Sydney day 9 - Shopping adventure

It's our last day today. We dont plan to travel far as we need to go the airport early morning tomorrow. Guess today it's going to be the souvenir shopping day.

 

William and Ai Ling is kind enough to offer us to take syasya and aril to the Powerhouse Museum while we can go to the Paddy Market to shop. We owe u guys!!!! Thanks!

 

There was a Wallace&Gromit thingy going on at the Powerhouse Museum and we need to top up $15 on top of the standard entrance fee to get to see their special shows etc. But according to Ai Ling they can't even finish the normal shows in a day so we decided not to purchase the W&G special pass. The normal entrance for a family package (2A2C or 1A3C) is only $30. Aril is free! Coool!! :)

 



Love is in the air



So after leaving the kids at the Museum, we went to the Paddy Market with baby while William went to the China Town. Paddy market is the place for souvenir shopping. But be very careful with 2 things:

 

1. Fake items
2. Pickpockets

 

Us in front of paddy market

As expected we spent several hours there and we've only covered 2 or 4 stores!! Ha ha...

 



At the Paddys



 

Sorry baby have to wait. hehe
 

At about lunch time william/ailing and the kids join us at the Paddy Market for lunch.

At 4 pm they have to leave us as they have got something else to do. It was Easter day.




He is always full of suprises





So we went straight to Circular Quay to see the Opera House again. There were street performances going on at The Rock. It was good.. but wasn't great. Somehow we were suppose to look for the Sunday Flea market nearby. We cant find it but according to William we should actually went in further into one of the sub-road. Never mind..





View from Circular Quay train station

 

Street performance





 

Planned to walk on the bridge but thinking of the stroller and the kids.. naahh.. next time maybe. Also planned to take a ferry to Watson Bay but we dont think we still have the luxury of time anymore. Everyone were too tired from the road trips and what we want was only to sit and enjoy the Opera House view fr the Circular Quay.
 



Asar break



 



View from the harbour bridge area
 



We had our last fish & chips at The Rock with a hope that we will come here again next time. Kids were really enjoying themselves and what melts my heart is when my little syazeril hug me and say..

"Timer kasih mama..bawak kita orang datang sib-mi.. ayil saaayang mama"

 



Fish & chips

 

Enjoying every moment



Syasya also expressed her feeling saying that how happy she is to get to come to sydney..

Syukur ya Allah. Terima Kasih
 



Me and kids



  



Beautiful Sydney



 





Good night Sydney





 

Sydney day 8 - The Entrance adventure

Today we plan to head North - to The Entrance. The kids (and parents) are still tired from the road trip so we don't expect much travelling. But first we need to return back the car.

 

We were suppose to hire Avis car but William had another contact - The Macmillan car company. We've got a Toyota Corolla for $50/d plus $20/d for unlimited insurance claim. They did offer $5/d for $3000 access or $15/d for $500 access, which means anything below that value we have to pay. But for peace of mind, we took the full coverage.

 

Ok back to the car rental. At 11am we called the company.  'Unfortunately' no one was working that day due to Good Friday and coming Easter..so they let us use the car until Tuesday.  Wow! But Somehow we just stick to the plan, we will go to The Entrance on William/Ai Ling's car.

William has planned a lot of activities for The Entrance. He will bring the Kayak and the bicycles. For me, I can't wait to see the Pelican feeding.

 

At noon we arrived The Entrance. We had our picnic lunch before preparing the kayak. First William brought Joshua and Angeline to the sand dunes, then Syasya and Aril. The kids are now enjoying the sand of Entrance while their dads went of kayaking to.. I don't know where..



Picnic!



Poor baby.. she's cold

 

Kids on a kayak with Uncle William



ALL on board!!

At 3.30pm people had already flooded the Pelican feeding area. I really hope that I can see closer but it looks like there is no chance. Too many tourist!!



C-mon birdss



The Pelican feeding

Come here birdie birdie

Luckily the feeding time was quite long. People start leaving their spots until finally close to the end I got the go ttje front. Its amazing really to see Pelicans from up close. They were HUGE!!

After kayaking, kids came back to shore to cycle. We also had fish and chips before heading back home. But as usual kids start feeding the seagulls.!!

 

We left Entrance at about 7pm. Arrived home safely and satisfied :)

 

The girls - Angeline, Syaza and Syasya

Chasing the seagulls

Their favourite activity - seagulls chasing

Lovely as it is

Sydney day 7 - Southern Highlands adventure

Day 2 of Southern Highland adventure. It's gonna be awesome!! Syasya woke up at 5.30am again.  She wanted to finish her painting by the river as usual.

 

We checked out early, like 9am to make sure we get to cover the rest of Southern Highland. Our program is packed (supposed to) but as usual, plan can be changed. Our plan is to spend the night at Wollonggong and early Friday morning head back to Sydney.. we need to return the car at 11am.

 

So, first thing first..we drove to Kangaroo Valley to see the scenic drive. It's about 54km and we arroved there an hour later.  This small Kangaroo valley town is sooooo cute. Simple building, old people, and as expected - stunning valleys. Somehow we didn't see any kangaroos. Ha ha! But we did notice a classic old diner -- Worlds Best Pie. I wonder how it taste.  Apple pie is just my favourite.

At 11am we finally areived Fitzroy Falls. It's part of Morton National Park. Good thing is u need not to pay the regular national park entrance fee of A$11. This time they only charge day rate parking, which was only $3.

 

Kangaroo Valley

 

At Fitzroy, u need to park your car in a dedicated area and walk your way to the falls. It's not far.. just about 200m. Then the first time I saw Fitzroy Falls it reminds me of Niagara Falls. Breathtakingly beautiful!... Subhanallah. This falls is 81m height!!!
 

The Magnificent Fitzroy Falls

Magnificent falls

 

Us at Fitzroy Falls

81m height Fitzroy Falls
 

My Loves at the Jersey Lookout

We didn't stop there. We walk up another 600m until Jersey lookout to see the falls from another angle. This time we stop for lunch. Had out cabin-made pasta with hot milo again. Hihiii.. We left the falls at 1245pm as we need to arrive at Wollonggong before sunset. We took another path, passing through a small town called Robertson. This town is known as Home of the Big Potato. Sweet as!

 



Scenic drives along the Valley



About 20km ahead of Robertson it was Illawara. My plan was to go on the Illawara Fly Tree Top walk. It is a 1.5km walk - on top of the trees, and it takes about 45 minutes minimum to complete. Mann.. that can be hard. (Not an excuse) anyhow, we didn't proceed as all 3 kids were sleeping... zzZZzzZz.. (lazy). Not to mention the entrance fee for an adult is $25.

 



The Illawara Fly Treetop Walk



 

Next stop was Jamberoo. This place is famous for the waterpark. It looks pretty amazing and we saw many teenagers there. Must be those who prefer "less nature".. also, we didn't go in.. just to save time.

 

At 3pm we finally arrived Wollongong.  It's quite a happening city, compared to other Southern Highland cities. So we decided to look for hotels or motels... and Fish and Chips. The traffic keep us moving forward, failing to get any parking until we reach the end of the town. So we decided not to stay :( :(

 

Since that we are not staying in Gong that night, we decided to head straight to our last checkpoint - the seacliff bridge. We have to reach there before sunset of course. Or else it will be meaningless.

Along the way we saw a Fish and Chips and beach full of people. The beach looks beautiful so we stop. We didnt realise that it was actually Austinmer Beach!!! Kids had fun at the beach (as usual) until 530pm!!

 

Austinmer Beach

 

We then drove to Coalcliff to see the Sea Cliff Bridge. It was amaaaaaazing. The engineering is amazingly superb!.. besides stopping by the bridge we also enjoy the view from Baldhill (Hargrave). It was beyond words!!!..

Seacliff bridge at Cliffton

Baldhill

At about 7pm we had to leave Baldhill as it started to rain. That was an amazing end of our Southern Highland adventure. We arrived PH at 815pm. Sweet dream mate...

Sydney day 6 - Jervis Bay adventure

It's a fresh new day at Jervis Bay.. quiet morning, sweet breeze, beautiful sky, and brightest moon I've ever longing to see.

Who would say no to this? view from Jervis Bay Caravan Park.. Subhanallah!,,.

The beauty of Jervis bay makes us decided to stay another night. Me and Syasya, we woke up as early as 530am just to 'lepak' by the river. She said she wanted to feed the duck. Me, to see sunrise of course!!  It was so beautiful and peaceful doing nothing and what u hear is just nature.  At that moment I wish that the time is frozen. But that's not possible.. so I really have to treasure every gift Allah is giving me.

 

At 9am we went to the office to confirm our night extension.  We need to also call up few cruise companies for our dolphin watch. In Jervis Bay there are only 2 companies operating such cruise - The Adventurer and The Dolphin Wild Cruise.  It is much cheaper to book thru the hotel compared thru online because they have this connection -- as usual.

 

For example, I saw an online price for a Family package (2A2C) was A$200. When the hotel called, The Adventurer quoted $155 for an open boat (no roof) while Wild Cruise was asking for only $100 for a roofed boat!!!.. that is a $100 saving which is RM322! Super..! So we immediately confirmed the booking and rush to the jetty.

 

The adventure started at 1030am and ended at 1pm. It was a 2.5 hours cruise with several stops to see dolphins, bays, beaches, cliffs etc.  Going on this trip had surely given a most valuable experience to us and the kids. We get to see dolphins so close, in their own playground without disturbing their home. The kids was so amazed every time the dolphins show off their skills (errr.. not just the kids.. ha ha). They came so close to the boat but we were not allowed to touch them. That's the maritime law. Nevertheless, everything was magnificent!

 

Ready for a cruise...

Hey there buddy!

 

After the cruise we had our first Fish and Chips in Jervis bay.. it was superbo!!! Fresh prawns, juicy calamari, good chips, sweet mackerel, snapper and hoki. I still remember the taste until now ♥♥♥

Will full stomach we head to St Georges Basin.. the biggest lake in J bay. Man... it was huge!! (...suppose to) have our small picnic by the lake as I've already prepared a full pot of rice and tuna, breads and everything). But everyone was still full, plus - the kids were really excited with the seagulls. So what happen next, my loaf became seagulls lunch.. oh dear! Kids really love feeding the birds..

 

St Georges Basin

 

After the basin, we went to Green Patch beach. We saw the beach during our dolphin cruise and the guide told us that this beach is recorded in Guiness having the highest silica content and it is pure white!!! Somehow the beach is part of a national park ans u need to pay A$11/2days to enter.

We arrived at the beach few minutes later and a wallaby 'welcomed' us. It just came out from a bush, searching for food. Then colorful birds came to our car. It was amazing. ..

 

White sand of Green Patch beach

Superbly beautiful Green Patch beach

Small sister with big sister

Having fun love???!!

From the parking space we need to walk a little bit further to the beach and came to our suprise,  when we walk on the sand there was this sound. Like a ...... I dont know how to describe. U have to go and hear yourself!  Ha ha...

 

We came back to our cabin at about 6pm. Kids went straight to the pool. Well for them it's a never ending fun. I was too tired but watching them sure has made my day.

 

See!! I told u these kids will not get tired when it comes to water and pools

Kids pre-occupied with painting while waiting for dinner

That night I cooked a simple meal - rice, egg, and tuna with asparagus. Served with just hot milo. They ate like they haven't eaten for a week!!! yikess...

 

Sleep well my loves.. tomorrow more adventure awaits us. Luvs♥♡♥♡

 

Syasya is painting - dusk and dawn!!

 

Sydney day 5 - Road trip adventure

It's gonna be exciting today. We rented a car for our road trip adventure. Our plan is to explore south of syndey. Not too far south as we are pretty sure that the kids will not stand a long journey.

From Pennant Hills, we drove to Kiama which is about 150km south. Due to the speed limit (40-100km/h) we are not able to 1.5 hours like in Malaysia. After several stops, we finally arrived Kiama at 2.30pm (2.5hrs).



Buckle up kids!!

 

The view is magnificent!! Kiama is actually famous for the Kiama Blowholes. Due to the special  rock formation by the beach plus a strong wind, the sea water can spray up high, sometimes up to 30m (or more). Unfortunately for us, the sea was too calm today so we didn't get to see any water spray from the blowhole.



We made it!!



Thats the hole.. but it's not blowing today as the weather is too nice. The wind must be strong enough to push the sea water into the undersea cave and when another wave comes,the water will shoots up

The love of my life at Kiama :)

Then we continue to Jervis Bay to check in at JB Caravan Park. We've booked a cabin earlier to ensure our accommodation for the night. We arrived at the campsite (Wooloomia Rd) at about 630pm. Just nice for prayer :)



Introducing our comfy cabin at Jervis Bay Caravan Park

It's our first time actually renting a cabin and we were truly amazed with the nature and facilities in JB Caravan Park. Inside the cabin there are 1 queen bed and 4 single beds. cooking facilities are also available.



Complete facility

Around the park is a breathtakingly beautiful river.. or was it an estuary. Because we say a huge stingray and the was a signboard 'do not harm the octopus'. But we didn't see any :(
 

That night we drove to JB downtown and Vincentia. But at 830pm, everything (except few diners) were closed. Anyhow we got to see a marvelous view of the bay by night.
 

Well, that would end our day 1 of the road trip. It was great!! I'll continue tomorrow. . Nite2