23rd – 27th November

I arrived at Cairns airport very early, went through security etc, to then find out that my flight was delayed for a couple of hours. Not ideal as the airport is tiny with not a whole lot to look round, plus cousin Mark was picking me up in Sydney and this meant me a arriving pretty late. But it all worked out, I had an ice coffee and wrote another blog entry or 2, and managed to get the message through to Mark so he wasn’t waiting around.

A Looooooooong Overdue Catch Up!

It was so great to see Mark when I did eventually land in Sydney! Last time they were back in the UK I was in the States for work, so it had been a good few years! We had a nice catch up in the car on the way back to their house, which is about 40 minutes out of the city centre. We passed over the harbour bridge and saw the iconic Sydney Opera House on the way – couldn’t believe I was there!!! Of course the car started breaking down on the way back, it had been perfectly fine, up until the point that I got in it 😂🤦‍♀️, I was jynxed that day! Somehow we made it, and it was amazing to have a good nights sleep in a double bed in my own room 👌.

The timing was perfect, it was the weekend so I was able to spend time with the whole family. I had a catch up with Charlotte in the morning and met Alice and Oliver again for the first time since Oliver’s christening in the UK!! The kids had various activities to attend in the morning! So Mark and Oliver were out early & met us a bit later for lunch. We had a wander in the forest opposite their house and went to a lovely little cafe there.

Sydney Opera House Bar

Later in the afternoon the kid’s lovely Argentinian babysitter came round and Mark, Charlotte and I went into to the city to meet some of their friends for a drink at the Opera House bar. It was a lovely sunny day, the setting was perfect! I was once again in awe of being in front of such an iconic site! After returning home, we spent a bit of time with the kids just before they went to bed, and Mark & I stayed up with some wine chatting about family and looking at old photos of our mums, Frank & Auntie Jan, a really nice day.

Manly Beach & Pub Afternoon

On the Sunday morning the kids were out with various other activities (swimming I believe?!), so I went for a run and long breaky. We then went out to Manly beach north of Sydney, it was a beautiful beach and not too crowded. On the way we walked through another really cool weekend market that seemed to have a mini festival scene, with a band playing and various food stalls by the beach. Oliver is learning the drums, so we stopped to have a little listen.

We then went off to a really nice riverside pub to meet Mark & Charlotte’s friends for a 50th birthday. All the kids were there and had their own table with pizza and chips and the adults had a buffet of various yummy foods!

Unfortunately when we got back Oliver sprained his ankle playing on the trampoline in the garden, bless him. I know that pain, it ain’t nice!

Chilled couple of days in a cozy home

On the Monday morning Mark took Oliver to the doctors and Charlotte and I did some power walking through the forest and to the shops to get some food. Charlotte was working from home and I was able to help out later keeping Oliver company whilst she had a Skype business meeting and both her and Mark went to sort the broken car. Oliver, Alice and I discovered a good game they had hiding away called goggle, we played that a lot over those few days.

Tuesday was more running, chilling, helping out where I could and catching up, ending in packing a lighter bag to take with me for the next couple of weeks. I’d been trying to arrange a road trip down to Melbourne and had found a couple of people to travel with, one Aussie with a car and another girl on holiday. I was off on the road for a couple of weeks, but returning to Mark and Charlotte’s for a couple of nights when Tom landed mid December, so they kindly let me leave a load of heavy stuff there I didn’t need, as well as borrow a sleeping bag, cushion and jacket for going to the cooler south!