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!!

Now in Singapore Airport waiting for our transfer flight to Sydney
after 3 days in Kuta, Bali.

We didn’t have high hopes but it really wasn’t as bad as we thought.
It was busy, there was lots of traffic and people trying to sell us
things but otherwise not nearly as awful as it could be.

We spent a day in the rather inappropriately named (because it was
Kuta where the terrorist attcks were in 2002 and 2005) water park,
Waterbom Park, which was brilliant fun and not like anything else we
have done on this trip yet.

The morning after that rather exhausting day Ben had a 2 1/2 hour
surfing lesson (see photo) with the brilliantly named ‘Big Kahuna Surf
School’. He did an excellent job, especially concentrating while his
fellow students’ bikini bottoms fell down each time they stood up on
the board!! He rode quite a few waves stood up all the way in –
official photographer Jen’s footage proves it. It was one of the most
exhausting things that Ben has ever done but he loved it.

Today was spent unsuccessfully not getting too hot and sticky before
our flights. Now really looking forward to a couple of days rest at
Robyn & Ken’s in Sydney – Asia has been fantastic but tiring!

So we mentioned in the last blog that we were staying in a rather nice
hotel -here is the pool (with Jen’s head bobbing around in front of
the rough sea below).

We have spent 2 days eating, sunbathing, reading and swimming. Oh and
trying to avoid ‘traditional’ Balinese dance in the evenings which is
exceptionally difficult – only 1 restaurant seems to not do it!!
Luckily that restaurant also plays good music, has cheap food and beer
and has an up-to-date library of Time magazines which we have been
using to catch up with global affairs.

Apart from this we have been surprised how undeveloped, or maybe
unprepared, Bali is for tourism considering in our minds it has been a
holiday destination forever. It’s strange but good in a way, just a
bit tricky to find wifi. Having said that….

We have booked our taxi to get to Kuta tomorrow. It is apparently the
San Antonio (in Ibiza) of Asia and sounds truely hideous. But hey,
it’s got a water park and is close to the airport for our flight on
Wednesday. Should be a giggle!