Manly and Sydney

Well that's Manly and Sydney well and truly done and dusted.

Karen and I spent 3 weeks at Lorna and Neal's apartment in Manly and it was a superb base for the Christmas and New Year periods. 2 of those weeks were in the company of my good friend Julian with whom we shared many laps of the Andrew "Boy" Charlton swimming pool in Manly.

We managed a round of Golf in 'the Hills' with Julian and his friend Chris which was great (and free). We also squeezed in the Blue Mountains which were a little less spectacular than I'd hoped.

A quick catch up with my Cousin Michael and his family brought out the fisherman in Karen. Two cast off's into the harbour and one Bream and a Snapper later and Karen was crowned champion angler!!! A fantastic BBQ brought the Aussie way of life into sharp focus and made me wonder what it would be like to live here for the first time during the trip.

New Year was an experience! Like many big city New Years there was a lot of waiting around and millions of people. After our boat on the harbour dream fell through we took to the Opera House. Karen, Julian, Cousins Jonny and Ian and I all outlasted the sunshine to see in 2005 with a bang which was pretty special to be together on the other side of the world even if the celebrations were a little muted in light of the Tsunami disaster. Only 2 cans of beer drank by me. A DRY NEW YEAR....must make up for that next year (my only resolution).

After handing the apartment back Karen and I moved back in with Gail and Ian in Manly and did all of the other Sydney attractions such as Darling Harbour, The Skydeck Observation Tower, Sydney Aquarium, the Southern Beaches (Bondi, Coogee, Cronulla, Botany Bay) and the relatively timid sleaze of Kings Cross and Darlinghurst.

We then slipped off for 3 days in the Hunter Valley which was beautiful. I became a bit of a wine addict, we spent a fortune and found a grape we can happilly share into old age now providing we can get it back home (Verdhelo). Our return to Sydney was via Newcastle which was a bit of a laugh although I can see why we haven't been twinned with our antipodean namesake as it's a bit of a dump!

Our Sydney experience was completed with an open air picnic / jazz festival in the Domain (park) which was a cool and drunken affair. The very next day saw us aboard HMAS Newcastle, an Australian Navy Frigate moored in Wooloomooloo, as the personal guests of Commander Brian (Gails new beau) which was a frank and interesting tour of the gubbins of a war ship.

All in all a splendid 4 weeks with 2 trips to Ribs and Rump's (my third favourite restaurant in the world behind Egg Harbour, Vernon Hills, IL and El Torerro, Newcastle Upon Tyne)....