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Our Recce
Posted 15-07-2008 at 04:26 PM by Megss
This is very very very long!
Well we got back from Australia a month ago tomorrow! We have been so busy since we got back that I haven’t had time to really sit down and think about it and write my blog!
Well I have loads to talk about so I think I’ll start at the beginning…
We flew from Heathrow, we got up really really early and got the train up for 9am check in. That was an ordeal in itself!! But check in was fine, and our flight with Quantas was really good. The staff were really friendly and the captain kept us informed with regular announcements over the intercom which was really nice. I watched lots of films but didn’t get much sleep. The only two problems were that we were trapped in the middle of a row of 4 seats with strangers either side, and I needed the toilet a lot!! And secondly the food was DISGUSTING!!! Really I’m not one to moan about food and I always enjoy aeroplane food normally, but by the food was so bad we actually turned down the last two meals! Our flight home with British Airways was so much better, the food was lovely, and we had an aisle seat. But the British staff were grumpy and rude in comparison with the Aussies, and the announcements over the intercom were appalling and not at all informative – I know this sounds petty but we really had no idea what was going on when we got to Bangkok, how long we had, if we were getting back on the same plane, where to go to get back on the plane etc etc.
Anyway, we arrived in Sydney at night, it was pissing down, but I was SO excited!! The rain was big fat heavy rain – the best sort! None of this miserable drizzle we have at home. The atmosphere was great and I really could not contain how excited I was!!! We then worked our way through the airport to catch our connection to Brisbane, which was quite stressful as we had very little time and the queues through immigration and quarantine were so long! But we made it, we went on a little bus to the domestic terminal, again I was beaming from ear to ear about being in Australia and couldn’t stop looking at everything and proclaiming how wonderful it all was – in hindsight I think I may have actually been delirious from sleep deprivation, as it was pitch black and pissing down and the only things I could see were airport buildings, but I was immensely pleased to see all these Australian signs, written in English and they looked like English signs!!
When we landed in Brisbane we found ourselves in a queue for a taxi, the rain was causing a lot of disruption, it was a bit like when it snows in England and everything stops working and its all anyone can talk about! People seemed to be buzzing about the fact that it was raining! There was a steward trying to pair people up into taxis that were going in the same direction, but we had no idea where we were going, just the address of our cheap airport hotel, so we were relieved to not have to share a taxi – we’re English and exhausted; defiantly not the most sociable combination.
The hotel, which was the only hotel we could find online that had a late check in facility, was as cheap and basic as we had expected, but it still left us feeling a little disappointed! We crashed on the bed and tried to get some sleep, but spent most of the night worrying about spiders in the way your brain goes round and round in circles when your exhausted and half asleep in a strange place.
In the morning the rain was still lashing down, the airport buses had been cancelled, and we were amazed at how chilled out the other guests were about that considering they had planes to catch! We just wanted to get a train. So we got a taxi to Bowen Hills station. We had literally stepped out of the taxi when a man who worked at the station approached us and said ‘where you heading?’, we were a bit taken aback at this immediate offer of assistance, when we hadn’t even asked for it! So he told us what platform to be on, for which train. We had an hours wait for the direct train, so we sat under a shelter on the platform just enjoying being in Australia in the pouring rain!! I soon realised we were over dressed despite the rain, as the rain cleared the humidity hit me, and I noticed everyone else was wearing summer clothes and thongs.
The whole Brisbane part of our trip was a bit of a magical mystery tour, we were only going on business so I hadn’t researched it at all and we had no idea what to expect - so when the Glass House Mountains appeared through the mist we were thrilled, when your jet lagged everything seems so surreal and we just couldn’t believe what we were seeing!
We got off the train at Landsborough and waited for a bus, I loved it at the station, it was clean and modern and well cared for, and the little row of shops across the road looked like they were meant to be on a film set! The bus to Mooloolaba was full of more people excited about the rain, the bus driver said something along the lines of “if its not underwater by now” when we asked for Mooloolaba, so when we arrived I was a little disappointed to find just a few puddles. A man we were on the bus with pointed us in the direction of our hotel – again without being asked!
As we approached the sea front we could see there was a lot of commotion, flashing lights and a crowd, and a couple walking in the opposite direction told us we couldn’t get through that way as a tree was down. It turned out they were staying at our hotel too, so we walked with them. The hotel was the Landmark Resort, again we had got a very cheap deal with them, only £50 a night so we weren’t expecting much, but this time we were very pleasantly surprised! We had a lovely apartment over looking the gorgeous pool. We got changed into something more appropriate and headed straight out to explore and to meet the two business associates, one of whom had flown out the day before from the UK, and the other lived in Mooloolaba. The beach was breath taking, the waves were enormous and we just couldn’t believe our luck! The air was damp and humid and the spray off the sea was making it really atmospheric. We met the guys at Starbucks and they told us the night before had been a huge storm and that the wind and rain had only just stopped, hence why the street was buzzing with people venturing out to see what damage had been done and watching the huge storm tide. I honestly felt liked I’d stumbled upon paradise!
It started to get dark really early and we went for a stroll along the path that went through the woods behind the beach just as the sun was going down. The big tropical leaves were dripping and glistening in the light of the street lamps, it was all steamy, and the noise coming out of the undergrowth was phenomenal, all the frogs, birds and insects were making a harmony of noises that I have never heard in the wild before, I kept forgetting it was real and thinking I was in some kind of rainforest exhibit at a zoo with piped in sound effects! Smaller paths lead off the main path down to the beach, so we got occasional glimpses of the waves crashing onto the sand, honestly it was paradise and I just kept saying “oh my god I can’t believe this is real! I can’t believe we are here!!”
The next few days were a bit strange; I spent a lot of time walking around in a daze whilst Jon was off in Brisbane and Sydney having meetings. I sat on the beach, but I was a bit scared of the big holes in the sand that looked like something a bit scary had made them (answers on a post card please)! I strolled around and sat on benches and steps just soaking it all up. I talked to some local people, who just stopped to make conversation, and I learnt so much about the area. People kept saying “it isn’t normally like this, normally the sea is crystal clear and there is loads more sand on the beach!”. All the sand had been washed away, leaving the steps down to the beach with a sheer drop of several feet at the bottom! But I still thought it was beautiful! And I couldn’t wait for Jon to finish his last meeting so that we could enjoy it together.
However things went a bit wrong on the third day, as all the stress and exhaustion became too much for Jon and he was rushed to hospital in an ambulance! I don’t want to go into that too much as I’ve talked about it until I was blue in the face, but here is a link if you did want to know what happened; http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/news-gossip-chat/36690-terrible-night-husband-hospital.html
So after that we managed to get one last day on the beach which was lovely, and then a fantastic meal out at Hot Pipis – oh my god the seafood curry is to die for!!! And I am obsessed with Morton Bay Bugs!! I can’t wait to have those again!
We flew down to Sydney on the Saturday and hired a car. I was driving, as Jon will admit I am the better driver (and the worst back seat driver!), so getting out of Sydney onto the princes highway was a little hair raising!! We came off the prices highway and onto one of the tourist routes just as the sun was starting to set behind the mountains, and the scenery was spectacular! We drove over the Sky Bridge which was fantastic and the beaches looked beautiful. We pulled up at Bulli Beach Tourist Park where we had a reservation, we pondered whether to just pay for a few days but decided to pay the whole lot as we had booked it for the week. In hindsight I think we should have just stayed for a few days as we found we loved it further down the coast.
Bulli Beach was beautiful but seemed desolate, nobody around, and as the sun went down we went for a stroll to find a shop to get some food for dinner, but found our hearts sinking a little as we walked around in the growing darkness. We had been told Bulli was one of the best suburbs of Wollongong and were expecting more. We eventually found ourselves on the main street and bought some food from the garage and walked back to our cabin. We tried hard to convince ourselves that it because we were tired, it was dark and mid winter, but no matter how hard we tried, we just weren’t ‘feeling it’.
In the morning we felt more positive, everything looked much nicer in the daylight, the houses were certainly very nice, the beaches were lovely, but still there seemed to be no one around. We jumped in the car and drove into Wollongong. We found a run of the mill town centre, rather dated, it was early on a Sunday so there still was hardly anyone about, but I was pleased to find the Mall had everything I needed and on the inside it was nice enough. We walked down to the sea front, where we found a large sports stadium but not much else, we could see the harbour to the south which looked really nice, but to the north was Port Kembla. The sky was over cast, and there was just no denying it looked really ugly!! So we walked towards to the Harbour, which again was ‘nice’ but not ‘spectacular’, but we remained positive and said the weather would not be helping. I liked the harbour, the fish market was great and I was mesmerised by the Pelicans!! We then went to the little café which was really very nice and we had a delicious homemade ice cream.
Our spirits lifted as we found more and more stuff we liked. Shellharbour was really nice and decided we would like to live there. Then we found Corrimal East, which I fell in love with, the streets and houses felt so nice, and I felt really at home. The beach was gorgeous and best of all it was a dog walking beach! However we then stumbled across neighbouring Bellambi and wished we hadn’t! It was really rough and just seemed to be a big council estate. So that kind of ruled out Corrimal East.
We spent a lovely day at Minnamurra Rainforest and fell head over heals for the surrounding countryside. We followed Route 9 right up to the top of the hills to a look out point which was fantastic and felt like true Australia with the Bush behind us stretching as far as the eye could see and the first real red sandy soil I had seen, it was strangely warm up there, as if the heat from the centre of the continent was radiating outwards.
And then we went to Kiama.
We had ruled Kiama out as we thought it was too far south from where the Kids and their Mum and Step Dad would probably want to live, so we were just having a little look around. We arrived from the south as we had been down looking at Shoalhaven and the Seven Mile Beach (which was FANTASTIC!), so we parked in the Little Blow Hole area. The little beach was lovely, the sun was coming out and there were kids surfing. The sea was a gorgeous turquoise blue and the waves were great. We walked around the head land, past the rugby club (dreaming of my step son playing there one day) and down towards the lighthouse and the Blowhole, there were lots of people around who looked like our kind of people. It was like one of those days that just gets better and better, first Seven Mile Beach, then the beach at Kiama, then the lighthouse, the blowhole, the harbour and black beach, the swimming pools were the cleanest and most inviting we had seen, the large green area next to the harbour. Every step we took we just fell more and more in love. The high street was great, the shopping centre was great, the houses were beautiful, and the train station was gorgeous and only 2hrs from Sydney. Then we found the little row of muse shops and the large park with the band stand and huge trees! It was just magical and we felt we had found the perfect home for us! And then we found FISH AND CHIPS! And the deal was done!
The last few days we relaxed as we knew we had found the perfect home for us, so we could get on with enjoying ourselves! Jon had one more meeting in Sydney so we got the train up there. Two things happened before we even got to fall in love with the city – firstly our train tickets got swallowed at the barriers and a man emptied the whole machine and went through all the tickets to find ours for us! That would never ever ever happen in London!!! And then as Jon was looking for the building he had his meeting in on a map a business man stopped and asked us where we were trying to get to, and showed us the way! Again, you wouldn’t even make eye contact with someone in the City in London!!
I left Jon and followed the signs to Darling Harbour, and when I arrived it was another magical moment! It was breathtakingly beautiful!! I sat on the steps next to the water and read my book for a couple of hours, enjoying the sunshine. Then Jon came and met me and we walked through the city to the Opera House (via a gorgeous little shop called Baby Cakes, that sells tiny little cup cakes at 90c each, mmmmmm) and we got the ferry to Manly – which was worth it for the ferry trip alone!! And I’m dying to go back there just for the café called Chocolate by the Bald Guy, which had a menu that listed every possible way you could eat melted chocolate - except one! ;-)
On our last afternoon in Illawarra we drove all the way down to Jervis bay. We knew it was a long way, and we got there just as the sun was starting to go down. We pulled up at a little car park, and a man in a Ute pulled up, he looked scary and we avoided eye contact with him, wondering why this weirdo was just standing staring at the sea on his own, and as usual we were ashamed of ourselves when he started talking to us and turned out to be a perfectly normal guy who likes to watch the sun go down over the sea in this beautiful bay! He told us to drive round to the nature reserve to see the really special beaches. So we did and boy was it worth it!! The whitest sand and clearest waters in the whole of Australia apparently, I don’t know if that’s true but its certainly the best I’ve ever seen! We went to Green Patch, which has this gorgeous little lagoon, and then we drove on down to Murray Beach which was – yes you guest it – breath taking! The sun was setting, the water was like a crystal clear mill pond and as we walked down the beach at dusk we found ourselves face to face with a small family of Kangaroos! We honestly were pinching ourselves! Its one of the best memories of my life! And you know when people say it’ll be burnt into my memory for ever, well I made sure of that by trying to take a picture of the sun with the zoom on my DSLR and very nearly blinded myself, I spent the next half an hour on the verge of vomiting and with an agonising migraine! So I probably have a Jervis bay sunset image burnt on my retina for the rest of my life.
On our way back we stopped in our beloved Kiama and had fish and chips just one more time in the restaurant in the harbour, it could not have been more perfect. We shared and fisherman’s basket platter and I have sworn I will never each fish and chips again until I can have it there.
We spent the last day and a bit in Sydney, we just stayed in the Ibis at darling harbour and did the Aquarium and Wildlife Centre which I would really recommend if your interested in the kind of wildlife you may have to protect yourself from when living in Oz! Looking at the funnel web and red back close up actually reassured me not to be so scared, I don’t know why.
So now we’re back we need to get our arses in gear on the Visa front – which is a little difficult as we are currently skint and have a diary full of expensive commitments for the next couple of months. We’re worried about how the economy is going to effect us, our main client is already behind with invoices and claiming cash flow problems, so I have the feeling the next year and a bit is going to be a real uphill struggle.
Anyway, here are some photos from the trip, you should be able to see them i hope, let me know if you can't;
7 Mile Beach and Jervis Bay
Megan Sayers's Photos - 7 Mile Beach and Jervis Bay - Oz | Facebook
Illawarra
Megan Sayers's Photos - Illawarra Region - Oz | Facebook
Sydney
Megan Sayers's Photos - Sydney - Oz | Facebook
Minnimurra
Megan Sayers's Photos - Minnamurra Rainforest - Oz | Facebook
Wildlife!
Megan Sayers's Photos - Birds of Australia! (and the odd spider and lizard) | Facebook
Well we got back from Australia a month ago tomorrow! We have been so busy since we got back that I haven’t had time to really sit down and think about it and write my blog!
Well I have loads to talk about so I think I’ll start at the beginning…
We flew from Heathrow, we got up really really early and got the train up for 9am check in. That was an ordeal in itself!! But check in was fine, and our flight with Quantas was really good. The staff were really friendly and the captain kept us informed with regular announcements over the intercom which was really nice. I watched lots of films but didn’t get much sleep. The only two problems were that we were trapped in the middle of a row of 4 seats with strangers either side, and I needed the toilet a lot!! And secondly the food was DISGUSTING!!! Really I’m not one to moan about food and I always enjoy aeroplane food normally, but by the food was so bad we actually turned down the last two meals! Our flight home with British Airways was so much better, the food was lovely, and we had an aisle seat. But the British staff were grumpy and rude in comparison with the Aussies, and the announcements over the intercom were appalling and not at all informative – I know this sounds petty but we really had no idea what was going on when we got to Bangkok, how long we had, if we were getting back on the same plane, where to go to get back on the plane etc etc.
Anyway, we arrived in Sydney at night, it was pissing down, but I was SO excited!! The rain was big fat heavy rain – the best sort! None of this miserable drizzle we have at home. The atmosphere was great and I really could not contain how excited I was!!! We then worked our way through the airport to catch our connection to Brisbane, which was quite stressful as we had very little time and the queues through immigration and quarantine were so long! But we made it, we went on a little bus to the domestic terminal, again I was beaming from ear to ear about being in Australia and couldn’t stop looking at everything and proclaiming how wonderful it all was – in hindsight I think I may have actually been delirious from sleep deprivation, as it was pitch black and pissing down and the only things I could see were airport buildings, but I was immensely pleased to see all these Australian signs, written in English and they looked like English signs!!
When we landed in Brisbane we found ourselves in a queue for a taxi, the rain was causing a lot of disruption, it was a bit like when it snows in England and everything stops working and its all anyone can talk about! People seemed to be buzzing about the fact that it was raining! There was a steward trying to pair people up into taxis that were going in the same direction, but we had no idea where we were going, just the address of our cheap airport hotel, so we were relieved to not have to share a taxi – we’re English and exhausted; defiantly not the most sociable combination.
The hotel, which was the only hotel we could find online that had a late check in facility, was as cheap and basic as we had expected, but it still left us feeling a little disappointed! We crashed on the bed and tried to get some sleep, but spent most of the night worrying about spiders in the way your brain goes round and round in circles when your exhausted and half asleep in a strange place.
In the morning the rain was still lashing down, the airport buses had been cancelled, and we were amazed at how chilled out the other guests were about that considering they had planes to catch! We just wanted to get a train. So we got a taxi to Bowen Hills station. We had literally stepped out of the taxi when a man who worked at the station approached us and said ‘where you heading?’, we were a bit taken aback at this immediate offer of assistance, when we hadn’t even asked for it! So he told us what platform to be on, for which train. We had an hours wait for the direct train, so we sat under a shelter on the platform just enjoying being in Australia in the pouring rain!! I soon realised we were over dressed despite the rain, as the rain cleared the humidity hit me, and I noticed everyone else was wearing summer clothes and thongs.
The whole Brisbane part of our trip was a bit of a magical mystery tour, we were only going on business so I hadn’t researched it at all and we had no idea what to expect - so when the Glass House Mountains appeared through the mist we were thrilled, when your jet lagged everything seems so surreal and we just couldn’t believe what we were seeing!
We got off the train at Landsborough and waited for a bus, I loved it at the station, it was clean and modern and well cared for, and the little row of shops across the road looked like they were meant to be on a film set! The bus to Mooloolaba was full of more people excited about the rain, the bus driver said something along the lines of “if its not underwater by now” when we asked for Mooloolaba, so when we arrived I was a little disappointed to find just a few puddles. A man we were on the bus with pointed us in the direction of our hotel – again without being asked!
As we approached the sea front we could see there was a lot of commotion, flashing lights and a crowd, and a couple walking in the opposite direction told us we couldn’t get through that way as a tree was down. It turned out they were staying at our hotel too, so we walked with them. The hotel was the Landmark Resort, again we had got a very cheap deal with them, only £50 a night so we weren’t expecting much, but this time we were very pleasantly surprised! We had a lovely apartment over looking the gorgeous pool. We got changed into something more appropriate and headed straight out to explore and to meet the two business associates, one of whom had flown out the day before from the UK, and the other lived in Mooloolaba. The beach was breath taking, the waves were enormous and we just couldn’t believe our luck! The air was damp and humid and the spray off the sea was making it really atmospheric. We met the guys at Starbucks and they told us the night before had been a huge storm and that the wind and rain had only just stopped, hence why the street was buzzing with people venturing out to see what damage had been done and watching the huge storm tide. I honestly felt liked I’d stumbled upon paradise!
It started to get dark really early and we went for a stroll along the path that went through the woods behind the beach just as the sun was going down. The big tropical leaves were dripping and glistening in the light of the street lamps, it was all steamy, and the noise coming out of the undergrowth was phenomenal, all the frogs, birds and insects were making a harmony of noises that I have never heard in the wild before, I kept forgetting it was real and thinking I was in some kind of rainforest exhibit at a zoo with piped in sound effects! Smaller paths lead off the main path down to the beach, so we got occasional glimpses of the waves crashing onto the sand, honestly it was paradise and I just kept saying “oh my god I can’t believe this is real! I can’t believe we are here!!”
The next few days were a bit strange; I spent a lot of time walking around in a daze whilst Jon was off in Brisbane and Sydney having meetings. I sat on the beach, but I was a bit scared of the big holes in the sand that looked like something a bit scary had made them (answers on a post card please)! I strolled around and sat on benches and steps just soaking it all up. I talked to some local people, who just stopped to make conversation, and I learnt so much about the area. People kept saying “it isn’t normally like this, normally the sea is crystal clear and there is loads more sand on the beach!”. All the sand had been washed away, leaving the steps down to the beach with a sheer drop of several feet at the bottom! But I still thought it was beautiful! And I couldn’t wait for Jon to finish his last meeting so that we could enjoy it together.
However things went a bit wrong on the third day, as all the stress and exhaustion became too much for Jon and he was rushed to hospital in an ambulance! I don’t want to go into that too much as I’ve talked about it until I was blue in the face, but here is a link if you did want to know what happened; http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/news-gossip-chat/36690-terrible-night-husband-hospital.html
So after that we managed to get one last day on the beach which was lovely, and then a fantastic meal out at Hot Pipis – oh my god the seafood curry is to die for!!! And I am obsessed with Morton Bay Bugs!! I can’t wait to have those again!
We flew down to Sydney on the Saturday and hired a car. I was driving, as Jon will admit I am the better driver (and the worst back seat driver!), so getting out of Sydney onto the princes highway was a little hair raising!! We came off the prices highway and onto one of the tourist routes just as the sun was starting to set behind the mountains, and the scenery was spectacular! We drove over the Sky Bridge which was fantastic and the beaches looked beautiful. We pulled up at Bulli Beach Tourist Park where we had a reservation, we pondered whether to just pay for a few days but decided to pay the whole lot as we had booked it for the week. In hindsight I think we should have just stayed for a few days as we found we loved it further down the coast.
Bulli Beach was beautiful but seemed desolate, nobody around, and as the sun went down we went for a stroll to find a shop to get some food for dinner, but found our hearts sinking a little as we walked around in the growing darkness. We had been told Bulli was one of the best suburbs of Wollongong and were expecting more. We eventually found ourselves on the main street and bought some food from the garage and walked back to our cabin. We tried hard to convince ourselves that it because we were tired, it was dark and mid winter, but no matter how hard we tried, we just weren’t ‘feeling it’.
In the morning we felt more positive, everything looked much nicer in the daylight, the houses were certainly very nice, the beaches were lovely, but still there seemed to be no one around. We jumped in the car and drove into Wollongong. We found a run of the mill town centre, rather dated, it was early on a Sunday so there still was hardly anyone about, but I was pleased to find the Mall had everything I needed and on the inside it was nice enough. We walked down to the sea front, where we found a large sports stadium but not much else, we could see the harbour to the south which looked really nice, but to the north was Port Kembla. The sky was over cast, and there was just no denying it looked really ugly!! So we walked towards to the Harbour, which again was ‘nice’ but not ‘spectacular’, but we remained positive and said the weather would not be helping. I liked the harbour, the fish market was great and I was mesmerised by the Pelicans!! We then went to the little café which was really very nice and we had a delicious homemade ice cream.
Our spirits lifted as we found more and more stuff we liked. Shellharbour was really nice and decided we would like to live there. Then we found Corrimal East, which I fell in love with, the streets and houses felt so nice, and I felt really at home. The beach was gorgeous and best of all it was a dog walking beach! However we then stumbled across neighbouring Bellambi and wished we hadn’t! It was really rough and just seemed to be a big council estate. So that kind of ruled out Corrimal East.
We spent a lovely day at Minnamurra Rainforest and fell head over heals for the surrounding countryside. We followed Route 9 right up to the top of the hills to a look out point which was fantastic and felt like true Australia with the Bush behind us stretching as far as the eye could see and the first real red sandy soil I had seen, it was strangely warm up there, as if the heat from the centre of the continent was radiating outwards.
And then we went to Kiama.
We had ruled Kiama out as we thought it was too far south from where the Kids and their Mum and Step Dad would probably want to live, so we were just having a little look around. We arrived from the south as we had been down looking at Shoalhaven and the Seven Mile Beach (which was FANTASTIC!), so we parked in the Little Blow Hole area. The little beach was lovely, the sun was coming out and there were kids surfing. The sea was a gorgeous turquoise blue and the waves were great. We walked around the head land, past the rugby club (dreaming of my step son playing there one day) and down towards the lighthouse and the Blowhole, there were lots of people around who looked like our kind of people. It was like one of those days that just gets better and better, first Seven Mile Beach, then the beach at Kiama, then the lighthouse, the blowhole, the harbour and black beach, the swimming pools were the cleanest and most inviting we had seen, the large green area next to the harbour. Every step we took we just fell more and more in love. The high street was great, the shopping centre was great, the houses were beautiful, and the train station was gorgeous and only 2hrs from Sydney. Then we found the little row of muse shops and the large park with the band stand and huge trees! It was just magical and we felt we had found the perfect home for us! And then we found FISH AND CHIPS! And the deal was done!
The last few days we relaxed as we knew we had found the perfect home for us, so we could get on with enjoying ourselves! Jon had one more meeting in Sydney so we got the train up there. Two things happened before we even got to fall in love with the city – firstly our train tickets got swallowed at the barriers and a man emptied the whole machine and went through all the tickets to find ours for us! That would never ever ever happen in London!!! And then as Jon was looking for the building he had his meeting in on a map a business man stopped and asked us where we were trying to get to, and showed us the way! Again, you wouldn’t even make eye contact with someone in the City in London!!
I left Jon and followed the signs to Darling Harbour, and when I arrived it was another magical moment! It was breathtakingly beautiful!! I sat on the steps next to the water and read my book for a couple of hours, enjoying the sunshine. Then Jon came and met me and we walked through the city to the Opera House (via a gorgeous little shop called Baby Cakes, that sells tiny little cup cakes at 90c each, mmmmmm) and we got the ferry to Manly – which was worth it for the ferry trip alone!! And I’m dying to go back there just for the café called Chocolate by the Bald Guy, which had a menu that listed every possible way you could eat melted chocolate - except one! ;-)
On our last afternoon in Illawarra we drove all the way down to Jervis bay. We knew it was a long way, and we got there just as the sun was starting to go down. We pulled up at a little car park, and a man in a Ute pulled up, he looked scary and we avoided eye contact with him, wondering why this weirdo was just standing staring at the sea on his own, and as usual we were ashamed of ourselves when he started talking to us and turned out to be a perfectly normal guy who likes to watch the sun go down over the sea in this beautiful bay! He told us to drive round to the nature reserve to see the really special beaches. So we did and boy was it worth it!! The whitest sand and clearest waters in the whole of Australia apparently, I don’t know if that’s true but its certainly the best I’ve ever seen! We went to Green Patch, which has this gorgeous little lagoon, and then we drove on down to Murray Beach which was – yes you guest it – breath taking! The sun was setting, the water was like a crystal clear mill pond and as we walked down the beach at dusk we found ourselves face to face with a small family of Kangaroos! We honestly were pinching ourselves! Its one of the best memories of my life! And you know when people say it’ll be burnt into my memory for ever, well I made sure of that by trying to take a picture of the sun with the zoom on my DSLR and very nearly blinded myself, I spent the next half an hour on the verge of vomiting and with an agonising migraine! So I probably have a Jervis bay sunset image burnt on my retina for the rest of my life.
On our way back we stopped in our beloved Kiama and had fish and chips just one more time in the restaurant in the harbour, it could not have been more perfect. We shared and fisherman’s basket platter and I have sworn I will never each fish and chips again until I can have it there.
We spent the last day and a bit in Sydney, we just stayed in the Ibis at darling harbour and did the Aquarium and Wildlife Centre which I would really recommend if your interested in the kind of wildlife you may have to protect yourself from when living in Oz! Looking at the funnel web and red back close up actually reassured me not to be so scared, I don’t know why.
So now we’re back we need to get our arses in gear on the Visa front – which is a little difficult as we are currently skint and have a diary full of expensive commitments for the next couple of months. We’re worried about how the economy is going to effect us, our main client is already behind with invoices and claiming cash flow problems, so I have the feeling the next year and a bit is going to be a real uphill struggle.
Anyway, here are some photos from the trip, you should be able to see them i hope, let me know if you can't;
7 Mile Beach and Jervis Bay
Megan Sayers's Photos - 7 Mile Beach and Jervis Bay - Oz | Facebook
Illawarra
Megan Sayers's Photos - Illawarra Region - Oz | Facebook
Sydney
Megan Sayers's Photos - Sydney - Oz | Facebook
Minnimurra
Megan Sayers's Photos - Minnamurra Rainforest - Oz | Facebook
Wildlife!
Megan Sayers's Photos - Birds of Australia! (and the odd spider and lizard) | Facebook
Total Comments 15
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How beautifully written Megs !! Your pictures are wonderful and it all looks like a dream.
Thank you for sharing it with us Kimxx |
 
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Hey Megs... was wondering how your trip went !!! Wow, sounds like it was a pretty eventful trip, but so glad you loved oz.... we are moving out in a few months (got to sell our house in france first !) and i can't wait !! I've spent quite a lot of time in oz over the years but we've just bought a plot of land in Corindi Beach (just north of coffs) and we 've never been there !!! Jeffs mum has been down and taken some photos for us but I am so incredibly excited to see the Corindi Beach sign when we finally get there !!!
How far down the line are you with your visas ? xx |
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Thanks Kim and Linzi!
Linzi i'm so envious of you! Can't believe how soon your going!!! Good luck with selling your house! |
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What a great Blog Megs, really enjoyed reading it, very informative and I could picture it all!
You made me happy that I live over here actually as you can take the place for granted after a while. Good luck on the Visa application |
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Lovely read and photos, thank you for taking the time and sharing it with us - Scardycat
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Brilliant Megs. Thanks for spending the time on this for all us to read.
Tracey. |
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Hi Meggs..glad to see you got back safe and sound. the illawarra thread has not been the same without you. Glad your husband is on the mend. Thank you for your blog. It has been very interesting to read. The photos are fantastic. I can't wait to get back to see these places for my self. welcome back..
Helen aka RVN |
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Good post Meggs, Kiama is the jewel in the crown,
Bellambi ??? the kids in that area kept me in work for many years when I worked in the juvenile prison system. North of Bulli is ok in my book, as is the Shellharbour area and south as far as Gerroa, a bit of useless info, the red dirt is only good for growing spuds, that is what Robertson is well known for, apart from the famous pie shop. The son of Oldies R Us on the Illawarra thread is the chef at Kiama Fish restaraunt, you should have said gday to him. |
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Thanks Skippy - i'm not suprised, we actually walked from Bulli to Wollongong one of the days - we walked very fast past Bellambi! But its good to know where these areas are, or you end up finding cheap houses there on the internet not realising you wouldn't want to live there!!!
Well i do love to grow my spuds!!! But i like a little variety in my veg! I did think that maybe that was the resteraunt we went to, but i couldn't get online to check! It was attached to the fish and chip shop, is that the one? It was the best fish and chips i've ever had! |
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hi megss great reading your story, having never been to oz but determined to get there,would you recomend a recce to see the area you would want live or take a chance with other peoples advice, cost being an important issue
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Hi Megs, fabulous post and I totally agree with you about Kiama. You're right the restaurant attached to the fish and chip shop (Cargos) is where my boy is the Chef.
Jean (OldiesRUs) |
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fabulously written, i could almost smell the sea breeze, and the photos are truelly breathtaking. we are planning a trip back to oz next year for 4-6 weeks are would like to travel but not sure where to start - need to finish in melbourne as we have family their, we both drive so distance would not be a big issue for us - any ideas folks would be greatly appreciated.
carol |
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well what can anyone say but wow and thank you for sharing
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thank you what a great read, you really have given me something to think about,
im going to wollongong / illawarra in april so im going to also check out the places you have mentioned. you say the driving was ok , that part im really worried about, we are driving from adelaide as we want to look at a couple of places there to but ive heard that there are not enough signs, what time of year did you go , was it very cold? thanks for posting your blog really great read cheers Dawn |
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Great pics , we live in Manly so recognise those pics!! Also took a trip down to Jervis Bay at the weekend via the National Park and Cliff Highway like yourself, pretty damn cool drive!!!
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Recent Blog Entries by Megss
- Where we’re at Autumn 08 (03-10-2008)
- Our Recce (15-07-2008)
- Hello! Long time no speak! (22-05-2008)
- In denial??!! (20-04-2008)
- Telling Family Tomorrow!!!! (19-04-2008)
