Happy 2006

Hello again and a very Happy 2006 to all our blog readers. It been a while since our last post and there's loads to tell. We've been 'down under' for our big holiday of the year, and spent Christmas on the beach in Sydney. Following that our friends Anne & Paul came to visit and spend New Year with us.

Back to the beginning; on 16th of December, Therese and I flew from Osaka to Sydney on our Australian adventure. Neither of us had been before, so we were both very excited. We spent the first half of the holiday in the Blue Mountains a couple of hours outside Sydney. We based ourselves in Katoomba and stayed at the Kurarra Guest House. From there we went bush walking, explored the Jenolan Caves and spent a day on horseback at the Megalong ranch. Check out the photos below.


View of the 'Three Sisters' from our bushwalk trail


Govett's Leap


Some of the scenery near the Jenolan caves


The Three Sisters at dusk


Christmas Day on the Beach


The Harbour Bridge on Christmas evening

From there we headed back into Sydney, for some Christmas shopping and more sightseeing. We stayed in a cosy hotel, the Russell, just minutes from the Harbour Bridge and Opera house. Apart from the obvious sights and shopping, we went to the aquarium which was really impressive (lots of sharks & tropical fish) and took a day trip out to the Hunter Valley, one of Australia's biggest wine regions, and spent a day going round the wineries.

Christmas Day was certainly different - going to Mass in shorts & T-shirt, before heading off to the beach, but it was really enjoyable and very relaxing.

After travelling back to Japan on Boxing Day, Anne & Paul arrived to spend New Year.