Art Gallery of NSW and Botanic Gardens Sydney

We went to the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney. I thought this tree was amazing. 

   There was a very large pollen wall. 

  And an Australian Ibis washing in the water.

   Deep in conversation

I love bamboo.

    Another strange bird

   

  Thirsty work! 

  A  cookabara 

Is this a Henry Moore outside the Gallery of New South Wales? 

   I love this! 

   

   Loads of aboriginal art

   And some contemporary art. 

   Made with tights and spices

Manly, Manly Art Gallery

Yesterday we spent the day at Manly on the beaches. 

    Manly is a busy tourist destination. 

   Frequented by boats and their owners. 

   

   But also home to a good gallery. I loved the ceramics! 

    

    The kids found a circus performer on vacation! 

   More ceramics! 

  

   Manly is on the flight path into Sydney. 

   Warm enough to swim. 

   

   We were surrounded by seagulls who were fond of custard creams and chips! 

    The slow ferry. There is a colony of little penguins who live under the wharf just here but we 

    were too early in the day to see them. 

    

   My favourite bird of all time a sulphur crescent cockatoo! They live wild here. 

Australian Maritime Museum, Manly ferry, Sydney Harbour

The local environment is obviously very different! These ponsettias are the largest I've ever seen! 

   

    And strange birds 

   

    There are loads of varieties of  palm trees. 

   We went into Manley on the bus and caught the fast ferry to Sydney. 

    

   

  An Englsh tourist fell off the cliffs at Manley looking at whales so there were helicopters around. 

   

   

There were colonial artefacts! 

   
   And enormous cruise ships! 

   And the iconic Sydney Opera House

   We went under the Sydney Harbour Bridge a few times. 

    The Sydney skyline

   

    I was obsessed with the underside of the bridge. 

   We went to the National Maritime Museum. Aboriginal art fascinates me. Every line means 

   something and depicts what you can and can't eat of the animal. 

Birmingham to Sydney via Abu Dhabi

We have safely arrived. Worst bit of the journey was getting the 16.10 train at Birmingham new street after collecting Abi from her last day at primary school. Lots of emotion! We just caught it with mark's help. My sister was also there to send us off.

The Trip to Abu Dhabi was the smoothest  flight I’ve ever been on. We were in the biggest plane ever, an A380 airbus with an upstairs! 500 people! 

Food was pretty dreadful though and it was very cold! Abi made a friend who was going on to Melbourne.   Airport was bling and fast food with Emirates  adverts. 

Had to go thru' passport control again. Same plane to Sydney. Bit of turbulence over Indian Ocean but everyone else was asleep except me. Jodie and I were freezing and the food was dreadful again. They kept giving us white rolls with cucumber and red pepper paste! 

Sam met us at the airport and everyone cried! it is very cold here! We drove from the airport to Sydney and onto Northern beeches. We chilled and talked and had food and a sleep. Then we went for a walk along the beach at Dee Why, which was weird as it was dark! 

Bad photo but you get the gist!  I crashed out a few hours later after pasta and  Ive just woken up! It’s about 5.30 am here. Everyone else asleep. 

You can see the pole star and Venus very clearly and the plough. And it’s 6 degrees! We have circumnavigated jet lag after sleeping some of the journey on the second plane from Abu Dhabi and getting into sync with the NSW time zone. After a good sleep last night, we are active, running, playing games, and exploring the area. Today I encountered a Bush Turkey on my walk to the supermarket. 

The younger kids have made a fruit salad!