Wine tasting and walking.....

Hey there,

The van is nearly finished and we took our first road trip in it last week, on Thursday to the Hunter Valley, famous for its wine (and coal!) Lovely place, amazing scenery, quite like the Lake District, but with no sheep and lots of vineyards!!!!! Lara and Stu came too 'cos they were over in Sydney for hols (although they didnt stay in the van aswell!!!). We managed four wineries (guided by lara and stu's guide book, we chose 5 star recommendations, otherwise it would be difficult to pick which ones to visit 'cos there are tons!), two in the morning (brokenwood and McWilliams Mount Pleasant) and two in the afternoon (First Creek Chatto and Pooles Rock), broken up by a trip to the hunter cheese company for ALOT of cheese, yum! If you guys ever see any Brokenwood wines, get one, would recommend the Cricket Pitch (white or red) and the unwooded chardonnay.

Stayed overnight in the poshest campsite; the van had problems competing with the quite impressive Winnebagos on show!!!!! Drove back to Sydney on Friday via the sceneic route, the Great Northern Road, route 33, also popular with bikers 'cos of its steep and bendy roads, gave the van a bit of a workout! Stopped off for lunch at a really cute village called Woolombi, with the most amazing tavern which had a very impressive beer garden, check the pictures.

Saturday involved a leisurely afternoon in the Opera bar. And on Sunday we did the Spit to Manly walk, along lots of beaches, cool views and plants, and lots of lizards!!!!

And finally, a big congratulations to Helen and Al, who we are staying with. Helen became a new Aunty thanks to her sister who had a baby girl on Saturday. And Al finished two modules of his MBA this week.

hope everyones ok, lots of love..............

Sydney aint that big

Hey all,

The weathers picking up again after a freak cold day last thursday, 8 degrees with hail!!!! coldest November day in Sydney for over 100 years, brought a bit of the British weather with us, apparently.

Well, the van is nearly finished, took it to a VW specialist in Balmain on Saturday, he said we had got a great deal and it was in good working order, we were pleased with that!!! Hopefully our first trip away in it will be to the Blue Mountains fairly soon............

Saturday afternoon we took a trip to Watson's Bay, amazing views of the city and harbour bridge and also the ocean! check out the pictures...... And for those of you who have been there, no we didnt have fish and chips from Doyles, opted for the ice cream option instead!

On Sunday Soph and Richard took us out on their sea kayak on Pittwater off Clareville beach (near Palm Beach). Great fun, and no-one capsized, but arms ached the next day! Finished off the day out with a pint (or a schooner) in the Newport arms, in Newport, already becoming a favourite........

We are going kayaking again this Sunday, on the sea, proper waves................

jxjx

ps, saw Borat on Saturday night, hilarious..................

First day at the beach

Hey All,

Hope everyone is well. Hows the weather over there?! We went to the beach at Narabeen in the Northern beaches last Saturday--lovely and sunny, and HOT.

Since the last post, we have moved from Soph, Richard, and Joels (thanks soooooo much you three) and are now staying at Helen and Als in Cremorne, thank you to you two as well :) Check out the photos of Helen showjumping in Terry Hills.

We've been busy pimping up the van so its habitable (its getting there and we are hoping to take a trip to the Blue Mountains in the next week), and exploring Sydney some more. We are loving it here!!!!

Also been meeting up with friends who were over on hols from the UK (It's very funny meeting up with people over here who were at our leaving party in London!!!). And also catching up with a few familiar expats (for those of you who know him, Richie popped up from Melbourne last friday, he was bigging up Melbourne so we are looking forward to taking a trip down there).

Thats all for now, will keep you posted on more news.........
xx

Volkswagen Camper Van

A van has been purchased!!!!!! YAY. a 1974 pop-top VW camper van..........Mechanically sound but needs a bit (actually quite a lot) of cosmetic work! However it was a complete bargain, so we are well chuffed. Check out the pictures under "our photos". These are "before pictures"..............we picked it up this morning and have done nothing to it yet. Will be posting "after pictures" soon!!!!!! hopefully there will be a big difference!

We are in Sydney!

Hey there Everyone!

We arrived in Sydney safely on Wednesday morning (what a mission of a journey from NYC--24 hours--but worth it!!) and it was hot and sunny (sorry you guys in England!)

We are staying at the above little fella's parents flat in Collaroy Beach, who are scoring quite highly on the hosts point system--thanks Richard, Soph, and baby Joel! (They also have a points scoring system for guests, so we have our work cut-out here!!!!!) And also we are a minutes walk away from the most amazing beach.......................(although it rained today, whats that about?!)

Took a trip into the city yesterday, how cool, cant wait to explore some more soon.

Take a look at our new photos of sydney (click on the "Our Photos" link on the right)

Hope everyone is well, keep checking the blog for more updates......................

Love to all

Take care xx

JUDES NEW NUMBER!!!

Oz moblie number!!!

+61420393728

You can contact us on this, I -James - will be getting my own soon, once my phone is unlocked...