Christmas in Sydney

Laura and I got to experience our first Christmas Down Under by taking a week off of work and flying to Sydney.  We flew out of Melbourne early on Dec 25^th and spent our first three days with Neal’s Aunt, Uncle, and Cousin; Jamie, Grant and Aiden.   We were welcomed to their home with a piano recital by Aiden and a great Christmas seafood feast for lunch.  On the menu was fresh oysters, prawns, smoked salmon, SA and WA crayfish!  We spent the afternoon eating and catching up as this was the first time Neal had met with his Australian family.

Food was certainly a theme for this trip.  Grant and Jamie took us to a couple local favorites for lunch including a stop for authentic Vietnamese Pho and Lebanese.   When we weren't enjoying fine food here, we keep busy playing Lego with Aiden, fetch with Axl, and learning about the Le Helloco’s time here in Melbourne.   Jamie is also an excellent cook and gave Laura a couple lessons on Indian and Malaysian curry and homemade Roti.

Our next stop was a well anticipated visit with Jeff and Jess whom we hadn’t seen since our stop in Paihia in New Zealand.  J&J had a full couple days planned for us which started at their apartment in Marrickville.   After a couple drinks at Casa de Stoy/Ruth/James, Jeff collected us for dinner.  We ate at a place called Argyle which is located in an area called The Rocks.   The night took us to a couple other bars such as the Glenmore and up to a lounge the 39^th floor of the Shangri-La Hotel where we enjoyed the view and some Martinis.

The next day we were treated to a big breakfast by Jeff, and then took the bus out to the infamous Bondi beach.  It is a popular spot for locals and tourists, and you can quickly see why:

There was a crew out filming the lifeguards for a local TV show called Bondi Rescue.  Jeff and Neal may be spotted somewhere in the background; look out for Jeff’s budgie smuggler.

After a day at the beach we stocked up on groceries and spent the evening on the back patio enjoying Jeff’s BBQing.  He fired up the little coal BBQ and cooked up everything from chicken wings, to t-bone steaks, to a mushroom taster to sample a set of flavored oils given to us by Grant and Jamie.

It was a great trip to Sydney, and we look forward to our next visit with everyone!

Now back to Melbourne to bring in the New Year!

Some Surrounding Sights of Melbourne

Hello All,

We hope that you had a very happy holiday season!! We were so fortunate to have had such an incredible year and cannot wait to see what 2013 has in store for us. One of my New Year’s Resolutions to be better at keeping the blog up to date, so here it goes…

While Neal and I were waiting to start the jobs we currently have; we had about a month to kill. So we did a few day/multiday trips to see some of the incredible sights surrounding Melbourne.

Our first tour was with Bunyip Tours to Phillip Island. The day tour included a trip to the “Moonlit Sanctuary” where we hand fed wallabies & kangaroos. The highlight was being able to cuddle a koala and have our picture taken with the cuddly and Eucalyptus smelling creatures! The next stop was Churchill Island where we got to tour around a historic farm that boasts sheep shearing and you can see the working dogs in action (we had just missed to display when we arrived). The Koala Conservatory was next and it was incredible to see them up so high in the trees. They are hands down my favourite Aussie animal! We got to stop along Cape Woolamai surf beach & see the Nobbies and Seal Rocks.  After supper we headed off to the Penguin Parade.  Home to Victoria’s largest colony of little blue penguins, Summerland Beach provides the backdrop to the world famous Penguin Parade. We watched as hundreds of little penguins make their way across the beach and return to their sand dune burrows. See the link to a video below (we weren’t allowed to take any photos). We spent a little extra on the “Penguin Plus” and it was well worth the extra $15/each. I absolutely recommend this incredible experience to anyone who is visiting in the area! http://youtu.be/BrOLziHI2Sk

We spent another day with “Yarra Valley Wine Tasting Tours.” We had a spectacular day filled with delicious and world renowned wine. The countryside is beautiful and we got to see 3 vineyards. The first was Coombe Farm where we not only tried the wine but the fabulous ciders they make as well. Our second stop was Punt Road where we got a great deal on a case of wine. We had a great lunch at Domain Chandon and really enjoyed the beautiful vineyard there. After lunch we headed to Yarra Valley Dairy where we stocked up on cheese. We tried some delicious chocolates in the cute town of Healesville and wrapped up the tour at White Rabbit Brewery. All around a great tour and since neither of us had to drive; we also enjoyed a lovely nap while we were driven home. Needless to say it was a day well spent (usually is if wine is involved!).

Our Multi Day trip was on the iconic Great Ocean Road. It is a beautiful scenic coastline that winds its way along from Melbourne to Adelaide. We rented a car and took two days to do half the trip to Port Campbell. We left Melbourne early Sunday morning and made a stop at the Weribee Open Range Zoo, which is an African themed zoo that includes safari tours and was very impressive. We drove to Torquay where we saw the original Rip Curl store and Bell’s Beach where they host the annual world renowned Rip Curl Surfing Competition on Easter. We carried on along the meandering road making some scenic stops along the way and ended the day in Lorne. We had a delicious dinner at “The Maple Tree” which is a restaurant owned by a Canadian. We then went to the only bar open on a Sunday and spent to night listening to live music and drinking with a bunch of backpackers. The next day we drove along the Cape Otway Lighthouse road and along the way we pulled over and were surrounded by over a hundred wild Koalas. It is mating season so we heard the grunting calls they make and saw a few male koala’s saunter right past us to find another tree for some new mates. (If only it were that easy guys!) The highlight was seeing all the joeys (baby koalas) climbing on to their mom’s backs! 

We then took our time and eventually made it to the infamous 12 Apostles (of which there are only 8, due to erosion). They don’t do the pictures justice and were stunning! We stayed in Port Campbell for the night and then took the shorter and more direct route along the highway home. It was definitely one of the best drives we have ever done and recommend it to all who travel down here.

Another day was spent in the Mornington Peninsula. It was our first 30 degree day and we spent it driving along the coast and seeing the spectacular clear water of Port Phillip Bay. Mornington is also famous for their wines and since Neal was driving I got sample a few! We drove all over the peninsula to Portsea where we had some beach time before heading home. This is well worth a day trip and is a great spot if you’re looking to get away from the city for the day.

Since November we have been busy working, but on the weekends we have managed to do some exploring of some of the coastal communities in Melbourne. It is really easy to get around on the trains and we don’t miss having a car at all! The best part about all the communities of Melbourne is that they are all self-sustaining with a main street of some sort filled with cafes and shops. We spend some of our Saturdays with a few hours soaking up some sun on a beach and then make our way to a café for lunch before heading back to the CBD (Downtown). It is a great way to see different areas of the city.

That is some of the tours/ trips we have done around the city and would recommend any of them to anyone who travels here. There are a huge number of other places in Victoria that we have been told to go and explore and plan to start doing some more day / weekend trips to try and see some of them and will keep you posted!

Take Care,

Laura & Neal