Australia & New Zealand - Day 10 - 5th June

Day 10

Well the storm is still with us, just check out these images from a couple of miles down the road at Narabeem.  I think we were very lucky to be inland a bit.  These are all images from the Sydney Morning Herald.  I did not venture down there in this storm.

See how the storm ate up the beach and then the homes

The storm approaches

The storm takes hold

Seems a little silly!!

After the worst is over

We did manage to get the Kids to swimming lessons this morning but the conditions out were terrible.  

When we left swimming there was a tree  down blocking the road so we decided to head back for Sunday lunch and the rest of the day in.

No chance of a barbie here though

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The kids didn't mind though.  They just got on with enjoying themselves

Cerys relaxing on her bed

At her desk

Dylan before the balloon burst

Australia & New Zealand - Day 9 - 4th June

Day 9

Well the storm came in.  With a vengeance, as you can see from the images below.  Not all taken by me I hasten to add but it gives you some idea of the severity of it all.

The first couple show you the complex cloud formations over Sydney and the next lot the severity of the rain

A 'Tsunami' like cloud formation over one of the Beaches this morning

A plane coming in through the clouds over the airport yesterday

Traffic chaos in the rain

Not pleasant for pedestrians

Not a lot to be said of this view of the Harbour Bridge

We did venture out during a break in the rain this afternoon and what we came home to was nothing short of spectacular ......

...... there were over 50 wild cockatoos in the trees  in the front garden. Not something you see in Newport every day!

Australia & New Zealand - Day 8 - 3rd June

Day 11

After breakfast I went with Amy to take Dylan to pre school before Cerys gave us a tour of her school. Frenches Forest Public School.  I was very impressed with how polite the children were and also how they looked in their school uniforms, right from the very youngest, like Cerys. 

After the bell calling the children the children to their classes.  We set off for Chatswood where we would be spending the morning shopping. Today's blogs will therefore be very short.  

When set to leave Chatswood we became aware of an impending storm so decided to spend the rest of the day at home, except for when we ventured back out to pick the kids up from pre-school and school.  Not long after we got home the promised storm arrived

Australia & New Zealand - Day 7 - 2nd June

Day 7

Spent the morning at home relaxing, taking photographs in the area around Amy & Justin's house in Frenchs Forest, NSW.

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Then decided to have a baking morning and made some Cornish Pasties as per Kym's mum's recipe. Sorry Kym, still can't roll the crust right.  Also made some Cheese, Onion and Potatoe pasties which my kids love.

• Bosagie family recipe Cornish pasties

Chees & Potatoe Pasties

Also made a Bara Bryth which was a disaster due to the size of the tin and my understanding of the oven temperatures.  Will try again when I get the right size tin.

Arranged to meet Amy in the city later so went in a bit earlier to have a look around.

Met Amy at 5.00 and we walked down through the Rocks to the Custom House for the start of the 'Vivid' light spectacular. It did not disappoint us.

All of the images above are from a video showing on the front facade of the Custom House

Seeing the city lit up like this was amazing

We then walked around Circular Quay up to the Opera House enjoying the light show. 

The evening was rounded off with some really nice food and wine at the Opera Bar

The Opera Bar

Australia & New Zealand - Day 6 - 1st June

Day 6

Caught the train from Chatswood into the city today and they really are special.  Two deck carriages immaculately clean and seats that will face whichever way you want them to.

Tube in the station

Interior of the double decker carriage

I then did a spot of window shopping in the city centre, including the magnificent QV building ......

The Queen Victoria Building

...... Then I headed back to Circular Quay and bought a couple of 4 museum passes for me and Cerys.  She is off school for two weeks over half term shortly and wants to visit the Prisoner And Convict jail museums. How could I refuse.

The Museum of Sydney 

There was another cruise liner in today, the Sun Princess, so I went over to have a look.  Very impressive moored up with that Harbour Bridge as a backdrop.  

Look at the two photos below and see the men working on the roof of the ship and the band of

people walking over the top of the harbour bridge. 

Can you see the people on the top?

There they are.

I had lunch in Buckleys again. Can't keep away from the place.

Buckleys list of craft beers. 

A bit later on I decided to return home on the Manly ferry and despite the weather becoming threatening again and taking a turn for the worse, it still gave plenty of opportunity to photograph some of the various interesting scenes we passed on the way over.

Leaving the berth

The Opera House

Lady Macquarrie's Chair

Originally an island to house prisoners

Australia & New Zealand - Day 5 - 31st May

I had great plans for day 5 which involved a trip down to North Sydney where I intended to explore the North Sydney Oval cricket ground and surrounds with its views across the Harbour to the city but this was scuppered for as soon as I arrived at North Sydney the heavens opened and it was clear it was in for a while.

There was nothing for it other than to return to Frenchs Forest, whichwas a pity, as I intended to lunch at Greens, the new restaurant at the Sydney Bowls club, right next to the Oval.  It's had good reviews so I will be going back to try it out, sooner, rather than later.

Greens new restaurant at the Sydney Bowls club

The highlight of the day was spotting this plant that looked like a bird on the way home. I found out later that it is called the Bird of Paradise plant.

The Bird of Paradise plant.

Day 6