Sydney - part deux

The last of our 3 day jaunt to Sydney consisted of us going to a few hot spots, namely Bondi Beach, Sydney Opera House, and the botanical gardens.

Bondi Beach

It is just one of those famous beaches you have to visit while in Sydney. Even though the sky was blue and the sun as shining it wasn't a particularly warm day, but that did not stop the droves of near naked or skimpy-bikini cladded youngsters strutting around there. We couldn't find a parking space anywhere near the beach, so we stopped at end of the stretch at the top of the hill.



Kien was just itching to run around, so we let him lose.





He collected rocks to throw into the surf.







He also befriended this couple, and when Kien is on a roll he becomes animated and very chatty. They engaged with him, which was a relief, because I never know if he's annoying or endearing people when he does that.

The Opera House

I've seen this structure a few times now, but I'm still amazed by it's beauty.



We had breakfast/lunch in the sun after we checked out of the hotel on Monday.





Kien wanted to run and chase the cheeky seagulls that terrorised anyone attempting to eat their meal.





After breakfast/lunch we went for a walk around.









We shaded from the sun and had a rest in the botanical gardens situated right next to the opera house. It was such a fabulous spot.





Kien likes to gather twigs and things to build a camp fire. So he spent ages doing that.







We then headed to the airport, stopping at this great playground to kill some time...








...and then our holiday was no more.

Journey to the Blue Mountains

We flew on the new Air New Zealand Boeing 787 Dreamliner to Sydney on Saturday for an extended weekend getaway. It was such a comfortable flight, and Kien was really taken with the state of the art inflight entertainment. No matter how often I fly I just love being up above the clouds.





He watched some of his favourite cartoons, and then decided he wanted to follow along with the flight path.



I booked us a suite at the Novotel with fabulous views over Darling Harbour. That night we were very fortunate to witness the fireworks from our window.







I must get myself a lightweight travel tripod instead of trying to balance my camera on footstools in an attempt to do some long exposure shots. In the end the only semi non blurry photo I got was this one, and it doesn't do the view much justice.



On Sunday we headed out to the Blue Mountains in our little green rental car. It was rather crowded at Echo Point - much to be expected really. This popular destination definitely delivered spectacular panoramic views.







The Three Sisters sandstone rock formation - awesome sight.





We took the track down the cliff into the Jamison Valley. Beautiful trees lined the path that took us to the stairs.

Kien was extremely adventurous. We left Jef behind at the lookout point, and Kien wanted to go all the way down the Giant Stairway to see where it would lead us. I kept on reminding him that we also had to come back up, and I knew that more than likely he would not have the energy to climb the steep path up again.

We didn't get to the bottom; I wasn't sure where the bottom actually was or what was down there. So we got to this point before turning around and headed back up again.



Of course I had to carry him!



I certainly worked off everything I ate and drank that morning!

...to be continued...