Sydney and Melbourne

We can hardly believe that we are sitting here writing this, the last blog of our trip. Today is our final day in Melbourne before we embark on a horriby long series of flights home. So here goes...

Our first couple of days in Sydney came as quite a shock for two reasons
a) It was pretty cold and we needed hoodies for the first time
b) The Sydney opera house is actually pretty ugly when the sun isn't shining!
Luckily there are some amazing coastal walks around Sydney, where a bracing wind adds to the experience. We chose to visit Bondi beach on one of these cloudier days and were pleasantly surprised by how nice it was - almost free from tourists and quite unlike the overcrowded commercialised place we were half expecting. The walk from Bondi to Coogee beach was quiet and beautiful, just a few keen runners for company. 

We also enjoyed our trip to Manly, via the famous ferry, to catch up with an old friend we haven't seen since the year we met. What a great place - we could see why Sydney is one of the most popular, and expensive, places to live in the world. Going to work by ferry in the morning and heading to the beach for a few hours when you get home is something we could get used to! Great view of the opera house on the way back too...

The Sydney harbour bridge turned out to be a lot prettier in the sunshine too, and we were glad to have some lovely sunny days before we had to leave. The botanical gardens were really impressive (and we are almost experts now, haing seen a few) perhaps even better than Singapore's. Definitely another place on the list to come back to one day. 

We managed to squeeze in a few days in the Blue Mountains national park, a couple of hours from Sydney, for a short escape from the city. What a beautiful place, like a greener version of the Grand Canyon. It has forest stretching as far as the eye can see, and miles of tracks to walk along the cliffs or in the forest. Not normally too impressed with birds, even we were quite excited to see a kookaburra and gold crested cockatoo. There are also lyre birds which mimic the sounds around them, even if that happens to be a telephone or siren!

We had a great time exploring the park and quirky town of Katoomba. The only down side of all the walking were the sore legs for the following few days. But a fantastic reward for our efforts was the discovery of a cafe with the most amazing hot chocolate where you heat the milk up with a candle then add chocolate pieces to it... delicious.

Final stop of our trip is Melbourne, the most European of the Australian cities which is apparently known for its cafes and restaurants, not to mention outlet shopping malls. It has made us slightly better prepared for the British winter, which sounds like it has been vile so far, as it's quite a lot colder. Though it can vary from 40 to 25 degrees in one day during summer! We've enjoyed the laid back way of life here and taken advantage of the cafes and shops. It's also been quite nice to have a few slower days, giving the feet and legs a rest. We're just about ready to come home now, missing some of the creature comforts and of course friends and family.

So finally it's just left to say a big thank you - to everyone who has been reading this and for all the generous wedding presents which helped make this trip possible. We've had a brilliant time...

Singapore and Brisbane

The clean efficiency of Singapore, and the cost, came as a bit of a shock to us at first but how nice it was to be back in an airconditioned room with a few more creature comforts. I was nursing a rather upset stomach from Bali so couldn't enjoy the delicious food for a few days but we still made the most of our first evening at Marina Bay, assured that evening was the best time to visit. 

 Armed with lots of recomendations from various friends and contacts, we set out to see as much of Singapore as the budget and time would allow. We did a lot of wandering around and looking in the vast array of shops. Even managed to fit in a visit to a gymnastics club to see how they do things in singapore. The city is getting ready for Christmas but we never could quite get used to seeing Christmas decorations in the sunshine, it just looks wrong.

 The highlight had to be the singapore zoo and night safari. The zoo is really well designed with very few cages, lots of open exhibits so it feels a lot more natural. You can get a lot closer and see the animals more clearly and it was fun to have orangutans swinging from the trees above you. We love this picture of the giraffes in the fading light, the next best thing to a wild safari.

We were also pleased to see a komodo dragon at last, though thankfully it was a safe distance away and quite sleepy looking. Wouldn't fancy attempting a James Bond style run across it!

 The night safari was our favourite thing in Singapore, where a tram takes you around the park giving commentary about the different animals you can see as you go around. It's dark so it feels very atmospheric and the animals are a lot more interesting away from the heat of the day. Hopeless for taking photos, but it meant we could really enjoy just looking. I particularly liked the fishing cats who wait at the side of the river peering at the fish and hoping they come close enough to strike... but sadly they didn't. Also saw a 'flying' squirrel which seemed quite happy to walk and climb instead! But all in all a fantastic place, the only place like it that we've seen.

Another great day was spent exploring the botanical gardens and orchid garden. An army of groundsmen keep it is immaculate condition so it's a lovely place to walk around. Lots of very foreign looking plants and flowers, though Steve did draw the line at paying to see orchids so I went on my own!       

We enjoyed Singapore, especially the wide range of delicious food and endless shopping malls. There's a lot to see and do here and plenty left for another visit - perhaps when we have a bit more time and cash!

Brisbane in southern Queensland was our next stop. It's a very scenic city with a nice promenade along the river and plenty to keep us occupied for 6 days. This is the view from Southbank, where there's a surprisingly nice man-made beach, jungle walkway and lots of nice cafes and retaurants. Nothing quite prepared us for the cost though. Two beds in a shared dorm cost the same as our luxurious hillside villa in Koh Tao. Just to eat and sleep put us over budget. But we figured we might not come here again, at least not for a long time so have to make the most of it and not be too tight with the purse strings!



My favourite day, possibly of the whole trip so far, was a visit to Lone Pine Koala sanctuary. They have 130 koalas in nice open areas as well as kangaroos, wombats, tasmanian devils and even a platypus. We were amazed that you can go in with the kangaroos, feed and stroke them. They were very lethargic though as it was 40 degrees that day - a 10 year record high for december apparently! 

 

I certainly got my wish to cuddle a koala - luckily we went to queensland as it's the only place in the world where you can. You put your hands out and they just plonk it on you, then it cuddles you to hold on. They're surprisingly heavy and this was only a baby girl. Loads of dense, quite course fur but they're still lovely and soft. Yes, it's touristy and a bit of a money spinner but a great experience all the same. 

The Gold Coast is famous for it's long white sandy beaches so we thought a day trip there was a must. Surfer's paradise was, as expected, full of surfers and high rise development. Some pretty big waves and a surprisingly quiet stretch of beach made it a very scenic place to spend a few hours. Gorgeous weather too, about 29 degrees with a nice breeze.

We're off to Sydney this afternoon and pleased to be flying since the greyhound was more expensive and took 8 hours! Brisbane has been a great place to visit, though we think we may be getting too old for a shared dorm! Hopefully the people we're sharing with in Sydney won't be able to afford to do too much partying and we can get some sleep!