@travellingwiththeateam

Today proved to be one of our lazier days….well sort of.

Andy was up for the Xmas ‘boot camp’ down on the beach at 6am, with a few exercises before a game of teddy bear rugby. This involved a teddy bear being thrown around with goals at each end and lots of fun and laughter. And perhaps a little bit of cheating from some….

Many thanks for John St Claire for organising the morning session, although some of his tackles in the game proved a little harder than Andy was expecting!

It was then coffee time at Vinny’s, and a catch up with the rest of the boot camp gang to hear all about their plans for Xmas with family and friends. Chatting their Xmas stories really did make us feel at home, albeit one where Xmas is always in the sunshine.

Andy was then back on the fitness front, with a quick 10k run along the beach front, making sure he was properly tired out from the morning workouts!

We then had a leisurely morning with Amelia, before she headed off to make gingerbread houses with Caroline and the rest of the Manly family.

As Amelia and friends enjoyed their cake making, we went for a coffee and cake down at Noon on Manly beach. Great tasting coffee and a lovely relaxed vibe…shame about the breeze conditions that nearly knocked us off our feet. Those Southwesterly coastal winds….

We then spent a hour or two on the main beach sunbathing and generally enjoying the views and occasional dips into the sea.

From there we walked onto Freshwater, the next beach up from Manly where Amelia and friends were meeting up to surf and swim.

Whilst it was gloriously sunny, the winds persisted and combined with the sand, we soon retreated to the grass banks behind the surf club for protection.

Before we knew it, the 5pm ‘wine o’clock’ struck, and we decided to head to Harbord Hotel in Freshwater for early evening drinks and a chat about the Xmas celebrations planned over the next few days.

We did our best to try and work off the effects of the alcohol with a brisk walk back to Manly, over the headland down to Queenscliffe beach, and on to Cole’s to buy food for Xmas Day at Tracy’s and Jamie’s. We are going all out with turkey and all the trimmings, lots of potatoes, veggies, pigs in blankets followed by a deluge of cakes and sweet treats with the odd bottle or vino, Prosecco and beer.

Like the night before everyone came back to ours and we chatted about prior Xmas times both in Manly and back in the Uk, before it was time for a game of Australian Monopoly!

Another fun night on the Eve of Xmas Eve. Tomorrow we have breakfast at Shelley Beach so it’s an early start of sorts…

After spending our first few days back in Sydney chilling in Manly, today we took the ferry to Circular Quay. The boat passed the iconic Opera House and Harbour Bridge, a journey you can’t fail to enjoy so that Amelia could go to watch Elf at Sydney Opera House with the rest of the Manly massive.

All of the kids were really excited to go into the Opera House for the first time and to watch this Xmas classic, and now a stage show.

Whenever we return to Sydney we look forward to taking the ferry across the harbour and checking out the various bays, boats and beaches, before we reach the finale, the city skyline and the passing of the opera house and the sight of the bridge looking down on us.

We’ve been fortunate to visit Sydney a number of times over the years, and having visited so many places over the last year, we can honestly say that this cities surroundings remain one of our favourite spots – it feels a little like coming home – just a home that’s over 10,000 miles from England.

We reached Circular Quay within 15mins and started to look around, there was a large cruise ship in the terminal that anywhere would dominate the whole view, but somehow it just blends into the rest of the vista, complementing the rest of the cities harbour frontage.

We passed Clark Island, a small island in Sydney Harbour, forming part of the Harbour National Park, lying offshore the suburb of Darling Point.

As Amelia and co went to watch Elf the Musical – which they loved, we went for a wander around the botanical gardens and on to Martins Place to see the Sydney Xmas tree.

The drinking fountain in the Royal Botanic Gardens, with a red granite base with Art Nouveau bronze statue of a young girl standing amid reeds, a heron and frogs. The fountain was a gift to the people of Sydney  in 1889 from the Levy family in memory of Lewis Wofle Levy, a politician and businessman.

The tallest Christmas tree in NSW, is decorated with more than 110,000 LED lights and 330 specially created glossy baubles.

The tree’s 800 branches are dressed with 15,000 flowers representing 9 different kinds of Australian flowers: banksia, waratah, bottlebrush, wattle, eucalyptus gum flower, kangaroo paw, flannel flower, pink wax flower and white wax flower.

Our next stop was The Queen Victoria Building (or QVB), is a late nineteenth-century building designed by the architect George McRae in the central business district of Sydney, Australia.

The Romanesque Revival building was constructed between 1893 and 1898 and is 30 metres wide by 190 metres long. The building fills a city block bounded by George, Market, York and Druitt Streets.

We then did a tour around the Westfield Shopping Centre, George Street before returning to Circular Quay to meet up with the girls once Elf the Musical had finished.

After some retail therapy we went for a walk up to Hyde Park and over to St Mary’s Cathedral where in the evening they project the Xmas story in light form on to the front of the church.

After a full day in the city, we returned to Manly early evening and we all descended on our apartment with more Xmas party games followed by a Xmas movie. These are turning into full days of fun.

Tomorrow is a return to beach action and a more relaxing affair at Freshwater.

Andy is keeping with his 10k running streak and was out early and ran down to Fairfax Lookout.

The low-lying heath and exposed clifftops of North Head provide uninterrupted opportunities for whale spotting. Sadly there was no sightings today.

Up on Fairfax Point there were multiple lookouts scattered along the headland, notably Burragula and Yiningma which offered great viewpoints.

After the run, we made our way along the Manly Corso stopping for a coffee at Hemingways.

It’s one of Manly cafe institutions and offers a French dining experience with great views out over beach – it’s a true Manly gem.

From there we made our way to Shelly Beach, passing Cabbage Tree Bay Aquatic reserve. It’s a lovely spot to sit and have a coffee/snack/breakfast/brunch and admire the people traffic, sea life and beach.

We spent a couple of hours sunbathing and dipping in out of the sea, before treating ourselves to a fruit smoothie at the Boat House.

The place is a favourite spot with the locals and visitors alike. It’s pleasant place to sit and lookout over the bay and watch the world go quietly by!

Tonight was pre-Xmas party Mk II, with Neil and Katie hosting at their place in Little Manly.

The girls (Amelia, Eva & Amelie) spent a good hour beforehand getting dressed and chatting before we headed out for the party.

The evening proved to be a roaring success. Neil had cooked buttered chicken and a Thai salmon dish that were both delicious and there was plenty of beer and wine to help the night along. Added to this Caroline and Tracy had decided to keep the fancy dress theme alive with their matching toy soldier outfits. Lots of saluting and photos in the ‘booth’ then followed throughout the evening.

After a fun packed evening, we wandered back to the Airbnb to recharge our batteries and get a good nights sleep, before we hit Sydney tomorrow and Amelia goes to watch Elf at the Opera House whilst we check out the Xmas tree in Martins Place and then checkout QVB for some last minute Xmas shopping.

Faced with another wonderful day of blue skies, we decided to take a leisurely walk in the morning to North Head peninsula, part of Sydney Harbour National Park.

North Head quarantine station or Q, was operational from 1832 to 1984. It was here that ship-borne immigrants were screened and quarantined if their vessel was suspected of carrying disease. Against the backdrop of the pandemic, it now all feels a little closer to home, but the site offers a unique perspective on the harbour and its history, plus bucolic beauty to lighten the mood.

These days the buildings have been transformed into holiday accommodation along with a beach restaurant and cafe, but there are walking tours of the grounds and information boards about the site’s history.

It’s a surprisingly interesting place to wander around and so close to the centre of Manly with wonderful views out back to the City in the foreground.

Having previously visited the beach by boat, it was a pleasure to walk along the sandy shore which despite its stunning location wasn’t too busy, with a sprinkling of people who had arrived by boat or where staying at Q.

After dipping our feet in the sea, we found a great spot on the pier close to one of the cafes and treated ourselves to a cool beer and banana bread and took in the views.

After an enjoyable break, we trekked back up the former site of a vernacular, now a 100 steps and started our walk on to Collins Flat Beach.

Tucked away on the harbour side of Manly, Collins Flat Beach is an idyllic spot that offers sprawling skyline views and a ton of privacy. It’s accessible only via water or walking trails, and is the kind of place that prompts Instagram posts. It is serene. The water is calm and shallow, and the beach is quiet most of the time.

From there we moved on past Little Manly beach, situated on the northern shore within Little Manly Cove, which is separated from the larger Manly Cove by Manly Point.

After all that nature and exercise, this evening was about dressing up for our early Xmas dinner at The Manly Club, where we had a table of sixteen to start the celebrations for the festive season.

We had a really fun night catching up with friends who we hadn’t seen since leaving Sydney on the 9th January. So good to see Jamie, Neil, Kate, Gary, Tracy & Caroline + kids – big thanks to T&C for organising the evening and for dressing the table and organising the secret santa gifting!

One person was particularly pleased with her secret Santa present – a red handbag to match Michelle’s dress!

We had a really fun evening and big thanks goes out to the Manly Club and our fabulous Manly friends for making us feel so welcome.

We are already looking forward to tomorrow when we are round to Neil and Katie’s for the next festive evening of merriment and feasting!

Waking up today to ‘wall to wall’ sunshine makes us feel like we’ve properly arrived in Manly.

Our Xmas social scene is getting into gear, with our first get together at Tracy’s apartment above the Freshwater Surf Club this lunch time.

We are so fortunate to have made some great friends over the years coming to Manly. We of course have Caroline to thank for first introducing us and making us feel part of their community of expats.

Our pre pre Xmas lunch was a casual affair with a ‘Subway’ style offer with dips and chips, before the party games with the kids commenced.

Amelia loves these ‘mini’ traditions and getting together with the other kids whose she’s spent previous Xmas holidays together with.

The party games quickly became highly competitive and before we knew it there was a marsh mellow melee!

It was then the M&M game with straws to help move the chocolates from one bowl to the next.

After a fun packed lunch and more party games, we headed to Freshwater beach for a swim and surf before walking back to our apartment for a bite to eat before heading out to the suburbs to the Xmas lights street.

Borgnis Street never fails to delight and is a real explosion of Xmas light extravaganza.

After a couple of hours of walking along this surreal street of Xmas craziness, we made our way back, with a brief stop at another Xmas tradition, a McDonalds ice cream and smoothies. It’s only once a year and the ice creams were only a dollar!

Tomorrow it’s back to the beach, before the next Manly members Xmas dinner in the evening.

An early morning start in the wind and rain for Andy who headed off at 5.45am to join the ‘Boot Camp’ group at the beach.

After a 5k run and then a brief dip in the sea, it was coffee at Vini’s for a catch up with the BC brethren before returning to the studio for 8.15am and the start of the day….

With the weather this morning being far from beach friendly, we agreed to hit the mall for some last minute Xmas shopping. Michelle and Amelia were dressed to impress. Eva joined us too as we went in search of gifts from Westfield Warringah Mall.

The first gift was some new nails for Amelia who was keen to match up with Eva.

As Eva and Amelia indulged in some self gifting, we went to buy Amelia a few presents for the big day. It’s all about the cosmetics so Mecca and Sephora were the main targets.

Post lunch the girls headed to the cinema to watch Wicked, an annual movie tradition which started with the Greatest Showman back in 2017.

Andy decided to walk back to Manly and have a wander around to check out the sights and sounds. A visit to Manly and Shelley Beach’s, 4 Pines Brewing Company (beer purchase), Hugo’s restaurant for a birthday meal and a walk along the Corso.

A return to Manly is never complete without a walk from Manly to Shelley beach, one of our favourite destinations.

After a fun day re-exploring Manly and for the girls an enjoyable treat at the cinema, it was our turn to host with Caroline, Charlie and Eva coming round for party games and pizza. Charlie was the compere for the quiz games and it was soon clear that Eva and Amelia were going to be the people to beat on the general knowledge….

It had been a long day for some, particularly Amelia who was starting to feel the effects of her jet lag, so by 8.30pm she was falling asleep on the sofa.

Tomorrow we are back on the social scene with the first of the pre Xmas gatherings with a visit to Freshwater to see Tracy and the gang for lunch.

Today was our last day in New Zealand after a fantastic 5 weeks travelling around this wonderful country.

Highlights include watching Coldplay in Auckland when we first arrived, meeting up with Brent and Anne in Christchurch from our tour in Borneo, along with Lana from our SEA tour and going to the Eng v NZ 1st test with them both.

We then capped off the reunions with a couple of days in Dunedin with Michelle & Jenny from our tour in Japan.

Added to this we got to see an array of beautiful cities and countryside, on both islands, notable places being Queenstown, Wanaka, Christchurch, Lake Taupo, The Bay of Islands, Abel Tasman Nat Park, Hanmer Springs, Kaka Point, Milford Sound, Arrowtown, Hokitika, Cardrona and Mount Pleasant.

We also got time to relax and enjoy the side hustle of wine tasting in Martinborough & Marlborough.

We were also incredibly fortunate to meet up with Andy’s parents in Blenheim for a couple of days and to celebrate James’ 82nd birthday.

Special times we won’t ever forget.

So this morning Andy signed off with his final 10km run along the straight road into the city and back.

We then had a leisurely morning at the hotel before checking into our flight to Sydney early afternoon.

So it’s goodbye to New Zealand and off we popped on our 3hr flight to Sydney.

We had clear views of the mountains when we first took off.

As the flight progressed the Qantas stewards came around with our inflight meal and a Xmas chocolate treat.

Before we knew it, we were flying over a cloudy Sydney and the Parramatta River and Sydney Olympic Park and on to Blacktown before circling back over Newtown and Mascot and landing at SYD.

Once on the ground, we then had a short wait for Amelia’s flight to arrive from KL.

Whilst we waited we were surprised by Caroline, Eva and Charlie, who had arrived to welcome Amelia and us back to Australia for Xmas 2024 and all the celebrations they have planned.

Amelia appeared at 9.45pm and the family reunion was complete. After lots of hugs and laughter we then headed to Manly, with a detour around the Western Suburbs courtesy of Caroline’s navigation skills.

Once in Manly we returned to the same apartment we stayed in for Xmas 2023, making it feel like a proper home return. After unpacking and catching up with Amelia we headed to bed around 1am.

Tomorrow is looking like a wet & windy affair, so we plan to head to the mall for some last minute Xmas shopping.

We stayed overnight at Maxwell’s Golf Retreat, a great B&B in a place called Bombay, about 20 miles south of Auckland.

This was our last day with the Ford wagon, which has served us well over the last 31 days. After navigating our way through Monday morning commuter traffic, we arrived at Auckland airport and dropped off the motor.

Next stop was checking into our flight back down to Christchurch at 1pm.

The day after we fly on to Sydney, Australia for Xmas.

We then had time to kill, so settled into some reading and a McDonald’s late breakfast meal.

After a glorious day of sunshine yesterday, today has been the complete opposite with temperatures dropping to just 15c and heavy rain descending. This weather pattern has hit the whole of the country, meaning there were lots of flights either delayed or cancelled internally. Our flight was affected and we left Auckland 90mins later than planned.

Once safely on our Air New Zealand flight, we got ourselves comfortable and did our best to snooze through the turbulence that ensued as we headed to the South Island over the 1hr 20min flight.

As ever we had an enjoyable flight and service with Air NZ, always friendly staff and there with a smile and a biscuit or two!

After landing late afternoon, we quickly checked into our hotel close to the airport and then cabbed it into central Christchurch. We chose to ignore the wind and the rain and made our way to Riverside Market.

Once we’d made our food order it was drinks time, a glass of IPA for Andy and a dry Rose for Michelle.

The arrival of an Indian chicken tikka, naan and some popadoms proved just the ticket and helped to quell our hunger.

After our early dinner, we moved on to The Craft Embassy, a couple of doors down the river for more craft beer and a local Sav Blanc.

This was a great way to celebrate & honour our last night in New Zealand after 5 weeks in this wonderland country. Tomorrow we make our long awaited return to Manly, Australia for Xmas and New Year.

After drinks and a meal in Christchurch, we returned to our the airport and entered into ‘Xmas land’ in the hotel reception.

Tomorrow we have a 3.5hrs flight to Sydney to look forward to and our reunion with Amelia who is flying in from the UK.

It’s then Xmas with Caroline, Gary and the kids and the rest of the expat posse!

Yet another early morning alarm. We were back in the car at 6.30am and had one final long drive of c. 200 miles to Hamilton for a day of test cricket between England & NZ.

After a 4hr ‘shift’, we arrived at Seddon Park and were soon parked up and entering the stadium for a wonderful day in the sunshine watching Eng v NZ in the 3rd and final test of the series.

Like in Christchurch where we watched Day 1 of the 1st Test, we were sat on an open grass bank very close to the action.

With England having already won the series the pressure was off a little, but this was our chance to see England bat, as NZ had only one wicket left when play started at 11am. Things didn’t start well and continued to go ‘south’ with NZ batting almost an hour and adding another 30 runs before England went into bat.

When England’s innings started they got off to a flier hitting 30 quick runs, before the wickets started to fall.

As the morning moved towards lunch, England’s performance started to wither in the heat of the day. A couple of quick wickets fell before lunch and after enjoying a walk on the pitch during the intermission.

After lunch we made the most of the atmosphere and listening to the Barmy Army chants, whilst on the pitch the wickets started to fall on a recurring basis, with only a short pause when a 50 partnership was managed by Pope and Stokes, before they were all out at 3.40pm having scored just 143 runs, 200 short of NZ total. Not a great performance and very soon NZ were back into bat and pushing on their lead. Not quite the scoreline we had hoped for, but what an incredible experience and a day we won’t forget.

NZ were 340 runs ahead and look to be in full control with 7 wickets still left and 3 days left to really stamp their dominance on an apparent listless England.

Sadly we won’t be able to return tomorrow, as we are heading back up to Auckland to drop off our hire car and then fly down to Christchurch, before picking up a subsequent flight on Tuesday to Sydney.

Andy was up again with the birds and found himself a circular 10km run along the headland of Napier in the glorious morning sunshine.

Being Saturday, we managed to find a local farmers market just around the corner from our apartment and made a beeline for the bacon sandwich van, which to Andy’s great pleasure had the all important special accompaniment, brown sauce.

After this ‘second’ breakfast we went to discover the Main Street and the many art deco shops and restaurants that reside in central Napier.

It’s not just a beachside city with a seaport, known for its sunny climate, it also has an esplanade lined with Norfolk pines, and extensive architecture. Given these attributes, Napier is sometimes romantically referred to as the “Nice of the Pacific”^.

Napier is a popular tourist city, with a unique concentration of 1930s Art Deco, and to a lesser extent Spanish Mission, architecture, built after much of the city was destroyed in the 1932 Hawke’s Bay earthquake.

Napier is also the nexus of the largest wool centre in the Southern Hemisphere, and it has the primary export seaport for northeastern New Zealand – which is the largest producer of apples, pears, and stone fruit in the country. The Hawke’s Bay wine region is now the second largest after Marlborough in NZ.

Given the glorious sunshine and the fact we hadn’t been to a beach for a swim for what seems like months, we decided to park our usual tourist sightseeing plans and instead enjoy the attributes of being outdoors with nothing to do but walk along a beach front.

We decided to go for a walk to Ahuriri and on Westshore beach to make the most of the day in the sun. After a walk of a couple of miles we found our way to Ahuriri, where we came across a family beach and a run of beach bars and cafes that we couldn’t resist. After our caffeine fix, we walked along to the marina passing some magnificent boats and newly developed apartments with spectacular views across the bay.

We weren’t quite sure what to expect when we first arrived in Napier, however the more we saw the more we liked and were taken by its surroundings and general feel.

The Maori population in Napier was a lot more visible than we had seen elsewhere in the South Island.

After some time at the first beach, we moved to our ‘lunch stop’ at the Gin House!

This was turning into one of our favourite ways to spend an afternoon with a visit to a gin palace. The Napier offer was incredible with an amazing array of gin types and we found a couple that took our fancy and then settled in to enjoy the experience.

After a very pleasant couple of hours, tasting a couple of gins along with a very tasty garlic pizza we returned to the sunshine and walked along the spit to Westshore beach for a dip in the ocean.

After a glorious day at the beach we eventually returned to our apartment for a quick change before heading out for Saturday night drinks at the Market Street bar & restaurant. It was there that we hatched our plans for tomorrow and a day at the cricket in Hamilton for the 2nd Day of the 3rd Test.

Our stay in Napier has been very chilled and very enjoyable and we are so glad we decided to pay a visit to this glorious city in the sunshine.

Tomorrow it’s an early start and a 4hr drive to Hamilton for a return to test match cricket.