Mum and Dad Down Under (1)

Mum and Dad arrived here on Saturday 21st April. It's their first time down under and I was obviously really looking forward to seeing them, especially as I hadn't seen them in more than 14 months, the last time being the emotional farewell at Heathrow Airport.

After a dad spent cleaning the flat H and I made our way to Sydney Aiport to welcome them off flight QF32 from London via Singapore. It was fantastic seeing them and a very happy start to the holiday. There's something rather nice about the Arrivals area of Sydney Airport. Because we are so far away from everywhere else, people really go to town when seeing friends and family. It's a happy place.

OK, this blog is a bit of "we did this and we did that" but bear with me, it's for their benefit when they get home and do their own blog.

We spent their first day here in Manly where we took a walk to Shelly Beach and the Cabbage Tree Bay Aquatic Reserve. I took them to the Opera House that evening where we saw the Cologne Philamonic Orchestra do some Vivaldi (The Four Seasons.....very nice), Elgar, Mozart and Tchaikovsky in the fabulous Concert Hall. They loved it, and it was a great way to start their 3 week trip here. We ate in The Rocks afterwards and then watched this beast of a storm roll in. The lightning display over the harbour was amazing. Unfortunately the storm hung around for the next two days.















Martin was an absolute legend by lending me his brand new Ford Focus for the first week of their trip, a week which I was also able to take of work, and I had planned on using it to see some of the surrounding area. As a result, we headed up through the Northern Beaches to Palm Beach on the Monday. It rained for most of the day which was a shame but it's all pretty stunning up there.




























We woke up to more rain on Tuesday. The weather reports seemed to suggest that the rain was coastal so we decided to head west, to The Blue Mountains. Unfortunately it rained there was well and the mountains were surrounded in fog. It was so bad that we could barely see any of the Blue Mountains and what we did see was most definitely not blue! You can see how bad it was in the shots below. I have also posted a couple of pictures that Mike took from the same spot back in December. You can also compare this and this!

So, moving onto Wednesday, which was Anzac Day and a public holiday. It rained some more. However we did manage to get up to the North Head National Park for a look at the city. It was raining over the city. Luckily we were ok.

Thankfully the weather on Thursday changed. It was beautiful. Seriously, it didn't rain at all. We had planned to do the Coogee to Bondi walk when it was a fine day so off we set via JetCat and bus. We arrived at Coogee late morning and walked to Bondi. It was great. We had lunch in Bondi and took it all in. It was very nice seeing the sunshine. Mum then came out with a belter. She enjoyed the walk so much that she wanted to walk all the way back to Coogee. Dad was well up for it. I was shocked. I'd done the walk three times before, but never twice in one day. Anyway, off we set and it was a beauty. We even shaved 15 minutes off the time it took us to walk to Bondi. Mum and Dad are very fit!We headed back to the city afterwards, had a drink in The Opera Bar and then met H in Darlinghurst for Thai (you know the place Mike).

Friday was a dry day but very very cloudy. I had a surf in the morning and we spent the afternoon in The Rocks. H and I took the folks out for a fantastic steak on Friday night at Manly's Rib and Rumps. Damn tasty!

Saturday was a mixed bag and after a lazy start to the day we all headed into the city for a walk around Chinatown before eating in Darling Harbour, where there was an Indonesian Festival in full, and very loud, swing. It turned out to be a beauty of an evening and Dad and I went off to the SCG to watch the Swans thrash the Melbourne Demons at AFL. All I could get were "Obstructed view" seats - the very back row of the Brewongle stand, which meant that we couldn't see the scoreboard or the big screens. They weren't bad seats at all and it's better to be as high up as possible when watching the AFL. It was Dad's first AFL experience and he was pleased to see the fingers.

Sunday was a real winner. Really clear skies and lots of sunshine. After a leisurely morning (quality surf for me) I drove us all to Watsons Bay and the Gap Bluff which is located in the Sydney Harbour National Park at the South Head. The plan was to have fish and chips at the famous Doyles Restaurant. What we didn't plan for was the huge number of people who had the same idea. Anyway, we eventually found somewhere to park before enjoying fish and chips at a chaotic takeaway. We followed this with a lovely walk around the National Park. Once again we were afforded beautiful views of the city to one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other.

So all in all a fantastic week, even though the weather was pretty rubbish. But then again, we are in the midst of autumn with winter only a month away. It comes with the teritory. Having said that, I'm back at work this week - it's sunny and mid-twenties and set to stay for the rest of the week. The folks are off exploring the Red Centre and Cairns and are back on Friday for another week.