The Baileys down under

Well the Baileys have come and gone and after a few days rest, I have regained the energy to do a blog about our time together. I am pleased to say that the itinerary was achieved and countless activities were ticked off with much zealous from the dadda!

The two weeks involved lots of sightseeing, lots of eating and of course every and I mean every opportunity was taken to crack open a bottle of wine or to sink a few stubbies!

Dadda’s highlight was definitely turning into Bailey Biggles and flying high over Sydney in a seaplane- chops away! Momma truly excelled herself not only did she survive the much dreaded flight but during her time in Oz she went in a seaplane, held an Olive Cobra snake and developed a serious love of Leffe beer! I thought she was going to request bungee jumping off the harbour bridge as her next challenge!

Deb and I had a cool night out around Darling Harbour. We sampled cocktails in the Homebar, sank a few Bundies and coke in Pontoon and mingled with the locals in Cargo!! Deb’s highlight was probably the massage that she received from a three minute angel who turned out to be an attractive Canadian backpacker- I wonder why he got the job- hmm……

Chrissy boy finally got to go to Lunar Park after many weeks of waiting. The dodgems were a great laugh; dad managed to bump everyone except Chrissy! I actually drove my dodgem car better than I drive a real one that says a lot for my driving doesn’t it!

My highlight was really getting to spend time with Mom, Dad and Deb. I have missed everyone so much since been in Oz and to see them again was amazing! We must have looked very amusing to all the people at the airport when we did our screaming and hugging thing when we finally spotted each other.

Anyway I will leave you with a few photos but believe me there are many many more and the camcorder footage of course! It is going to be a very long xmas for all those unlucky enough to find themselves around the Bailey household during the festive period!!!!!

See you at Christmas!

The Ashes have just started here so Chrissy Boy is in Heaven!

Bye for now

Don

Sissies down under

 

Now shall we have wine or bundies and coke next? 

Dadda and the emu

 

Watch your fingers dadda! Getting to meet the locals at Featherdale wildlife park. 

Momma on the pop!

 

This is a photo of the momma and her new best friend- Leffe Beer. She was quoted as saying "I don't care where we go as long as the beer is good". 

Hunter Valley wine tasting

 

Now that's the way to do it! The lads wine tasting! 

Feeding time at the zoo

 

Chrissy boy getting to grips with his ribs!!! 

Manly

 

After a day on the beach we decided to tuck into a steak or two! 

Debba and a furry friend

 

Taking a break from the eating and drinking to meet the locals at Featherdale wildlife park. 

Jordon's seafood restaurant

 

Now where do you start with all that lot............... 

Bailey Biggles

 

Dadda and Momma had a great time flying over Sydney in there very own seaplane (with a pilot of course!!!) 

Red Rocket Adventures

Sorry about the lack of blogging but we have been having such a fab time that I haven’t had two mins to sit and do this. Also the weather has been so nice this week that we have been getting down the beach! Sorry to rub it in, but I need to get as much sun as possible because I doubt whether I will see it again in Brum until around April time- what do you reckon?

Anyway before I talk about the Bailey visit to Oz I will bring you up to speed on our Red Rocket Adventures. Basically we had an amazing time we saw some fantastic places and met a really nice bunch of people from all over the world, although mainly Europeans and Aussies of course.

The week involved lots of travelling it’s a very long way between Alice Springs in the Red Centre and Darwin in the North! We camped out in various locations along the way and Chris and I opted to sleep under the stars in a swag! It was an amazing experience especially when we saw shooting stars in the sky! I thought that we may be eaten alive by mozzies out there but we didn’t (they did however take a real liking to Chrissy boy but opted to dine on him during the day rather than at night!!)

It is difficult to describe the beauty of some of the places that we visited so I thought that a range of photos from the week would be a better way to capture our time in the Northern Territory or as I call it the real Australia!!!!

So here goes!

Hiking up Kings Canyon

 

The first part of this hike was extremely difficult (Claire knows what I mean as she did it too!) especially when the temp was 36 degrees c! Keep going Chrissy....... 

Swagging it!

 

Ok I look a bit rough but what would you look like getting up at 4 am!!!! The swag experience was amazing though the stars were the brightest I had ever seen and there is something very peaceful about sleeping under the stars- honest! 

Uluru (ayres rock)

 

Ok it is just a great big rock but it is a strange sight to see this massive sandstone monolith smack bang in the middle of nowhere and the way it changed colour during the sunrise was, as the aussies would say- awesome! 

The Devils Marbles

 

These were a strange array of rock boulders that have occurred naturally over millions of years- there were loads of them in all sorts of strange arrangements! 

Mataranka Thermal Springs

 

Now it's not every day that you can say, that you have had a dip in a natural thermal spring! It was strangely refreshing even though the water temp matched that of the air temp which was around 34 degrees c! 

Edith Falls

 

This place was truly beautiful. Chrissy boy managed to swim over to the waterfall and back. I got halfway and decided to turn back- maybe I needed some waterwings!!!!!!! 

Kakadu National Park- Mary River Wetlands

 

The climate is very different once you across the Tropic Of Capricorn, it goes from semi-arid in the red centre to the tropics further north. They don't have seasons like us but they do have a dry and wet season. During our time on the boat cruise we saw lots of flora and fauna that inhabit the Mary River including saltwater crocs!!! What do you think of this fella? 

Jim Jim Falls

 

It should be called Don Don Falls. We had to do loads of hiking over lots of precarious rocks to get to this place- it was worth it as it had waterfalls and beautiful secluded beaches. Unfortunately I am not very well designed to hike over large rocks and took a tumble- it's a good job our Aussie guide Luke had his first aid kit ready!!! 

Recovering in Darwin

 

Looks like Chrissy boy is having trouble staying awake to drink his beer! It was a pretty full on week so we'll let him off!