Easter weekend in Sydney

After passed public holidays being wasted to illness we decided that we were not going to waste this one. Following an early morning flight and a breakfast of hot crossed buns, we arrived safely in Sydney harbour by 11.30am on Good Friday.


View from hotel room.

We spent Good Friday walking around the sights of Sydney. The walk started at the observatory, then to the area called the Rocks, and down to the circular Quary. To see the sights of Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Operate House a little closer up. After a well needed cold drink we carried on round the botanic gardens and found a camp of flying foxes.
















Mark enjoying a beer in the Rock area of town.


This sink I found in a pub in the Rock area of town.

On return to the hotel room and working out we’d walked about 20kms. We enjoyed the view with a cup of tea and a hot bath


Saturday
After a fine breakfast in the best explain of a Victorian Shopping Mall I have ever seen. We headed to the Aquarium to see the platypus and shark tunnel. In the afternoon we took the well know Sydney ferry to Manly. For a walk along the beach and a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream (two years without it, I’d forgotten how nice ‘Fish food’ really was).








My lego Mark.



Saturday evening we headed to the oldest pub called ‘The Nelson’. As the day seemed to be filled with items of home, terraced houses, cobbled streets, Ben and Jerry’s ice cream I didn’t see why it had to stop. So the evening meal was a meat pie, mashie peas and gravy. This was followed by apple pie and ice cream and a rather too many pints of very good beers.





Sunday
Needless to say Sunday morning was spent nursing a very bad hangover. After a late breakfast we headed to the Maritime museum. The afternoon was spent exploring boats. Mark looked like a young boy in a toy shop. We explored a top sail boat, a submarine and Australian Navy ship. In the evening we watched an amazing thunder storm develop over Sydney Harbour from our hotel room.







Easter Monday
Today was our finally day in Sydney. We spent the day at Taronga Zoo, followed by fish and chips on the harbour view. Before catching the last flight out of Sydney at 8.45pm and arriving safely at home at 10.30pm.




Views from the zoo.

Our first Camping Trip Down Under

After equipping the Freelander for off road driving and finally getting ourselves sorted for camping we decided that this weekend was the weekend to try it all out.

Friday night we pack up the Land Rover and got up early on Saturday to prepare the food needed for the trip, as there is a lack of shops when going bush in Australia. We met up with friends and exchanging radios with Lynne and Michael to ensure community between cars, when off road driving. And set off towards Morgan on the Murray River.

The trip up to Morgan was a leisurely drive through the Adelaide Hills, past Saunders Gorge off road tracks. Stopping off at Mount Pleasant to find a café that makes a very nice coffee and meat pie. Apart from losing Michael and Lynne once because they couldn’t see our indicators through the dust when driving off road, the trip was uneventful. I did however see Kangaroos bouncing along side the road at one point.







Once we'd explored Morgan and enjoying a cold beer in a pub by the river, we headed off to set up camp in Morgan’s Conservation Park along side the Murray River. Camp was set up in no time, which left us with nothing else to do but enjoy a well-cooked chilli and rice meal, bright stars, good whisky, homemade cake and good company.













After a good night sleep with a few interruptions by early morning Kookaburra. We enjoyed eggie bread and Italian coffee on the stoves, before taking down camp, deflating the tyres and heading off to do some 4by4ing in sand dunes.

We hadn’t been going for long when Michael (who was in the front car) came upon a guy in the sand dunes. Mark and I watched the story unfold from the top of the last dune, until we became part of it. From across the radios we heard “Mark snap strap”. A Snap Strap for those of you who have not done 4by4ing, which was also me up until today. This is a strap, which is attached to one car and then to the car that is stuck and is used to help the stuck car to get their wheels free, the clues in the name really.

I watched Mark’s face light up, after weeks and weeks of four by four talk and the importance of safety gear, which costs an arm and leg. Mark was going to final be able to demonstrate to me what he has been going on about. With his foot to the pedal and with care Mark makes his way across the sand dunes to find a Nissan Patrol with four wheels stuck in the sand.

The drivers face dropped further when he realised that the Prado (the car Michael was driving) was not the car that was going to rescue him, but the toy 4by4 (Freelander 2). He’d already been getting stick from his friends that were his passengers,

When it was established that he’d rather Mark rescued him than ringing his other mates at the campsite to help him. Mark and Michael prepared the car’s and assisted the driver to free his car.









In the mean-time I was talking to the passengers and found out that they were Sea Scouts from Port Noarlunga. I got the impression that the driver ‘s day was getting worse on the mickey taking side. When he realised that he had not only been rescued by what many Australians call a toy 4by4 he had, also been rescued by a Girl Guide.

On exchanging thanks on both parts, we parted ways and enjoyed the rest of the course. After the excitement of the morning we headed back to Adelaide with a stop off at Waikarie.



In all a fantastic weekend.