Adios Buenos Aires…G’day Sydney…

Saying goodbye to the Marchants’ and the Vassallis’ was hard. We had such a good time with both families and were privileged to be part of their lives for a few weeks. Was a great encouragement to see the Marchants’ into their new home and by their faith for life in Buenos Aires… we will miss them as we journey on.

The flight to Sydney was spectacular. We flew over the Andes with brilliant views of the mountain range. The peaks and troughs looked like baked Alaska pudding. After a small detour due to a volcano eruption in Chile we flew over the South Pole. Again the pilot alerted us to the views. WOW was all we could say as we clamoured with other passengers to take photos and get every view we could. We flew with the sun all the way and what with the long flight and the time change we were very confused when we arrived in Sydney having lost a day!!!

We are staying with Joy & Phillip Doughty who have been so welcoming and generous to us as we do our whistle stop tour of Sydney. Joy is (for those of you who know the family) Sue Newbury & Pete & David Bignals sister. They have four kids Keziah (20), Joseph (18), Samuel (16) and Micah (13). The Doughtys’ home educate all their children and therefore we have been able to share experiences with them. We have also learnt about Sydney, politics and Judaism from Philip, who also built the house we are staying in (respect!). This meeting of families is one of the things that we wanted our travelling to be about and we feel richer for the experience.

So far we have had a day in the Blue Mountains…stunning views and our first taste of ‘the bush’. Joy and I were very excited to glimpse a Lyre bird. Our first view of Sydney city and harbour was from the river. We took a ferry from Paramatta (about 30 minutes out of the city) and came in through the affluent area housing river mansions, yachts and the Olympic village…then into the harbour under the harbour bridge and alongside the opera house. What a way to experience these iconic sights and we are all still shocked by the colour of the water – beautifully clear and blue! No trip to Sydney is complete without a day at Bondi beach. Sun, sea, sandwiches and POSERS! We had fun but boy were there a lot of people out on show! There was an amazing ‘Sculptures by the sea’ exhibition along the coastal path which we all enjoyed.

K-J and I took a day in the city to shop and go on the Sydney Opera House tour. We were wowed by the venues and design of the building. The use of different timbers both for visual and acoustics were impressive – we learnt tons!

So we have loved visiting Sydney and love the Doughtys and will be sad to say goodbye for now!

Love Hayley X