We arrived pretty exhausted. Rowan even fell asleep on the couch. The rainbow lorikeets love coming over to say hi! We have had a lot of fun with Justin, Rowan’s youngest cousin. Lots of Snorkeling, swimming and adventures. Photos are of Little Bay. Rowan grabbed a shark by its tail here.

We trekked up to Dungog to see Heather, Kaity and the kids. They have all grown a heap in the year it has been since we last saw them. It was great to have a good catch up. We even got time to help out around the house. They had been waiting for someone to be able to replace their dishwasher so we got that sorted for them. There was a light that needed replacing which was pretty dodgy when it was wired up. But in Australia you can’t replace light fittings yourself it has to be an electrician, we left that alone. We went for a little skinny dip in the river, the water was fresh. Not as cold as NZ. They also have a new family member, the cutest mini pony for the kids to ride. It’s kept out at grandmas land. It was really lovely to catch up with Heathers grandma and her mum too.

Joanne took us to a delicious restaurant for Rowans 40th Birthday. Experiences are always preferable. This is L’Entrecôte, there are two in Sydney. They started in France and I think there is one in London too and they are well known for their sauce that goes with their steak. The food was perfect, it was delicious, I tried a steak tartare. We also shared a Foie gras. I can see what the fuss is about, Rowan and I agree that it’s not worth the cruelty. There are a few farms who do it ethically, it costs a lot but I think it’s worth it to not have the cruelty behind it. The Apple tartan was incredible, I shared it with Joanne and I am glad I did there was no way I could eat it on my own. They only make 6 a day so it was something I had to try.

More snorkelling and swimming with Justin. We have come down to La Perouse a few times now to swim at Congwong Beach. The water is pretty fresh, I can last about 30min in there to an hour. I haven’t used my wetsuit but probably should if I want to stay in longer.

Unbelievably Rowan actually got a beautiful crayfish around the corner near Bare Island. It’s an Eastern Rock Lobster. I always think of it as a crayfish as it doesn’t have lobster claws.

We got it back to the apartment to cook it.

An early start to make sure we were in the Royal National Park before the sun rises. We went straight to Wattamolla Beach and couldn’t resist a swim. It wasn’t until we were in the water that I pointed out to Rowan we are swimming at peak Great White Shark feeding time. There have been quite a few more attacks recently. We just moved to a more shallow area to reduce the risk. The water was super clear and beautiful. A beautiful sunrise while swimming.

We continued through the National park to Garrie and at the lookout I got to see my very first Lyre bird. I was so excited. They’re the icon of the NSW national park. Notorious for being hard to spot, you normally hear them rather than see them. But of course they mimicked all the birds. I went back to the car for my camera and got an identification shot.

The whole reason for this trip south was to catch up with our friend Danny from Ōamaru. We haven’t seen him in a few years and we missed our nights out camping together.

Paula Hall – Child Welfare NZ approves of this message. “No child left behind”

It took the day prior to bake everything for Bette’s party. There were 11 of us to celebrate her 96th Birthday. Rowan and I over catered, but at least we didn’t run out of food. The cake was strawberry and lime.

The next day Justin, Rowan and I got up early to do the Wollangambe in the Blue Mountains. It is a hike in and a lilo down the creek which I would call a river and it’s a canyon. We are doing the first part which doesn’t need ropes and experience just good fitness. Well we drive the 2.5 hours to find the road is closed and only open to residents. The guys at the boom gate have been there since Easter and they said it will be at least a year before the road is open again. I feel like every time I go the Blue Mountains it is closed lol. It was rather annoying but we just decided it was worth going somewhere else for a walk and a swim.

These photos are from Evan’s Lookout

We found another Lyre bird in the wild. How cool we could hear it sing didn’t get great photos.

3 sisters

At the Wentworth Falls carpark and lookout there were two cheeky Lyre birds and they let me get very close. I was gutted I didn’t bring my camera but of course I planned to be getting we down a canyon.

A lot of stairs down to Empress Falls which means there is a lot of steep stairs up. At the bottom was a very cold water hole that we all hopped in. It must have been 5 degrees or less. I swam to the waterfall then I got promptly out. All those cold plunges trained me for 10 seconds of stinging water.

We then went to Jellybean Pool. Where the sun came out and see swam across to sunbathe on the rocks like monitor lizards. It was no where near as cold as Empress. Our timing was perfect as we got out other people showed up. Three groups in fact. It cost $8 for entrance.

After we demolished some yesterday sandwiches and birthday cake we headed out and turned left to see what was further down the cliffside. We discovered there is a whole lot more to see and to do. You go over a ford and there is all this extra wilderness. A large area for camping. Beautiful views of the neapon river. Aboriginal art and loads of places to have a walk or a picnic. What a great discovery, thanks Rowan for pointing out we should go left.

Red hands cave paintings. Each one is a different person. I really enjoyed the bush walk seeing all the flora.

We headed back to Sydney from there.

Joanne and I went for a walk and watched the sunrise in Coogee. It was a nice outing and we stopped by Tuga Pastries to check out their food. One of the guests brought lovely Portuguese tarts to the birthday party so we had to check out what else they had on offer. I had an amazing eggs Benedict danish. It was the most delicious eggs Benedict I have ever had. I will be coming back to try more delicacies soon.

Airlie Beach here we come. We are off to the boat, it was an afternoon flight that got us in after 6pm. David (Rowan’s Dad) picked us up and we headed to Airlie Beach for dinner. We had a nice meal before getting to the boat. By the time we had done our evening set up and ablutions it was 11.30pm and I went to bed wiped.