Back from the Land Down Under! Feat. Cruising Sydney & A Roadtrip

With the wedding done, and everyone recovering, we had a bit of downtime on our hands. Monday was very quiet. The three of us went off to return the suits and other hire items, and then for lunch in Paramatta. For the record, Luciano’s makes the best food! I had a divine risotto, Ash had a spectacular burger & Steph had a fabulous pizza. It was a very laid back afternoon, but such fun all the same. The chilled days are sometimes better than the fun-filled ones.

On Tuesday, Steph had us booked on a harbor cruise. It was fantastic! We had such a blast! We caught the train into the city, and made our way straight to Darling Harbour, where our journey started. We stopped in at the Lindt Store (also known as: Died-and-gone-to-Heaven), where I spent a good few dollars on amazing Lindor balls in flavours to die for. Hello, Cookies and Cream?? PEANUT BUTTER????

I die.

They made for a great desert after the buffet lunch and very vinegary vino. It was far too chilly to brave going out on the deck, but we were lucky enough to have a fabulous window table and a gorgeous view, so we just stayed inside and took it all in, warmly.

After our cruise, we caught the ferry to Manly, where we met Andrew and went to Steph's parent's house for a visit. We ended up having supper with them, and then headed off to visit her brother and his girlfriend. After that, we went for a drive, and ended up doing a Bondi-by-Night drive-by while in search of a bathroom.

The following day, Andrew decided we needed to hit the road and see a bit of the countryside, so we piled into the car and off we headed, north. We were headed to The Entrance, where Tuggerah Lake meets the Pacific Ocean. It being absolutely freezing when we got there, we ordered some fish and chips and coffee (which, to everyone’s dismay, turned out to be more like luke-warm dish water than anything resembling cocoa beans!) and tried to thaw out in the sun. Fail. We watched the pelicans for a bit, and made our way back toward the car.

Via a Cold Rock store. Oh my word! What an awesome idea! It’s not so much an ice cream shop as an ice cream experience! You don’t just get a cup or cone of ice cream with sprinkles on top. Oh no! You get to choose your ‘toppings’, which are then pounded into your ice cream. So if you, like me, go for Australian Vanilla Ice Cream with Caramel Fudge and Cookie Dough, you get your ice cream with chunks of fudge and cookie dough inside. I die. Again.

That night we ended up going to Kiribilli to see the bridge nice ‘n close up. It was absolutely breath-taking!

Gasp!

But it was also bloody freezing! It was a case of ‘jump-out-the-car, take-a-snap, stand-in-awe-for-three-seconds, pile-back-in-the-car-and-snuggle-for-body-heat-while-admiring-the-view-from-inside’. Later, we drove through the red-light district (which was a bit like merging the streets of Sandton and Hyde Park with a couple of girls from Melville and Oxford Road). Andrew got a sudden craving for kebabs, and the shop he had a straaaaaaange experience with someone who thought he was Ben. It was pretty bizarre, to say the least.

It was a strange feeling, having all this fun, but knowing that it was only a few more sleeps until we left for home.

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Coming Up: Newton Part II; Coming Home; What I Learnt in Australia