First stop on my Round The World (RTW) trip was somewhere very familiar. Central Coast NSW, 1hr north of Sydney. Beaches, Rivers, and the place I called home for awhile when I was younger. Back then none of my family lived here, now for various reasons quite a few of them have gravitated here, so its been a busy time of reconnecting with family and friends I hadn't seen for awhile.
The Christmas lights display at Hunter Valley Gardens is nothing short of spectacular (its much much better than it looks on their sad little webpage, trust me!). Sadly we were rained out after only an hour and a half there. Still it's a brilliant display of both lights, music and gardens. The fragrance of flowering plants releasing their perfume into the balmy summer night air added another dimension the experience and if you're ever in the area when it's on, GO.
Sometimes girls just wanna have fun, so that's what we did late one afternoon, hitting the local summer fair, for sideshow alley attempts to win big stuffed toys, a ride on the rotor and some fairy floss (after the ride) to prove I was still just a big kid at heart. After trying our luck on the clowns and the lucky numbers board, we finally won a big green frog for my niece. It now sits happily on her bed as a reminder of those crazy memory making moments at a summer sideshow fair by the lake.
Here in Australia its just not Christmas without a hit of cricket on the beach or in the backyard. Its a fun and easy way to work off the post gluttony stupor of a massive meal. Catching up with aunties, uncles and cousins I haven't seen for ages - nice to connect with family again before exiting the country for my big OS adventure.
