Sydney pt ll: the finale

Tuesday & Wednesday: Copious amounts of rain. No photographic evidence, you'll just have to take my word for it.

Thursday: We took a walk over the Harbour Bridge and did the pylon lookout. A near steal at $13 and about 20 mins of fun as opposed to the bridge climb at around $300 and 3 hours! 

That evening we headed back to Bondi Beach for dinner at Sean's Panorama. The waves that evening were absolutely massive. I don't even want to think about how impressive they would've been if we'd done the Bondi to Coogee walk that evening! I love watching and hearing the power of the ocean! That's ok, I was thoroughly impressed with both the very interesting entrance to Sean's (several times I thought.. mmm am I meant to be walking here??!) and the flavor explosion of the pork dish I had!

Friday: We drove up to the Hunter Valley in the morning, stopping at Peterson House (there is a chance I am misremembering this name and on a transpacific flight without wifi, so you'll have to deal) for our first tasting: Bubbles. I'm not the biggest fan of bubbles, but I tried my first sparkling red which was oddly nice. (Almost all Hunter Valley photos courtesy of Kayla)

We then headed over to Muse Kitchen at Keith Tullock winery for lunch. I had some quite nice barramundi with an avocado, green pea and mint mash. Australians seem to think avocado needs green pea added. The jury is still out as to what side I'm on. 

We then went up to the balcony at the winery for a tasting. It was so nice out that day! We saw Keith himself on the lawnmower before we went down to their chocolate cafe for some dessert. 

Our last winery stop was Gartlemann where I wasn't gong to taste, but there were reds.. It didn't take much arm twisting for me to join in for the tasting. After a quick stop we headed back to Neutral Bay for dinner at Kyushu Japanese. Kylie put in our order (for 11 people) and it was great! We had edamame, miso soup, gyoza, sashimi, sushi, maki rolls, tempura, and teriyaki chicken for just $30 each! Another steal! (Photos courtesy of Kylie's friend Chester)

Saturday: The next morning we had a lazy morning and went to Laneway Cafe for brekkie. 

Another winner in the food department (I will be paying for this in healthy eating/exercise over the next few months!)l I kind of made my own out of sides - two poached eggs on sourdough toast with avocado and grilled halloumi and a cappuccino. We drove into the CBD and had a nice walk through Barangaroo to The Rocks to check out the markets. 

We had a quick banh mi dinner back in Neutral a Bay before getting ready to go out with the lovely Scottish couple we met on the catamaran in the Whitsundays. Between the end of our boat trip and leaving Queensland Alan and Karen had gotten engaged! So of course we had to go celebrate with them when we were all in Sydney at the same time. Only photo waiting for the bus because...I didn't take any and this is the one Kayka posted :)

We started at a prohibition bar, Palmer & Co, then made our way to Bulletin Place, a very small (but well formed!) bar that had no signage out front which made you think you were heading into someone's flat! We ended the night at Blu on the 36th floor of the Shangri La Hotel that has great views of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.

Sunday: Sadly, the holiday was coming to an end, as we dropped Jennifer at the airport in the morning. Fiona picked us up and we spent a while lounging at Cremorne Point. Kayla brought a hammock that folded into the size of a grapefruit! A gadget I do not currently, but certainly will soon, have.

That night, Pete and Kylie had a family bbq at their flat and Kylie made another chocolate ripple cake for her dad's birthday. Yum!

Monday: My last dose of vitamin D! I headed into the CBD after Kylie went back to work in the morning and had a stroll through Martin Place, picked up a coffee at The Lab Cafe and then walked around the botanical gardens through to circular quay and met up with Kylie for lunch near the office. We had my fave, Vietnamese! After lunch I spotted a sign that was all too appropriate on my way to have a drink at King Street Wharf. 

I made my way back to Neutral Bay, picked up some last minute necessities and packed my bags. Kylie and I had dinner on her balcony as I savored the last warm weather I'm sure to have for the foreseeable future.

Tuesday, I left summer to return to the winter that is NYC. Back to the real world! Huge huge thank you to Kylie for entertaining Jennifer and me for three and a half weeks!! 

Sailing the Whitsundays

Apparently, we took the risky route by flying in to Proserpine the day of our boat departure. Risky or not, it worked out for us. We arrived just before midday and dropped our bags at the Coral Sea Resort (where we'd be staying after the sailing trip). We went to ABC Travel to "check in" and walked in to a place with about 35 kids ready for spring break, we were glad we booked the boat with only 10 passengers at that point. We had two and a half hours to kill before getting on the catamaran, so we grabbed a late lunch at Beaches - $15 meals all day with a free drink - decent. 

We were greeted by our skipper, Luke and first mate Tom and boarded 'On Ice' at 4pm from Abell Point Marina. The other passengers were an Australian couple on their honeymoon, a Scottish couple, two friends from Toronto, and a guy from Orange County. A good bunch!

The sail was put up and we relaxed in the hammock as we sailed away from the mainland. 

We caught an amazing last sunset of 2015, then anchored for the evening and had chicken on the BBQ... Because catamarans have BBQs on the back, that's normal, right? 

We could see tiny fireworks in the distance from Airlie Beach for their New Year's celebrations. The three of us shared the triple cabin in the aft starboard part of the catamaran. It consisted of a "double" bed that tapered down at the end and what Kylie likened to a surfboard near the ceiling. I slept on the surfboard, no falls! I call that a win. 

New Year's Day: In the morning we had breakfast and sailed to our first snorkeling spot in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park at Dumbell Island. We put on our stinger suits and jumped in the water. (I heard someone later call them Whitsunday Onesies, definitely my preferred term. Luke also said he has considered getting super hero stinger suits so people would not mind wearing them as much and it's much easier to remember your super hero than your number ... I was 41.)  The following photos are courtesy of Felix.

We saw plenty of fish and some amazing coral. I saw a small shark (the only types of shark I like seeing) on my way back to the dinghy to get picked up. We had tea and coffee once we got back to the catamaran and then were off to have a go at some stand up paddle boarding. I had a go at kneeling paddle boarding for a bit and then lined myself up with the catamaran, stood up and headed straight [read: zigzagged as I was not so good at steering] back. I had a lovely less than 10 minute experience of standing up, just the way I like it.. Short, sweet and not falling in! I managed to get a few shots of Kylie and Jennifer on their boards.

After paddle boarding, we headed to tongue bay and took a little walk for an amazing view of Whitehaven Beach.

 We then walked back to the beach and just relaxed for a few hours. The sand is probably the softest I've ever set foot in! We walked along the beach and saw a few sting rays and lemon sharks in the water and goannas on the beach.

The next day we woke up and were able to jump directly in the water for snorkeling at Langford Reef. More amazing coral, an abundance of fish and even a few sea turtles! We sailed for a short while and stopped off near Black Island where we could do more snorkeling and other water activities. Jennifer and I had a go at the clear kayak which was a great option for me as I was not so keen on putting on the stinger suit again! Jennifer saw the sea scooter come out, so quickly jumped back in her stinger suit and had a bit of a snorkel and go with the sea scooter.

It was then time to head back to Airlie Beach. We returned to Abell Point Marina and went back to Coral Sea Resort to check in and take showers in and actual bathroom. Very refreshing! Later we headed to Little Vegas Burger Bar and had a messy, but delicious dinner. We met up with a few of our catamaran friends at Beaches after dinner for a few drinks.

Sunday: Our luck ran out with the weather and it poured. We were so fortunate that it was blue skies for the sailing trip! We had a lazy morning and then the sun came out in the afternoon so we were able to spend it sitting by the ocean. We had dinner at the hotel and went to bed, listening to a crazy thunder storm going on outside overnight.

Monday: The rains cleared and we were able to sit by the ocean again. Perfect lazy few days to the holiday! Refer to the photo above for Monday's view as well. We did see some odd pieces of what appeared to be parts of a boat floating in the water on Monday - I think the storm was pretty strong Sunday night. We headed in to town for lunch at Cafe One3 where I had an acai bowl and apple, beetroot, and carrot juice. It was incredibly hot and humid on the walk there and back, so I took the opportunity to jump into the pool when we got back to the hotel. We lounged until dinner when we went to Fish D'vine and shared the "seafood indulgence" - a decent medley of hot and cold prawns, salmon, oysters, calamari, bay bugs, scallops, mussels, and fish. I also had a pretty nice passionfruit mojito - I'll take anything passionfruit flavored! Tomorrow it's back to Sydney for us. Queensland has been one relaxing holiday!

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.