tiramisho

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Australia Day 12 & 13 (Tue & Wed 9 & 10 Dec: Robertson to Wollongong, Kiama and Berkeley)

Weather was sunny but turned cool by evening.

We checked out after lunch (again, thanks to Zee's dad's friend who extended the check out hours, which otherwise would be 10am), and left Cedar Mist for our next place of accommodation at Berkeley.

Accommodation - Pilgrim Lodge (Nan Tien Temple, the biggest temple in Wollongong). AUD85/night for a double room and AUD140/night for a family room comprising 1 double bed and 2 singles. My uncle and his family are buddhists so hubby and I stayed for convenience.. hehe.. Nice, clean rooms. The total area where Nan Tien Temple stood was about 50 acres, given by the government apparently.

Pilgrim Lodge reception

Double room - narrow bed lah..

Small TV in double room

Shower in Double room

After settling in, we headed out to Mt Kiera Lookout and the Kiama (pronounced as "ka-ear-ma") Blow Hole as well as Sea Cliff Bridge. Dinner was at Zee's parents, who cooked us sumptuous vegetarian dinner.

Mt Kiera Lookout

Kiama Blow Hole - not enough water leh..

Sea Cliff Bridge

Christmas decorations by the residents near where Zee stays. I thought this was fantastic and gave it the "winner" title until.....

This was amazing I tell you!! This has to be the "all time winner" hahaha!! It was such an extensive decoration!! We were all very impressed! The owners said these were collected over >10years! Whoa!!

Close-up

The next day, Zee's dad came around in Nan Tien Temple and gave us a tour round the place. Zee's dad is a volunteer at the Temple.. Lunch was vegetarian food at the temple and then we went to the Wollongong town centre to buy nuts. Zee's dad also bought some fishes and brought us to feed pelicans. Paiseh.. dinner was at Zee's parents' place again haha!! This time was finger food - homemade rojak, banana walnut muffins and savoury rolls (with olive!). Nice!! Forgot to take pictures.. hehe

Feeding the pelicans

Monday, December 8, 2008

Australia Day 10 & 11 (Sun & Mon 7 & 8 Dec: Jamberoo Mountains)

Weather was cloudy in Sydney. We drove down South of Sydney to Southern Highlands.

Lunch was at Zen Oasis, a vegetarian restaurant halfway to the Southern Highlands (about 1.5hr from Sydney). Buffet cost AUD28/pax. Nice food, reasonable price ;)

Outside Zen Oasis

Inside the restaurant

Salad

Food & dessert

Then we went to the supermarket at a town called Bowral before we continue to drive up the Jamberoo Mountains to our place of accommodation.

Accommodation - Cedar Mist AUD300/night/cottage which comprised 3 bedrooms (2 with king beds and 1 with 2 singles + 3 rollaway beds). This was a special price that Zee's dad's friend gave. Normal price was AUD400+ or more depending on the season. Great place for retreat and bonding! Well, it was "meet-the-parents" or rather "bonding" for Zee with my uncle and auntie hahah so this was really a good opportunity. Totally out of civilisation (30min drive to the foot of the mountain). Saw kookaburas and few other bird species just outside our cottage and wild kangaroos too just a few minutes drive from our cottage. Rating: 8/10. Highly recommended!

Very big area right? Enough for everyone to run wild! Haha!

Master bedroom

Kitchen. See the table full of stuff? That was the amount we bought for a 2N stay haha!! Cost AUD150 but good for 5 meals for 7 persons.

Living area which has superb comfortable sofa!

Wild kangaroo not far from Cedar Mist. They are good at staring, you know?!!

Next day - After breakfast, Zee drove us to Fitzroy Falls where we took a short walk. By the time we went back, it was 2+ before we prepared lunch followed by rest. We stayed indoor most of the day as it was raining, but we had a good time together, preparing dinner and play card games ;)

Croissant

Fruit yoghurt

Fitzroy Falls

Lookout from Fitzroy Falls

Australia Day 8 & 9 (Fri & Sat 5 & 6 Dec: Blue Mountains to Sydney)

Weather was bright & sunny at 21 degree celcius. Chilly if you are in the shade ;)

We checked out and went for brunch at Subway. Didn't know what to eat so had the same Subway stuff again hahah!! Cheap & good mah haahha!! Took train back to Sydney (AUD12.20/pax/way) and walked to our next accommodation.

Accommodation - AEA Central Serviced Apartment AUD498 (2N) for a 2-bedroom apartment + AUD30/night for a roll-away bed for my cousin. About 10-15min walking distance from the Sydney Central Railway Station, which was good. There was no supply of coffee and tea in the apartment. The worse was I felt it was such a badly engineered building! There was only ONE main aircon in the living/ dining area! Nope, there was no aircon in the bedrooms at all!! Wah liao eh... *faint*. The guy had the cheek to tell me that the aircon air would flow to the bedrooms which were on the same side of where the aircon unit was.. sorry mate, I had to totally disagree (see picture below). So, what was the purpose of the room door then? Also, I believe all the 2- and 3-bedroom apartments' bedrooms faced the courtyard where the sun came directly through, and people from units above and opposite you can look into your bedroom. Quite jia lart leh! I'm gonna give it a lashing on Tripadvisor review! Rating? 2/10 - 1 point for cleanliness, 1 point for easy access to Railway Station (not like one will be using the Railway every day anyway!). Such a disappointment!

Bedroom

Kitchenette

Dining area. See where the air-con unit is, and the corridor leading to the bedrooms. You think the air-con air will flow right, then down the corridor and into the first bedroom, then left to the next bedroom meh?)

Living room - small TV ;p

Backyard

View from balcony

One funny incident - some dumb dumb cooked sausages but burnt it and it set the fire alarm off. So all of us had to evacuate and wait for the firemen to come haha! What an adventure! We've always had fire drill but this was "real"! ;p

Dinner was Harry's pie @ Circular Quay. I read about this on Tripadvisor and requested my cousin to bring us there. They have vegetarian options so my uncle's family had pies too.. hehe!! Not too bad.. looks small but it could be very filling cos of the heap of mashed potato! With limited time, we were chauffered to Sydney Opera House - quite a happening place by night with the bars and perhaps it was a Friday night, and Kings Cross ("red light" district in Sydney)

Harry's Cafe de Wheels

Harry's pie (can't remeber how much, think about AUD6ish)

(Bars by the Opera House)

Next day, 6 Dec - Zee drove us to Haymarket, Chinatown and we walked around Darling Harbour, took a cruise to Circular Quay, walked up to The Rocks Market (things were not cheap hoh!), then ferry back to Darling Harbour (AUD5.50/way/pax). Actually, we started the walk quite late, like 11am which was the hottest time of the day! Last stop in Sydney was to Paddy's Market and then to Newtown for Thai vegetarian dinner (recommended by Zee as well), as my uncle and family are vegetarians. Not too bad!!

Haymarket