Homeward bound

So that's it - we're now at the airport waiting to board our plane, at the end of our 81 days around the world. This morning, we packed; we lunched at the hotel by the pool; we Uber-ed to the airport; and now, apart from a (hopefully easy) overnight flight, it is all over.

It's been an epic, once-in-a-lifetime trip. We've seen amazing places, met great people, and thoroughly enjoyed adventuring as a family. Yes, I packed too much. Yes, we ate and drank too much. But it has been a wonderful, amazing, brilliant experience; and Jemima has been fantastic: adaptable and enthusiastic, embracing all the excitement (as well as quite a few small children).  Hurrah for Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia, Rarotonga, and Los Angeles. (Australia, you were our favourite...) Thank you very much to Kevin and Jemima for making it possible, and for making it so much fun.

Of course, we are all looking forward to going home too: family, friends, Rocky the dog, our house, springtime in England, and the return to normal life (and playschool!). Going away is great, but - thankfully - coming home is great too.

If anyone has travelled with us on our trip via this blog, I hope you've enjoyed it as much as we have. Until next time!

Kirsten, Kevin and Jemima xxx

PS I am aware of the absence of posts over the last week or so - no wifi in Rarotonga and then very busy in LA. But I am planning to get up-to-date while waiting in the airport/ on the plane, so hopefully previous days will appear shortly...

 

Last day of fun

Unfortunately Disneyland took its toll: either germs from the thousands there or the seafood pasta caused Kevin to be quite unwell when he woke up. So sadly he stayed in bed while Jemima and I headed off for some more fun with my uncle and aunt.

They picked us up at the hotel and took us to Laguna Beach, not far down the freeway. The Shake Shack was perched on the hill overlooking the beach, a small building with a lovely shaded outdoor terrace. After we'd introduced Aunty Margaret to Ants in Your Pants (still a restaurant favourite), we had a delicious Californian lunch (burger, grilled cheese, ahi tuna sandwich, fries, beer - perfect). Then a walk down the cliff steps for a play on the beach before returning to the Shake Shack for an ice cream with a view, and driving on to the next door beach where we could park for longer.

It turned out David and Margaret had come prepared - a ball, a kite, towels, a picnic blanket, chairs and beer - we were in the hands of experienced beachgoers. We loaded up, waded through the ankle-deep water in the tunnel under the freeway, and emerged onto a beautiful stretch of sand. The wind was still quite fresh, and the sea was freezing, but the sun had real warmth in it, and plenty of people were enjoying themselves. 

Jemima stripped down to her new beach outfit (thanks to Elizabeth), and ran in and out of the small waves, as ever, thoroughly at home with the sea and the sand. David and Margaret took it in turns to play with Jemima and chat to me (Margaret was a football whizz, while Jemima and David had a fun game drawing in the sand then pouring sea water on the pictures, although Jemima wasn't that impressed by David's artistic skills, saying his person looked like a beetroot). The sun shone, the sea sparkled, it was another lovely day with our American family. And then it was time to go home.

On the drive back, all the excitement caught up with Jemima and she got fractious, but we managed to get to the hotel before it went too horribly wrong. Some more final goodbyes, then back to the room to find Kevin better, but still not right. So the last night of our trip was spent in our hotel room, with room service for Jemima and I, three in a bed watching Sing (an animation about an American Idol-style singing competition). Not exactly glamorous but what we all needed. Then off to sleep, to dream of going home.

 

The Happiest Place on Earth

So, finally, after Jemima waiting patiently for nearly three months, the day was finally here: we were off to Disneyland! After an early start we arrived at The Happiest Place on Earth - and it was already heaving. Queues for the tickets, queues for security, queues to get through the gates - Jemima was fractious, "I don't like waiting!" - oh, dear, this did not bode well...

But when we finally got into the park and saw actual Mickey Mouse, the mood changed - we were here! We rendezvoused with Matthew, Elizabeth, Marie-Claire, Ava and Luke in the main square, and then the fun began.

It was brilliant. Not only because it was Disneyland, but because we got to spend a fantastic day with our American family - and as they are Disneyland regulars, Kevin and I turned our brains off, threw the map away, and just followed as were led - to the shortest queue, the most efficient route, the best rides for Jemima. 

We did a flying Peter Pan, a loud Wind in the Willows, a psychedelic Winnie the Pooh, an enormous carousel and the thankfully not-too-scary Haunted House; then the grown-ups has a go on Indiana Jones (brilliant). And after a jolly lunch (Jemima was taught Rock-Paper-Scissors by Luke and Ava, and joined in with, "one, two, three, shoot!" in an American accent), off to the amazing Pirates of the Caribbean (a float through detailed animatronic pirate scenes, my favourite), the Finding Nemo submarine, and, of course, "It's a Small World", the Disneyland classic, whose soundtrack creates an everlasting ear worm (the only "cast members", ie staff, who looked less than happy were the ones at this ride, and I don't blame them for being miserable - they deserve danger money for putting up with that tune all day).

Then at 7.30pm, having been at the park since 9am - Jemima miraculously still cheerful and energetic - we did our biggest ride of the day, Big Thunder Mountain, aka the runaway mine train. Jemima made it over the height requirement by a squeak, so we used the fast passes we'd collected earlier (thanks to our leaders), bypassed the hour long queue, and filed on, Jemima sandwiched between Kevin and I. I have to admit I was nervous - was this where, after a great day, it was all going to go horribly wrong and she'd end up terrified...? It turned out, no. Not only did she enjoy the speed and turns, she even got brave enough to put her hands in the air like her big cousins towards the end. Amazing.

It's fair to say that Kevin is not a fan of a theme park; and it was very busy; but I loved the Happiest Place on Earth, Jemima was in heaven, and we all had such fun with family Siddall. We said fond goodbyes after Big Thunder Mountain, and some obligatory souvenir purchases, and went to find dinner in the Main Street just outside the park.

We found a decent Italian (seafood pasta for Kevin, aubergine and mozzarella for me), and Jemima lasted long enough to be made a balloon Cinderella doll (impressive) and eat half her chicken before her excitement-generated adrenalin ran out. We left sharpish, called an Uber, and she was asleep before we'd left the car park. We were all knackered, but what an amazing day. Thank you Team Siddall!

 

Siddalls Reunited

On my gap year, 21 years ago (!), I spent two months living in Los Angeles with my Dad's brother, Uncle David, Aunty Margaret and my slightly older cousins Marie-Claire and Matthew. I find it slightly incredible now that they put up with me for that long, but I had a wonderful time, and was looked after brilliantly; and today, Kevin, Jemima and I were going for lunch with them all, plus the new young cousins, at the house I'd stayed at all those years ago. It was very exciting.

We took an Uber, and as we drove I started to recognise things: the local area, Irvine; the communal pool; and then there was the house - all dimly remembered from long ago. And then long ago didn't matter - it was all about the present, and my family meeting my LA family, and us all meeting the new (to me) members: Marie-Claire's partner Leo, Matthew's wife Elizabeth, and their children Luke (8) and Ava (5). 

What a lovely day. Aunty Margaret laid on a fabulous lunch, plus some Cloudy Bay especially bought for me (from reading the blog account of our trip there); Matthew and Elizabeth had brought some wonderful red wine from near their house, and an adorable beach outfit for Jemima; and Marie-Claire had made a delicious dessert cake plus plied us with proper English tea - we were thoroughly spoiled. Jemima and Ava just played and played and played - upstairs in the kids' room; downstairs with the glitter paints (Kevin had the heebie-jeebies about the mess, but Aunty Margaret was very relaxed.) And the grown-ups ate, drank, and chatted. It was brilliant, and I loved the Siddall togetherness - with family so far away, it doesn't happen often.

Then, as ever, all good things must come to an end. We all said our goodbyes after a wonderful day - but only for tonight, because we had plans for fun tomorrow: oh yes, we were being taken to Disneyland. Bring. It. On.

 

All good things...

After a few more paradisical days, it was time to go.  What a joy Rarotonga had been - the chance for Jemima to spend literally hours splashing about in sandy-bottomed, gently-shelving, glass-clear and bath-warm water (and for us to sit with a cocktail while she did it); sunset strolls along the beach; the warmth of the South Pacific people; and, for me, the discovery of paddling boarding - it's actually really fun, and I took Jemima out a few times with her sitting on the bow trailing her fingers in the water.  There is very little actually in Rarotonga - we hired a car for a day, snorkelled in a beautiful bay just down the road followed by a lovely lunch in a famous restaurant in the main town, overlooking the sea - but we circumnavigated the island twice in about an hour before we realised that was it.  But it doesn't matter - it doesn't need much, when what it has is so glorious.  And we thoroughly enjoyed our island time.

But all good things must come to end, and this was true not just for our Rarotongan sojourn - we really were coming to the end of the trip now.  One final stop left - a few days in Los Angeles, to break up the journey home and visit the now-American branch of the Siddall family.  So on Friday afternoon, we headed to the airport for our penultimate flight, landing in LA the next lunchtime.

Our hotel was in Huntingdon Beach, chosen because of proximity to my family.  It was good enough - a room with a view of the (much wilder) sea and a huge expanse of beach.  But after the intimacy of Rarotonga, and the openness of the Australian and South Pacific people, it all felt a bit harsh.  But never mind - we weren't on an American tour.  This was all about the reunion tomorrow.  So after a walk on the beach and dinner in the hotel surf-themed diner, we retired, ready to reunite with family.

Desert island living

Life continues much in the same vein: sand, sea, sun; and it's brilliant. The wifi, however, not so much, so we are going to try an experiment in desert island living: no internet and no phones (they don't work here at all) until Los Angeles on Saturday.

So blog service will be interrupted, I'm afraid, but I will keep notes and update on the last few days when we are back in the modern world.

In the meantime, imagine a lot of this:

 

Island Time

The resort newsletter suggests not wearing a watch while here, as after all, everyone is on Island Time - and, oh yes, we are too, frittering our days in an endless round of eating, drinking, swimming, playing, eating, drinking, swimming, playing, with occasional kayaking/ snorkelling/ paddle boarding thrown in. The level of detail in this blog will consequently diminish, otherwise we will all die of boredom (this life is a LOT better to live, than to read about). So, highlights only:

Saturday: all of us woke up very late, at 10am, due to tiredness and time difference. But when we opened the curtains, scrambling to get to breakfast in time, the view revealed was jaw-droppingly good: white sand beach, palm trees, turquoise sea, and, hurrah, blue sky. So off to the pool after breakfast on Jemima's request to test it out, which included another impressive, short-lived thunderstorm (the pool was very nice but the beach is better, was the conclusion). 

So back to the beach for lunch, swimming, playing, sunbathing, reading (for me), and then the excitement of the day: our first sea outing all together in a two man kayak, with Jemima perched on the bow, to the desert island across the lagoon. And it was brilliant! Our river experience in the inflatable kayak stood us in good stead, Kevin and I got it moving well, and Jemima loved it, of course. Happy hour, showers, then dinner on the beach, with Jemima engaged in spotlit paddling and running races with whoever would oblige, and finally bed. And repeat...

Sunday: and repeat we did, although we started much earlier, jet lag relinquishing its hold; I had a quick morning outing along the road to stock up on the vital suncream (all ATMs and card machines weren't working due to a bank issue, so the lovely lady - in the second shop I tried - let me come back to pay tomorrow - how wonderfully trusting); and rather than a family kayak trip in the afternoon, Jemima and I went out together, and then she and I had a go snorkelling in the shallows - a special moment. 

Happy hour, shower, and dinner in a restaurant just along the beach this time, at the Sailing Club, slightly raised on a verandah with a beautiful view overlooking the beach, and Jemima happily playing in the sand below with New Zealanders Claudia (6) and Dylan (8) from our next door table, and then bed. And repeat...

Monday: and today's variations: it was pouring down when we woke up, after a few days of glorious weather (beautifully sunny but not oppressively hot), but cleared up as the morning wore on; I went to pay my debts (and ended up swapping addresses with the lovely shop lady - apparently she wants to come to visit), while Jemima played enthusiastic (if as yet slightly inaccurate) football in the rain, watched by Kevin from under the sheltering canopy; and we all went out for a paddle, Jemima and Kevin in a kayak, and me attempting stand up paddle boarding for the first time (I asked the beach kit man which was the front, as I couldn't tell, and he told me, slightly patronisingly, "the pointy end"...) - we all got to the desert island again, it was great fun, if hard work on the arms as it was windy. 

Then, most significantly, after a quick sandwich in the room, we went on the hotel snorkelling boat trip, which was brilliant - a chance to get further out into the turquoise glass-watered lagoon and reprise our Cairns snorkelling (Jemima with goggles and a woggle saying, "this is amazing"). Another great experience, with the bonus of a different snorkelling group joining us with food for the fish - having the blue fin trevallis zooming all around us to get it was brilliant. Then, as per usual, Happy Hour (Jemima spending most of it sitting in the warm sea, chatting to whoever is nearby, whether 6, 16 or 60), dinner on the beach, more playing with Claudia and Dylan, and bed. It's all rather brilliant - Jemima said Rarotonga is her favourite place from the trip. More to come tomorrow...

 

Saturday - the view from our room in the sunshine:

 

Looking down the beach and across to our "desert island":

 

Jemima in the background chatting to some other family, as usual:

 

Sunday:

 

 

Snorkelling:

Jemima and Kevin playing ball:

 

 

Jemima's favourite position this holiday, sitting in the sea:

 

Dinner:

 

 

Monday's photos (i.e. today) - to come tomorrow morning (it's bedtime now...)

Kia Orana!

Welcome to the Cook Islands! Jemima conked out on take off, and slept the whole six hour flight from Sydney, while Kevin and I did our best to emulate her. We landed in Rarotonga at about 3am Australian time, weirdly, in the morning of the evening we'd left, having crossed backwards over the date line (giving us two Fridays).  The middle of the night feeling was pretty painful, but we were serenaded through Customs by island tunes, and greeted by our hotel transport with flower necklaces (eis, I think), so the pain was somewhat lessened. 

Then a lovely drive across the island paradise to the hotel: steep tree-covered dark green mountains in the background, a few shops and houses along the road, lots of people on mopeds - it was all very undeveloped and South Pacific-picturesque, despite the appalling weather (leaden grey skies that developed into torrential rain battering the bus). 

We were umbrella'd into a wooden, woven-roofed reception to check in, breakfasted in a daze, and then retired to bed to recover. And a few hours later, the holiday really started. The resort is quite small, set in gardens, and sits on the edge of the stunning (even in the grey rain) lagoon, created by a reef circling the whole of Rarotonga island - a proper island idyll. A late lunch on the lagoon-edge beach with sandy toes turned into a very early happy hour, as Kevin and I sampled the cocktails of the day, and Jemima made sand castles at our feet, us all sheltered from the rain bursts by the canopy roof. (She also lost no time chumming up with whoever was available - children, staff, other adults - all were fair game, and Kevin and I were happy to let others absorb her energy today.) 

Then, after an extremely pleasant tiredness/ alcohol-induced hazy afternoon, back to the room for a shower and change before dinner in another wooden/ woven hut - everything appropriately tropical: drinks with flowers in; wonderfully friendly staff wearing flower headdresses (women) or shell necklaces (men - some also with a flower behind the ear); and the ever-present sound of the waves crashing on the reef. Perfect. We staggered to bed, hoping that we, and the weather, would both be better tomorrow.

Jemima being welcomed, still in her pyjamas from the plane journey:

 

 

In between the rain showers:

 

 

A sieve full of hermit crabs:

 

A map of where the Cook Islands are (under the blue dot):

 

The other island groups between us and Australia are places like Fiji, Samoa, and Vanuatu:

 

Killing time with Peppa, and a fond farewell

None of us particularly enjoy that day of hanging around when you've got a late fight, and we had one of those today: our flight to Rarotonga was at 9.20pm. And it was still raining. We checked out by 11am (or just after, slightly stressfully - packing for the aeroplane takes longer than packing up a motorhome, it turns out); and then decided to use our last day taking Jemima to the cinema.

She goes through major phases with TV: she will watch one programme intensively for a few weeks or months; then get bored and move onto something completely different. Our first European motorhome trip was all about the Octonauts; our second, Paw Patrol; and this has been Peppa Pig in a big way (her first TV like, recurring nearly 4 years later). And guess what was released in Australian cinemas yesterday? "Peppa Pig, my first cinema experience", including all-new episodes where she travels to Australia to see Kylie Kangaroo, flies over Ayers Rock/ Uluru, goes to the Great Barrier Reef, and learns boogie boarding! It had to be done.

We took a taxi to a big shopping centre slightly out of town, and had lunch at their anazing food court: a parade of every possible cuisine you could imagine. We plumped for Indian, and Jemima tucked into butter chicken, rice and naan very happily. And then the film! I have to admit I fell asleep 20 minutes in, but woke up in time to see Jemima enjoying the sing-and-dance-along finale down at the front. She wanted to see it all over again, so that counts as a success.

And then it was just killing time until the flight. We took a taxi to the post office to collect the iPad which I'd left in the Brisbane campsite and they'd kindly posted; walked back to the hotel; and then took another taxi to the airport. A long walking with a whining Jemima to the lounge (I think she was feeling it as well: apart from during Peppa she was having a really moany day); then food, magazines, wine and the kids area until our flight was called. As we walked through the tunnel to the plane, Jemima started waving backwards: "bye bye Australia!". I felt the same: bye bye Australia, thank you, and hopefully see you again!

 

Sea Life and a swim

Our last full day in Sydney, and it was absolutely chucking it down, so the morning's mission was the Aquarium, which we've been saving for a really rainy day - it was supposed to be a good one. I took Jemima, while Kevin went to collect the hotel umbrellas we'd forgotten in the Sydney Opera House Restaurant...

We got an Uber there, which took ages - bad traffic because of the weather; and then we had to queue sheltering under an overhang from the pouring rain. But when we finally got in (and had raced past the posse of school children who went in just before us), the aquarium was great: really big shark tanks that you could view from the side and above as well as the obligatory tunnel (seeing a sting ray flying towards you at eye height was actually more impressive than from below), plus a slightly scary TV screen mapping the travels of 22 tagged Great White Sharks (slightly more inland than I felt comfortable with); two gentle dugongs (aka manatees, or the ones people thought were mermaids - you had to have been at sea for a very long time...); an enormous Great Barrier Reef tank; a great touching tank, with sea cucumbers called "burnt sausages" (which felt very Australian); and the best bit, Penguin Adventure, which was like a theme park ride where you sit in an inflatable boat (on rails) and "float" through the chilly penguin enclosure - totally gimmicky, but actually rather fun. So a very successful outing.

We then had to buy a Sea Life umbrella from the shop to avoid a drenching (I have to admit, I've done that before), and set off into the wet to find lunch. Not far along Darling Harbour was row of options, and we settled on Mediterranean: lamb souvlaki, tzatziki, chips, and a halloumi salad. Delicious, even if an opportunistic seagull did manage to half inch some of my halloumi (the friendly waiter brought over a water spray as seagull defence, and Jemima had enormous fun chasing them off as they reappeared, squirting frantically with a determined gleam in her eye).

And then it was back to the hotel to reconvene with Kevin, and for a rest. He'd been rained into the Opera House, so had taken a tour, which he'd seemed to really enjoy - various Opera House-relayed facts kept popping up during the rest of day. We had booked tickets for the Family Twilight Stargazing Tour at nearby Sydney Observatory; but it was still pouring, so we decided to pass, and instead I took Jemima for a final swim in the hotel pool, where she made friends with a 4 year old Japanese girl called Vel, before a sandwich in the room, some (fabulously trashy) Australian TV, and bed. 

We have ticked off quite a few of the Sydney attractions we wanted to see; but there are still so many, for bad weather or fine (I particularly wanted to go to Bondi Beach, but it really hasn't been beach weather). It's an absolutely brilliant city, despite us experiencing it during heatwave or rain, and I would love to come back. And I've felt like that about the whole of Australia - a beautiful, exciting, friendly, diverse and welcoming place. It's been great, even better than I could have imagined. The next chapter of the adventure starts tomorrow.

 

 

 

ARTplay, convicts and the pointy-pointy building

Up early, a sunny day today, and off to our Sydney second home, the Museum of Contemporary Art, for their Wednesday morning open play session for pre-schoolers. Furry koala costumes; giant shiny boxes to stack; bricks, blocks, books; and felt shapes to stick to the wall. Plus story time and song time. Jemima was in her element, joining in with other children's games (hopefully in a good way...); and commandeering a staff member to read her more books. Great fun, and a lovely relaxing slightly-off-duty morning for Kevin and I (I stayed supervising aka reading a book on my phone while Kevin went for coffee and walk). Then when the session finished, Kevin led us through the pretty Rocks back streets to a great cafe he'd discovered for lunch, and a tour around the old area, which was very atmospheric. And then it was my turn to choose some fun. So of course it was a bit more history - convict history, as we haven't done much of that.

The Hyde Park Barracks were originally built in about 1820 to provide working convicts with controllable sleeping quarters - the Governor at the time, a military man, was trying to introduce some order to the chaos of the settlement, including its first clock to enable regimented days. (He also was determined to be remembered - every second landmark is called something Macquarie - Port, Drive, Park...) The Barracks have since been used to house immigrant women (not convicts), and as a government building; and is now a great museum, where the layers of the building have been preserved and brought to life. We joined a tour, and Jemima had lots of fun demonstrating convict outfits and leg irons to the group, and helping unearth examples of hidden convict treasures stashed beneath the floorboards; and we all had a go in the sleeping hammocks slung up in the upstairs dormitories.

The Museum had just the right amount of distraction for Jemima to mean we could absorb some of the guide's stories; plus - I loved this - there was a searchable database of transported convicts at the end, and I can report Australia was graced by 7 Goodwins, including one woman (Lydia), for a variety of offences from sheep stealing to pick-pocketing to highway robbery - the last being James Goodwin from Norwich!; and also by two Siddalls (my maiden name), William and Joseph, for stealing a tarpaulin and house breaking respectively (William is recorded as having escaped, while Joseph served his time and got his Certificate of Freedom). Anyway, I loved it, and Jemima and Kevin didn't hate it, so I'd call that a win.

After an exciting day so far, it was time to return home for an afternoon rest before the big event of the day. As a thank you to Kevin for my amazing birthday trip, I'd booked us dinner in the Sydney Opera House Restaurant for that night. Jemima was very excited - she called it the "pointy-pointy" building from our hotel window; and asked every day when we were going.

After a few hours of recuperation, we walked the 20 minutes into our view along Circular Quay and out onto the promontory towards the Opera House, its white roof shining in the setting sun. It really is the most amazing building, still excitingly modern despite being designed in the 50s. And then we were in, walking under a concrete ribbed ceiling and up in a roof-less lift to the restaurant, actually inside one of the famous sails.

It was a great meal. Fabulous, interesting, beautiful food; wonderful wine (our first successful Pinot Noir, recommended by the sommelier to go with duck for Kevin and barramundi for me); and a stunning view, both of the inside of the building and through the windows to the water and the city. The service was a bit slow, but it couldn't spoil the rest of it - a really special occasion. We walked home along the twinkling Harbour, still loving Sydney.

 

Fun at ARTplay:

 

With a view of the Harbour Bridge behind:

 

 

Story time:

 

 

Convict fun:

 

 

 

The Opera House:

 

Inside one sail, looking at another:

 

 

Jemima loving her lamb:

 

My Opera House-esque passionfruit Pavlova (and a dessert wine, yum):

 

Raining in The Rocks

I don't know what we've been doing to the weather: New Zealand's worst summer for years; Sydney's hottest weekend since records began; and today a month of rain in a day. Weird. But we're quite enjoying a quieter time, and there is still lots of indoor stuff to do in Sydney.

The day started with a swim, as requested again by Jemima, and Kevin came along to see her progress: more unaided breathing plus a new "dolphin" move - a lot of fun. A bit of pottering in the room before lunch (it's great to be able to lounge in comfort); and then we were off to the Rocks Discovery Museum. 

"The Rocks" is the old area of Sydney our hotel is in, and this Museum showcased its history from the indigenous Aborigines (settlement evidenced from 15,000 BC), to the arrival of the First Fleet, and its development as an area of wharves and commerce ever since. It was small but perfectly formed, housed in an original building that started life as a shop, with a range of artefacts from across the centuries. Jemima liked the interactive games and the kids corner best, unsurprisingly, while I could have spent an hour reading through the year-by-year history scrolling screens (I got as far as 1806 before Jemima got really bored).

On our way out the nice lady at the door offered Jemima some ink stamps to play with; which led us to the idea of popping into the Museum of Contemporary Arts next door - they'd had some good kids play stuff on our last visit. Sadly that area was closed, but we still had a nice tea and cake while the rain poured down outside; and Kevin bought Jemima a stamp kit from the brilliant shop (art galleries so often have great shops). Then we returned home for her to try it out (we had bought paper as well, but we all ended up very inky - stamping hands is much more fun).

Off for an early dinner to a highly recommended Indian, but they were full (at 5.45! They eat early, Australians, like Americans). So we returned to the hotel restaurant, and had a very jolly dinner, with the added bonus of a huge blackboard wall and chalks available for Jemima to play with - it kept her busy for ages. And then back to the room for some TV before bed. The bad weather looks set to continue, so it sounds like tomorrow will hold more of the same, just a different indoor activity. But that sounds very nice to me.

 

Swimming, sand, and splashing

We had an epic sleep - Jemima for over twelve hours and Kevin and I for nearly 10. And when we woke up, the sun was glinting on the Harbour, the Bridge was shining, and the Opera House was looking beautiful. Hurrah for Sydney.

Jemima was very keen on another swim, so she and I went up to the pool with a view, which we had to ourselves. And, a momentous day, she managed to get her head up for breaths on her own (rather than using my support to breathe in between swimming underwater). That's it, proper swimming for the first time! At the moment it looks a bit more like drowning than swimming, but it is a definite change. Very exciting.

Our plan for the day was a ferry to Manly across the Harbour, for lunch and a potter. The forecast wasn't great, so I foolishly didn't pack any beach stuff; but the sun was still shining as we walked 5 minutes round the corner to Circular Quay, which we could see from our hotel window. We'd had a lovely boat trip during our few days in Sydney at the beginning of our Australian adventure, so we'd already seen the Quay and the Harbour; but it was lovely to see it again - not just because it's stunning, but also because it was familiar (not something that's happened to me before on this trip, which has all been new, and actually rather nice). 

Twenty minutes later we were in Manly (named in 1788 after the "manly" physiques of the indigenous people, apparently), and walked down the European-feeling Corso (a tree-shaded wide pedestrian street between the Wharf and the main beach). And there it was: Manly Beach, prime Sydney playground. And very nice too, as are all Australian beaches we've seen, but with more people and bigger waves (the life guards made stern announcements over a tannoy about swimming being forbidden except between the flags, because of dangerous currents - people were ordered out of the water, and they all obeyed).  We had a nice lunch in a cafe with a view of the water, then, of course, Jemima wanted to get on the beach. Kevin bought a new bucket and spade, and off she went, with the sand sticking to the suncream like pebbledash within seconds. 

I took the opportunity to slope off to a Seafolly shop I'd spotted on the Corso (my favourite bikinis, which I could no longer resist). When I got back after a successful purchase, Jemima was still on the sand, now with wet and sandy clothes from the waist down as well as every exposed bit of skin. Ah well. Coincidentally we bumped into two American girls (10 and 8) from our hotel, so they had a fun play; and then it was time to go home.

Back along the Corso, Jemima getting more soaked in the fountains that ran down the middle; the ferry back to Circular Quay; and home to the hotel for a bath, and the first hair wash for Jemima in quite some time, before a sandwich in the room. Kevin and I agree we don't miss normal living when we're in the motorhome, nor do we feel relieved to be back at the end. But it is very nice to have a comfortable hotel room while we're staying in the big city. 

 

Packing, Poppins, and a pool with a view

We were up early (for us), and moved from the campsite to the road along the next door beach (once I had found some willing recipients on whom to press our remaining bits of food). I tackled mine and Jemima's bags while she and Kevin had a final play on the lovely beach, full of families having fun on a Sunday morning; then she and I went to the playground while Kevin did his. And then we were off! Our final three hours to Sydney.

My sister and I watched Mary Poppins about 10,000 times when we were young; and she gave Jemima's a copy for Christmas. I have been waiting until Jemima was enjoying watching films before introducing it; and today was the day. And...she loved it! I got the usual thousand questions while we were watching it, but she was gripped, and singing along, the whole way through. While this was going on, we did our final servicing stops, grabbed some lunch, and ate up the miles to Sydney.

Our route to drop the motorhome off took us almost directly past our hotel, so we did a short detour to drop off our bags - and this meant driving over Sydney Harbour Bridge. And what a drive. We'd seen it from beneath on a boat, but this was a whole different perspective - it was gargantuan, but so beautifully proportioned, it seemed light. We survived a mess of roadworks; successfully found the hotel; navigated out again to the drop off point; and then Uber'd back in. And then up to the hotel room, all of us strangely shattered.

We walked into the hotel room, opened the curtains, and I gasped: spread out in front of us was the Harbour, with the Bridge to the left and the Opera House to the right. What a view. And on the next floor up: an indoor pool with the same view. So Jemima and I went for a swim with the Harbour Bridge gleaming in the afternoon sunshine along side us, and a panoramic spread of Sydney. Amazing. We are looking forward to the next few days of getting out on it again.

 

Shoal Bay to the south Sydney drop off point:

 

Our rough journey, top to bottom (Port Douglas to south Sydney), minus all the inland excursions/ diversions:

 

A perfect last hurrah

In weird symmetry with New Zealand, our final stop was in a stunning Akaroa-esque secluded bay surrounded by unspoilt green hills. We'd been given a tip by the skipper of our Port Macquarie river boat trip (we thought he'd said Shell Bay, or Shale Bay, but couldn't find those - Kevin finally worked out it was Shoal Bay), so with no better ideas, and as it was about the right distance, we went there.

And we were delighted we had. The first campsite was full (another Akaroa similarity); but the second had spaces, just across the road from glorious Shoal Beach: another curve of soft light yellow sand, that sloped fairly steeply down to relatively calm turquoise sea (you could see the big waves crashing through the narrow entrance to the bay, but for once they were not near the shore), with pretty fringing green hills. The sun was out, the wind had gone: it was absolutely glorious. I read Bill Bryson Down Under (great relevant chuckles) on the sand while Kevin and Jemima played; had a wonderful swim; and we all happily whiled away the afternoon - if we could have stayed here, doing this, for another week, we would have. But all good things must come to an end: the sun went down, and we trailed sand back to the motorhome feeling very content.

A shower, a walk down the road later, and we were sat in a Thai restaurant, still enjoying a spectacular view as the moon rose over the bay. Lovely food on a lovely final night in a lovely place. And it's all over tomorrow.

 

 

 

Port Macquarie to Shoal Bay: