We drove up on Thursday and managed to fit in a meal out at Ho Jiak in Haymarket with our Canberra friends Fiona and Graham as a tasty (and very convivial) prelude to Jane's arrival on Friday.
Jane duly arrived Friday - no delays, no baggage lost, no mishaps at all - so lots to catch up on and lots to celebrate (which we did in style that afternoon with a glass of bubbles at Coogee's Crown Plaza).
Saturday morning we set out early to Rose Bay and the start of the iconic Hermitage Foreshore Walk. ... which we extended, eventually walking all the way to Watson's Bay.
This is one of Sydney's most stunning harbour walks .........
We crossed beautiful Parsley Bay - quite crowded on this sunny humid Sydney morning......
... and made it to Watson's Bay after about an hour and a half of walking along this beautiful harbourside track and the opulent streets of Vaucluse.
We enjoyed an early lunch at the old Watsons Bay Hotel before catching a ferry back to Circular Quay and the light rail from there back to Coogee. In all Jane's visits to Sydney this was the first time she'd been to Watsons Bay!!
Saturday night was the big birthday party so that took up the rest of Saturday. We started slowly on Sunday morning, making our way eventually via Light Rail (again) to Nicki's place in Lilyfield, in time for brunch together at her cute little parkside local cafe in Orange Grove.
There was a really heavy shower of rain at the end of our visit so we caught an Uber into the Art Gallery of NSW for the afternoon. We were all keen to see the Louise Bourgeois exhibition at the fabulous new extension to the Gallery (the North Building) and the Kandinsky exhibition from the Guggenheim at the original AGNSW (the South Building). They were both stunning exhibitions and Jane was suitably impressed with the new North Building and its amazing underground Tank Gallery
We spent a lot of time on Monday morning too-ing and fro-ing over the weather and how it might affect our plans for the day (it was very windy and showery). In the end we made a move and caught the Light Rail into Surry Hills. Coffee and a pastry at the Bourke St Bakery was the first thing on the agenda.
Unfortunately, the Brett Whiteley Studio in Raper Street was closed on a Monday (!!!!) so this will have to be saved for Jane's next visit to Sydney!
We enjoyed strolling the character filled streets of Surry Hills with its beautifully detailed Victorian terraces, shady tree lines streets and its many cafes, designer shops, galleries and vintage treats. We even found a lovely little bistro called "Jane".
We eventually made our way to the Australian Museum and joined the queues to see the stunning Ramses and the Gold of the Pharaohs exhibition of over 180 ancient treasures from museums and historical sites in Egypt, on loan from Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities ...... including the most amazing cedar coffin of Ramses 11 himself (around 3,000 years old).
It was a truly amazing exhibition - but very crowded - it took us around two hours to make our way through the crowded rooms displaying the most amazing objects and audio-visual installations.
Jane flew back to the Sunny Coast today but not before heading to our fave Pool Cafe at Maroubra for brunch - on the way to the airport ......
..... and a final birthday weekend catch up with Tania and daughter Morgan - who made the trek from the North Shore all the way south to the wilds of Maroubra Beach to join us at the Pool Cafe.
Rob was so patient, taking quite a few pics of us until we were happy with this historic recording of our happy reunion - especially with Morgan joining us - for far reaching conversations about every subject under the sun, ranging from cake making dramas, data science and world geo-politics - and everything in between!!!
It was so sad to say goodbye but what a wonderful weekend it has been - love these women!
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