The K Team Kick Back in Katoomba!

This was a special treat for CK's birthday on Sunday! 3 nights at Melba House B&B in Katoomba, up in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales. As you can see we took full advantage of the complimentary bathrobes and decanter of port (which was topped up every day!) The chocolate buttons on my bed were left over from our visit to the Blue Mountains Chocolate Shop where you can make your own mug of REAL hot chocolate! They give you a tall pot with a tealight under it, a jug of hot milk and a big dish of tiny chocolate buttons. You melt the buttons in the pot, add hot milk to taste and drink it through a straw as you go! Delicious! And the left over buttons went down very well with our port later! The weather on Friday was fantastic so we spent the day bushwalking in the Blue Mountains National Park, visiting Leura Cascades and the famous 3 Sisters at Echo Point. (CK has renamed them Maggie, Jackie and Linda after her own 3 sisters!) I only have one so Anne, you can choose which one you want to be! On Saturday the weather completelly changed with the temperature dropping about 10 degrees! We had blustery winds, hail, sleet and snow showers! Yes really! It was probably about as cold as in the UK and yet the previous day I had my shorts on! Weird! On Sunday (CK's birthday!) we had our last scrumptious breakfast (scrambled eggs & bacon for me and CK had pancakes with blueberries and maple syrup - Mmmm!) Then we took the train back to Sydney and wandered around the harbour, checking out the GIGANTIC cruise ship which had appeared over the weekend! There was a lot going on at the Harbour - it was buzzing with activity! Larry & Kylie (Channel 7 breakfast TV hosts! We love Larry!!) were there presenting an event for people to win a trip on the cruise ship and it was also the final of "Australian Idol" which was an outdoor event outside the Opera House. A lovely end to CK's birthday weekend! Then it was back home for a glass of wine and a Thai meal at the restaurant next to our apartment in Surry Hills. So not far to stagger home afterwards!

The K Team Heckle in Parliament!

We thought we better not leave Australia without visiting the capital - Canberra! So took a day trip there on Murrays Coaches - 3 and a half hours each way! Visited Parliament House and being as it was free to go inside we went in to check things out. We were lucky as Parliament was actually in session while we were there and we were allowed to go and sit in the gallery and watch the proceedings (after going through a strict security check of course and having to leave our cameras outside!) It was Question Time so Kevin Rudd the Prime Minister was in the firing line from all angles! It was very exciting to watch, especially when the heckling started and the speaker had to keep shouting out "Order, Order!" After leaving Parliament House we spent an hour or so walking around the lake (Lake Burley Griffin) which is in the middle of the city. You can see us both posing there by the Captain Cook Memorial Jet in the middle of the lake! Accompanied by those beautiful black parliamentary swans who were swimming side by side all afternoon - must be love! (JK for the K Team)

Wacky Wildlife of the Day - the Cassowary!

We loved this one! Had never even heard of the Cassowary before coming to Australia but what a weird and wonderful creature it is! A bit similar to an emu and, like emus, best to keep a safe distance I think! If you want to see them in action click on this youtube video - http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=HO5Z8pnQCNQ&NR=1



It's worth it to see other people's scary encounters with them! Back to the subject of emus though we did see a very unscary and very cute baby one! (JK for the K Team)

Wacky Wildlife of the Day - the Thorny Devil!

Now that we are just chilling out for awhile in Sydney, we thought it would be nice to show you some of the weird and wonderful wildlife we have seen throughout our travels in Australia! Apologies to those of you who may have already seen some of them on photos we have sent out, but to those who haven't - hope you enjoy them! Today's Wacky Wildlife is Connie's favourite - the handsome little "Thorny Devil"! We spent ages looking for one when we crossed into Central Australia, all to no avail at first. We did encouter a "sleeping" one which had been preserved by our host at our B&B in Alice Springs (think Monty Python parrot sketch!!!) but then fortunately saw several live ones at a little Reptile Park there. This one we thought was the cutest! They move around in a weird way, apparently resembling a leaf blowing in the wind to deter predators! Also they also have a false head on the top of their real heads so that if they are attacked they bend their heads down and hopefully their attacker grabs the false 'head' which then grows back again! How cool is that?! (Apologies for the photo being the wrong way round! (Click on it to see it bigger!) I took it at that angle as it was moving around quite quickly and then rotated the photo on my laptop. Unfortunately this blog page doesn't recognise that and doesn't have any rotation facilities. So sorry for you all having to put your head on one side to see it but it's worth the effort as he is so cute! Well, we think so anyway! (JK for the K Team)

The Sisters Hit Sydney!

Well, we're back to being the K team again now as Mary has left us and flown back to the UK! We gave her a whistle stop tour of Sydney and surrounding area in 6 days! We took in the sights of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Mary made friends with an aboriginee at Sydney Harbour & joined him in a little music making! We took the monorail to Darling Harbour and got a good view of Sydney Tower. You can see it in the background of the photo of Mary by the beautiful purple Jacaranda tree (my favourite tree!) and that was where we had a buffet meal in the revolving restaurant on Mary's last night with us. We were staying in Manly (where CK and I had stayed for a month previously in August) so we took Mary on a stroll to our favourite little beach - Shelly Beach and also on a 10km coastal walk around the bay back to Manly Wharf - Phew!!! We also visited the Blue Mountains and Palm Beach (where we are alll posing on the rocks!) We did think we might get parts as extras on "Home & Away" which is filmed there but sadly they weren't shooting that day so our talents were wasted! After Mary's departure CK and I moved across town to Surry Hills, a suburb close to Sydney (where we will be staying for our last month in Australia.) As Mary flew back across the seas (after an impromptu and unplanned 24hr solo trip to Singapore!!) CK and I visited Sydney's Chinese Garden - an oasis of tranquility in the middle of the city! CK is posing by the 'Lake of Brightness' and that's me reading (or pretending to!) in the Reading Pavilion! Hope you enjoyed your stay with us Mary - we certainly enjoyed having you along with us! Watch this space for the further exploits of the K Team in Sydney! And don't forget - click on any of the photos to see them at full size! (JK for the K Team)

The Terrible Trio in Tassie!

Beach Road Cottage, Lindisfarne (photo on left) was our home for our week in Tasmania. Lindisfarne is a lovely tranquil place with a little marina (which I could see from my bed!) We all loved Tasmania! It reminded us a lot of the UK in some ways as it was very green, lots of hills, mountains and lakes and the temperature is a lot cooler than we have come to expect in Australia!We heard that it rarely gets above about 23 or 24 degrees and is often a lot cooler and rains a lot! However, while we have been here we have had mostly sunny days and the last two days hit temperatures of 26 and 32 degrees! The locals are all saying this is most unusual! We were quite happy about it though as never expected to be able to wear our shorts in Tasmania! We hired a car for a couple of days to do some sightseeing up and down the east coast. The scenery was fabulous all the way, in particular Wineglass Bay (so called because it's shaped like a wineglass!) and Remarkable Cave, whose opening (as you may be able to see from the photo) is shaped like the outline of Tasmania itself! Pretty cool hey?! Although I would be more impressed to see one with an opening shaped like the map of the UK! Now that would be truly remarkable! Now of course you can't visit Tasmania without seeing their most famous resident (although now in danger of becoming extinct) - the famous Tassie Devil! Not as scary as you might think as their name only comes from the sound they make, not their behaviour. Apparently the early settlers heard them howling (which being nocturnal creatures would be at night!) and thought there were devils and demons about - hence the name "Tasmanian Devil!" Poor little Tassie Devils - totally misunderstood! We saw them at a wildlife conservation park where one of the rangers told us all about them and how they are trying to save them from becoming extinct. We also met Pixie the wombat at the wildlife park! How cute is she?!! She had been hand raised from a baby but would be reintroduced into the wild when old enough. The ranger told us that the great thing about raising a wombat is that when they are young they love company and contact with humans so you can stroke and cuddle them as much as you want to! This doesn't affect their return to the wild because when they get to a certain age they totally change and become much more distant and want their isolation and make it very clear that they are ready to leave and be on their own. (Click on the picture of Pixie with the ranger to see it at a bigger size and just look at the expression on her face! She is absolutely loving being cuddled isn't she?!) We also met Banjo the koala! Have seen lots of koalas now but still get a kick out of being up close to them! (JK for the K Team)

Connie and the Cakes!

Once upon a time there was a girl called Connie who loved cakes! She ate them, she baked them and often she even dreamt about them! Her favourite island was Capri, off the coast of Italy and earlier this year (for my birthday in April in fact!) we stayed there for a weekend and visited the cake shops! Mmmm! Many months (and cakes!) later we arrived in St Kilda, Melbourne where Acland Street is famous for its cake shops. We found four of them! They are full of mouth watering, taste bud tickling, tongue tantalising, tempting, irresistable CAKES! We took Mary along to feast her eyes on them when she arrived in St Kilda and as you can see, she was excited too! (Connie was too enthralled in making her choice to even look up at the camera!) Even I wasn't left out in the cake department as they have gluten free ones too! Tons of gluten free stuff here in Australia generally in fact! Even the little cafe at the Flying Doctor Centre in Alice Springs, Central Australia (in the middle of nowhere!) offered sandwiches made up with gluten free bread! And in Adelaide they have whole gluten free menus in some cafes! So come on UK - catch up! More gluten free food please! (Ok, ok - I will get off my gluten free soap box now!) But I did enjoy my cake! (JK for the K Team)