A Very Sydney Christmas

Jess and Ken dropped me at the airport together at 4:30am on Christmas Eve Eve - Kenny said he wanted to make sure I didn't miss my flight and they'd be stuck with me. Just to keep him nervous that he might have to listen to more of my questions across the Christmas dinner table, the weather was dreary. Fog was thick, the rain was drizzly, and I wasn't at all sure I wouldn't have delays. But I didn't count on the fact that Melbournians are very used to dreary, wet weather and the flight left spot on time. 

pea soup skies

I used my hotel points from all my years of college admission work to book a hotel in downtown Sydney (thank you Elmira, Robert Morris, and Hendrix!). It was located directly next to the botanical gardens, so that's where I went to entertain myself for the day! I strolled around, took in the views, and entertained myself until my evening dinner and a cabaret plans. 

Humpback whale in the Botanical Gardens

Echidna

Opera House & Sydney Harbour Bridge

Mrs. Macquarie's chair overlooking the harbour

St. Mary's Cathedral in Hyde Park

St. Mary's

The Bamboozle Room cabaret bar

I only had one night to myself to do all the touristing things I wanted, and the cabaret was fabulous. But I was very excited when I woke up the next morning to a phone call saying Matty had not only landed but was waiting for me to eat breakfast! Away we went to take advantage of the free hotel breakfast (thank you Diamond Status! Thank you admissions!), followed almost immediately by a lunch at Infinity, a revolving restaurant with sweeping views of the city, located in the Sydney Tower. 

Breakfast overlooking the Queen Victoria Building

 

Lunch overlooking... everything else. 

@ Infinity

It was Christmas Eve, so we then headed to Matty's parents to hang out with them and with his brother and sister-in-law Kyal. I met his auntie and uncle, plus Grandma, and we hung around the house while they all tried to tell me the most embarrassing stories about each other. It felt like family. 

With my new BFF Betsy

Billy with Tedly

Christmas Day, Matty's parents treated us all to a fancy multi-course lunch in Woollongong, an hour and a bit south of their house. I got to do my first Christmas crackers (which have puzzles inside! and paper crowns!), and we ate too much, laughed so much, and Mick, bless him, drove all of the sleeping children home when we crashed into the car afterwards. 

 

Billy, Kyal, & Matty at Christmas lunch

Me, Robynne, & Mick

Our view from lunch

Matty & Woollongong Lighthouse from lunch

 

Woollongong Lighthouse

 

On Boxing Day, Matty woke up with a little cough. We were due to go to a BBQ at his best friend's house so that we could meet his newborn. Robynne suggested that maybe he take a Covid test. Of course, he was positive. So instead of risking the health of Matty's 3 week old goddaughter, we took ourselves up to the Blue Mountains for hiking and not breathing on anyone else. 

Overlooking Wentworth Falls from Rocket Point Lookout

Rocket Point

at the Upper Falls

View from the other side of the valley from Fletcher's Lookout

It got hot, so we sat in the water above the falls to cool off

Basking in the sun and cooling in the river

We went into Katoomba to check out the Three Sisters, a famous rock formation just down the road from the falls. What it really was: a nightmare of too many humans in one place. We had cooled off in the river, but by the time we got to the cement-paved hellscape of the lookout for the Three Sisters, filled with busses of people, all I really wanted was an ice cream and to leave. We went to buy an ice cream and the line like a murder waiting to happen so we skipped it and went into town for a beer and some lunch instead. Much better plan, to feed the Hangry Kate. 

 

It was, however, a beautiful view

Our only plan for the 27th wasn't until the evening, which was fortunate, because we were able to just spend the day napping. Our only agenda item was for 7pm, just at sunset: Matty got me a Bridge Climb across the Sydney Harbour Bridge for Christmas! It's a three hour process, with an hour of that spent getting dressed in your climbing duds, hearing lots of information about how you can't bring ANYTHING with you (there's an active roadway across the bridge, so dropping anything is a major hazard), and practicing using the safety harness on practice ladders in a giant warehouse before you head out. The climb itself is not terribly taxing, especially if you just take it at a leisurely pace, but it offers some incredible views of the whole of Sydney. The bridge itself is the largest single span arch bridge in the world, and the climb takes you up to the halfway point to admire the 360 views. 

We thought our timing would mean a sunset climb but we hadn't counted on the hour of prep. What we actually got was even more lovely: a nighttime stroll with all the city lights to admire. There are three, pre-set spots to have your photo taken and all three were gorgeous. One overlooked the Opera House, one the city skyline, and one was at the top of the highest point on the bridge. It was a beautiful experience, and we were both happy to crash back to sleep afterwards. Covid really takes it out of you, but it was good to have two outdoor adventures in a row. 

Skyline

 

Highest point on the bridge

 

Opera House

I'm happy to have anything in common with Steve Irwin 

The next morning we made our way south for a pre-planned adventure. Before getting into the teeth of it, though, we did a little side trip to the beaches of East Sydney. Before giving into afternoon naps we had tried visiting Bondi Beach but the traffic was absolute mayhem. Holiday weekend after all. So we gave up and left it til the following morning. Getting there before 11am was mission critical. It meant parking, a spot in the sand to call our own, and a lot less frustration. My photos don't do it justice; just look at your computer screen saver and it'll probably have a photo from Bondi in the rotation.

We did a roadtrip along the southern coast, making our way towards Kiama, a little bit further south than Woollongong, and stayed inland in a beautiful wooded valley town called Jamberoo. It overlooks Budderoo National Park, and we spent a few nights there, exploring the area. By that point, I had officially contracted Covid as well, so our two nights stretched to three after I spent most of the first day asleep. 

Stanwell Tops

The Imperial at Clifton

The Imperial

View from the beer garden at The Imperial

Bulli Beach bathing club

We got to check out the beach towns along that coast, where Matty spent his childhood camping on family trips. We visited the big and little blowholes near Kiama, meandered around the lighthouse there and scoped out the beach pools, then made our way to where we were staying at The Lodge at Jamberoo which had the most fabulous design. I loved it. 

 

After a morning chai, the next day was all day exploring. It was a perfect chilly, rainy day for sleeping off one's covid, but it was also a perfect day for seeing waterfalls in action. Since we were in a place with waterfalls, the waterfalls won. I took some solace from Matty continually feeding me pies and getting honey for my tea when we got back to the lodge. He's a good egg.

Belmore Falls

at the top of Belmore Falls

Carrington Falls

Carrington Falls

cutest ducklings in the town of Berry. We also got amazing hot donuts from a truck there. 

We thought this was a brewery in Berry but they only brew one beer. Does that count?

There were so many cute dogs at Stoic Brewing in Gerringong

Coolangatta Estate

We had a very busy evening drinking hot toddys and watching all of the Wallace and Gromit movies. Ideal rainy day :)

I spent the last day of 2022 strolling with Matty through a rainforest at Budderoo National Park. Minnamurra Rainforest is cool because it has a few different types of rainforest represented in a relatively small geographical area. The park is set up with raised walkways so you can easily get through the vegetation without disturbing the forest floor, and it was so lush and earthy smelling. 

Then we started making our way back north towards Sydney but popped into a town called Shellharbour. There's a nature reserve along the coast there, a place called Bass Point, where a US tanker ran aground back in the '40s. We wandered along the rocks, checking out the rock pools, until Matty spotted this little fella!

a little octopus friend!

 

 

 

I spent probably 45 minutes scouring the surrounding rock pools for crabs to feed him, and he rewarded me by holding my hand. Probably was looking for more food, the scamp. Occys are my favorite! Yay ending the year with rainforests and occys!

We stopped in for a really lovely lunch at a waterfront restaurant in Shellharbour and I tried my hand at "the pokeys." In every state in Australia except WA, slot machines are legal in bars. In WA, the only legal gambling is on the dog and horse races, or at the casino in Perth. Everywhere else you can go, deposit heaps of money into a machine, and just push a button on repeat until your money is gone. They have their own section, seaparate from the food and drink service, and they are, to my way of thinking, a sad, lonely way to spend your time and money. Matty tells me it's fun when you're winning, but I think maybe gambling just isn't my vice. He also told me a story about how the company that stocks the bar stools used in all the pokey halls has to replace nearly 20 of them per week because some poor schmuck who can't bear to walk away, certain they're about to strike it rich, messes themselves on the stool upholstery. So anyway, I'll stick to beer. 

We headed back to Sydney where we skipped a second party at Matty's best friend's house. Instead we stayed home with his parents, reading books on the couch (me), watching Christmas movies (them; Lethal Weapon), and watching the Harbour fireworks on TV and the local fireworks from the front porch. I know that I was born an old lady, but I really am settling into the role well; it was an ideal way to ring in the new year.

Matty's Mum broke out the old family photos for me. What a little cutie!

 

New year's day was a chiller; we were flying back to Perth early on the 2nd, so we soaked up the last bits of time with Mick, Robynne, and my doggie pals Ted and Betsy. Perth was a whirlwind of saying hellos to friends, Matty abandoning me to spend a few hours in King's Park being among trees, and getting ready to fly home to Exmouth. It was a magical month of traveling and visiting with friends, meeting new people, and seeing new places, but I was very ready to sit in my little house and not speak to anyone for a few days - which is exactly what I did when I got home.

Trees at King's Park