Australia

 

Four Weeks Down Under

✈️ OUR BIG JOURNEY  ·  FRIDAY, 23 JANUARY 2026

What better way to spend Christmas Eve than jetting off to the other side of the world? After spending time with Danny, we found ourselves on a mammoth 22-hour journey via Singapore, touching down in Sydney on Boxing Day to the welcoming smiles of Ryan and a hand-painted picture by Jack. The jet lag was already kicking in, but seeing Ryan made every bleary-eyed hour worth it.

 

Our Australian adventure unfolded over the next four weeks. We brought in 2026 with Ryan, Niamh and her family; Fergal, Georgina and Jack; plus our niece Megan and her boyfriend Jim, who had travelled down from Brisbane — a lovely way to celebrate the new year. From Fergal and Georgina's apartment in Bondi, we could see the Harbour Bridge and the incredible fireworks. It was strange to think that the UK was still eleven hours away from their celebrations.

The next week was action-packed. The cricket at the Sydney Ashes was one of the better days for English cricket, followed by our escape to the Great Barrier Reef — first Hayman Island, then Hamilton Island. Hayman is a 30-minute boat trip from Hamilton and has just one hotel set within the coral reef, but we arrived with a cyclone heading inland as the backdrop. Wind and rain were on their way.

The Hunter Valley wine region was another highlight. Ryan and I couldn't resist a round at Greg Norman's course, The Vintage — absolutely beautiful fairways surrounded by rolling vineyards. Then on to Melbourne and a chance to visit my cousin Stephen and his family. It had been ten years.

While in Melbourne we caught the opening day of the tennis Open. Ryan's good friend Ben had travelled with his family to Melbourne to escape the heavy rain in Sydney, so we met them at the tennis. A big country suddenly felt small.

We even squeezed in the Melbourne parkrun, our third of the holiday — the first two in Sydney. The food highlight had to be our meal at Stokehouse in St Kilda — hands down the best dining experience of the entire trip, although the food and wine throughout the holiday were wonderful. I was not expecting to write that.

As all good things must end, we found ourselves back in Sydney for our final adventure: canoeing through the harbour as the sun painted the sky in brilliant oranges and pinks. What a perfect way to close the chapter on four incredible weeks, already dreaming of when we might return.

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