Christmas Time in Australia

My very first Christmas away from home was back in 2014. It was filled with excitement of the unknown as I had never been apart from my family during this time, and little did I know it was to be the first of many. What better place to spend Christmas away from Scotland than on the beach, Bondi Beach to be exact.

The morning was glorious and I headed to the beach with other 'orphans', wearing the obligatory Santa hats and having a Christmas swim. 

The beach, as you can imagine is packed full of locals and tourists all wanting their photo on the beach to brag to friends and family back home.

This particular day was an absolute scorcher. The sea was refreshing and we worked up an appetite to have Prawn salad and potato salad. I still find it strange not having the traditional turkey my Dad makes at Christmas. 

On Boxing Day there is the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, which you can watch from Sydney Harbour and all the way along the coast. 

Aussies usually have the days off between Christmas and New Year, and so in this case, I headed up to Summer Bay aka Palm Beach.

We decided to climb to the very top of the Barrenjoey Lighthouse, a must do if you ever visit Sydney. The views up there are incredible and you can see all the way to the Central Coast on good days.

I am finally headed home this year for Christmas to spend it with my family. Will be strange to not have my usual Christmas swim but family far outweighs the beach! 

Copacabana, Avoca, Watsons Bay - Long Weekend Trip

Taking full advantage of the long October weekend in 2014, a few friends decided to book a lodge in Avoca, which is about a couple of hours North of Sydney on the Central Coast.

I decided to head to the Central Coast a little earlier, to check out another beach I had been recommended from work colleague. There are regular trains to Gosford, as a lot of people commute during the week. Once I arrived there, after some delays, I hopped on a bus that took me straight to Copacabana beach. Although, I did not realise that would be the very last bus of the day...

The beach itself was absolutely beautiful, with hardly anyone there apart from the locals. It is easy to see why people choose to commute!

I then spent the next couple of hours trying to get a taxi to take me 10 minutes up the road to Avoca. I would have walked, but considering it was a plus 30 degree day, I didn't think my Scottish skin would cope. It made me realise, you really do need to have a car when travelling Australia, and cannot rely on public transport.

Eventually made it to Avoca, had a BBQ and wine night with the girls and spent all of Sunday at the beach in Avoca.

We then made our way back to Sydney, and decided to celebrate the end of the weekend with fish and chips at Watsons Bay Hotel at sunset, which is perhaps one of my favourite things to do in Sydney.