It hardly seems almost 2 years ago that I was the “link-setter”. I bored you with my life history then so I’ll have a change this time round!
Our Australian adventure
My OH John had always wanted to visit Oz, but I was nervous of the long flight. But in 2009 when 29yr old Simone and fiancé Mark came to work for a year at Nestles with John, the idea slowly took shape. Simone was over here (from Brisbane Nestles) for a year to learn all about English techniques in the manufacture of Nescafe coffee. We all became great friends and when they returned to Oz after their year we promised we would visit them sometime in the future. Xmas 2010 saw the arrival of a wedding invitation so our great adventure was about to begin!
After much planning & booking hotels, trips & flights we flew out of Heathrow in early March. After a 26hr flight (It went surprisingly quickly & Singapore Airline cabin crew were fantastic), with a 2hr stop in Singapore, we finally arrived in Sydney where Simone & Mark were waiting to greet us. We had our first glimpse of the Harbour Bridge & the Opera House as we drove northwards to their home which was to be our base for the next 4 days. We did the usual sightseeing in Sydney for 2 days(didn’t do the “harbour bridge climb” as we thought £135 was a bit pricey!). I particularly enjoyed the Chinese Tea Gardens near to Darling Harbour where there was plenty of wildlife to be seen. The Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney are home to thousands of Grey-headed Flying-Foxes – the noise from them was deafening; and the Wollemi pine , discovered in 1994 and thought to be long extinct. We then had a day trip to the Blue Mountains named because of the blue hue given from the oil-bearing eucalyptus trees growing there. We saw the “Three Sisters” a sandstone rock formation, one of the best known attractions in the region. On the return journey we spotted our first wild kangaroo playing on the railway embankment.
Before I post my links, I want to let you all know (with Crofter's permission) of the death of Valerie, Crofter's partner. Val was ill, as most of you knew, and sadly pased away on 10th October.
Sincere condolences go to him and his family.
Thinking of you all Dave.
So very sorry to hear the sad news about Val. Dave, I am thinking of you and your family at this awful time and sending you all my love and prayers. Love Kay