Welcome to Sydney!

Welcome to Sydney!

Saturday 30 June 2012

Southern Highlands

We had a great long weekend in the Southern Highlands a couple months ago and we didn't post much about it. Here are a few pictures of our time there. We would definitely go back, essentially, it is very peaceful and full of nature. In addition, there are beautiful gardens all around. It reminded Tom and Ellen of the UK quite a bit, especially the gardens and a couple really charming pubs.

OK, well, this was in Sydney, not the Southern Highlands, but I ordered this champagne/rose drink that was just fabulous at the wine bar in Surry Hills. Lovely place and great drink.


This is the Southern Highlands and the view from our house, so peaceful.
 This is Dan and I at a really charming pub we found.
 Check out Tom and Dan on the side of the road--we passed this truck and had to have a pic.
 I was getting over something back then, so didn't go, but Tom, Ellen, and Dan went to the falls and got some fabulous pictures.
 This is one of the many pictures they got of the beautiful gardens.
We would definitely go back, lovely time.

Catching Up

Well, it's been awhile. Not sure what's changed, but we have been very busy lately. We decided we wanted to post some things and 'catch up' so to speak on some of our recent adventures, although most of you have probably heard of some of these things by now, so we are admittedly quite behind on the archive of our lives in Australia.

It seems like we have settled in to just living here. While we have some good trips planned, most days here are just like a regular day--go to work, make dinner, back to work...that kind of thing. Sometimes people think living in Australia would be like being on vacation all the time. You really just settle in. I think we are starting to take advantage of our location by planning some trips outside of Australia, so I am glad we are fulfilling that goal.

Last weekend, we went with some friends to Katoomba for the Winter Magic Festival, which celebrates the winter solstice. While we enjoyed the Blue Mountains, I'm not sure I'd go back to the festival again. We had a really fun time, nevertheless. It is about 90 kilometers away from Sydney, although with the slow speed limits and roads here, it still takes about 1.5 hours to drive there.

This is called the Three Sisters, one of the most famous vistas in the Blue Mountains.

They are called the Blue Mountains because of the blue-ish glow put off by all the Eucalyptus trees. It smeels really nice too.
 Here is Tom, Ellen, and Dan, and I.
 On Sunday, we shopped a little in a small town called, Leura. Ellen and I loved all the shops. I bought some jewelry. We found the perfect bench for Tom and Dan--see the sign : ) They weren't so thrilled with Leura and decided they would find a pub next time Ellen and I want to shop there.
We will try to post more often and may try to catch up on a few older trips. Off to more mundane tasks for the weekend...