day 8 (26 Nov) - off to wollongong. the day of bests.

This morning, we pack our bags and leave Sydney City for Wollongong. The air b n b at Sydney was a little small for us and I've been knocking my toes everywhere. Can't wait to go to the next air b n b!

Enroute, we drop by this amazing place... WATTAMOLLA! the word itself sounds like a magical spell and spellbinding it was! Wattamolla offered the majestic view of cliffs and loud crashing foaming waves. 

We sat under the shade of this rock edge and had a mini picnic of cookies and raspberries 😋. 

The view while we snacked... 

A little hike up the mountain led to the most amazing views. Really. When can we see this again?! They definitely look better in real life than in photos. 

Let's just say we thought we had seen the best thing ever. Then we headed to our Air bnb at wollongong and wow, it was the best air b n b ever!

First, it's super spacious. Second, it has everything you need and never knew you needed. Zip lock bags, baking paper, toothpaste, black pepper...yes, the previous one didn't have black pepper. 

Third, dishwasher. 

Fourth, jacuzzi. 

Fifth, swimming pool. 

Sixth, pool table. For the first time, we played pool together as a family! 

The list goes on. Seriously. Best air b n b ever. We didn't want to go out. And we did end up spending a lot of time in house. 

day 4: Lake Parramatta

The start of a 5km walk at Lake Parramatta. It's gorgeous! 

There's a designated swimming place. It's a lovely spot with soft sand and pretty stones at the shore. We saw a family of ducks too.

Some beautifully strange bugs we saw along the way.

This dam is one of the highlights.. 

day 7: cow & moon gelato, Broadway Sydney, Paddington, Chinatown

Breakfast was my attempt at cooking steak.. Kinda overcooked it😢. Young man said it was better than daorae. This, I couldn't tell was him trying to comfort me or not 😅.

OK. Let's blame some chickens. Real ones. 

Halfway through cooking, I found 2 chickens INSIDE the house, staring at us cooking. Seriously the most kaypoh chickens ever. I had left the main door open to let the cooking fumes out. Young man scared them off. 

But Queenie saw them standing outside the side door to peep at us. 😅 Funny chickens. Later they followed her around outside the house. SRSLY. very free. Free ranging chickens. 

Anyway. Let's start on a sweeter note! Award-winning Gelato. Global award winners, mind you. Cow & moon at Enmore Road. We ordered: affogato, pistachio, roasted coconut, natural yoghurt, salted caramel, cookies and cream, passionfruit.

So smooth.. And the flavours were all spot on!

Blurry background : their wall of fame.

I really enjoyed the gelato. I could have gone for a 2nd serving. Same goes for the adora chocolate. All of us enjoyed the yummy gelato. No comments about it being just slightly better than marigold and so on. Yay.

We went shopping at Broadway Sydney, where I found Sportsgirl! Cool shop from my teens. Haha. Plus, kmart of cos, the common suspect. 

Next, we explored the Paddington neighbourhood. The reservoir garden there was very small, but peaceful. We sat there for a snack. We also found this family-run grocery shop, where Treasure bought this hard core lemon juice which is actually meant for cooking. 

We headed to Karen's Diner, where I'm not sure if we were ruder or the servers were. The food was really good! It was hilarious really. When we arrived, the waiter asked if we made a reservation. We said no. And he was like, so what did you expect to happen?! 

Then threw the menus at our table. 🤣 Next, the waitress questioned our good choices. They also told us to never come back. 

We took a walk around Chinatown. Street snacks were pricey.. 

That's us at Sydney CBD. Our last night at the Sydney city area. We're heading to wollongong tomorrow! 

day 5: Bondi Beach, Maroubra beach

We were overwhelmed when we arrived at Bondi Beach! The sun was blazing hot and the locals were splayed all of the beach, baking themselves in bikinis / shorts. And there we were, feeling cold in long sleeves. We instantly felt out of place. 

That's us at Bondi. 

ppl. live. baking. happily.

Waves and ocean were gorgeous. But it was too crowded and too sunny. Yes, we're from Singapore, but the sunny rays at Sydney are another story!

We went to a cafe for milk shake, matcha latte and chai latte, with fries. Very yummy. We drove around to look for a beach, and settled down at Maroubra Beach. Girls were totally into their sand building, until they saw a cricket like insect crawl out from a hole they were digging. Eww.

Thanks to Mr pseudo cricket, we left and ate Thai food for dinner.

Another day, we enjoyed the views at Lake Parramatta. It was a 5km hike. 

day 6: Watsons Bay, Ferry ride to circular Quay, walk around The Rocks

What a lovely way to start the day. We had pan seared lobster tail, roasted veggies and chicken kebab for brunch. 

Next, we went to Adora to eat their handmade chocs, cakes and drink coffee. Yumz. The young man and treasure felt the chocs were just a little better than Cadbury. Wow. We've got connoisseurs in da house. That's us at Adora. 

What's next. We headed to Hermitage Trail but shark's beach was under renovation. So we ended up at Watsons Bay and took a ferry to Circular Quay, where we explored The Rocks! 

Treasure is so cute. 

Treasure cleverly brought a mini tripod to take pictures and today, we used it to take this family shot at The Rocks. Thanks, Queenie, for squeezing that smile out! 

Creative shot below of wall art at The Rocks. 

We spent some time at Watsons Bay and this is the sand creation by the girls. Looks like a Palace neighbourhood, where everyone tries to outdo each other by making their homes like castles, only they realise they are all the same! 

The amazing view below is from the Coastal Walk near Cove Beach. 

well. Guess who?! 

day 3: beachy day

Another incredibly windy day at Sydney. Today, the wind blew the door wide open at our Air bnb at Dulwich Hill. The door knocked over a planter that toppled down, the soil poured out.. I saw 2 earthworms leaving their homes.. Sad. 家破虫亡。

Today, it's beach day! We start off at Manly Wharf. 

We cooked beef patties from Cole's and packed burgers for lunch at the wharf. It was a great day to play with bubbles. The wind did the job. Now I know why bubble wands are called wands! It's not the shape. When you raise it high, bubbles form magically without you doing anything else! 

Queenie and Treasure playing with the sand. That's a daiso sand kit. Small, cute and enough. I haven't seen them play sand like that for a long time. Felt happy that we could finally find the time for them to play like that.

Their finished product: a castle with a mort. Weather's hot. Mort's dried up.

The clouds and the seagulls are cute here at Manly Beach.