Day 21 - Sydney Arrival (Mon 29th Nov)

Our earliest wake up call yet, this morning we woke up at 04:30. Was a difficult start but after making sure everything was packed, we got our luggage into the car and set off to the airport at 05:30ish. We were once again fortunate to get a lift by Graeme which we are both very grateful for. Our time at Brisbane was fantastic and what Graeme and Lorraine have done for us is much appreciated. The fact they both managed to put up with us two was amazing.

We arrived at the airport for 06:00 and checked in, our flight was at 07:00, Virgin Blue only delayed us about 15 minutes this time so their getting better! Once again Chino managed to sleep the whole flight to Sydney, we arrived at 09:30 local time (Sydney is 1 hour ahead of Brisbane time, 11 hours ahead of English time). So only an hour and a half flight! We were picked up by our very good friend's Aunty (Rosie Bellisio's Aunty), Kathryn who gave a very friendly welcoming to Sydney. This morning Phill and Chino's luggage were both quickly reclaimed, managed to leave the airport around 10:00. Due to traffic it took Kathryn longer to get home, unfortunately the weather was pretty rough too. We arrived at Kathryn's home in Illawong and what a house! A really nice place with a nice sized pool and slide, Chaggie still can't believe how lucky they've been in finding such great people to take us in.

We were allowed to make ourselves at home and had breakfast once we got in, we were showed to our room where we dumped our stuff after. Kathryn had work today as well as her Son and Daughter. Kathryn's Son; Matthew and Daughter; Jodi chatted with Chino on the phone, they were eager to help us out with advice on what to do and see during our stay which was really good of them. They had work till 17:00ish so until they got home Chaggie tested the pool temperature and found it was perfect for a good couple of hours! We managed to get lunch at the local shops and check out the neighbourhood.

We met Matt and Jodi once they had finished work which was great, exactly like our friend Rosie, they're both friendly and easy to talk to. We chucked a rugby ball about outside for a bit before heading to the local pub with them around 18:30. The local pub was doing steaks and schnitzel's (chicken fillets) for $9 this evening, Chaggie and Matt managed to get through a few beers and a schnitzel whilst Jodi went off to Football training. Later this evening, we headed back home to a few more beers and a few games of Pool (yes they have a pool table as well!). So lucky to have found such friendly people to stay with in the one place we hadn't planned anything beforehand. Certainly going to be a good week!

Chaggie x