Melbourne

Saturday: We arrived on the afternoon of Boxing Day and dropped our bags off at Kylie's aunt's house in Brunswick. We had a tour of the amazing house and then headed to get the tram in to the city. We started at Federation Square where we took photos of a Christmas tree made from 500k Lego blocks and then wandered around through Hosier Lane and a few Arcades, making our way to the Myer window displays. They told the story of "Little Dog" who begins lost... But not to worry, it has a happy ending. 

We had an early dinner at Chin Chin - we had a few roti and shared roast duck, pad seuw, and shredded chicken and prawn salad. I convinced the girls to get dessert because it sounded too weird to pass up. Coconut sago with sweet corn ice cream, praline and puffed wild rice. Good decision. After dinner, we headed home to Brunswick for some instructions on the things we would need to water in the garden. 

Sunday:  We were up early and picked up by one of Kylie's friends, Cameron, to have a little road trip to the Great Ocean Road. We stopped off at Naughty Boy for some pre-trip coffee and went through Geelong down toward Torquay to pop in to the outlets. 

Kylie came away the winner with bikini and board shorts for $35! We pressed on to Bells Beach (where Point Break was filmed) and watched the surfers for a bit before heading to Angelsea for a fish and chips lunch in a park. We stopped off at the beach to put our feet in the sand and then took some photos at the gate before driving along the Great Ocean Road to Lorne, where we had to cut back inland due to some Christmas Day bushfires that destroyed quite a few homes and caused a large portion of the road to be closed. 

We made our way back to the coast and stopped off at the Twelve Apostles (with seemingly the rest of the tourists in Australia) then went on to Loch Ard Gorge where we learned about the shipwreck of the Loch Ard and finally ended the sights at London Bridge (only half the bridge remains... London Bridge is falling down.. Har har). On the way back to Melbourne we stopped off for Chinese at a dodgy looking establishment and admired an amazingly huge moon. Sixteen hour road trip, done! Kilometers driven: 550.

Monday: We had a lazy morning the next day and made breakfast to eat al fresco on the veranda. Kylie dropped Jennifer and me off at Melbourne Cricket Ground to catch part of Day 3 of the Australia v West Indies test match and she headed to visit her Pa for lunch. Don't ask me what happened at the match, I was watching the entire time, but I have no idea what was going on. I worked out how they got 4. I'm happy with that. 

After a lovely afternoon at the cricket, we walked back to the city through the gardens. We walked by parliament and a few pretty churches and found our way into one of the lanes and had a drink and snack at La Citta. Afterward, we met back up with Kylie and headed out to Fitzroy for drinks and dinner. We went to the Black Pearl, a really small bar with a lot of character and met up with one of Kylie's friends from work, Simon, and his wife, Kelly. 

They took us to Vegie Bar, a vegetarian restaurant, where I wanted to order one of everything. We settled on dumplings and rice balls to start and then shared five dishes for dinner: mee goreng, vermicelli, mushroom pizza (with goat cheese!), vegan nachos, and a rustic salad. Definitely recommend this place, everything was delicious! 

We walked around Fitzroy a bit (very hipster... amazing) and ended up at Naked for Satan for a night cap before heading home.

Tuesday: We woke up early again and headed in to Queen Victoria Market to poke around a bit and then picked up Simon's car to head down to Phillip Island.  

Simon made a pit stop at The Premises so I could pick up a coffee (very delicious) before we dropped him back at his and hopped on the road. 

We drove down to the island, only hitting traffic at the very end. We made it to the koala sanctuary and had a stroll around where we saw many koalas and wallabies as well as a few echidnas. 

We then stopped off at the rental house where Kylie's aunt was staying and had a lovely dinner with Kylie's aunt and her partner before heading to the penguin parade! We bundled up for a chilly evening on the beach watching hundreds of penguins make their way up to their burrows. Unfortunately, no photos were allowed (it possibly makes the penguins throw up and then the chicks have nothing to eat and die. Life lessons, follow the rules or baby penguins die. This did make me less annoyed that I forgot my camera back in Melbourne. 

Wednesday: We started the morning at Temuku for brekkie. I had a cappuccino and  vegie brekkie of sourdough bread with tomato, avocado, poached eggs and rocket. 10/10 would recommend. Then we got back on the road and headed to Brighton beach to check out the beach huts. 

We drove through St Kilda and then stopped off at Melbourne's only Unesco world heritage site, The Royal Exhibition Building for a few photos. 

We got ready for dinner at Cumulus Inc and shared several dishes including the stand outs - lamb shoulder, ricotta dumplings and sweet and sour broccoli. We had dessert at Max Brenner's chocolate and then stopped in the Berlin bar - themed around, you guessed it... Berlin prior to the fall of the wall, featuring both East and West Berlin.

Tomorrow we head up to the Whitsunday islands to get on a catamaran for a few days. This was my first visit to Melbourne, but definitely will not be the last. 

The rest of Sydney Pt. 1

Here is a week's work of holiday in one post!

Sunday: Sydney Fish Market day!! Since my first visit to Sydney I've been missing the freshest sashimi I've tasted. We met Fiona and Jarna there and we bought oysters, tuna, salmon and prawns for about $55AUD. The same food at a restaurant would've been easily $300+, what a delicious steal. We ended the fish extravaganza with chocolate covered strawberries (as you do) and I had a sneaky choc covered mango slice. 10/10, definitely recommend the whole experience. 

After a lovely lunch, we walked over to Darling Harbour and missed our ferry to Cockatoo Island, so had a drink and hopped on a later ferry. The views from the island were great. The Island Bar was an experience. A bit night club-ish during the day for me, but an experience nonetheless. Step count: 10,088

Monday: Kylie headed in to work and Jennifer and I headed to Bondi! First stop - Le Paris Cafe. Eggs bene for Jennifer, fruit salad with yoghurt and muesli for me. 

After brekkie we walked along the coast from Bondi to Coogee, taking in the views.

 We headed back toward the CBD and walked through Hyde Park, visited St Mary's Cathedral, had a yum cha snack at Bodhi (a vegan restaurant), walked through the botanical gardens to the Opera house and headed back to Kylie's. Step count: 23,634

Tuesday: Another day of work for Kylie, another day of sight seeing for us! It was raining pretty steadily, so we headed in to the Australian Museum. After the museum we had lunch at Diethnes (a Greek restaurant) and walked through the Queen Victoria Building. We plodded along in the rain to The Rocks for a bit more sight seeing and a drink. After our rainy day, we met up with a few more of Kylie and her flatmate Pete's friends for pub quiz in Neutral Bay. We came in somewhere in the middle of the pack, not our best showing, but could've been worse. Step count: 16,262

Wednesday: Last day of work for Kylie! A day in Manly for Jennifer and me. We caught a very festive bus to Manly and walked from the Wharf to the beach along the Corso. 

We found a cute cafe, Hemingway's, to stop for a coffee and toasted banana bread. 

We walked along the beach and then back toward Shelly Beach where we stopped for lunch - flat breads and wine! 

We continued our walk through Manly to Little Manly Cove and then caught the ferry to Circular Quay for drinks at Opera Bar. Great Sauvignon Blanc find - Praxis, Moorilla Tasmania. Step count: 20,311

Thursday: Christmas Eve! We all headed in to Balmain and had breakfast as Kazbah (a Middle Eastern restaurant). We went back to a few years ago when we spent Christmas in Morocco together and had breakfast tagines! 

Kylie then dropped us off at Yurulbin Park and we walked all through Balmain to the Balmain East ferry. 

Definitely my new fave spot in Sydney. This part of town has amazing character. On the list if I ever move to Sydney! 

After the walk we picked up a carrot cake for Christmas and then headed to Kylie's parents' house in Chatswood for a lovely Christmas Eve dinner. Step count: 13,848

Friday: Christmas!! We woke up Christmas morning and got ready to head out to West Pennant Hills to a family friend of Kylie's for Christmas lunch. We spent the day mostly sitting on the veranda, chatting, snacking on apps. We had a nice lunch of turkey and ham, roast veggies, and salads. I also got the best joke in my Christmas cracker - what did one eye say to the other eye? Between you and me, something smells! 

Then out came the desserts! A fruit plate, carrot cake, trifle, ripple cake, chocolate mousse and truffles. Wow. Step count: 7,540 (food count: lots)

Saturday: Boxing Day - now we're off to Melbourne! 

Oops, I've taken 3.5 weeks off work

So it's been 2 years since the long way home. I decided it was time to take a trip back to Australia...and maybe blog about it! 

I cashed in some United points some months ago and boarded a plane in Newark on December 16, headed to Vancouver - got the third degree from the customs lady on why I was visiting a friend I made in London ...in Sydney - and then boarded the longest flight ever. 16+ hours! December 17th, 2015 was a figment of my imagination as I entirely skipped that day and arrived in Sydney on Dec 18. Kylie (said friend I met in London) and Jennifer were waiting for me when I arrived.

Kylie dropped us off at her flat and headed to work for the afternoon. Jennifer and I did a bit of shopping for some lunch at Woolworth's, did a couple small errands, and then got on with it! We headed to Primrose Park, near Kylie's, to get some vitamin D (which clearly I am deficient in). On the way back we stopped off for a drink at Firefly and then met up with Kylie to get some Thai takeaway and watched The Woman in Gold. They watched, I slept! Per usual.

The next day we were up and off to brunch with some of Kylie's friends in Balmoral Beach. Before brunch Kylie gave Jennifer and me some lovely Christmas presents! We ate at Bather's Pavilion and I had my first coffee of the trip. If you've not had Australian coffee, you're missing out on life. I also had blood sausages. Oops. A bit far off from my generally plant based diet as of late. Word to the wise if you eat at Bather's - don't touch their sign in sheet- they're protective. After brunch we had a bit of a walk and enjoyed the view of the beach. 

We took a walk to Cremorne Point and took in more spectacular views and weather and then headed in to Carols in the Domain with the rest of Sydney apparently! We had a lovely picnic dinner and some of us participated in the caroling.

Yep, I think this trip was a great idea. Looking forward to the next few weeks!