RIP Camera

Happy Birthday to John! 

Today should have been a  sorrowful day but it started and ended well. Firstly we went to the beach which was exciting because it's the beach, but also because it was Kobe's first time there! Don't worry we're not reckless house sitters who just introduce pets to new things, his owners Dave and Nath were there too! 

Look at us!

I love these photos:

One guy with a smelly dog looked over and said 'that must be the most photographed dog in the whole of Australia'. Jealous much? ;) 

Anyway the day turned tragic, Tanbay tried to get a photo of me swimming and managed to drop the camera in the ocean, (if you're not up to date he broke his arm.. not that that's an excuse ;) ) 

It was sad but he was on his last legs (lens) anyway. I've had him for six years and he's served me well on four continents. I hope he's happy up in camera heaven, getting his lens cleaned daily by hot camera ladies. 

Dinner was so good I forgot all about my faithful buddy: 

I won't be eating burgers when I'm back in England, the Ozzies do them so much better

They were accompanied by some amazing beers:

Not a hint that I am British and bitter.. just a Queensland take on a traditional English beer. Very good. 

Beach Day and Jellyfish in Newcastle

Today was very exciting as we went to Dudley Beach

I went swimming, and by swimming I mean I went and got beaten up by the sea

     
Hallelujah!

When I got out Dave pointed out a Bluebottle to me!!

Bluebottles are the infamous Portugese Man of War jellyfishes. They don't kill you but hurt really badly if you are stung - if that happens you should put vinegar or pee on it.

Dave said if there are more than 10 on the beach you shouldn't go in the water.

Return to Newcastle - More Yummy Food

We we sad to be leaving Berowra but excited about returning to our friends in Newcastle!

We took the bus from Berowra and then two trains to Newcastle, it took three and a half hours but we now think of that as a short journey because we are such Australians. 

On the second train we had to sit with our bags on our laps which wasn't much fun for Tanbadarm 

Dave met us at the station, he'd prepared this awesome meal for us: 

Definitely the best lasagne I've ever had by ten miles, and not just because it has our names on it.

It was followed by a cake, it should be noted that this is probably the first time ever that a cake has tasted even better than it looks!

By which I mean it looks 10/10 but tasted even better! Not that it looks rubbish.. but you can see it doesn't anyway. 

Goodbye Berowra

Today we had to say goodbye to beautiful Berowra:

We walked to the look out for the last time, I don't think I could ever get used to this view!

This is my new favourite photo:

We're really glad we got the opportunity to go here. We were looking forward to staying in Berowra but only so we could see Sydney and the Blue Mountains, we didn't realise Berowra itself would be so beautiful (and not at all like Devon..)  Kate, J.C. and the kids are all really wonderful and we hope to see them again at some point!

Australia Day in Sydney

Today was Australia Day. On this date in 1788 the British arrived in Sydney and flew the flag. 

So we took the train into Sydney to celebrate with everyone else: 

this is Sydney Opera House from the Harbour Bridge, sorry the train windows are so mucky!

First we walked to Sydney Harbour where there were bands playing

we walked through the rocks where there was some temporary grass and lots of Australian Flags

Here were some amazing drums

Then we saw the over decked Australian family who I liked even more than the double denim family I saw once 

 I bet they weren't even ozzies

Next we found another stage near the Harbour Bridge

 People were just chilling and listening to the music

This family had even dressed their dog up :)

As for Tanbay and I we just wore a couple of tattoos

Next we walked through Sydney to Darling Harbour, by this point the sun really started to get it's hat on

We saw jellies in the harbour!

We walked over the bridge to the Maritime Museum

We'd arranged to meet our friend Jess here but we had no idea how big it was!

We saw the best band of the day here though, I don't know what they were called but they were really good. There was a guy dancing in front of them who everyone was laughing at, but they sung dancing queen to him which was cute.

Then we finally met Jess! She is from our weird 'talking-to-strangers-from-around-the-world-on-the-internet-and-dying-Tanbay's-hair-black' stage! We were friends through MySpace but lost contact with her, but luckily a few months ago she got back in contact (good timing!)

We had a really yummy meal and mojitos! We had a lot of catching up to do after seven years. 

On the way home we saw the luna park from the train! 

So it was a fun day, but very crowded and full of tourists!