Home sweet home... well, almost

Back in Sydney where Yaz squuezed in a girly day of bridal shopping with her sister-in-law
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We had been looking forward to this part of the trip for a long, long time and it had finally arrived.  We flew back to Sydney where we would be spending the next three weeks celebrating Christmas and New Years, and in addition to my sister (Nargis) and her fiance (Martin) being there, my dad was flying over, and also Yaz's twin sister, Shaz.

In the week before xmas, a lot of xmas shopping was needed and a lot of partying.  We also decided to do the tourist thing and took Shaz and my dad to Blue Mountains (which was rather impressive to say the least) and  to the Sydney Aquarium and Wildlife park in Darling Harbour.  The harbour itself is a lovely place for a few quiet drinks and of course, Shaz really enjoyed her first Oz experience with Kangaroos and creepy crawlies!

Awwww the happy couple
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Xmas day was an unusual affair, mostly because we had bright sunshine, and a BBQ at one of Nargis's friends places, with more food than an entire army could possibly get through.  After lunch and a slow stroll to the harbour and back, we continued drinking and played games for a while, and then retired to our own homes. The partying didn't stop there...  After my dad left us at about 2am, the five of us drank and played games until early morning - some of us finally giving in to the bed calling us at about 7am, and others, namely Yaz, Nargis and Martin, staying up till 11am having water fights...  As you can imagine the place was a mess the following day, and very quiet until the late afternoon when we all slowly emerged from our sleep to the realisation that we had about an hour to clean the place up and get ready before my dad and his cousin would arrive for Boxing Day dinner... oh dear.

Guess who's in town!??!
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The day after Boxing Day, the five of us left for a road trip north of Sydney to a place called Port Stephens with tents and sleeping bags, hoping to find a place to camp for a few nights.  Alas, we arrived to find that it was school holidays and peak season, and therefore there wasn't one campsite in the whole area! We finally gave up and decided to spend a couple of nights in a motel, which was actually quite nice.  A massive apartment type room with five beds, a kitchen, and a short walk to the beach.  The Hog's Breath Cafe became our usual haunt for the next couple of days, and the beach was fantastic.  We snorkelled on the reef there, which in my opinion was nothing compared to what we had seen further north but Shaz really enjoyed herself even if the sea was a little rough.  We also booked ourselves onto a fishing trip which we were really excited about, we even went to the bottle shop to buy a few beers for the afternoon sail, but again due to the rough seas, the trip was cancelled at the last minute.

Sydney Opera House bar
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On the third day, not to be defeated and with only one night left before returning to Sydney, we decided to find a campsite somewhere... anywhere!  After several phonecalls (and I mean several) we finally found a place about an hour north.

Keen on doing at least one activity together, the five of us decided Quad Biking would be a laugh and booked an early morning session before heading north.  At first, I think we all thought it would just a little giggle but to our surprise, we had a brilliant time.......the sand dunes were huge with a vast amount of space for us to drive around - needless to say, we all went crazy!

Really cool architecture
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Camping was an amazing experience, and incredible fun.  Although Yaz and I had been camping a few times during our travels, it was never with people we knew, and always part of a tour.  This was something else... After running around like headless chickens trying to find a disposable BBQ, food and drinks, and firewood, we built a campfire (Shaz did a great job) and settled in for the evening.

The fireworks for New Years Eve were spectacular.  We had spent the earlier part of the evening at a restaurant, with views over the harbour bridge, and had seen the 9pm 'kids' fireworks from there.  After a short walk we made it to Balmaine Park where hundred of people had gathered for the midnight showing.  Fortunately it wasn't overcrowded so we were all able to sit down on the grass and relax with some drinks before the fireworks began.  Being in a park in Sydney, staring at the harbour bridge on New Years Eve was amazing in itself, but when the fireworks began, they blew us away (not literally).

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We had allocated the following three days to surfing lessons on Bondi Beach, and I never thought it would be so much fun, and such hard work.  I also thought I would be the worst by far, but it turns out I was the first to stand up on the board and Yaz and Shaz didn't hear the end of it... By the end of the three days we were shattered and aching all over, but I'm sure we'd all do it again in a heartbeat...