8th – 11th June 2017

Recovered, repaired and Rested

Will and I had a lovely time at Liz and Hutch’s home, enjoying watching little Belle grow before our very eyes. What a cute, joyful little baby! Both of us were completely captivated, and fascinated with how much she learned in just one week. Belle was going through a “I don’t want to be picked up by strangers” phase, which was ideal with our coughs and stuff. So hopefully she won’t get sick from us.

 

Hutch and Liz and Belle looked after us so well. Thanks guys, we really appreciate it.

Ultimately, we pretty much just hung out with Belle and Liz, and rested on their couch. The only outings were to have a look at Vivid, an annual light, music and ideas festival. We scored the best night for it too. There were rain clouds around, but none dropped anything on us. There was no wind, and it wasn’t even cold. So we caught the ferry into the city, which was fun, and really enjoyed the spectacle. It has grown absolutely huge since it started 2009. It has been extended to 23 nights, and over 2 million visitors come and check it out. Well worth a visit, there is something for everyone.

 

A beautiful night in the bright city. The Opera House was mesmerising.

 

The clouds and a full moon, made for great photos.

 

The bridge was well lit, and the pillars were interesting.

 

The Museum of Contemporary Art was fabulous. Light show to music.

 

The Rocks had some great displays, some were interactive. Cool.

The other outings just involved some food shopping, and collecting our bikes from Bikebiz in Parramatta. They had done the big 20K service on the trusty Yamaha, and put on some engine guards. The poor Honda, which only needed a basic service, was also in need of new sprockets and a new chain. Only discovered when they did the service. We’d had a few minor issues with my chain, and further research told us that at almost 18,000 kms, it wasn’t uncommon. Bummer! It was a bit of a drama, getting the parts, which was a shock here in the biggest city in Oz. But they got it sorted in the knick of time, and we were able to go collect it on Saturday morning, in time for departure on Sunday.

 

Thanks Bikebiz, happy to have our bikes back and running beautifully.

We are now trying to dodge the rain, with quite a bit hanging around Sydney. Before completely exiting the city limits, we also had a visit with Will’s Great Uncle John and his wife Dorothy. We’ve met them a few times, and think they are really lovely people. In their 90’s now, and Uncle John is not going too well. One of those happy/sad visits, that we are glad we had the chance to have. Gosford was our chosen destination today, knowing we’d have a lot on our minds, and the chance of rain was high. It was a zigzaggy tour of the North Western suburbs, before lurching out onto the M1, and climbing and winding, our way over the hills and down into Gosford. A brief coffee stop to book a hotel, it’s a long weekend so not many available options. But we found one, and got ourselves checked in. Dinner at the RSL, a couple of drinks, and an early night. Now we can meander our way north and avoid the rain and cold.