Night at Bennelong

Josh and Jody and the girls joined us in Coogee on Saturday - ready to foresake Canberra's 110th birthday celebrations in order to enjoy the long weekend in Sydney. We met up in Paddington, did over the markets and the VERY interesting shopping opportunities along that end of Oxford Street before heading back to Coogee for the afternoon.

Saturday night we were all excited about our long-held booking for a celebratory dinner at Bennelong, Peter Gilmore's iconic restaurant under the sails of the Sydney Opera House - a first time experience for Josh, Jody and the girls.

The night started early with pre dinner drinks overlooking the harbour at the open-air Opera Bar. 

I loved the way Abi and Ella chose their pink lemonades to match their outfits.

This whole space has such a sense of occasion!!!

I so enjoyed seeing the girls handle the formality of service and the refined menu at Bennelong with such grown up aplomb. Abi was particularly impressed with the mocktail menu - complete with edible rose petals. She also homed in on the hand reared Blackmore Wagyu beef dish on the mains menu and did us all proud with the way she relished every mouthful.

Jody's sashimi scallop with oyster cream entree was the prettiest looking dish of the night (and very delicious).

It was a magical night - and we all loved being together experiencing this amazing place, the exquisite food and attentive, skilled service, all while overlooking one of the world's most beautiful cityscapes. It was brilliant!

Our dinner was also a celebration of Joshy's January birthday - a wonderful reason to pull out all the stops for this occasion ......

The floor manager noted our inexpert attempts to take some group shots at the end of the night - and took over from us. He did such a superb job (I think he's done it many times before)!

Sunday we spent in Coogee, enjoying a long breakfast together at the Crowne Plaza, followed by a swim and beach time, a bit more shopping for the girls along Coogee Bay Road, and a long late lunch at the Coogee Bay Hotel - a pretty standard day in Coogee for the young ones.

We ended off the day with a walk up to the Spot at Randwick ready for a light but delicious meal at LaSen, an old favourite Vietnamese restaurant on Avoca Street. 

We had such a happy, memorable time together this long weekend - all the more special because it's been so hard to plan and do things like this for the last few years!