Nov – Dec 2019

After his last trip to Sydney back in 2017 it was time for the return of John Senior!!

This time he would be travelling solo. The second trip is always the hardest to plan. Do you re-do the first trip or go for new places? We kept it neutral and did a mixture with some familiar Sydney haunts mixed with a few days away to the Blue Mountains and the wine country beyond.

The first task was to unpack the bags – full of Irish goodies, Barry’s Tea, chocolate and YR sauce. Then John Senior got involved with some DIY – putting together our brand new drinks trolley for the flat (we had only moved in back in July).

Sydney Out and About

We spent a lot of time hitting the familiar Sydney notes – Balmoral Beach, Chowder Bay,Manly, The Rocks Markets (that were all done up for Christmas). Living in Cremorne gave us quick access to the B Line so we were able to add in the Brookvale Breweries and Collaroy Beach into the mix.

One day we went across on the ferry to Cockatoo Island. Situated in the middle of Sydney Harbour, this one-time prison, shipyard and movie set is now home to a museum complete with glamping sites and cafes and bars. It also plays host to concerts. You can read all about the history of the island on our dedicated post here.

John Senior loves a night out with live entertainment so we managed to sneak in some comedy by seeing Irish comedian Dylan Moran (Black Books, Shaun of the Dead) at the State Theatre. On his last night we lucked out and received tickets to the last performance of the Sydney tour of Choir of Man at the Sydney Opera House. Debuting at the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival – It’s a fairly interactive show with great music and audience participation – as well as a free pint poured from the Bar on the stage. You don’t get that from Phantom or Les Mis!

Blue Mountains

We took the train up to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, using it as a stop-off on our way to Orange. As it was only one night we opted to stay in the centre of town at the heritage-listed Carrington Hotel. Construction began in the 1880s and it is the only 19th Century grand resort hotel still in use today. As we would find out as we walked in the front door – it has retained all of the character and fabric of yesteryear. It was named after Lord Carrington – the Governor of New South Wales at the time and the power station built on the back not only powered the hotel but the local town as well. Today it is a bottle shop that can be accessed from Parke Street.

In 1927 the Duke of York (later King George VI) visited on a tour to open the Parliament House in Canberra having lunch in the main dining room that we had our buffet breakfast in.

Across two days we went to see the Three Sisters, Scenic World and explored Katoomba including visiting the Mountain Culture Brewpub.

On our first night we stumbled upon the Katoomba Street Art Walk. Located just off Waratah St near the Yellow Deli. Launched in 2015 it contains the combined artwork and efforts of over 125 contributors.

Orange

We jumped back on the train and continued onto the Central Tablelands and our destination – the city of Orange.

Named after Prince William of Orange (no not that one!), whom the surveyor Sir Thomas Mitchell at that time had served with in the Peninsular War, it started as a small grazing settlement and the site of a prison before a Gold Rush happened in 1851 thanks to a nearby discovery at Ophir. This led to a massive expansion in terms of population, businesses and farming. At one point Orange was in contention to become the national capital before losing out to Canberra.

The main reason we were here was to go on a wine tour. The soil and cool temperatures from the nearby mountains and hills combine to make some great wine. We got to visit Ross Hill Wines, Brangayne Wines and Nashdale with it’s amazing cellar door.

Outside of the wine we spent two days exploring the main streets, had dinner at Lolli Redini’s and then fitted in a swim and a game of crazy golf while we waited for the train back to Sydney.

When it came time to say our goodbyes none of us realised that it would be at least two years before we would see each other again and during the dark days of the Covid Pandemic that was beginning to take shape that December in Wuhan, China we did not know if we would.

But ignorance is always bliss and not only did John Senior have a good trip and a great tan – he left us with a constructed and stocked drinks trolley.