A Week Out of the City

Aram and I wanted to get out of the city for awhile.  Sometimes we don't realize that we live in the heart of Sydney.  We can literally go out in the front or backyard and look to the west and see skyscrapers right there.  While it's great to be able to get to public transport easily, it can get to be a little much because there are always people around. We got there Monday evening and found our Air BnB, dropped off our bags and then headed to go grocery shopping.  Made dinner that night and crashed.  Next morning we had breakfast at home and then decided to go to the beach.  Ended up down by Hunter River in order to catch the ferry across the river.  There were massive ships coming into port.

Being brought in via 3 tug boats

We ended up at a beach that was massive and had vast quantities of seashells. We spent some time looking for cool seashells.  Aram was brave enough to go swimming.  I stayed on shore and read a book. There were maybe 10 people at the beach.  So it was pretty quiet.

Man fishing with 2 poles, sitting back with a cooler and his dog--reminded me of Jim

It was pretty nice not having anything plans set in stone because we could just come and go as we pleased.  We ate dinner at home each night.

Another day was spent at the beach.  The waves were insane there and lots of surfers.  Aram thought people were probably taking the day off of work to surf because there were so many out there in the middle of the day.

Looking towards the North

 We ended up going to the Merewether Ocean Baths.  Had two of the largest ocean baths I've seen in Australia so far.  It states it is one the largest ocean swimming complexes in the Southern Hemisphere, but we find they say that a lot because there aren't really any other countries to compete with haha.

Can't forget the sunscreen! Thinner ozone layer means quicker sunburn.

We tried out a brewery one day.  Best sign I've seen so far.  Also had a beer with less ABV for Dads with Prams.

We to the Blackout Reserve as well one day.  It is 182 hectares of natural bushland.  There are walking trails all over as well as the animal exhibits.   It is a Eucalyptus Forest and there is lots of vegetation.  There is also a restored rainforest there. Here are the pics from our experience.

Four koalas just sleeping the day away

Woke up just long enough to change positions

Peacocks just wandering around

Aram and the emu

We have these birds in our neighborhood 

Wombat that we thought was a statue initially

Tons of kangaroos 

Wallaby---these guys can book it when they get going

Well that's all the photos I took on this trip.  It was a nice break before Aram had to go back to school.  

Cheers!  

Ann & Aram