  We walked around Murray beach for a bit before driving back.  And it was my turn to experience driving on the wrong side of the road.  Not only was I driving on the wrong side of the road, but the wrong side of the car, in an unfamiliar car and an unfamiliar territory without a GPS in the dark.  Even though I hadn’t driven in over two months it was almost natural and never once did I hit the windshield wipers for the directional (as they are on opposite sides too) so I was quite proud of myself. 

Then on Sunday we went to Manly for surfing lessons.  All of us secondees took the lesson and were all successful in standing up and catching some waves.  But who knew how sore you could get while surfing because today we are all in a lot of upper body pain – apparently surfing requires a lot of upper body strength and using muscles that we aren’t accustomed to.  Then to top off an amazing weekend we went for a wonderfully delicious dinner in Darling Harbour at the Meat and Wine Co.  It is so great to finish off a great weekend with amazing friends with whom we have created some amazing memories with on this secondment experience.   I don’t know what I’m going to do in November when I’m back in Monmouth County – my Jersey girls are going to have to start taking weekend adventures with me because I’m accustomed to being on the go all weekend long!