Last year we spent Easter holidays getting broken down in the bush, we therefore came up with a different plan for Easter this year. Especially since we now have a passport for J3, all of a sudden we can cross borders again, take flights etc (all though an African passport does mean that you have to apply for visas....). So Australia it was, for a full 2 weeks around Easter. Our first time back since we left and moved to Ireland. All our very good friends there managed to come see us at some stage, besides we missed A and T's wedding last year October, so a long overdue trip.
The itinerary was as follows: 2 days in Sydney, 3 days in Newcastle, 4 days in Darwin, 5 days in Melbourne and 1 night in Perth (layover), quite some ground to cover, as our friends had all moved around, but a few internal flights (and luckily no volcano eruptions) so no big deal. Especially since J3 was a champion with air travelling, she is just a sleeping machine, which makes travelling very easy. She also developed a special interest in the safety card in every plane.
J3 checking the safety instructions?
So we arrived in Sydney at lunchtime, where we checked in to our awesome hotel with view over the Sydney Opera House. Very tired, but no time to relax, we caught up with our dear friend U that afternoon / evening, who left us in Botswana last year. Next day S. (who is originally from Sydney) met us for breakfast, and gave us a city tour, showed us all the famous landmarks. During the afternoon we made the trip back to their place in Newcastle. The amazing $9 lunch Thai restaurant on the way back is certainly worth mentioning.
Sydney Opera House, view from our hotel
In Newcastle we caught up with S. and M., their little 15month old, and of course their puppy. We relaxed at their house, did a nice BBQ, some running in the woods, walk on the beach (J3 liked the taste of sand) and did a trip to the Hunter Valley, a famous wine region, with some very nice Shiraz, which is always a hit for us.
Wine tasting in the Hunter Valley
J3 sneaking into mommy's purse during the wine tasting
Race against the puppy on the Newcastle beach
From Newcastle we went to Darwin to catch up with A. and T. Their place had a balcony overlooking the water, and we probably spend most of our time enjoying this view, while drinking good wine and eating some very nice food. We celebrated both Easter (with more chocolate then I have ever seen before) and J3's birthday there. We also took the fishing boat out for a trip on the water, visited a reserve, had a tour of the city, ate at the Thai restaurant where the wedding reception was, went to the local market (yummy food here as well), and did a lot of sweating. Darwin is very tropical and humid, and when we were there it was actually quite cool. We both loved the place, and loved catching up with our friends there, enjoying there place.
View from the balcony
Oysters and champagne for Easter
Darwin market
Pointing out the trail in the park
Some refreshments (and rocks) after
The ride on the boat
Their apartment from the water
J3 in the marina, after the boatride
Birthday cake?
Yummy......
And even a present!
From Darwin we took a flight to Melbourne, our old home. The flight was at 3 in the morning, which was not much fun, but on the other hand it meant more time for doing stuff (just a bit sleep deprived. Our friend F took us around to all the old spots, our old house and neighbourhood, our old apartment, the St. Kilda area where we lived for some time. We really got to refresh the memories, but it was disappointing that old our old pubs had been turned into fancy dining places, table cloths and all. It was great to stay at F's place, and also have a babysitter in F's daughter, which meant we had a chance to hit the pubs (or what was left of it), we managed to find some of the old places this left as we remembered. We also managed to eat on Victoria street, have loads of nice coffees, go back to Port Melbourne and have a coffee at the place we celebrated our engagement, eat souvlaki and drink a few nice chardonnays.
Having drinks with our friends (great to have a baby sitter)
Our old house in Melbourne
Coffee in the London pub, where we celebrated our engagement exactly 9 years ago
From here we went to our friends A and S and their kids. We got to see their beautifully renovated house, meet the kids again (last time was like 4 years ago), J3 loved playing with them. We played some tennis, had more delicious food, went for a trip into the Dandenongs (place outside Melbourne in the mountains we used to love) and did a lot of catching up.
J and J3
Very crowded in that bed....
Groupshot.....
Best friends!
Our friends (and kids)
And a family picture of us.
On the way back we unfortunately had to spend a night in Perth, because of an 11 hour layover, but a hotel at the airport was the perfect solution. This is of course a very very short version of our trip, but I am sure the pictures tell the rest of the story.
Thanks to everyone for having us, and making this such an awesome trip.
J1
