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:

 

Sheltering in the Powerhouse

"Fasten your heatbelts!". That was the headline of today's Sydney Daily Telegraph on the first day of the predicted heatwave. And it was definitely, properly hot. We attempted a walk to Darling Harbour, weaving from shade patch to shade patch, but as we were going past the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences aka the Powerhouse, the lure of the air conditioning was too much. So went in.

And it was brilliant. The main excitement for me was the Egyptian mummy exhibition transferred from the British Museum. This focussed on six mummies from across the Egyptian era, with a small number of exhibits meaning you could really engage with the different people. But actually we all loved it (Jemima was most excited by the mummy of a two year old boy with a gold funerary mask). 

But that was just the start. There was a large exhibition about the age of steam with different machines from across the period, puffing hot clouds, (Kevin's favourite, but again, fun for all, and very fitting given the venue was a wonderfully converted power station). And other exhibitions included a room of transport from a sedan chair to a jet fighter via a hackney carriage, a tram and a penny farthing bike; a room of 3D printed art; a room focussing on high design technology from Olivetti to Apple; a space exploration area including an actual piece of moon and recreations of the inside of the space station; an exhibition of "icons" - objects famous for their design, from coins to the Marilyn lips sofa; and a brilliant section illustrating basic physics with more Lego for Jemima. Plus a kids' Egyptian archaeologist section where we dug for finds. Our best Museum yet.

Then ice cream was calling. We braved the rest of the walk through the stifling heat (37 degrees) to Darling Harbour, and for the first time ever, didn't sit with a water view but instead inside, in the cool. And then an air conditioned cab back to Chinatown to watch the lion dance for Chinese New Year, which was fun, if a bit scary for Jemima; and an un-air-conditioned Japanese for dinner which was delicious if sticky (thank god Jemima eats rice and likes Asian flavoured meat/fish - it's been Thai then Chinese then Japanese recently). Then a retreat through a breezy evening back to our hotel, having successfully survived the first day of the heatwave. (I believe it might be quite chilly in England. Sorry for complaining...)

 

Bye bye New Zealand

Our last day in Christchurch, and in New Zealand. The morning saw us in the Canterbury Museum looking at Maori exhibits, a recreation of Christchurch from the 1860s, a section on Antarctic exploration, and the best bit, an area about Air New Zealand with mock-ups of cabins from the 50s and 60s, a display of air hostess uniforms, and a "cabin of the future" with virtual reality headsets on each seat, which Jemima enjoyed so much we did it twice. Then the afternoon included a trip to the hairdresser for Kevin, and a lot of fun in a play area for Jemima. No energy left to do more, we retired to the Motel; we feel like we've done New Zealand now.

And it has been brilliant. We have:

- seen or walked through rainforest, Redwood forest, pine forest, native forest;

- played on white beaches, gold beaches, grey beaches, black beaches;

- sailed in a ferry, cruise boat, fishing boat, and kayak, on sea, inland sea, coastline and river;

- driven through farmland, vineyards, national park, and wild land, up and down mountains, along coasts and around an island;

- travelled the Thermal Highway, the Great Coast Road and the Great Alpine Highway;

- experienced fog, rain, wind, sun (all in one day), and seen snow;

- swum in thermal pools, a river, the Tasman and South Pacific seas, and a freezing swimming pool;

- walked swingbridges in the treetops, and over gorges and rivers;

- drunk local wine in a vineyard and eaten mussels harvested and cooked ourselves;

- seen three cities, four museums, a car collection, a coal mine, a Maori village, a Botanic Garden, an aquarium, geysers, and a cemetery;

- driven about 1500 miles (or rather Kevin has);

- and collected many sticks!

And now we are in Sydney. A morning of packing; an easy three hour lunch time flight; a slightly annoying wait for our transfer; and we are now in our next hotel in central Sydney, having had dinner round the corner in Chinatown - with temperatures of 42 degrees forecast for tomorrow! New Zealand was wonderful; bring it on, Oz!