Today is ANZAC Day here. We can’t believe we had never heard of it. It
means Australia New Zealand Army Corps and is basically like our
rememberance day but a bit more upbeat.

We didn’t make the dawn service (at 5am) but did see some of the march
through town which went on for 4 hours! It was really good and there
was a great atmosphere. For some reason, after the march most pubs
have a game of ‘Two Up’ for a few hours where you can bet on the
outcome of two coins thrown into the air amongst a very rowdy crowd.

Tonight Matt & Mel invited us along to their friend’s party where we
have had our 1st Aussie barbie on a balcony over looking the city.
One guy arrived having just lost £100 at the pub playing two up. Eek!

We have spent a week with Robyn & Ken in Concord, and what a lovely
week it’s been. A great balance of sightseeing, getting to know the
city and relaxing which is just what we needed. We doubt we will meet
a more helpful and kind pair of people on our entire trip!

The 4 of us went out to a district of Sydney which is completely
Vietnamese and we had a lovely meal, reminising about when we all met.
We took Jake (pictured below with Jen) for walks most days – although
we often got caught in the rain.

While we have been here the seasons have changed and it’s surprisingly
cold. So much so that our clothes we had been wearing for the last 3
months are no longer appropriate so we bought a pair of jeans each.
This was no easy feat as Australia assumes men are 6ft6 and women are
5ft10! Jen now has 12yr old jeans that fit nicely!

We left the Lumsden’s yesterday and are now staying with Matt Dewsnap
and his fiancée Mel who Ben knows through his parents. Their place is
in Woolloomooloo which is almost central Sydney and only 10mins walk
from the flat we are moving into tomorrow (Sunday) for the rest of our
time here.

Today we had a lovely lie in followed by vegemite on toast for brekkie
– it’s so nice to have a normal breakfast in a kitchen. Then we jumped
on the nearby ferry service that took us under the harbour bridge and
stopped off right next to the opera house.

We took all the usual tourist photos and had a very nice picnic in the
botanical gardens before we wandered the streets to get to grips with
the city.

Sydney has a great feel to it and is a interesting mix of British and
American architecture with the odd Aussie twist.

We’re now sat in a bar enjoying a few beers (amazingly the bar staff
weren’t Brits!). After dinner it’ll be back on the ferry to see the
sights at night before bed.

Tomorrow we will make a proper start with finding a place to stay for
when we leave Robyn & Ken’s – it’s nice to be staying in 1 place for 3
weeks. Our pace of life can slow down a bit.

So after a perfect couple of flights from Bali to Singapore and then
Singapore to Sydney we arrived yesterday morning. Ken (of Ken & Robyn, who
we met in Vietnam) kindly picked us up from their nearest train station and
took us back to theirs to settle in. After an afternoon walk with Ken and
Jake the dog we have got to grips with Concord.

Today Ken & Robyn took us out to the Blue Mountains, about 2 hours from
Sydney, where we had a picnic starring out at the beautiful vista (see
photo) – it seems to us to be a cross between the Grand Canyon and Yosemite
National Park. It was just beautiful and so calming.

Afterwards we went on the World’s steepest train down to the bottom of the
valley, had a walk and went back up via a cable car to meet Robyn & Ken
before going back.

It is so nice to be in a home, sleeping in a comfy bed, sitting on a sofa
and eating yummy home cooked food (tonight’s meal was Kangaroo meat!) after
3 months of anonymous rooms, especially with our brilliant hosts. The
temperature is also much more manageable thank goodness – much less tiring.
This is really giving us a chance to re-charge our batteries before we set
out to explore on our own.

Tomorrow will be our first taster with our first trip into town to see the
sights….expect the usual Opera House/Harbour Bridge photo in the next
post!!