FREE SHIPPING

I hope those of you who celebrate Thanksgiving have had a wonderful time with your families and friends. Tomorrow is Black Friday so from then until Cyber Monday any item purchased in my Etsy store will be shipped to you FREE OF CHARGE. I have some lovely knitted and crocheted items that you would make fantastic Christmas presents - prices start from $9.00.

SYDNEY

Of course we couldn't visit Australia without spending some time in Sydney, my favourite city. This time we went on the train, it was safer. Only kidding, we went on the train because we all enjoy the journey. There is some lovely scenery between Wyong, where my aunt and uncle live, and Sydney. Also it gives my DH time to sit back and enjoy the scenery too. The train was very busy but we manged to find seats. I love the Australian trains, they are on 3 levels, although if you are looking for seats it can be a bit awkward on a moving train having to go up and down stairs.

Anyway we arrived in Sydney and it was a beautiful day, blue sky and the sun was shining. We didn't have any plans as to what we were going to do, just have a wander around. Amy wanted to go to the Opera House, it is her favourite place, probably because they always show it on TV. So we decided to walk through the city and make our way there.



We got to Darling Harbour and had a look round there. The Australian National Maritime Museum is situated here. There is a submarine to look around and a large ship, a destroyer. It all looked very interesting and certainly somewhere we would visit on another occasion.



We crossed over a bridge, I think it is called the Pyrmont Bridge, and carried on through the city to the Opera House.

We had a walk around the outside of the Opera House and stood and looked at the views over the harbour, the bridge and to where we had been at Taronga Zoo a couple of days earlier. It is a beautiful spot to just stand and take in the amazing scenes. I love it!


We got one of the ferries back to Darling Harbour, Amy spotted somewhere else for us to visit, I told her we would put it on our list for next time. We got on the tram from Darling Harbour to take us back to the station. We had had another amazing day but I was glad to get back on the train and sit down.

I took this photo as we went over the Hawkesbury River, I was amazed I caught the sunset through the bridge supports.

When we were getting closer to Wyong I phoned my aunt and told her we were nearly there. She said my uncle would meet us at the station, thank goodness, I don't think my feet would have made it back to their house.

TARONGA ZOO

We did find Taronga Zoo and enjoyed a fantastic day there. I can definitely recommend it and it is a place we will certainly go back to. As well as all the amazing animals you get to see close up there are several shows you can go and watch. We just caught the end of the elephant show, but we watched the sealions and a fantastic bird show, where birds swoop around the crowd. The setting for the bird show was fantastic too, overlooking Sydney Harbour. We also saw the red panda, I had never heard of this animal before. Whilst we were there it was on the news that the red panda had given birth at Taronga Zoo. We didn't get to see the baby, but mum was gorgeous.

Taronga Zoo is well worth a visit not only to see the residents, but also to get the most amazing views of my favourite city, Sydney!