Sneaking in for my weekly "Sunday's Seven Snapshots", and since I missed last week, this post is photo heavy...
What's been happening in my world the last couple of weeks?
Shop closed and cleared...more on this to come...
My friend from Texas, Shelby and her son P came to visit. We had such a phenomenal time scratching the surface of all the amazing sites that Sydney has to offer. I absolutely love playing tour guide in this city!
Silly shark selfie at the aquarium
There's this little thing called "Christmas" that was thrown in the mix.
Christmas Day beach shenanigans at the Royal National Park
Our family Christmas photo
Outdoor adventures are often the best kind of adventures - this is Fitzroy Falls.
Another view from Fitzroy Falls
We went camping here last year and brought Shelby and P back because of all the Aussie animal sitings. This year did not disappoint. We saw an echidna, wallabies, kangaroos, kookaburras, native lizards, and......
...wombats! I just love these plumpy guys!
Our camping crew
Another gorgeous view in Kangaroo Valley
Speaking of gorgeous views, this one is seen from the ferris wheel at Luna Park, a small amusement park along the harbour foreshore.
The boys riding the "Hair Raiser" which the stepkid announced he would never ride again ~ ha!
Another beach visit, this time at Cronulla Beach
We came, we saw, we conquered "Wild Ropes" at Taronga Zoo. I'll have a fuller post on this activity because it ticked off one of my "50 Before 50" checklist.
These guys just hang out all over the zoo.
I am such a fan of the Taronga Zoo in Sydney. I have mentioned before that I'm torn with zoos...with animals kept in captivity for the amusement of people. But Taronga's breeding and conservation programs are superb. Here's a couple of momma's and babies born in Taronga....
I could watch the gorilla exhibit all.day.long.
We had an adult night out complete with tapas, wine, and good company.
A friend of mine offered to take us to the Hunter Valley, a wine region not too far from Sydney. It turned out to be a fabulous day that it gets its own post soon.
We spent Christmas Day at the beach, so why not New Year's Eve day too? This time...Balmoral Beach.
Finding a vantage point for the Sydney fireworks is no easy feat...especially if you don't want to deal with enormous crowds or get there at noon to wait until midnight. But, my guy is da bomb diggity for finding this little enclave along the shore. We got there at about 6:45pm, and it was filled with families and space to chill, chat, and people watch.
Final dusk of 2016...I sat the phone down and enjoyed the "family fireworks". Sydney has two scheduled fireworks displays ~ one at 9:00pm and one at midnight. We watched the 9:00pm ones here...
 |
...we were home in front of the tv to ring in the New Year!
Happy 2017!
|
happy new year! i love that you were able to spend beach days during the holidays. we had lots of cold weather and snow (boo).
ReplyDeleteI was FB stalkin and loved seeing all the pictures of your adventures while you had guests. Also, mind blown at Christmas and NYE at the beach and swimming in the ocean. #SouthernHemisphereLife
ReplyDeleteI love all your holidays spent at the beach! That's just not do-able for us Ohio folk ;) It's so fun that you had guests during this time of year. Also, I'm DYING to know what the next chapter is for you professionally!! Ha!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous couple of weeks! So glad you were able to show your friends a great time...seriously, a once in a lifetime opportunity.
ReplyDeleteI'm interested in the next step professionally too!
Also, I think I saw a documentary about the Taronga Zoo recently. I don't remember what exactly but it stuck with me.
A very belated happy Christmas and a very happy new year! We saw the fireworks from the Botanical gardens in 2015 and it was amazing to see them so close up, but it was a pretty major undertaking and I'm not sure I'd do it again in a hurry! Also key was the fact we could walk back to where we were staying afterwards. Anyway, I love all the beaches and animals featured in this post, especially that wombat! How cool is he!
ReplyDeleteomg what an amazing time! a great holiday and new year you had. new beginnings all around. omg the wombat sighting. i would have freaked with excitement haha. from the beach to camping and then fireworks in the best spot - seriously you guys are great hosts!!
ReplyDeletexoxo cheshire kat
I've loved getting to see what sort of adventures you've taken your friends on while they're visiting! Just give me all the beaches and fireworks and wine and cute Australian animals too! I'm sure that they had a blast and didn't want to go home!
ReplyDeleteyou got a great spot for NYE! i went into the city city once for NYE and... never again. haha. you've really made me reconsider my opinion of taronga, i definitely want to go when we come back. also, i think maybe luna park and i'll trick KC onto that ride. hahahahaa.
ReplyDelete