Sydney Stay Before Christmas

I said in my last post I would write a separate post for the time I spent in Sydney just so they are shorter to read. So here it is!

While in New South Wales, just before Christmas we went down to Sydney for a few days. It was great :) 

We went down on the train, I don't mind this train ride because you can see such a contrast in landscapes, wind your way through the hills and see some little towns on the way through. We were only in Sydney for two nights because accommodation is so expensive; I think sydney is designed for couples because you can find a room for two easily enough and it can be reasonably priced, but we had the four of us and that made cheap accommodation hard to find. Especially because it is so close to Christmas. Our room was great though, directly across from the bridge into Darling Harbour. It was also about the third level from the top floor, so we had an awesome view.

 

 Our time in Sydney consisted of showing our friend around Sydney, including Darling Harbour, Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Sydney Opera House, The Rocks, Paddy's Markets, King Street, Queen Victoria Building and we also went to Sky Zone which is a trampoline and rock climbing place.  We were planning on going to Bondi but unfortunately the weather was bad, it was cold, wet and windy. Unfortunately we arrived a day or two after Little Sea's Concert.

Darling Harbour

The first day we got lunch at Darling Harbour and there was this pesky seagull, like you find at any sea side location that sells food. He had this look in his eye like not getting food was not an option.

Sydney Harbour Bridge

we took a ferry from Darling Harbour to Circular quay, I think it is one of the best was to see the harbour and isn't too expensive.

Queen Vic Building

I adore the Queen Vic Building, the old architecture, the detail, the clock, cafe's and little boutiques. As it was nearly Christmas, it was also decorated with lights and of course the Christmas Tree, this years theme the Swarovski Crystals. It was so beautiful.

Last time we were in sydney my parents wanted to surprise me by visiting Zumbo's cafe in Rozelle, we took a bus out, got off near by and ended up walking for centuries to try and find it, we eventually did...  We found the one in Balmain. We could never figure out what happened and why we walked sooooooooo far, so this time it seemed only right to actually go to the Zumbo Cafe in Rozelle. WE FOUND IT! It turns out last time we must have been a street over and walked straight past it all the was up and down hills o the smaller shop in Balmain... So anyway it was great, we got a hot pie ( which I didn't know was available) when we got there becasue it was cold and raining and we did still have a shortish walk from the bus stop. For dessert we got these tarts to share, aren't they pretty?!? Of course we had to get a macaroon also, so we got two to go.

We had an amazing dinner at Brazza, a Brazilian churrascaria restaurant grill barbecue house. Last time we were in Sydney we went to Churrasco, it was amazing so this time when my brother came to see us while we were there we took him to Brazza, the one at Darling Harbour because it was closer to where we were staying. For those who don't know this place is an all you can eat Brazilian barbecue buffet, where you don't even need to get up! They literally walk around with all of the food, particularly meat, ask you if you want any, if you do they give you how ever much you would like and if not they leave. Amazing. 
There was a difference at this restaurant though, here, later on in the night the atmosphere was good, it was loud, people talking, we were almost full, and then all of a sudden these drums started going off and these Brazilian Drummers and Dancers came out for a while.  

I do warn you if you are vegan or vegetarian, I believe they do have some food options available but it is a barbecue, sooooo... Just a warning. I am obviously neither vegetarian or vegan because I love this place.

On the way home from this restaurant on the last night we were walking through Darling Harbour and came across this play area for kids, it had a playground and this water feature thing, where you can change the way the water goes and block the water paths and thing, the picture below is what I am talking about.

Anyway,  we were like omg, this is so cool, lets go play with it. So we did and it was great at first... Then my mum slipped. Luckily she managed to stay out of the water, which is good because it was cold, but she was trapped on one of the little islands so my dad and I had to help her out of it. My dad thought it was broken. Which my mum refused to believe. In the end he convinced here to go to the hospital to get it checked out, the doctors also thought it was broken because she is really tough but was in so much pain. Turns out she tore some ligaments I think and no brakes. She was on crutches for two to three weeks and when at home doesn't need them so yay :)  Almost completely better.

We got back to Newcastle and stayed the rest of the trip with our family, I talked about a few things we did while there in my last post :)

Are there any particular things you guys want me to write about?  I'm just curious.I have a few planned so far.

Don't forget to follow on Instagram, pinterest and Bloglovin'

I hope you have a wonderful day/night..

TTFN

Mads xx

A Christmas Holiday to NSW

So much has happened in the past month, Christmas, New Years and... My brother got engaged! Congradulations brother, good on you. All while this has been going on we were in NSW.
 If you follow me on Instagram, you will see I have been away for the past couple of weeks , that is where we have been, and if you don't follow me on Insta you should (you can find the link to my page just under the blog header or here).

Anyway, it all started about a week before Christmas...
The day we headed to the airport, we decided to take a friend to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary just outside of brisbane. If you have been here, let me know what you think about it in the comments. If you don know, it is a small koala sanctuary which also houses many other Australian animals such as: the platypus, wombats, kangaroos, Tasmanian devils, birds of all kinds, echidnas, snakes and cassowaries... it is a lovely place, all the animals seem well looked after and were really active when we visited. Well, a koala can only be so active. The sanctuary also offers tours and you are able to take a pictures holding a koala. This place is were many celebrities such as Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift have been to hold a koala while in Australia. If you didn't know, you can only hold a koala in the state of Queensland.

Tasmanian Devil, can you spot him?

They must have known I was coming

Do you know what a cassowary is?
They are viscious and I suggest you
avoid one as much as possible.
I AM NOT JOKING!

Hello Mr Koala

After the sanctuary we decided to have lunch/afternoon tea at South bank and while we where there went on The Wheel of Brisbane. Lovely panoramic views, we were only expecting to go around like twice but it just kept going round. In the end I think we went around about 8 times, maybe.

We headed to the airport after this to catch a plane to Newcastle, NSW. In Newcastle we stayed with some family, which was lovely. So While in New South Wales, just before Christmas we went down to Sydney for a few days. It was great :) I have decided to put the Sydney stay in a different post, just to shorten each a little other wise you may get sick of reading. so That is what is happening.

We got back to Newcastle and stayed the rest of the trip with our family. We had a realxed Christmas, nothing too fancy because I already got my Christmas present. Over the rest of the holiday we did many things such as:

Walk along the Anzac Memorial Bridge. This beautiful walk was covered with information about the wars and people from the towm who went to war. It had lovely 360 degree views over the ocean, beaches and town, as seen below.

We went kayaking a few times in some of the many rivers in the area. This was the first time I had ever been kayaking and I think I have found a favourite activity. I also learnt in this time I realy need to do some arm workouts becasue apparently I have zero muscle.
On New years eve we had a barbecue and then went to watch the fireworks, which were beautiful, and had a beach day at Fingal Bay on New Years. The days we were able to o these things, were the only few real summer days we had while we were away. By real summer I mean the sun was out, skies clear and didn't need a light jacket, in other words the best days. After the beach on New years day we went to Nelsons Bay for lucnh and then a gorgeous lookout.

We visited the vineyards, cheese factories and chocolate factories in the Hinter Valley, which was great. I love going out there, even just for the views. I of course bought so much good chocolate from the factories, in particular this dark chocolate bar with bits of home made honeycomb in it. Yum. I think my favourite place was probably the Audrey Wilkinson Winery because it was just so beautiful. It is a the top of a hill, in a gorgeous building surrounded by the most beautiful scenery. It even has a helicopter pad and you can hold weddings there. 

The night before we left my Dad, Cousin, Uncle and I drove into Sydney one last time to watch the Liverpool and Australian legends match, it was lots of fun and Liverpool won, WOOHOO! It was a good game, good night, great atmosphere, bad chips and an overall good time. I love events like this, when everyone gets involved, like concerts or other sporting events. 

So This is mostly what we got up to while away, all lovely ways to enjoy northern NSW. Other than that we went shopping, stayed at home, spent time with the family visited a small small towns, spent time at home in the pool and ate.

Are there any particular things you guys want me to write about?  I'm just curious,I have a few planned so far.

Don't forget to follow on Instagram, pinterest and Bloglovin'

I hope you have a wonderful day/night..

TTFN

Mads xx