Where-ever I lay my hat

We got up at 4am on Saturday 8 December to get to the airport for 5am and our flight to Sydney was on time and uneventful. Michelle, Chris and Lachlan met us at the airport and we went into Sydney for the day. We strolled through the botanical gardens dodging bat poo and trying not to be labelled instantly as tourists by taking photos of ibis which are considered pests here rather than exotic birds. We did the compulsory wander past the opera house and harbour bridge and the whole area there is really buzzing. There was a really good didgeridoo player who was great to listen to and was doing fabulous animals and interacting with passers by through the didgeridoo. We went to the Rocks market and tasted some interesting chocolates like kakado plum, gum leaf and lemon myrtle. Then we went to the fish market for lunch, which was great. There are lots of fish shops and the prawns particularly are stunning – there are so many varieties and colours and sizes. We had lunch at Doyles, the famous Sydney fish shop and had whole deep fried snapper and flounder and fish cakes and prawns. It was really great. After all that we were pretty exhausted and headed home and decorated the Christmas tree. Lachlan has a great time tipping baubles everywhere and dismantling things. We had a lovely Paella for dinner and then I went to bed rather early, completely exhausted from the last few weeks, not to mention being up at 4am, and I slept for 10 hours and felt much more human.

We had a great breakfast sitting outdoors on the verandah although it was pretty hot. The need for coffee to wake up and get going had to be balanced by the need not to overheat. By 10am when we were strolling round the market in Windsor it was 31°C and the humidity was awful. Fortunately we had a spray bottle and Michelle just kept spraying me with water. The market was pretty neat with lots of interesting crafts. After the market we packed a lunch and headed up the Hawkesbury harvest farmgate trail and were eexpecting to have a lovely time tasting and buying fruit. Unfortunately there was no tasting, just a series of stalls without much variety and without much interest in service. So we decided to go for a picnic lunch and took the ‘shortcut’. It turned out to be a 4-wheel drive track and the ‘road’ progressively deteriorated. If we hadn’t been in a town 4-wd we would have turned back cos it would have been completely impassable and we certainly had a few hairy moments. It all got a bit serious when it suddenly started to rain and the visibility was poor and the road deteriorating by the minute – not to mention the thunderstorm overhead which scared me witless. However we made it out the other side, although it was too wet for a picnic and the picnic spot involved a creek crossing which we decided nto to attempt after the amount of rain in the last 40 minutes. So we had a picnic under a bridge and then went to a couple of wineries. The first was in a lovely old stone building in a beautiful setting by the river but the wine was pretty average. The ssecond was really interesting as the guy was a bit of a collector and had lots of interesting bits and pieces including a 2 million year old footprint from a alligator type creature that they had found when they were excavating their cellar. The wine was also much nicer. Then we headed home and after Lebanese coffee and cake with the neighbour, set about making dolmades for dinner and sipping pina coladas. They were excellent and great to know how to make.

Monday morning was still hot and after breakfast we decided to head for the Blue Mountains where it would be cooler. On the way we stopped for tasting at Go-Shu sake factory which was very interesting and we learned lots about the process of making sake. We also decided to have a Japanese banquet for dinner so we could drink some sake. Up in the mountains it was certainly cooler and a bit drizzly. We stopped in Leura main street, which is very pretty, for a stroll about the shops and a coffee. There were some really nice wee shops and if we could have carried anything I could have spent a lot. Further into the mountains at Katoomba it was clear why they are also called the misty mountains and what should have been a spectacular view was just mist. However we went for a walk down to rock formations called the three sisters which were pretty stunning and the bush was lovely and quiet and cool with plenty of birds and mist rolling around the gum trees. It was well worth the journey and when it cleared a little we got a hint of the view and also could see why they are called the blue mountains. Apparently the various hues of blue as you look into the distance is to do with the oil from the gum trees. It’s a different shade of blue to what you normally see looking to distant mountains and very pretty. On the way home we saw plenty of wild kangaroos and there have been lots of sulphur crested cockatoos all over the place. Japanese banquet was fun although we had to make our own sushi as all the sushi bars were closed, then the tempura took to attacking us and we had a wee drama when some boiling oil got me in the eye and down my face and chest. After that Chris took over the tempura dressed in his samurai warrior suit and protective goggles – it looked hilarious. We also had a few other dishes and dessert so were rather full by the time we finished. We were fascinated that Lachlan liked the sushi and sat and munched quite a few pieces.

Fortunately it had cooled down quite a bit and become overcast and damp which was a huge improvement on clear and humid so it was more comfortable sleeping and Tuesday morning was pleasant. We had to head to the airport again so got all packed up again. The day was largely uneventful, the flight from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur long (8 hours) and the descent rather too quick. We dropped 6000m in less than 5 minutes which was a bit uncomfortable. Then we had a wee unexpected transfer to the low cost airline terminal. It felt a bit like being back in Mexico with pretty dreadful bus terminal and the low cost terminal was also like a Mexican bus terminal which made it quite odd to see a plane pull up outside. Dinner consisted of a peculiar bastardisation of a raisin Danish involving cheese, which must be uniquely Malaysian but clearly not very popular as it was the only food left in the café. The actual flight on Air Asia was pretty good and they were roughly on time so we arrived in Kuching and met Ying and Mao just before midnight. We went straight to sleep and even at that time of night it was pretty hot.