Christmas in Australia

For our last Christmas in Asia and my last trip before returning home, we decided to head to Australia for Christmas. It was a trip we were all looking forward to and it did not disappoint. It is not a short trip to Sydney - the flight is over 7 hours. Sydney is also 3 hours ahead of Singapore (and therefore currently 17 hours ahead of Newburyport).

We flew overnight and arrived in Sydney in the late morning on the 22nd. We immediately went out to the Blue Mountains, which are about 90 minutes from Sydney. We stayed in a cute little town called Katoomba in a backpacker type boarding house. We spent the first afternoon exploring Katoomba including taking a ride on a the steepest railway in Australia (maybe the world?) and seeing the beautiful mountains and the "Three Sisters". The Three Sisters are a trio of rock formations that Aussie native legend has were once three beautiful maidens. The second day in Katoomba we spent on an all-day "canyoning" adventure. We were driven out to the wilderness and hiked into a canyon where we donned wet suits and traveled down a river running at the bottom of the canyon. There were natural rock slides ending in very cool pools of water. There were also jumps of maybe 6-12 feet into pools of water. It was good fun, but unfortunately Lauren sprained her ankle and had to rest while we completed the second canyon. Otherwise we all survived and headed back to Katoomba and then took the trip into Sydney.

We spent the rest of our trip in Sydney and explored this beautiful city which is highlighted by the huge harbor and the landmarks of the Sydney bridge and opera house. The transport system was easy - trains, buses and my favorite - the public ferries. It was nice to be on the water and also in cooler weather than Singapore. In fact, even though it is Sydney's summer, the weather was unusually cool. Boxing day was their coolest in 120 years. Still, we did not mind, although those who wanted to spend the time sunning at the beach were disappointed.

On Christmas eve, we took the ferry to Watson's Bay and enjoyed some fish and chips for lunch at the famous Doyle's on the Beach. We later returned in time to explore the Rock's area of Sydney and to climb the Sydney bridge. This structure was completed in the early 30's and is amazing. The climb was a bit scary, especially because it was very windy, but we all made it. We went up in the daylight and came down in the night with all the city lights on. It really was quite spectacular.

On Christmas day, the girls and I went to the zoo which is on a hill next to the water and was quite beautiful. Leah took many pictures and hopefully will post some. Lauren and Evan stayed behind to relax. That night we had Christmas dinner at the Intercontinental Hotel where they had a great buffet. We all ate until they had to roll us out of there.

On Boxing day we explored the Sydney Fish Market which is one of the largest in the world. We enjoyed lunch there where the seafood is certainly as fresh as you can get. That night we saw the musical "Wicked" in the restored Capital Theater which is a beautiful old theater. It was my first time seeing this musical, but the others were still excited to see it again - especially Leah.

On Sunday, we met Lauren's friend Brooke, who lives in Singapore, but was in Australia for Christmas as she is married to an Aussie. We met her at the famous Bondi beach and walked along the cliffs and other beaches all the way to Coogee beach where Brooke and her husband were staying. The weather was cool which made for a more comfortable walk. It also did not keep the surfers from enjoying their craft (in wet suits). After the walk we enjoyed lunch with Brooke and her husband at a local "kebab" stand. David and I then went to the pub to watch some cricket while the girls did some shopping.

Monday was the worst day for weather as it was raining pretty consistently. We saw Avatar and made the best of it. Finally on our last day we went to Manley beach and had the best weather day. We enjoyed the water (especially Leah and I) and also had a nice lunch. We returned to our hotel to make our way to the airport and return to Singapore - except Jane! Jane flew up to Brisbane to join her school friend and her family for another week. She is still there and I am sure she is having a great time. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Happy New Year!
Jed, Lauren, Evan, Jane and Leah