What a fantastic place! It's been a busy week but we've absolutely loved it here.

The first couple of days, we spent exploring with Rob's family. We've had beautiful weather so walked for ages. Saw the Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Botanical Gardens and then wandered around the market at the Rocks. The Gardens were gorgeous and there were loads of parrots and bats flying around! It was Anne and Richards' Ruby wedding anniversary so went to a fancy restaurant in the evening in Woolloomalloo. It overlooked the quay and as it got dark, all the bats from the Botanical Gardens took flight and cicrcled overhead as the sun was setting. Not a bad start to the week!

We walked from Bondi Beach round to the quieter Coogee Beach via the coast. Baking hot and some stunning views. In the evening we met up with Jen and Mark (friends from home) and went for a meal along Darling Harbour. The meal was good and it was great to catch up. We had rather dubious cocktails in 'Loft' bar and even more dubious prices. Rob had a 'Sadam's Apple'which had pear slices and ground black pepper floating around in it. I ended up with one that smelled like Grandmas, tasted like pot pourri and had a sprig of lavender in. Too cool for us.

Anne, Richard, Rob and I then drove up to The Blue Mountains for a couple of days. We stayed in a 'quirky' guesthouse with Teddy Bears in all the rooms and 'Frosty the Snowman' playing at breakfast. The host was a quiet man who didn't seem that comfortable talking to us and was perhaps more fond of his teddy bears than people. My paranoid theory was that the bears all had cameras in and he secretly watched the guests on 'teddycam' nightly. It could be true. The walks we did were fantastic: Echo Point on the first day and from Govet's Leap to Evan's Lookout on the second. The two had a real contrast from lush dense forest to sparse, dry woodland with obvious signs of recent fires. We were treated to the sight Sulphur-crested Cockatoos drinking from a waterfallat Echo Point and it was all I could do not to fill my memory card completely. (You're lucky there's only 3 photos on the blog. The even luckier of you can endure the full slideshow on our return!). Had some tasty meals up in the Mountains too, including dinner at 'Swiss Cottage'. Lots of meat and cheese and, even better, a tasting plate of 4 of their best desserts entitled 'Le Petit Naughty'.

We then headed back to Sydney, via the Mt Tomah Botanical Gardens, where I saw my first Kookaburra - huzzah! And then..... we arrived in true heaven. Anne and Richard have literally surpassed themselves booking this place. We're staying just North of Manly, in Freshwater, with views looking out over the sea and Curl Curl Beach. The apartment is truly luxury and I just can't believe how lucky we are to be staying here! We've had some good time on the beach and Jen and Mark came over yesterday to explore. They were exhausted from a day in the Blue Mountains so were looking forward to a relaxing day. So we followed the advice of a local waiter and took the 'coastal pathway' round from Manly Beach to Freshwater through the rock tunnel. Not exactly a path!! We ended up clambering, bum shuffling, slipping and sliding our way round the massive rocks by the sea! Jen had to do it barefoot and a crab fell on my head! Not quite what they'd planned! Finished the evening with a lightning storm panorama over the sea and a BBQ a la oven/grill due to the rain.

We'll hopefully spend the next couple of days soaking up some sunshine and relaxing, so take care everyone and we'll catch up with you somewhere up the East Coast on our road trip! xxx