Mumbai day one

Our first full day in Mumbai started early for us as we adjust to the five and a half hour time difference.... meaning a long wait until sunrise, over the Arabian Sea (visible from our hotel room window).

 This is how our beautiful hotel looks in the early morning light........

We enjoy a delicious breakfast in the Sea Lounge with Megan and the L family before setting out at 9.00am with our guide for a day's sight seeing around South Mumbai.

First stop was at one of Mumbai's many outdoor Ghats (laundries)............

 Where Rob befriended a small bird......

 Indiana Jones and his sparrow.......

 at about the same time as I spied this small rat peeping out of a crack in the pavers ..........

The laundry was part of a complex of houses, shops, a small school and other businesses - quite a busy, vibrant area ......

 The laundry workers were all men.

 Next stop was a busy fishing port/market on the Western side of Mumbai.....

 The market was very laid back today - and very tidy and well organised.....

 It had its own kulfi (ice-cream) maker, a lovely young man from Rajasthan ......

 as well as a hair dressing salon....

 and all the seafood you might expect in a fishing port .......

 as well as flowers for ceremonies ...

 and spices......

 I love all the colour!

 Lots of cats (and more rats) .....

This older, southern part of Mumbai has many glorious examples of colonial era architecture. The pic below is of Victoria (railway) Station. ....

 ...and Mumbai's Town Hall .......

 ....and the nearby Crawford Markets ........

The markets were beautifully laid out, clean and well organised. We were amazed at the freshness and beauty of all the produce. We bought some organically grown spices from the Crawford Markets.

 Next stop was the Churchgate (railway) Station to see the amazing Mumbai tiffin box wallahs (dabbawallahs) implementing their amazing delivery and return service. They deliver and return around 200,000 lunch boxes each day - with never an error so they say!

We headed up to the exclusive Malabar Hill area next with its great views over the coastline and the Arabian Sea. We walked around the "Hanging Gardens" (not all that impressive) creating a bit of a stir with some of the locals who were curious about where we'd come from (and how tall and blonde the L family were). 

The gardens are adjacent to a Parsi owned area where funeral ceremonies are conducted. It's a bit unnerving to see the flocks of black kite birds in the sky and then think of their role in Parsi funerals.

Then we visited Mahatma Gandhi's house in Laburnum Road, not far from our hotel. This house was the focal point of Gandhi's activism after his return to India in 1917, right up until the 1930s, so it's hallowed ground for Indians.

After a quick lunch break at a cafe we spent some time at the very impressive Prince of Wales Museum of Western India (but since renamed), the main museum in Mumbai.

In our short visit we barely had time to focus on anything too deeply, but i did enjoy seeing the ancient stone sculptures (depicting so many powerful female deities), the decorative arts and the textiles.

It was a great day - Mumbai is India's biggest and most developed city, and its most modern. We were struck by how well everything we saw today worked, and how friendly the people were, despite the teeming crowds, the crushing poverty (as well as extreme wealth) and the lack of infrastructure and planning. What a city!

But it is very nice to come back to our beautiful hotel and our very stately heritage room. It's gorgeous!

Arriving Mumbai

We flew into Mumbai's busy, modern International Terminal right on time at around 10.30 this morning.

The remarkable Mr Singh had ensured we were met on arrival and ferried to our beautiful hotel in the up market Coloba region in South Mumbai. Today the drive from the airport took us around an hour and three quarters. The main road south seemed to be gridlocked most of the way.

A great opportunity to catch some of the roadside scenes though!...... past some of of the extensive but well organised slum districts of Mumbai......

traffic jams, highways, apartment blocks - some quite upmarket but many looking a bit worse for wear in this crowded sub tropical climate.

We're staying at the beautiful and iconic Taj Mahal Palace Hotel , overlooking the Arabian Sea in South Mumbai - in a very grand and luxurious room on the third floor.

This view of the Gateway of India was taken from our third floor window - It's one of Mumbai's favourite gathering spots for young people.

 The pic below is of Rob at the door to our room.

 And this is our view over the balustrade.

 And our view of the corridor off our floor!.....

We'd left Canberra at 11.30pm on Sunday night and flown via Singapore around 13 hours, to get here early afternoon Mumbai time. We spent the afternoon relaxing before meeting up with Megan at the pool verandah for our first Mumbai G&T at this beautiful hotel.

The London branch in Sydney

The London branch were well set up in their stylish Randwick Airbnb during their Sydney stay: lots of pool time for Eddie, fantastic toys to play with, great eating options nearby and plenty of shared time with Nanny and Poppa (and us)!  It helped (just) make up for the loss of Eddie and Ivy's Canberra playmates, although I think Eddie lost his Mojo for a bit - it was so quiet ...........

We didn't do too much in Sydney the first two days - it was too hot to venture far from the a/c and the pool. However by Monday we were able to set out on the ferry to Manly Beach - the classic Sydney visitor destination......

Eddie had recovered his Mojo by this and was a very animated traveller....

Manly had all the attributes Eddie looks for in a beach (namely seagulls!!)..........

Ivy had recovered her sleeping Mojo by today and we didn't see much of her until after lunch.

Lunch was truly amazin. We found the best restaurant eva..... chip pizzas on the menu... 3 thumbs up from Eddie!!

Ivy finally woke up - properly - on the ferry ride back to Circular Quay.....

Hope she doesn't forget seeing Sydney Harbour.......
Our last night together (last night) was lovely. We celebrated Eddie's 7th birthday with a cake and presents ..... The rockin rollin laughin kookaburra was a huge hit (yay!) - resulting in big smiles from Eddie....

and great hilarity all around....

... only to be relieved when those batteries wear out (soon I hope)!

Such precious times with these beauties.........

Can't bear to write how it felt to say goodbye!!!

Cousins

There were two magical days in early January when we saw the London and Canberra cousins together - the last day of the Mollymook Beach holiday...........

 Angus

 Ivy had the Canberra boys wrapped around her little finger!

 And Eddie was best buddies with Angus and Ollie........

Then, just the day after, at Randwick in Sydney, Eddie and Ivy met Ella and Abi (just back from their holiday in Bali). Ella hadn't seen Eddie for six years or so, but they got on (both water babies) as though it was only yesterday.......

 In all the excitement Abi avoided nap time all afternoon....

 but loved story time, tucked up in bed, with Ella and Abi.....

 They all found Davey a great playmate.........

 Ella set him her handstand challenge (which Davey fulfilled - just!)

 Eddie and Ivy have found all their Australian cousins amazin fun!