Festive Frolics

Christmas Day itself was pretty quiet. It was dull and raining most of the day, so we had to forego any thoughts of a festive swim. Which I'm sure will please everyone back home.

Boxing Day however was a different story. Headed down to Avalon Beach, after finding Palm Beach and Whale Beach absolutely mobbed. Had a bit of a swim, or random floating mainly which cleared some cobwebs away.

Then headed down to the Newport Arms for a celebratory pint. Gareth was working on Christmas day so we thought it would be good to make up for it today.


This is more like how I pictured an Aussie Christmas. Sitting in the shade trying not to fry, cricket on the big screen, and nachos for tea.
We then headed off to Mandy's workplace for staff drinks (after I thrashed everyone at pool). Tex Mex, Mona Vale - purveyors of very fine Margaritas. They keep Mandy happy so there is no higher recommendation.

Several Margaritas and some sickly sweet shots of something or other later we left and tried to catch the late bus to Avalon.
Buses in the Northern Beaches are a rare enough thing, but at 3am on Boxing Day they're like the proverbial 'rocking horse s**t'.

Taxis are even more of a rarity. Makes Edinburgh look like the taxi capital of the world.
For some reason they just don't like coming up the peninsular at all. Which has led to a lot of drink driving in the area.

After over an hour of waiting, in which time we considered sleeping in the restaurant, a taxi came by and we almost threw ourselves in front of it to get it to stop.

Bed was rarely so welcome.

Peninsula Drive

Took a drive round most of the Northern Beaches Peninsula last night with Gareth.
Got some great views of the city from North Head.



Spotted this nice witchy Moreton Bay Fig at Balmoral. A cracking little spot and slightly less touristy as well.



Then some more views of the city at night from the other side of Circular Quay.

Barrenjoey

Took a small hike up to Barrenjoey Lighthouse at the headland of the peninsula today. Met some interesting characters along the way.

A nice little trail with some suitably prehistoric looking rock formations and plant life.

Not to mention the stunning views across Palm Beach and southwards.

Carved in Sand

Popped down to Palm Beach for a swim, and Gareth pointed out these carvings. Done by a local aborigine who comes down now and again to add bits.


Unofortunately it appears that there are idiots everywhere, and the stones get defaced with graffiti now and again, and people have been known to cut large chunks off for their houses.

Muppets!!

Animal Rescue!!

Gareth took us off up to Ku-rin-gai Chase National Park today for a taste of the bush.

We headed up to West Head to look out over the Northern Beaches where we're staying (just to the right of the photo below) and Lion Island. Which helped orientate me a little bit.
On our way back we came across a Rock Wallaby lying at the side of the road. My first instinct would have been to drive on as it was obviously close to death. But I'm glad Gareth was driving. As we passed the animal twitched, which was a sign that it had a 'joey' in its pouch. Something I wouldn't even have thought about. We pulled the car over and wandered up to the mother, to find a nervous and bewildered but otherwise healthy little wallaby in its pouch.

Gareth teased it out of its pouch and we wrapped it up in a towel in the hope of passing it over to the Park Ranger at the gate. Look at this picture below and try not to say 'Awwwww!!'.


Eventually we handed little 'Monty' over to the local animal rescue group W.I.R.E.S. who invited us in to look at some of the other fauna they were looking after. We were greeted by a plethora of cute noses and giant eyes.

Not to mention the bizarre sight of a young fruit bat with a dummy in its mouth.
Our good deed done we heade off to Whale Beach for a well deserved dip.
I'll keep you updated on wee Monty's progress. Hopefully leading up to a Rolf Harris-like teary farewell as we set him free again.

The Big Show

Feeling a little more human today, Mandy guides us down to the main attraction.

Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.


Weirdly enough the Bridge is a lot bigger than I thought it would be but the Opera House is smaller. Not that either fact will lessen the impact.

We spend some time soaking up the iconic views and then decide to take a ferry over to 'Manly' beach. Which is everything you would expect from an Australian beach. Big waves, big expanse of sand, and big pecs with six packs to match. My t-shirt stays firmly fixed. As does Mandy's smile.
A nice Weissbier in the Bavarian bar in Manly and we hop back on the ferry to see the Harbour at night.


This has to be the best commute in the world. Hop on a ferry right from the heart of the city out to your house on one of the many beaches. (Hmm, hovercraft to Fife!)

To top it off we have the best Chinese meal I have ever tasted at 'The East' on Circular Quay. If you can call diced Kangaroo fillet in chilli XO sauce chinese. Everything on the plate just melted in the mouth. Not the cheapest place but not the most expensive either. Barry grub!

Sydney Darling!!

Arrived at our hotel last night at around midnight and managed to find a lively pub for a few beers before retiring to the hotel for the night.

I followed my guide (and girlfriend) through Sydney and down to Darling Harbour for breakfast, where I had my first Aussie pie. I don't think the Lochinver ones are in any trouble, but this might not have been a good example.

It's a pleasant 25 degrees today with a nice breeze down at the harbour.

We head round to the aquarium after lunch. Which was a good place to get a flavour of the local sealife, and a taste of exceptionally rude tourists with spoilt brats in tow. Travel broadens your horizons but sometimes it just confirms your prejudices as well.




After a couple of hours of aqua marvelling we headed to the 'Blackbird' on Darling Harbour for some more jetlag cure and traditional Aussie fayre. In this case 'mojitos' and 'chicken parmiggiana'. Which seems to be something akin to Pizza Calzaghe with the breast of an entire ostrich lodged in-between.

Highly recommended.

Hong Kong in a Day

We awoke not very early at all, but then again neither of us have any idea what day it is, never mind what time. But there's lots of excitement at the prospect of exploring the most densely populated square kilometre on earth.

After a quick heart-starter in the hotel coffee shop. We hitch up our day packs and head into the Central district.

Hong Kong doesn't feel as busy as it should, and everyone is fairly polite considering how many people there are. Princes St. shoppers could take a few pointers from the Chinese.

We head up the 'central escalator' which takes you from water level halfway up the 'Peak'. It's an a ce way to shift people up the imposing hill that the city is built on, and gives a good snapshot of its heart.

After a bite to eat, and an excellent shot of our highly recommended jetlag cure 'Frozen Margaritas', we head off to the 'Peak Tram'. This is obligatory when you only have one day in Hong Kong.


As we should have predicted, one day in Hong Kong is not nearly enough, and its definitely ear-marked for another visit.
Anyhoo, off to the antipodes tomorrow morning.

Leaving Good Old Blighty

Not much to say on this day. Left Edinburgh at about 5pm, flew to London and then got on the plane to Hong Kong. Everything went fairly smooth, baggage was checked in all the way.

Watched 'The Bourne Ultimatum' then started to watch the 'Simpson's' movie but fell asleep half an hour in. Woke up many hours later with suitably 'Homer-like' drool on my shoulder.

Looked out of the window to find ourselves flying over the east end of the Himalayas and then what I suspect was the Gobi desert.

We alighted in Hong Kong at about 9pm, thoroughly knackered.