Diary and MHMF Challenge Updates

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  Newcastle, Australia
Thursday, January 18, 2007

Hello, and here's an update on our diary and MHMF challenges

Sunday 7th January
After a fruit breakfast we packed and then Rachel drove us and her boys to Bondi where she was meeting an old friend of hers who no longer lives in Australia. We had some lunch in her hotel and avoided a torrential downpour! Then Rachel dropped us at Bondi Junction where we had a tearful farewell before taking the train back to George and Cynthia's place. There we met one of my mum's cousin's sons who has just started working in Sydney, and later had dinner.

Monday 8th January
We had planned to do some sight-seeing in Sydney but the weather was not great and my foot was a bit sore because I had hurt it when we were swimming in Jelly Bean Pool. Cynthia's sister Sylvia offered to take us out for some lunch so we took her up on her offer and she and her husband Sassy and their youngest daughter Joanna, who reminded me very much of Mim, took us to the Eastern Suburbs League Club in Bondi Junction where we had a roast lunch at a very reasonable price. Then we went to the Westfield shopping centre, then back to Sylvia and Sassy's house where we had cakes for tea and Sassy and myself had a few games of backgammon. That evening AD and I cooked dinner for George and Cynthia.

Tuesday 9th January
We went to visit my aunt who, at 10.30 in the morning, said, "You must be famished!" and fed us on delicious Indian savouries of the kind mum often gets in London - samosas, zingaras and vegetarian curry. Then we went out and had a look around the shops in the Westfield and had a coffee. After returning to Seemah's "unit" - their word for a flat or appartment - we were picked up by another cousin, Yael. She drove us to the North Shore where we visited a delightful beach called Balmoral. Then back to her house for a pizza dinner with her husband and one of her sons and his wife.

Wednesday 10th January
After packing, we spent a lovely day exploring Sydney harbour. We walked around to the botanical gardens where we spent much longer than we had planned, the place being so beautiful and interesting. We had been told that there are resident fruit bats in the gardens but nothing prepared us for the large number of bats, and their size. We were fascinated and could have watched them all day. We stopped there for a snack and then walked on to the nearby Sydney Opera House. After seeing so many iconic pictures of it all our lives, it was a thrill to finally get up close to it. We weren't able to see inside the concert halls but we did explore the site as much as we could. Then down to the waterfront for a drink. George and Cynthia picked us up from there and took us home to pick up our bags. That evening we went to stay with Saree, the cousin of our friend Lissa who we had stayed with in Melbourne. We met her for the first time in Melbourne and it was very kind of her to offer us hospitality at her house in Sydney. A big two-storey house in the Redfern district, it was interesting for us to stay somewhere very different to the unit in Pott's Point where George and Cynthia live. That evening we went for a delicious Indian meal in a lively restaurant round the corner from Saree's house. Then we dropped in on a friend of hers on the way home.

Thursday 11th January
We got a couple of pies for breakfast which we ate on the bus on the way to Circular Quai. From there we took the harbour ferry across to Darling Harbour which has been developed over the last twenty years or so and contains many tourist attractions such as the Sydney Aquarium. We had read about the Chinese Garden there, and that's where we headed. An idyllic oasis of tranquility in the middle of Sydney, we could have spent the whole day there, but we then made our way to China Town where we stopped for lunch. Then we went to Paddy's Market where we finally managed to track to Sylvia and Sassy's stall. After that we went back to Redfern where we shopped for ingredients to cook dinner for Saree and Phil, her housemate, that evening.

Friday 12th January
We spent the day with Cynthia who took us first to visit Seemah and her brother Eli for the last time. Then on to Neilson Park, which is on the beach, for a coffee and then to Watson's Bay where there is a well-known restaurant called Doyle's where we had lunch. We needed a stroll to help us digest so we went to Camp Cove, a beautiful spot where the sea breeze helped us to cool down. At the end of the afternoon we went to the restaurant where George works in Double Bay and then George and Cynthia took us back to Saree's place.

Saturday 13th January
The Paddington craft market runs at the weekends so we took the bus there. We had a delicious and filling lunch of Himalayan food before exploring the market which, I got the feeling, was more fun for me than it was for AD! After a quick rest in a nearby pub we took the bus into town where we found a craft shop dedicated to sewing and knitting which is owned by a friend of my mother's. There we met Ruth who took us out for waffles and hot chocolate and it was most pleasant, if brief, meeting. That evening, our last in Sydney, we went to Alexandria, a suburb close to Redfern, where we met up with a friend of a friend of ours from Oxford, Connor, and his girlfriend, Belinda or Bin for short, for a few drinks.

Sunday 14th January
After a relaxed start to the day we took a cab to Central Station where we caught a train to Gosford, a town just north of Sydney, where we were met at the station by Ron, Ruth's cousin, and his wife Marie who we stayed with for the next two nights. They took us back to their unit on the shores of Brisbane Waters and we were enthralled by the idyllic view from their balcony, on which we had a barbeque that evening.

Monday 15th January
Ron and Marie took us for a tour around the Gosford area beaches, each more pretty than the last, and after a bight to eat at one of the beaches we went to Acona Beach where we went for a swim in the refreshingly cool ocean and watched everyone having fun, including the surfers. That evening we cooked for them and of course ate on the balcony.

Tuesday 16th January
Sue is the mother of Rachel who we had stayed with in the Blue Mountains. She and her partner John came to Gosford to pick us up and take us to their home in Newcastle, a little north of Gosford. After lunch at their house we were treated to a visit to Blackbutt Reserve where we saw a multitude of wildlife including kangaroos, wallabies, emus, koalas and many native birds. Then we went on a tour of some of the local beaches and the Newcastle Waterfront. That evening we cooked dinner.

Wednesday 17th January
After booking our travel arrangements for the remainder of our stay in Australia we went out for the day. We went to Nelson Bay in Port Steven where we had a close encounter with some pelicans, then past Fingal Bay to a picnic spot right on the shore at Corlett, a quick stop at the Lily Road Lookout and then on to Stockton Beach where AD and I had our first experience of four-wheel driving over the sand dunes and down the extensive beach. We stopped in a place where no one was visible for miles and, although the wind was strong, it was magical. We returned home for a barbeque.

Thursday 18th January
We had intended to travel by train up to Byron Bay today, but because no seats were left we will be going up there tomorrow instead. Which has given me the chance to update this diary!

MHMF Challenge: Diving at the Great Barrier Reef
After we leave Byron Bay we are going to go to Cairns and from there we are going to dive on the Great Barrier Reef in the name of the MHMF. Updates to follow.

In the meantime we have identified several more bird species; here's the list:
183 Olive-Backed Oriole
184 Australian King Parrot
185 Black-Backed Magpie
186 Australian White Ibis
187 Rainbow Lorikeet
188 Crested Pigeon
189 Australian Pelican
190 Nankeen Kestrel
191 Little Pied Cormorant
192 Barn Owl
193 Great Egret
194 Little Ringed Plover
195 Mallard Duck
196 Tawny Frogmouth
197 Diamond Dove
198 Butcher Bird
199 Pied Oyster Catcher
200 Eastern Rosella
201 Magpie Lark (aka Peewee)
202 Spotted Dove
203 White-Bellied Sea Eagle
204 Noisy Miner
205 Black Swan
206 White-Faced Heron
207 Black-Shouldered Kite

So we're past the 200 mark!

We also saw some species at Blackbutt Reserve, so here's a cheat's section, which we won't count towards our final total:

-Zebra Finch
-Bustard
-Masked Lapwing
-Banded Plover
-Sacred Kingfisher
-Rufus Night Heron

If you would like to sponsor us, you can do so by following the link on the home-page of www.miriam-hyman.com. You could forward the link to this travelpod and the sponsorship page to people in your address book if you think they might be interested in our weblog and in sponsoring us - thanks!

It's been great to hear from our friends while we've been away, so please do contact us any time by email

xesther & AD

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