Category Sydney Diaries

Star Wars: Sydney Awakens!
Thursday afternoon and the sun is shining. In a happening city like Sydney there is always something going on… Last week it was a Fan Event for Star Wars VI: The Force Awakens at no less a venue as the Opera House steps!! All credit goes to Adam Fernandes for passing on the tickets (begrudgingly […]

…and then a step to the right!
We had a whole week in Sydney to introduce Laura to our Sydney bubble before we headed to warmer climates of Queensland’s coast. After the weekend of fun, it was time for John to return to work and the girls to head to the outlets…Birkenhead Point for some retail therapy. We had a great day […]

Sydney Diaries: Babylon Zoo
The day was finally here. We had wanted to go to Taronga Zoo ever since we arrived but when you live in Sydney you need to keep things back for when visitors arrive – otherwise every new visit feels like Groundhog Day (‘Opera House Tour: Again!!) With the reunion of the Hamilton sisters we could […]

Sister Sister
The time had finally arrived – Laura (Karen’s sister) was arriving from Scotland for a wee visit Down Under. In preparation for her visit John was tasked with moving a bed from Cremorne and generally dusting and cleaning whilst Karen went to town on an Australian welcome pack. Armed with flags and posters we eagerly […]

Sydney Diaries: Year of The Sheep
So the Horse has bolted and we are left standing alone. Alone that is, until we felt something licking at our boots. Looking down we see a big white wooly jumper with 4 black legs and a curious look in it’s eyes! Aha.. it is a Sheep and this is it’s year! Outside of China […]

Sydney Diaries: Oh Dear Oh Dear I Shall be too late!..
One of the more cultured ways to spend a few hours in Sydney is to follow the White Rabbit, or more accurately pay him a visit. Located near the award winning One Central Park Tower, the White Rabbit is a gallery showcasing 21st Century Chinese Contemporary Art. The collection, one of the largest in the […]

Hotmanay!!
Normally when we celebrate Hogmanay we are in Scotland and it is “baltic”, as the locals say. This year was different…close to 40 degree heat and glorious sunshine. Quite a lot of people in Sydney camp out from the early hours of the morning to stake the best spot on the shoreline for one of […]

Christmas Day
We celebrated our first Christmas Eve together at a new place for us, The Butler in Potts Point with some new Australian friends, Millie and Alec. The Butler is a lovely new bar/ restaurantopened overlooking the city. Several glasses of wine and scrumptious sharing plates were devoured over travel stories, wedding plans and film trivia. […]

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
Not as we know it with sunglasses, sun-cream, shorts and t-shirts added to the mix! Sydney hasn’t done a bad job dressing itself up for the Festive Holiday but it’s hard to take it seriously with brilliant sunshine! Know what we mean? Our first christmas together as a couple (out of 8) would be celebrated […]

Sydney Diaries: Battle of the Galleries Part 1
So with Karen settling in nicely to her ‘return to the workplace’ and John spending a few tough weeks engaging with recruitment agents (or ‘Lemons’ as one of pal refers to them) it was time for him to take a Friday off of the job hunt and check out some of the galleries in Sydney. […]

Sydney Diaries: Thats what friends are for!
We were fortunate to be invited into a group of friends in our first week in Sydney. Mostly Irish as these were John’s Uni pals from Cork – namely Dave, Rowan and Allan. Our first encounter was as part of the Come Dine With Me Night – a group dinner in a random restaurant every […]

Sydney Diaries: Parramasala
Question: What can convince Karen to get a train for over an hour? Answer: The promise of decent Masala Dosa. So when we found out about the Parramasala Indian Culture Festival we decided to go check it out. Held in Parramatta (the clue is in the name!) and celebrating it’s fifth anniversary this is a […]

Sydney Diaries: RBG is the place 2B!
Word! Located right in the heart of Sydney City and occupying commanding views of the harbour is the Royal Botanical Gardens (RGB). Since 1816 this has been a quiet oasis in the urban sprawl of office buildings that threaten to consume it and best of all… it’s a public park! On scale and wow factor […]