The Queen Victoria Building

 In the heart of Sydney is the Queen Victoria Building (QVB) that was once in danger of being demolished but has been completely refurbished back to its original character as a late 19th  Century shopping Mall.

The internal detail is amazing with original staircases, mosaic floors, lifts, shops and stained glass.

Unfortunately, the two unique and massive hanging clocks - one at each end - have only been restored but not brought back to working condition.

It houses a wide variety of higher end fashion and art stores with plenty of places for a leisurely coffee.

Art Gallery

Some of the more recent buildings include the new Casino and the Modern Art Gallery.  What better than lunch at the Casino before going to the Gallery?  The Casino could itself be considered a piece of modern art. The tallest building can be seen from any vantage point all around Sydney.

The Art Gallery was recently opened next to the old Art Gallery.  It was very popular!

Exhibits included just about anything.  There were conventional pieces, video art, a massive optical illusion of a high rise building, textile art etc.

Jet Boat

 We thought a jet boat ride on the harbour may be a bit of fun.  Turns out that it was - it was also very wet.  We were all kitted out with ponchos designed to offer minimum resistance to the ingress of water.

We headed out to the more open water.  Needless to say we were all soon saturated.

There were a few strange looks as the bedraggled bunch of seniors headed back to the apartments on public transport looking as though we had all had embarrassing personal accidents.

Tooronga Park Zoo

 We planned a trip to the Zoo to see the changes since our last visit (perhaps) 30 years ago.  In truth, the trip was more spectacular than the Zoo although there had been huge improvements since our last visit.  We had a perfect day for the ferry Trip from Circular Quay.

We were able to use the cable car to go to the top level then wander down through the Zoo back to the wharf for the return ferry.

Off To Sydney

 We had booked apartments in central Sydney for our stay and the bus dropped us virtually on the doorstep.

We were able to check in early and were pleasantly surprised by the amenity and convenience of the accommodation.

New Year

 Our New Years dinner was at the local Golf Club that took the (very) unexpected option of shutting down at 9.30, surprising patrons and staff!

Consequently, we had to retire to the TV to see in the New Year.  A slow day followed including the all important washing - 

and a wander through the Lane Cove National Park.

Into The Burbs

 One of the new Sydney suburbs is Rouse Hill that is serviced from Sydney by a driverless train.  So that was our destination for the day.  Firstly a bus to the station.

The stations are deep underground near Sydney only rising to the surface in the outer suburbs.

The trains are fast, efficient and regular and in peak times are full.

Rouse Hill was very different. An eclectic mix of housing, shops and apartments.  Browsing and eating was the order of the day.

New Year - Sydney

Our New Year was planned for Sydney where we were to stay with the Inchleys for a few days then move to apartments in the city.  We left the car at home and traveled to the airport by public transport. The flight up was uneventful.  We then went to the Inchley's place by train and bus.

Terry and Tricia had decided to drive up to Sydney.  Unfortunately, Tricia's car developed a fault that was not easily diagnosed and had to be towed away.

Luckily, all our travel had been planned using public transport starting with the bus that stopped at the Inchley's driveway.

Christmas Lunch

 On Christmas day we arranged nearly perfect weather (it was a little too hot) to have the Garnetts over for Christmas lunch.

Lachlan had managed to secure one of the prizes from the Christmas Game and was able to demonstrate them in action.

We all had plenty to eat the previous evening but we topped it all off just to make sure!

A couple of newly acquired board games were tested out during the afternoon.

Christmas Eve Dinner

 Our family Christmas was held at the Garnett abode this year on Christmas eve.  Lisa and Mark had put in a huge amount of work to set it up.  

The tasting session was to be about Cheese and Chocolate this year.  Again, Mitchell had set up the App to tally the votes

We all seem to be refining our selections for the Christmas Game.

We came up with a variety of interesting and/or desirable and/or hilarious presents this year.

We managed to get a couple of family photos while we were all together.

Then on to the main event with masses of food to ensure we all overindulged in the time honoured Christmas tradition with dinner under the stars!