The day after Caroline’s birthday, we took a taxi to the airport for a little holiday to Sydney with our friends, Duncan and Paola. Although we had only been in Melbourne for four months, we were excited to be heading off to see somewhere new. The view out of the window as we were coming in to land was fantastic – the harbour, the yachts, the lovely houses dotted in the hillsides. I knew that Caroline was thinking, “why on earth did we go to Melbourne when Sydney looks this good?!” Melbourne and Sydney have that same old Glasgow vs Edinburgh rivalry. Glasgow and Melbourne have the culture and the great atmosphere, whereas Edinburgh and Sydney look spectacular but are chock full of tourists.

We had managed to get a fantastic AirBnB in Rose Bay which is a lovely bay-side suburb at the far end of Sydney harbour. We couldn’t believe how much we had lucked out with the flat which was only 20 metres from the beach and had fantastic views of Harbour Bridge. What’s more, our host had filled the fridge with cheese, crackers and wine for us – perfect!

After devouring our first lot of wine and cheese of the trip, we hopped on a ferry which took us to Circular Quay in the city via some spectacular views of the harbour bridge and the opera house. We took the Manly ferry and set off towards the northern beaches. Manly was incredibly busy with a real buzz about the place. We took a walk along the coast, breaking for an alfresco lunch of fish and chips and a beer.

The next day, we had an early morning dip in Rose Bay where a little boy took it upon himself to throw sand at me. I later read an article saying that Rose Bay is one of the most contaminated bays in Sydney and the locals tend not to swim there… ah well, we’re all still here!

We had a fantastic walk along the Coogee to Bondi boardwalk with stunning views out to sea from high up on the clifftops. All the beaches in the bays we passed were incredibly busy but it felt like a bit of a party atmosphere everywhere we went. We stopped at Bronte bowling club for a drink. It must have the best bowling club view in the world, high on the cliffs looking out to sea. Bowling isn’t just a thing for the elderly in Australia. People of every age go to the clubs to socialise and take advantage of the cheap drinks. There was a bbq cooking nearby and it just about drove us mad – unfortunately it was for members only!

Frolicking atop the rocks on the Coogee -Bondi boardwalk

We arrived in Bondi where we could hardly see an inch of sand on the iconic beach – people everywhere and lots of Irish accents! We had a bite to eat and then went to meet Caroline’s cousins, who live in Sydney, in Darling Harbour. Great to meet up with some of the family and we enjoyed a good few drinks and a catch up.

Bondi beach

Catching up with the cousins in Darling Harbour

On the last day of 2014 we took a wander around some of the nearby bays and their enormous mansions – what an incredible lifestyle if you can afford it! We spent a lazy afternoon in a little cove named Parsley Bay and then headed home to get ourselves ready for New Year. We had decided to stay in Rose Bay for the celebrations as we had such an incredible view of the bridge for the fireworks and we didn’t fancy navigating around the crowds in the city centre. We stocked up on supplies for a first class at-home picnic at a nearby deli – incredible wine, French cheeses, amazing breads, cured meats, salads… We put on our finest frocks and settled down to the first course of our meal before heading down to Rose Bay beach for the early (kiddy) local fireworks. It was just spectacular and made even better by the fact that we could saunter home afterwards! After the second course of our picnic, we took a walk up the hill behind Rose Bay for a better vantage point for the main event. Paola introduced us to a Spanish tradition of eating 12 grapes on in the 12 seconds leading up to New Year. As the New Year rang in, we were all choking on grapes, giving eachother kisses and having a grand old time. A fantastic fireworks display over Harbour Bridge followed with the biggest fireworks I’ve ever seen. What a fantastic atmosphere and a wonderful way to bring in 2015.

Seeing in the New Year Spanish-style

Fireworks over Harbour Bridge

We hired a giant car the next day and started our road trip inland back to Melbourne. Through changing landscape from parched farmland to enormous boulder strewn plains, to a town called Jindabyne. We enjoyed a pre-dinner jaunt along the side of the lake before being treated to an incredible sunset over the mountains.

Sunset over Lake Jindabyne

We continued on to Kosciosko National Park, through winding roads high up in the mountains and dense alpine forests. An encounter with a huge stripey snake and a gang of kangaroos reminded us which country we were in. By the time we got to the town of Bright, where we would spend the night, the mercury had reached 41 degrees and the two palest members of our expedition, Caroline and Duncan, were about to keel over. Clearly the only solution was a visit to the Bright brewery where, after cowering in the shade and drinking gallons of water, we enjoyed a flight of local beer and some tasty pizza.

Can’t talk. Eating.

By a terrible misfortune, our motel happened to be within stumbling range of a fantastic small winery, Feathertop. The setting sun over the vineyards below, fantastic company and copious amounts of local cheese and wine made for a memorable evening.

Duncan and Paola at Feathertop Winery

Dunc preparing the cheese element of our picnic dinner

We got underway early the next morning to enjoy Buffalo national park before temperatures soared once again. This also had the added bonus of us being virtually the only people in the park. After a short hike up to Buffalo Horn, the highest point, we were rewarded with spectacular views of the Australian Alps.

View from Buffalo Horn

Buffalo National Park

The final stop on our road trip was the Yarra Valley, the wine region north-east of Melbourne. Here, we were reunited with our new “European” friends before heading to Yering Station winery for a fantastic free tasting and onwards to Innocent Bystander in Healesville for more delicious food and local wine. A great road trip shared with some great friends!