Mat-te-wan-ye - Pinchgut - Fort Denison

It's always fun to have an excuse to be a tourist in your own town and do something new. So Steve's birthday seemed like a good reason to book a reservation at a place claimed to be in the top five waterfront restaurants in the world, the Fort Denison Restaurant.

For those of you not familiar with Sydney, Fort Denison (as it is now called) is a small island right in the heart of the Sydney Harbour. It was originally a small rocky island and has undergone several transformations and name changes as the purpose of the island has changed. According to its website it has been a fishing spot, prison, defence structure, navigational guide, tide gauge station, weather station, time marker and now a restaurant, event space and historical museum.

Of its three given names throughout history my favorite is definitely Pinchgut, evidently because it was believed the prisoners that stayed there received very little bread and water.

Unfortunately Steve's birthday now falls during the Australian winter (so much for that summer birthday), so it seems that we maybe could have picked a better time of the year to eat at a restaurant that is built to enjoy spectacular harbour views. We will have to go back in nicer weather, and perhaps sans children, when the sides of the tent are open and views are seamless. Nonetheless, despite some light rain on Sunday we tried to make the best of his birthday lunch.

Approaching Fort Denison on the ferry

To get to Fort Denison requires taking a specific ferry as the regular Sydney Harbour ferries don't service it. We opted to use Captain Cook Cruises, otherwise there are a few other options to get you there, just a short 10 minute ride from Circular Quay. Each visitor is also required to pay a special National Park entry fee, which was included in the ferry fee.

Approach as you disembark on the island

View towards the restaurant (in covered tent for the wintery rainy weather)

Upon our arrival it was straight to lunch - at least three of us were very hungry - and one was very tired! So while Morgan snoozed Steve insisted on Emma and I trying oysters for the first time. While I love most seafood, this has never been one that appealed to me. My pre-conceived notion was correct, and Emma agreed with me with one simple word - her favorite and quickly becoming Morgan's favorite, "yuck." Morgan eventually woke up to join the rest of us for a lunch... beef wagyu for Steve, prawn and crab linguini for me, fish and chips for Emma and Morgan. We all made it through the white linen lunch without incident from the girls (kids are actually welcome here though so don't hesitate to bring them - they even have a kids menu), except for the waitress that dropped a too full tray right next to me. 

Emma staring down the oyster to make sure it was dead

Morgan looking all cute and polite with napkin bib and using a breakable plate.

I let her have my phone for 90 seconds and ended up with 48 selfies with every expression possible

As the rain had started to come down heavier we took them up on the offer for a free coffee (along with profuse apologies for the dropped tray) as we weren't going anywhere, obviously, we were on a small island and were subject to the regularly scheduled ferry times. But as we had an especially fidgety 15 month old we decided to venture out into the rain anyways to explore the rest of the island.

Morgan was excited to get outside and explore

The day was a series of bad photo attempts

Well this one turned out pretty well

Learning how to shoot the cannon 

In position to protect the city

View of the entire top level

There was a small indoor museum in the enclosed building that told the story of the island and some of its uses along with a short film playing. But really, as you can see from the photos, most of the fun to explore and the even more impressive views, are above the building and restaurant on a grassy knoll.

Another failed photo

And another... good smiles, but a blurry photo

Morgan loves noses, so we'll call this the nose game!

Look at that view!

Morgan was unaffected by the light rain, but Emma wasn't as much of a fan, so she was ready to go when the ferry came into sight. And of course, right on cue as the ferry came to take us back to the "mainland" the sun started to come out. 

There comes the sun...

Sydney's Best Coastal Walk: Complete

Last weekend we finished "Sydney's Best Coastal Walk." We completed the Bondi to Coogee walk by doing the second half of it, Bronte to Coogee (although some might say the walk still goes a bit further to Maroubra). Notice a trend? It seems for some strange reason that with two kids in tow we don't ever do the full walk in one day. Of course I have no doubt we could if we tried, but I also have no doubt it wouldn't be near as much fun. Instead, last Saturday just like the Saturday that we did the first half of the walk, Bondi to Bronte. It was much more about having fun with a relaxed walk than it was about trying to conquer any epic hikes in record time.

Emma and Morgan started with some good playtime at the massive Bronte Beach playground while I got the duty of driving to the end of the walk in Coogee, finding a parking spot, and then taking the direct (non-scenic) 2 km walk back to meet them. From there we set out with one last look at the massive waves beating down on Bronte Beach and the Bronte Baths.

Bronte Beach Waves

In general the walk was very similar to what we had seen the first half, but I'm not complaining about that, because it was beautiful. Stunning coastline with steep cliffs, bright blue water, huge waves, and plenty of gorgeous beaches.

Me and my girls

We passed through what some might claim as the "most scenic burial ground in the world," Waverly Cemetery where we encountered a short detour through the heart of the cemetery due to storm damage that was still being repaired from last year on a small section of the walk. There's nothing like walking through the center of a massive cemetery to cause a barrage of questions from your four year old to say the least.

View over Waverly Cemetery

As we made our way through Steve concluded he would be happy with being buried there and I still deferred to my preferred cemetery of choice (Lauterbrunnen Valley in Switzerland). Hmmm.... guess we have some negotiating to do.

Looking north along the coast

We enjoyed taking in all the sights and sounds of coastal life the rest of the 4 km, 1.5 hour walk. Emma nearly made it the whole way on her own before asking to be carried and Morgan, well we won't be too harsh on her for the fact that not only did I have to carry her the whole way, but that she slept nearly all of it too.

Just a friendly game of lawn bowling with the best view ever (Emma Grace Photography)

Clovelly Ocean Pool

Waiting for the waves at Tom Caddy Point

3/4 Family Selfie!

More beautiful coastal views

Gordons Bay

Memorial Statue to the victims of the Bali bombing in 2002

Coogee Beach under the watch of the Surf Rescue Team

And as must be done at the end of all good "hikes," we found a delicious lunch and ice cream at Coogee Pavilion. Emma and Morgan loved the nostalgic games area on the ground level of this massive three floor restaurant complex too.

Finishing our walk and headed to Coogee Pavilion for lunch

It was a good day. We were thankful for the lull in the rain as Sydney the last few weeks has begun to feel a bit more like Seattle than Australia. And I'm looking forward to the return of the sunny, moderate autumn that I remember so fondly from last year.

Seems like everyone was happy with the end result.

Christmas was hot, again this year.

So I prepped myself mentally for round two this past holiday season... no Thanksgiving, a hot Christmas, and no snow. It was still strange, even knowing better what to expect this year, but that doesn't mean that we didn't have a really enjoyable season. While last year we were just trying to feel settled in a new city and a new home, this year was totally different and we found some traditions that we definitely want to keep around for next year (bouncing with giant elves included).

While it was still hot and there was no snow this year, we actually celebrated Thanksgiving. Every good American knows that the holiday season really starts by eating until you have to can't keep your top button buttoned. But the rest of the world seems to not have adopted that novelty. After spending a couple years in Switzerland we have somewhat adjusted to missing Thanksgiving. And when the weather is warm and there aren't any leaves changing colors and falling from trees, in a way I barely notice not celebrating it. But this past year we were in for quite a treat when my women's bible study decided that we should put together an American Thanksgiving dinner. It was a very thoughtful gesture for the three Americans in the group, but also a fun way for us all to gather and talk about what we are thankful for, just like we would back home.

And there was certainly no shortage of friendly banter either. It was a team effort to create the menu with Americans sharing favorite recipes and finding creative ways to make sure we had as many of the appropriate ingredients as possible (especially those that are hard to find in Aussie grocery stores). There seemed to be an overwhelming consensus that most all the recipes started with good intentions that later went wrong by adding an abnormal amount of butter, cheese, salt, sugar or some other processed ingredient added. Yep, sounds about right. Thanks America for helping to clog the arteries of a few Australians in one night.

The kids table at Thanksgiving

The adult "long table" at Thanksgiving

Now that's an American Thanksgiving!

With that amount of food, it certainly felt like a typical end of November. And in typical fashion December kicked off with some shopping and visiting several malls and department stores in the area and in the CBD that were full of fun kids activities and decorations. We spent one Saturday as a family out shopping and another weekday with a few of our friends checking out the best spots.

Cute reindeer #1

Cute reindeer #2

Top of the Swarovski Tree at the Queen Victoria Building

Celebrating Christmas is better with friends

Writing letters to Santa (the other girls actually got one back from Santa too!)

Riding the train to the North Pole

Watching themselves dance to Christmas music

Christmas tree and Santa's lego sleigh at Martin Place

And no Christmas season would be complete without baking a few cookies and decorating them with friends was even better. And a day of celebrating Jesus' birthday at our playgroup was pretty great as well.

Making Christmas cookies with friends

Celebrating Jesus' birthday!

Without a doubt one of our favorite new activities was the Santa Fun Run to benefit Variety Children's Charity. It was a family friendly 5k course that we ran/walked with several friends. It was so much fun to watch all the kids get so excited to run it together. And you might have guessed it from the photos, but yes all participants got Santa suits to wear! 

This is Christmas in Sydney

The whole gang pre-Santa Fun Run

Steve in full costume

We weren't the only Santas...

Here we go!

And they're off!

They ran most of the way!

Pretty scenic course...

Just a few beautiful landmarks along the way.

From Opera House to Harbour Bridge

Aren't they cute?

Party in the "snow" globe!

Bouncing with elves!

More fun was had with friends when Emma and Morgan also got to participate in their first "secret santa" gift exchange. We selected names for the kids and it was fun to hear stories of how they picked out gifts for their friends and the excitement for them all to meet up and exchange on a beautiful Friday afternoon. I'm not going to lie a beautiful Friday outside at a playground in the middle of December is pretty nice...

The "cupcake Friday" gang

A "flying fairy!"

A gorgeous Friday in December

But without a doubt, my favorite new tradition of the season was "Carols Under the Bridge." Beautiful Bradfield Park sits just under the north end of the Harbour Bridge and is a few kilometers from where we live. It played host to a gorgeous evening of caroling put on by the nearby Church by the Bridge. 

Carols Under the Bridge

I completely underestimated just how large of an event this would be when we saw the advertisement and decided to go with some friends for the evening. It was absolutely spectacular. The performers and vocalists were superb, there were many great kid activities, and our favorite part was the live nativity and story of Jesus' birth. It was so much fun to watch Emma's eyes light up and to follow along and see the story played out in front of her. And then add simply perfect weather and that stunning view and backdrop of the Opera House and it couldn't have made for a better evening.

Mom's hat wearing, butterfly face painting, jewelry wearing, candle holding Emma

So much fun!

Mary and Joseph on their walk to Bethlehem

The living nativity was really well done

And of course no season would be complete without a few fun gifts. There were plenty of cookies and carrots left for Santa before we left for Thailand. Emma was thankful that Santa was able to somehow find her and bring her stocking to the hotel, but left her one "big gift" at her house back in Sydney.

Christmas eve family jammy photo!

Sisterly love

Emma and her new art easel

Well someone had to help Morgan open her gifts!

She was pretty excited about her superbunny costume!

Tickets to her first show at the Opera House wasn't a bad gift either.

But no matter what, two of my favorite memories are these... a Christmas Eve service like no other in Bangkok and a memorable trip to visit Santa. It was truly a wonderful holiday season. Even if it was hot.

Emma somehow managed to join the Christmas Eve Children's Nativity at a church we had never been to before.

One for the books! The Thinker and The Crier?