Australia is the country I have visited the most times over the years. I first arrived in Sydney in 1987 and other than a 7 year ban on entry to the country after being deported in 1992 (that’s a whole other story!) I have been back at least 10-15 times, so many I’ve lost count.
This trip has been about seeing new places but this stop is defiantly about the people. The reason is to visit with my oldest friends John and Sally, their kids and grandkids, and spend Christmas at Sally’s family home in Tallangatta with 43 of her relatives!
On arriving we stayed for a couple of nights right in central Sydney, as opposed to our usual spot of Coogee, and the accommodation was perfect, very close to Circular Key (where the opera house and harbour bridge are)
If you are in Sydney and don’t mind shared facilities I’d recommend this place for its location.
https://www.siestasydney.com.au/
One of my favourite things to do in Sydney is go to the Opera Bar to watch the sun set and eat oysters. A bit of a luxury on this trip but we headed down anyway and had a bit of a big night, and think the traditional was well and truly fulfilled.
Before meeting up with John and Sally we headed down to their daughter’s house in Berry which is about 2 hours South of Sydney and spent a few days at the numerous beaches with her family.
The venue for Xmas was called ‘Yabba’ and has been in Sally’s family since the 1800’s and remains an active 200 head dairy farm. Although I’d met most of the relatives before I’d never been to Yabba or the property.
The house lay on the farm within a valley and surrounding area was just stunning.
After being on the road for 2 months it was great to be with people you know, and everyone made both of us feel very welcome, especially Virginia who grew up on the property and who we’ve spent time with on a few trips before.
Everyone expects that Christmas will always be hot and sunny here, this was my third one in Australia and as with every other time rainstorms were forecast.
However, despite this we set up the table for 45 people to have Xmas lunch on the house deck facing the valley.
Although the setting couldn’t have been more perfect, like any Christmas it’s the people that make it, and what an amazing bunch of fun, kind, and crazy folks they were!
After 4 days of late nights, dancing, and amazing food, we drove the 325 miles back to Berry where six of us were due to go to the local Rodeo!
I declined a ride on the bull but the others had a go!
I’ve never been to a full-on rodeo, the bulls seemed to have the upper hand on this occasion, and this poor fellow in the video below got a bit of a trampling, luckily the bull was ok.
We said some very sad goodbyes and headed back up to Sydney on New Year’s Eve for the fireworks, we knew we’d have to be at the harbour early to get a spot. Unfortunately we were staying about a 30 min train ride outside the city as we’d booked the accommodation late and it was all we could find that was affordable.
After we had persuaded the manager to let us into our room early, drop the bags, then returned to the city it was already 1pm. We headed straight to the opera house just to be told it was full and they directed us to the botanical gardens, which were also full.
It was looking like we might struggle to get somewhere, but we raced around to the other side of the harbour known as The Rocks, and very luckily managed to find a little space in a really great spot (thanks to a lovely Irish couple letting us squeeze in).
It was 2pm by the time we sat down, so only 10 hours to wait. There was some bad news though, the site we managed to get into was a no alcohol site, but I think after all the Christmas celebrations it wasn’t a bad thing. So we settled down for the long wait to midnight.
But it was worth it….
We had a couple of days left before we headed to Hong Kong, so we took advantage of the sunshine and did the Bondi to Coogee walk.
https://www.sydney.com/things-to-do/nature-and-parks/walks/bondi-to-coogee-coastal-walk
And the ferry from Circular Key to Manley, which gives you a great view of the harbour
As always we’ve had the best time in Australia, such a special place. We will be back!
Route so far
Matlock-Singapore-Bali-Gili Islands-Java-Borneo-Sumatra-Singapore-Australia.
It sounds like you have had an amazing time so far. Christmas looked wonderful and what a property to spend it at. Sally and John look well. Are you coming to Canada 🇨🇦?
Take care,
Charlotte
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