We left Alice Springs early on Tuesday morning, driving south on the Stuart Highway before turning right onto the Lasseter’s Highway which leads out west to the Uluru (Ayres Rock) and Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) National Park.

On the way we stopped at a Camel Farm, which was a bit touristy offering camel rides around a field but nevertheless interesting. Initially a handful of Camels were brought to Australia in the late 19th century for use in exploring the arid outback. They were used to good effect but soon became redundant to modern transportation methods. The camels were released into the wild and now there are thousands of them roaming the outback, like many introduced animals, they are considered an invasive as they destroy native vegetation which affects the bush land ecosystem. We have seen several Camel herds on our journey through the outback.

Unfortunately when we arrived in the national park it was a very wet and cold day, the area has been experiencing an unseasonably wet summer – much like Sydney.  We glimpsed Uluru from the highway and sadly it was looking grey with the sky covered in cloud. We didn’t stop at the rock though, instead we trekked in the Valley of Winds at Kata Tjuta, which means ‘many heads’ in the local Aborigine dialect. It was cloudy here too but this made for a nice temperature for the walk and added an element of mystery to the impressive rock formations.

The rocks were formed from an orogeny thousands of years ago which pushed up large blocks of granite from the Earth’s core, thousands of years of exposure to the elements has shaped them into their present head like form. We hiked up to a lookout point and the view looked like something from the ‘Land before time’.

After out walk we headed back to Uluru to see the ‘sunset’, supposedly to see the rock change colour with the setting sun, unfortunately a bit pointless given the cloud cover. Still our guide produced some Fizzy Wine and we had a bit of fun with the camera.

After camping overnight at the nearby ‘Uluru Resort’, a hotel and campsite complex where the tourists stay as there is no town nearby, we were up at 4am(!!) to see the sunrise over Uluru. We joined the throngs of tourists at the newly built sunrise lookout point, elbowing our way into a vantage point. Unfortunately whilst the clouds had cleared a bit they were still too thick to allow much sunlight onto Uluru – the full moon actually gave a better effect.

Once the sun was up we walked the 10km base walk around Uluru with our guide, Jason, explaining to us the many Aboriginal sacred sites around the rock. The rock looks quite different, but no less impressive, up close with many caves featuring rock art, waterfalls and pools, and strange erosions on the rock such as a head of a mythological warrior.

It took us a couple of hours to walk the loop around the rock and about halfway round the clouds finally dispersed and the sun shone through and brightened everything up nicely – the rock glows orange in the midday sun and we finally got our postcard photo!

After a brief visit to the interesting Uluru cultural centre we had lunch back at the campsite before driving three hours to Kings Canyon. On the way we passed Fooluru, Mt. Connor, which is often mistaken for Uluru by tourists. However, Uluru is formed from Granite pushed up from underground, Mt. Connor was formed by glacial movement – making it impressive in its own right.

Jason was good at spotting lizards as we were driving along and he spotted this tiny ‘Thorny devil’by the side of the road – apparently he isn’t as vicious as he looks.

We stayed at a dusty campsite at Kings Canyon, which featured a lace fly next right in the middle. These big winged flies were attracted to any light and there were masses of them – flying in your face and in your food not nice! Even with yet another 5am start we were happy to leave – we were up early to do a trek around the impressive Kings Canyon.

The trek started with a steep 15 minute climb up ‘heart attack hill’ but then levelled as we walked around the ridge of the canyon. On the way Jason told us a bit about the Aboriginal spiritual places around the canyon and pointed out ‘bush tucker’ that was used by the Aborigines to survive in this arid environment. The scale of the canyon was overwhelming and views were stunning, a very impressive place.

The trek took us about 4 hours after which we drove for 6 hours through endless desolate bush land to the small settlement of Marla. On the way we crossed the state border into South Australia, of course we stopped for the ‘tourist’ photo at the border sign.

There was nothing to see at Marla it was just an overnight stop to break up the journey. As it was a clear night a few of us took the opportunity to sleep in Swags, which are glorified sleeping bags in which one can kip out under the stars.

Despite some initial concerns about snakes, spiders, dingoes, and scorpions we were so knackered from the trekking and early mornings that we soon dropped off to sleep and slept straight through until morning and awoke feeling fresh

From Marla it was a two hour drive down the Stuart highway to the town of Coober Pedy, which is a Opal mining town that largely resides underground. Houses, churches, and pubs are dug out under hills to offer a cool escape from the intense heat of the desert – this is one of the hottest places in Australia with temperatures regularly over 40 degrees.

We had an interesting tour of an Opal mine where we learnt about the history of the town which was formed after Opals were found here in the late 1800’s sparking an ‘Opal Rush’. 90% of the worlds Opals come from Australia, and with 80% of Australia’s Opals coming from Coober Pedy it is regarded as the Opal Capital of the world. Opals are only found in places where there were once oceans, such as the Outback of South Australia. Drilling machines are used by miners to dig out mines but rocks have to be carefully hand sifted to see if Opals are present.

We stayed overnight in an underground bunkhouse and went for a beer in an underground pub, all very quirky but we appreciated the cool escape from the intense sun outside. We had a chance to sift for some Opals ourselves, a long and dusty process, and actually found a couple of small low grade Opals – unfortunately not worth enough to retire on!

We also checked out the nearby ‘Breakaways’, a stark but colourful area of arid hills about 30km outside of Coober Pedy. The white, orange, and yellow hills are stunning and quite photogenic compared to the repetitive plains of the Outback.

We also saw the ‘dog fence’, which spans over 5000km and as such is the longest man made object (longer than the Great Wall of China) in the world. It was built in the 1940’s to keep Dingoes away from grazing pastures where they would devastate flocks.
Next day was another day of driving as we headed to the town of Quorn just south of the Flinders Ranges, which we had come to explorer. On the way we stopped at Lake Hart, where there was no water to be seen, which is one of many Salt Lakes in South Australia. Whilst very picturesque it allows one to take some funky photos!

Quorn is a small town that was once a bustling livestock trading town, nowadays it’s just a historic country town. The buildings here are some of the oldest in Australia and we stayed in a quaint former Mill that has been renovated into a bunkhouse.

The area was deemed suitable for grazing in the 1800’s but the intense heat and regular flash flooding made life here difficult and most farms closed in the early 1900’s. We visited the remains of a former sheep farm, literally in the middle of nowhere, which gave us a view of how life must have been here for early settlers. The building is actually younger than many in the UK but you wouldn’t think it when you see it!

We also visited some nearby Rock paintings at the Yourambulla Cave, which were a bit simpler than we had seen in the tropical north – unfortunately no one really knows what they mean as the tribe that painted them have now died out.

We trekked through the Wilpena Pound which looks like a meteor crater but was formed from erosion as the inland oceans receded, the name derives from it being a natural sheep pen with mountains all around, no fences required. It was a nice walk and we saw kangaroos, goats (not native and considered a pest), and an old cottage that housed a Shepherd’s family until a flood in 1906 forced them to abandon it.

We had a good view around the pound when we walked up to a lookout point. In the evening as the sun was setting we went looking for some rare, and endangered, Yellow Footed Wallabies at the Warren Gorge. Keeping quiet and waiting a while, they are quite elusive, we managed to spot a few on the rocky ledges.

We stayed in the Mill for two nights before heading to Adelaide, and on our final morning we were up early for a trek up the nearby Dutchman’s Stern. A mountain that was named by the naval explorer Matthew Flinders, whom first discovered the area (hence the name Flinders Range), as it apparently looks like the Dutch ships of the 1800’s. It was a hot morning, South Australia has a very dry heat and the sun is intense, although it is more pleasant than the sweaty tropics of the north. It was an 8km trek up and down, we saw plenty of Kangaroos and Wallabies along the way, but the views from the top were well worth it.

From Quorn it was a 4 hour drive to Adelaide, and about halfway we stopped in the Barossa Valley for some wine tasting at the Knappstein brewery. I didn’t rate the wines much, but the beer was welcome refreshment.

The final leg of the journey brought us through vineyards and rolling countryside – very different to the red dusty Outback we had become used to. Here we concluded our 3000km (14 day) tour through the centre of Australia from Darwin in the Northern Territory to Adelaide in South Australia. We were a bit unsure about doing a tour but it has been a thoroughly enjoyable and hassle free trip, and we have met some really cool people along the way. With the vast distances we have covered between places of interest it has been nice to let someone else do the driving, it was the right choice for the trip through the Outback where one must take caution before setting out alone.

We are now looking forward to going it alone again and in Adelaide we have met my Mum who will be joining us for the next few weeks as we drive from Adelaide to Melbourne down the Great Ocean Road before flying over to Tasmania. Today we pick up a hire car before taking a ferry out to Kangaroo Island, which is supposedly something of a wildlife haven so we are excited about that.

There’s a load more photos from Uluru and around here, and some from the journey to Adelaide here.

We arrived in Darwin, capital of the Northern Territory, in the late afternoon of January 2^nd and upon disembarking the plane immediately began sweating – it is very very hot and humid here, 35 degrees plus with humidity over 70%!  After checking into our hostel we had a quick look around the centre of Darwin, which whilst the capital of the Northern Territory is pretty small and feels very different to Sydney.  There’s a nice walk way along the esplanade and a small beach that faces south, which gave us a nice sunset.

Darwin is subject to many thunder storms and it didn’t disappoint as midway through the night a very loud and spectacular storm kicked in, the lightning reminded me of the pulsing lights of a nightclub.  Next morning we were up early to join a three day tour through the nearby Litchfield and Kakadu national parks.  Our group of 14 people, mainly Germans and Swiss, were a nice fun bunch.  Thankfully the 4WD truck had air con, it would have been very sticky and stinky otherwise! First stop was at a field of giant termite mounds, called Cathedral termites, which were to become a common sight throughout the national parks.  Here’s a very big one, which apparently takes a few hundred years to grow.

We visited numerous picturesque waterfalls in both national parks which were gushing owing to the wet season rains.  This included Florence Falls, Wangi Falls, and Tolmer Falls and, depending on whether there was a risk of crocodiles being present (checked regularly by rangers), we enjoyed a refreshing dip in the pools under the falls.

In Kakadu we checked out the Nourlangie rock paintings, which are apparently many thousands of years old, some of the oldest art in the world – hard to appreciate when you see it as it looks quite ‘fresh’.  The aboriginals used rock art as way to tell their stories and pass knowledge to the next generations.  Many paintings feature animals, hunters, families, and serpents such as Narbulwinbulwin, here’s Rich trying to explain what it all means to us.

We took a cruise down the Alligator River (named by an American who confused the Crocs for Alligators) which is haven for birds and Crocs.  Unfortunately as it’s the wet season the Crocs were hard to spot but we did see one briefly poke its nose out of the water in front of our boat.  The waters were so high that many of the trees and vegetation were deeply covered by the flood water.

Most nights we have been sleeping in tents, which were like saunas in intense humidity in the north.  One has to be careful at night as many creatures seem to come awake, the Cockatoos nosily come into roost, Wallabies graze in the campsites, mosquitoes buzz annoyingly around you, cane toads hang out in the toilets, and big nasty looking spiders appear – this one on our tent is a Golden Orb, thankfully non posionous!

After a couple of nights in the national parks we had a night back in Darwin, enjoyed civilisation again, before joining the next tour (our 14 day tour to Adelaide consists of several shorter tours), a 3 day tour down to Alice Springs.  This time we were on a mini bus with a new guide, Keith, but with many of the group who were with us for the Kakadu tour – funny how quickly you can make new friends J

There’s a load of photos from our trip around Darwin and Kakadu here.

We left Darwin early and cruised down the Stuart Highway (named after John McDouall Stuart – the first European to cross Australia from South to North, no mean feat) which runs from Darwin to Adelaide.  We drove to the small town of Katherine, where we would camp for the night.  We were here to see the nearby Gorge, Katherine Gorge, in the Nitmiluk national park.  We did an 8km trek through the bush to the ‘Pats Lookout’ point, which overlooks the Gorge river system.  In the heat the trek wasn’t too easy but the view at the end made it worth it.

It was a nice campsite, although if you needed to sit on the toilet you had to fight it out with the frogs who had made it their home!

We also had a snake slither through the camp, it was a small and brown so we thought it might be the deadly brown snake, but our guide thought it was a python – either way we gave it a wide berth. Our guides have prepared us some very impressive meals using the limited campsite facilities, I have to hand it to the Aussies they do know how to do a good barbie.  Sleeping was a bit sticky with the humidity remaining high even through the night, but the early starts made us tired by 10pm so we quickly feel asleep.

Next day we started early as we had a big distance to cover, first stop was the Mataranka Thermal Springs where we had a swim in the crystal clear water.  The water can be up to 35 degrees, heated by an underground spring, but thankfully it was much cooler when we visited – a lovely place to relax.

For lunch we stopped at the town of Daly Waters, which was established by the Americans as an airforce base in WWII (the Japanese bombed Darwin in 1942).  It was at the time the first ‘airport’ in Australia to have international flights, now it is just a small airfield in the middle of nowhere!  The pub in the town was like something out of Crocodile Dundee – this was the Australia we had come to see!

We camped at a cattle farm in Banka Banka just off the Stuart Highway, this felt really remote with only occasional road trains (massive trucks hauling up to three trailers) passing by.  It was a quaint place and the nearby hill gave us a great view of the surrounding area and a nice sunset.

We also saw a Goanna digging for grubs, he didn’t seem to be too worried about us so he must be used to humans being around.

Next day we visited the fantastic Devils Marbles (Karlu Karlu to the aborigines) – gigantic granite boulders poised in a way that looks like someone has placed them so.  I’m not sure why they only in this place, but they make quite a spectacle against the endless bush/desert.

The ‘marbles’ were formed millions of years ago from a volcanic explosion, initially they were square but over time with exposure to the elements they have eroded into their present form.  The sun heats up the rocks and they expand through the day and shrink at night, which has caused some of the boulders to crack in half.  This was the highlight of the trip so far, a very impressive place.

On the final leg to Alice Springs we made a quick stop at Wycliffe Well, famous as having the most reported sightings of UFOs – our guide said this was down to the amount of beer they drink here!  We also stopped at the British built Barrow Creek telegraph station, which is a reminder of times gone by when telegraphs were forwarded from remote stations across the world.

We arrived in Alice Springs late yesterday afternoon and sadly we had to say goodbye to some of our group – Nad the crazy Swiss girl (we have lots of friends to visit in Switzerland now!) and Gabriel our German photographer, both will be missed on the next legs of the tour to Adelaide but we enjoyed a bit of a knees up in ‘the Rock bar’ with them last night.

Alice is a bit of a strange place, maybe it’s the heat, there’s not much to it just a small strip of pubs and shops set on the dry Todd River on the northern side of the MacDonnell Ranges.  We have had a day to ourselves today and have mainly been chilling out by the pool.  We did visit the Royal Flying Doctors station in the town though, which has a small but interesting museum explaining how the service works.  Partly government funded they rely on donations to provide a very valuable service to remote communities who are a long way from their nearest doctors surgery.

The town, like many we have passed through in the Northern Territory, is home to many Aboriginals, which has been interesting for us to see as we have rarely encountered them elsewhere.  It is apparent that there are many issues of integration between their culture and the western world, alcohol addiction and substance abuse is a big problem here.  It is sad to see that the two cultures struggle to integration, although considering the Aborigines have been in Australia for 65’000 years whilst the Europeans only 224 years it still very much a transitional period and hopefully things will improve in the future.

Tomorrow we head off to the famous Uluru (Ayres Rock) before picking up the highway south towards Adelaide where we will arrive next week.

There’s a load of photos from our trip down from Darwin to Alice Springs here.

Happy New Year!

As you can see we had a very spectacular New Years Eve in Sydney!  We went over to the look out port at Mort Bay in the Western suburb of Balmain and sat in the sun all day with our friends, before the stunning firework display at midnight – a fitting way to round off our time in Sydney.

There’s a load of NYE photos here.

We are travellers again from tomorrow – next stop Darwin!

Merry  Christmas everybody!

December has been our last month of living and working in Sydney.  Unfortunately it has been the coldest and wettest December in 51 years, but nevertheless outside of work we have been trying to cram in all the things we want to see before we leave Sydney.

We had a nice walk through the Botanical Gardens, past the screeching and ever impressive bats, to the lookout point at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair which arguably offers the best views in the city.  It is named after the wife of a former New South Wales governor (1810 to 1821) who came here regularly to enjoy the view.  So much so that Governor Macquarie had the convicts carve a ‘chair’ into the rocks for her to sit on.  I’m sure the view today is quite different from the one Mrs Macquarie enjoyed, but nevertheless it is very impressive.

We also visited the Sydney Wildlife Park at Darling Harbour, right in the city, which was better than we expected – we came as it was included on a combo ticket we had bought.  There were lots of native Australian animals, including Kangaroos, Koalas, Wombats, Emus, and a very large Croc!  You could get very close to most of the animals – the Parakeets were especially friendly.

It’s quite a contrast to be in a tropical butterfly enclosure and lookup and see the skyscrapers of the city outside!  We stayed at Darling Harbour for the evening to watch a firework display there, which are on every Saturday night in the run up to Christmas.

We also had a look at the guest exhibition of Picasso paintings and sculptures at the NSW gallery, which even though I am not a big fan of his work I found interesting – I was not aware that he had many style ‘phases’ (Blue, Surrealism, Cubism, etc) throughout his working life, but this was clear to see in the work that was on display.

On a sunny Sunday morning we went to Bondi for a walk along the cliffs north of the beach, but soon after we got off the bus an impressive storm front blew in.

We quickly took shelter in a cafe as the rain poured down, turning the streets into rivers in just a few minutes.  Whilst impressive it unfortunately meant that we had to abandon our walk.

On a much nicer day last week after work we took the chance to go up the Sydney sky tower to enjoy the panoramic views 309m above the city.  I have been up many of these towers, but it was nice to do it in a place that we know well as we could look down on the office, the area we live in, and the many places we have visited over the past few months.

On another dry evening we went to the outdoor cinema in the park near our house, Centennial Park, to watch ‘The Debt’.  We took a little picnic and as the sun went down we sat and watched the masses of Bats waking up for the night and taking off from the trees.  The film started at sun down and I would recommend it, a gripping thriller about Nazi hunters, a good experience all round.

The weekend before Christmas we took an early train out to the Blue Mountains, a two hour journey from Sydney’s Central station to the quaint town of Katoomba.   Upon arrival we found it considerably cooler than Sydney, the Blue Mountains are at about 1000m, so we went into a cafe that seemed to be stuck in a Victorian era time warp for a coffee to warm up.

The mountains are actually sandstone plateaus surrounded by a lush Eucalyptus forest (the Blue in the name comes from the blue ish haze given off by the trees), the Blue Mountains national park covers a massive area.  Katoomba is home to ‘the Three Sisters’, probably the best known and most touristy sight in the Blue Mountains, which are the subject of an Aboriginal legend where three sisters were turned to stone by elders to protect them from an overzealous neighbouring tribe.  There’s a very touristy visitor centre here with nasty concrete viewing platform, which offers an impressive view.

For me the three sisters are hyped up for the tourists who come here by the bus load to take photos and then go into Katoomba for some souvenir shopping.   It’s better to do some trekking, and one can follow a, so named, ‘Giant Staircase’ down the side of the Three Sisters with 896 steps that lead you down into the valley below.  It’s worth the effort though as not many of the tourists are up for it and once in the valley we were pretty much all alone!

The sun came out and warmed us up and we trekked for about 5 hours along the trails in the valley and back up the plateau, very spectacular with lots of lookout points, waterfalls, and rocky cliffs along the way.

Of course we had to go back up lots of steps to get out of the valley, but it was a good and fun workout (my legs are still a bit stiff).  We had walked one train station along the line towards Sydney, Leura, where we enjoyed a very welcome cup of tea and a cake!  A thoroughly enjoyable day, there are a load of photos we took along the route here.

Sadly we had our last session of Yoga in Maroubra with our Guru, Raj, who we shall miss as we have thoroughly enjoyed these Sunday morning sessions – I may even look into doing some Yoga when we get back home!

We also checked out the Powerhouse, which is a former power station for the expensive tram network that the city used to have.  Now it is used as a museum to showcase feats of science and innovation, from the age of Steam to the Space race, especially those of Australian inventors.  It is quite an interactive museum where you can try out many experiments for yourself – such as generating electricity through pedal power to light a lamp bulb, hard work!

The week before Christmas my Dad flew in Sydney for the Christmas period, and to celebrate his arrival we met up for a meal at Cafe Sydney (where I took Lisa for her birthday) for a lovely meal with stunning harbour views.  Since then we have been meeting up to show him the sights, including a visit to the fantastic Sydney Observatory.  Here one can learn all about the universe and star constellations and then have a look through the big telescopes.  This was the highlight of the tour as we got a very good view of Jupiter – I may have to get a telescope when I get back!

On Friday 23^rd I finished my 6 month contract with Nokia Siemens Networks, crazy how time has flown by – it does not seem 5 minutes since we arrived and were job hunting.  I must admit I was a little sad to leave as it has been a great experience, I have met lots of great people and enjoyed the Aussie work lifestyle.  I particularly won’t forget the meetings with the harbour view!

Thankfully the weather improved for the Christmas week, a lot more Australian, and on Christmas Eve and we visited the cities Toronga Zoo, which is possibly the most picturesque zoo in the World with views right back over the harbour – you don’t see many Giraffes against a cityscape!

The zoo has many animals including some recently born Tiger cubs, a large male Lions, and some cute Meerkats.  The highlight though were the shows, we watched a bird show (featuring some aerobatic displays), an elephant show (such clever animals), and a seal show (featuring some very impressive ball skills!) and all were really well done, informative, and entertaining – but always with the animals best interests in mind.

December 24^th is the main Christmas celebration day in Germany, and it is traditional to have a meal of fish at home – so we did exactly that with a seafood risotto and a glass of wine from the vineyard where we worked – our last bottle

On Christmas Day we had a lazy morning before going over to Manly to meet up with my Dad and his partner, Eileen, who were staying there with her daughter, Hayley, and her husband Pete.   Hayley and Pete have an apartment which has some stunning 280 degree views back towards the city and out to sea so we felt very lucky to have been invited round for a Barbie.

Five years ago I was on Manly beach all on my own on Christmas Day, this time it was much nicer to be with friends and family.  We had quite a feast with steak, sausages (snags in Aussie speak), prawns (had to throw a shrimp on the Barbie), ham, and kebabs.  After all that we needed to burn of some calories so we walked down to the nearby Collins beach for a swim in the little bay there.  Of course we had to do the touristy thing and wear our Santa hats!

Later we were joined by Tom and Kimberley and we spent the evening playing some games and getting merry – a very nice, albeit different, Christmas Day.  Boxing Day sees the start of the annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race, which starts from the harbour and out through the heads.  As were not far from North Head we walked up there and joined masses of people to watch the boats blow past – surprisingly quickly – it was all over before we knew it!

We walked back along the cliffs to Shelley’s beach, which was a nice walk that gave us some really nice views over Manly and out to sea.  On the 27^th we went Lawn Bowling (it’s really popular down here and no oldies in sight!) at Clovelly, the only club in Sydney with sea views, which was great fun.  It was a bit of a grey day but that didn’t matter as we all got really into it.  We played in teams (couples) and it’s harder than it looks, but Lisa played like a natural (must be the German winning instinct) and won us the ‘tournament’

I also took my Dad to the maritime Museum where we went on board a Submarine (very cramped and claustrophobic!) and a warship (still cramped but not so claustrophobic!) which he seemed to enjoy – especially the captains chair!

We also had a walk over the harbour bridge and went up one of the four bridge Pylons, which allowed us to get up close to the bridge from high up and also some 360 degree views over the harbour.  The museum in the pylon was also an interesting way to learn about the bridges history and construction.

In between all this we have been sorting out all the stuff that we have collected during our time in Sydney trying to make it all fit in our backpacks!  There’s a big parcel on its way Mum!

Tonight we have had a little party in the house with our flatmates to say goodbye.   We will miss Sydney, it’s a fantastic city, but mainly because of the friends we have made here.  We were very lucky to find the house we have been living in with 5 fantastic housemates, it’s going to be sad to leave them behind.  We did a secret Santa between us and we all got some very good presents!

So we are saying our goodbyes to Sydney, we are flying up to Darwin (4 hours!) on January 2^nd, where we will take a two week tour down through the centre of the country to Adelaide – stopping at many sights along the way including Uluru (Ayres Rock).  Before that though we go out with a bang with the cities New Years Eve celebrations tomorrow!

There’s a load of photos from the past month here.

As another month draws to a close it’s time for the latest update from our little life in Sydney.  Aussie’s say it is still spring, but it feels very much like summer to us with temperatures now averaging 25 degrees and over.  Whilst it has been a bit uncomfortably hot at times, especially the commute to work, it has made going to the beach an appealing option at the weekend

We started the month by watching the US rock bank ‘Kings of Leon’ at Sydney’s Olympic Park.  I have been keen to see them play live for a while, and having missed a concert in Coventry in May I was pleased to have the chance to ‘catch up’ with them in Sydney.  The tickets weren’t cheap (this is Australia!) but they were worth it as they really got into the gig with songs from their new album and, much to the crowds’ excitement, most of their ‘classics’.  The venue, built for the Sydney Olympics in 2000, was packed out for the gig – making for a good atmosphere.

Next day we rented a funky little smart car, surprisingly good fun to drive, for the day for a cruise to Palm Beach – 40km north of central Sydney.  On the way we stopped for a game of ‘Pitch n Putt’ Golf at Terrey Hills, which Lisa took quite seriously and demonstrated that Germans are bad losers!  We also came across, to our delight, a Baha’i temple in Pittwater just off the main highway.  We had visited a Baha’i temple in Delhi, India, back in 2008 and hadn’t realised there is a temple in Sydney – in fact there are only seven in the world, one on each continent.   All are built with a nine sided design that represents the 9 major religions of the world.  The Baha’i faith allows people from all religious background to come and ‘worship’ together, whilst having some pretty solid principles of its own – such as striving for world peace!  We sat for a while in the peaceful temple, silence is encouraged and it felt like a nice retreat from the world outside.

Palm Beach is probably better known as the fictional ‘Summer Bay’ in the Aussie soap ‘Home and Away’, which films its exterior scenes here.  I haven’t watching the show in quite a while, but I did vaguely recognise a few things, such as the surf club.  Regardless of its famous connections Palm Beach is worth a visit in itself, a nice sandy beach set in a picturesque bay, we relaxed and watched the kite surfers ‘catching some air’ in the gusty winds.

After a little walk along the nearby spit we cruised back towards the city stopping at a few of the beaches along the way.  Whale Beach was particularly impressive, maybe more so than Palm Beach, and we watched sun go down there.  Further south we stopped for Fish ‘n Chips on the beach at Mona Vale, the perfect end to a lovely day – although, in my humble opinion, the Aussie version is substandard compared to the British one – battered prawns and no vinegar!?!

Next day after our usual Sunday morning Yoga session we took advantage of the sunny weather and joined our flatmates Dan and Jill at Maroubra beach for a bit of sunbathing.  The weather can change quickly here though and around 3pm grey clouds came in from nowhere and it started raining – maybe it is spring after all!  No worries though as I needed to get moving as I met up with Tom to go and watch some “soccer” (dirty American word, grr) at the Football (they mean Rugby!) Stadium – Sydney FC vs Gold Coast United.

Whilst the standard wasn’t the best, nowhere near the Championship football I am used to watching, it was nice to watch some footy again.  Despite the crowd being around the 15’000 mark, approx a third of the stadiums capacity, the atmosphere was surprisingly good.  There were a few names I knew from the English league in the Sydney team, but it was Gold Coast who dominated the first half taking a 0:1 lead into the break, and then scoring a 2nd early in the second half.

Sydney, who like all the best teams play in a nice sky blue kit, then started to get into the game and clawed it back to 2:2 with a couple of decent goals.  This setup and exciting finale and the referee award Sydney a controversial injury penalty which they duly converted to take the win!  An enjoyable and exciting 2nd half!  We picked out Nick Carle as Sydney’s best player, but an internet search revealed he has played for Bristol City and Crystal Palace with little success, which gives you some idea of the standard!

The following weekend was quite relaxed, we spent the Saturday afternoon in the sun at Coogee Beach, which gave me a chance to show off the t-shirt Russ had made for me with the slogan “Back off Oz – He’s no convict and we want him back!” – don’t worry mate it’s good here but I’ll be back!

In the evening we met up with friends for a meal at a Brazilian restaurant, which was a meat lovers delight with an unlimited supply of tenderly cooked meats of all kinds brought to your table by the efficient waiters, highly recommended – go hungry!

On the Sunday we went along to a festival in the suburb of Newtown.  It was a mix of markets, music by local bands, art, talks from Australian writers – which we particularly found interesting, and food stalls selling food from around the world – of course there was one selling German sausages that had to be tried out.

Sydney is never short of something good to eat and I have to exercise hard, by swimming and running, in the week to burn off the weekend excesses.  A bit of ‘jiving’ helps too and a night out, with Dan and his Scottish friends and later Lisa and her German friends, at ‘The Argyle’ bar at the rocks gave me the chance to do so.  It’s a very funky bar, with a laid back but fun atmosphere – one of my favourites in Sydney.

We visited Cockatoo Island which is the largest island in Sydney’s harbour.  The island was once used as a prison, and more recently a shipyard and many historical buildings remain.  The perfect setting for a street art gallery, which was the reason for our visit.  The gallery featured works, ranging from weird and wacky to very creative, from artists from around the world including UK artist Banksy.

I enjoyed walking through the old industrial buildings looking at the art, a nice change from the staleness of traditional art galleries.  There was also a cocktail festival, which gave us a the chance to sip on a few innovative mixes, including this ‘Del Boy’ style coconut and vodka number.

It looked better than it tasted, I went back for a Spiced Rum cocktail, which I am getting rather partial to lately.  It was a lovely evening and despite there being a massive queue for the ferry back to Circular Quay it was an enjoyable day.

This weekend, together with Tom and Kimberley, we rented a car and drove 150km south to the country town of Kangaroo Valley.  It’s a quaint little place, inland from the coast, with some picturesque ‘English’ style rolling countryside, which is ideal for wildlife spotting.  We stayed at on a remote horse farm 10km drive out of the town and we soon spotted an Echidna, an Aussie hedgehog, crossing the road in front of us – they are supposedly hard to see but we saw three over the course of the weekend.  Then on turning into the driveway of the farm we were confronted by a gang of Kangaroos and Wallabies who were as curious about us as we were them – this photo doesn’t do justice to the amount of Kangaroos that were there!

Every time we drove the car forward they hopped along with us, one got spooked and took a big jump over a fence, which you can see in this video.

We were met at the farm by the owner, Geoff, a very friendly guy and as we would find out bit of a horse whisperer.  We slept in a self contained apartment in a converted barn and in the evening, despite it being rainy enjoyed a barbeque and a glass of wine whilst listening to the strange sounds of the animals in the bush around us.

Next day we were due to go out on a horse trek but sadly we awoke to heavy rain.  Thankfully by mid-morning the sun came out and the clouds vanished to leave a clear blue sky. This prompted Geoff to ask us to help him round up the horses and for the ride, which was easier than expected with his non-domineering approach to horsemanship – basically treating the horse as an equal.

I have to admit when he said that the horses were ex-racing horse it made me a little nervous!  However I didn’t need to worry as they were all calm and well trained, my horse ‘Adam’ was pretty big but he seemed very relaxed as was Lisa’s horse ‘Mitch’.  After some basic tuition on how “not to fall off” we followed Geoff in a line out of the farm and along the trail.   Tom’s horse was a little stubborn by trying to turn around to head home although Geoff deemed this, much to our amusement, to be Tom’s horsemanship skills!  Despite the occasional bum numbing trot it was a slow and steady ride through the nearby Morton national park, which was fine by me!

It was a nice trek although over two hours of being on a horse left me feeling a bit sore so I was pleased when the farm came into view and we could dismount!  We helped put the horses back in the stables and give them a groom, I had thought this would be a relaxing break, whilst they scoffed down bucket of feed.

Finally time to relax, after a refreshing shower, we headed back towards the town, stopping for a while on the bridges of the Kangaroo River (we were told they are there) looking for some elusive Platypuses – tricky although Lisa thought she saw a duck like creature.

After a meal at the Italian restaurant we headed back to the farm and came across a Wombat in the road in front of us, very cool to see – they are surprisingly big!  The clear sky and our remoteness treated us to an immense view of the stars, which was worth the visit alone!

Next morning we left the fresh air and tranquillity of Kangaroo Valley and drove to the coastal town of Kiama, which is known for its blowholes.  The blowholes are formed from tunnels and caves in the volcanic rock, and with the right sea conditions air pressure can blow water up to 60m high.  On our visit the sea was relatively calm but the blow hole was still putting up a decent puff.

The accompanying “oomph” sound was equally impressive.  As were the views, jagged cliffs with a backdrop of green countryside – it reminded us of Devon – we sat for a while and took in the view.

On our way back to Sydney we stopped at Wollongong, which is the third largest city in New South Wales, for a bit of lunch.  It looked like a nice place, especially with a nice sandy beach there right next to the city centre.

From Wollongong it was an hours drive back to Sydney on the main highway.  It was a lovely weekend, a nice escape from city life, and it reminded us that we are in Australia – it is sometimes easy to forget in multicultural Sydney!  I’ve uploaded some photos from our Kangaroo Valley weekend here.

So we have just over a month left of our little life in Sydney, the festive season is approaching (it feels wrong to see Christmas decorations being put up with it being so hot!), and my Dad is coming to visit in a few weeks so it should be an exciting month.  We know we will be sad to leave, six months has flown by, but we are very much looking to pulling the backpack on and getting on the road again.

I’ve uploaded some photos from the last month in Sydney here.