Sydney - January 2022

After lockdown related delays, Callum passed his driver's test!

The deck has started finally, after long delays sourcing the merbau timber...

Looks great!

Bought a sofa for the billiard room...

And a sideboard. Found this one second -hand and it's made in Malaysia, in keeping with the slightly Asian style in this room...

 For Alex's 23rd birthday we went to Phuong in Crows Nest. Great night!

Back at Berkeley Vale, I painted the copper pipe to match the house...

And we had a new fence put in. Really happy with it...

View of the house from the rear...

On Australia Day I went for a swim at Warriewood Beach...

On the Saturday night, just before Chinese New Year, Alex arranged a family dinner at the Ni Hao Bar in the city. This innocent looking teapot is actually full of a cocktail!

And after Alex and I went for a drink at Squires Landing, The Rocks.

Walking back to the city...

I then took Alex to Wynyard and walked over the bridge to catch a train home...

Lismore, Byron Bay and Forster - January 2022

We decided to do a road trip to visit my in-laws in Lismore. We stopped at Buladelah for a coffee. This bakery has been there since the 60's and was a regular stop on our family trips to Forster in the 1970's...

 

We stopped for lunch at Macksville. The highway has improved hugely since I last drove it and it by-passes all the towns except for Coffs Harbour. So if you want to stop in a town, you have to exit the motorway.

This is the view from my in-laws back deck in Lismore...

We stayed overnight and then headed to Byron Bay for breakfast. Went to Belongil Beach then headed into Byron.

 This is from Belongil looking back to Byron...

This is from Byron, looking north to Belongil...

Then we headed south and spent a night in Forster, remembering many happy family holidays. This is the ocean baths...

We found an Egyptian restaurant overlooking the lake and had dinner there...

Cocktails by the carafe...

Next morning we went for a walk to the breakwater. This is looking back at Forster Beach...

From the end of the breakwater...

This is a new apartment on the site of where we used to stay as kids...

Forster Main Beach...

We had breakfast here before heading back to Sydney...

Hunter Valley - January 2022

For a change of scenery, headed to the Hunter Valley one Sunday.  Did a tasting with matching wines at Saddlers Creek. It was a fun afternoon.

Live music created a nice atmosphere!

In the evening, we walked to dinner at a nearby pub. The scenery is really lovely...

Stayed at Leisure Inn at Pokolbin. Got up the next morning and had a walk through the grounds.

Ducks at the door...

Headed to Petersons for more tasting. It sits on a hill and has a great view...

 After that, we headed back to Sydney. Great trip!