Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Quick summary
This was another destination we had already been to before.
So how did this trip compare with the last one?
Time Zone ~ GMT +11 hours
Currency ~ AUS$
£1 = $1.96
Population ~ 23.7 million
Capital City ~ Canberra
Official languages: English
Our Budget ~ rooms: thankfully free courtesy of family, as Australia accommodation is expensive
~ food: £10 each per day - it's not cheap to eat out here either about £10-£15 for a main course but as we were able to shop and cook at home it brought our average spend down a bit
They drive on the ~ left
Internet connections - not bad
Places we stayed and our Star Rating
Robbins Nest - The Ponds, Sydney - 5***** - superb high class establishment run by a very classy lady!
New Years' Eve
What was different this time ~ To be honest, we were just passing through and didn't go anywhere other than Sydney this time so that was very different.
We loved ~ the accommodation, our hosts and their family, Hunter Valley, Fireworks on New Years' Eve, Manly, Luna Park. All of it!
We didn't like ~ Can honestly say there wasn't much to dislike this time
The people ~ Staying with family was great. Nigel and Cath made us feel so welcome especially as Cath in particular knew neither of us. In fact only Nigel and Bryan knew each other, the rest of us were strangers. We must give a special mention to Cath's family too who all live out here. They made us so welcome and included us in their Christmas celebrations. Special thank yous also to John and his family, Bill, Laura & Morgan - your were all brilliant :-)
Food ~ great - and Aussies love grilled hallumi so if you're having a barbie, make sure you take plenty!
Transport - We didn't need much public transport at all this time as we had the loan of Cath's car when they were away, but the train system is very good
Things which will remind us of Australia ~ grilled Hallumi, speed boats, wine!
Would we recommend it? Yes - we can't imagine anyone not liking Australia
