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Co-Ops travel
agency, Travelcare, were brilliant throughout the organisation
of this trip and allowed us to take the holiday a week earlier
than the terms stated. My hubbys 40th birthday was on
28th March, so I wanted to try and get him to Sydney a few
days before the big day.
The prize initially stated a week in Sydney and a week in
Melbourne but we paid for an extra week, and changed the
itinerary to 9 nights in Sydney, 8 nights in the tropical
region of Port Douglas, followed by 3 nights in Singapore on
the way home.
We arrived in Sydney late in the evening. It was so nice to
walk out of the airport into a lovely warm breeze to the sound
of cicadas and Lorikeets.
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We started
exploring early the next day and took in the Sydney Opera
House and the Harbour which was buzzing with river taxis.
Darling Harbour
was quite breathtaking at night with the sky lit up all
around. The restaurants surrounding the harbour all had a
great viewpoint and the food was delicious in each one we
tried.
Sailing around
the harbour was lovely and gave us a chance to catch some sun.
There were so many river cruises to choose from but my
favourite was one which took us to Taronga Zoo. It was
beautifully landscaped and had stunning views across to Sydney
Harbour.
I could happily
have taken the Koala home but felt that Customs may have had
other ideas.
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My hubby, Scott
has four cousins in and around Sydney whom I’d never met, so
it was a great chance to meet up with them and their families
and see some parts of the country which we would probably have
missed otherwise.
The day of the big 40 dawned and I’d booked a high rise treat
for Scott. I knew he’d already climbed the bridge before so I
bought us tickets to do the Skywalk around Sydney Tower which
stood at 250m.
The views from
the top spanned 50 miles in all directions. We stood on a
glass floor which moved out ensuring the best views were
obtained from all angles!
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In the evening we went back and had a
meal in the revolving restaurant which took an hour to
completely go round. The views were quite magical and
certainly made the event a day to remember.
The rest of our stay seemed to fly by
but we managed to pack in just about everything we wanted to
do which included visits to the Aquarium where you could walk
under a clear tunnel and watch sharks, rays and turtles
swimming above.
The Botanical Gardens were beautiful, even the giant bats with
2ft wing spans were impressive!
The Chinese Garden of Tranquility next to Darling Harbour was
another oasis of peace and calm in the middle of such a large
city.
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Port Douglas was
such a complete contrast to Sydney. All buildings were low
rise with nothing over 3 storeys and all the streets were
quiet and lined with palm trees, all full of beautifully
coloured parrots.
The temperature was an average 90 to 95 degrees and breezy and
as you can see from the photo of 4 mile beach, not exactly
crowded.
We took a couple
of boat trips out to the Great Barrier Reef. I nearly bottled
out of snorkelling having only recently taught myself to swim
but decided that I couldn’t go all that way and not do it.
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Having donned my fetching lycra suit and checked that my
snorkel mask was water tight, I took the plunge. Suddenly
finding yourself over 10 metres of water is daunting for all
of 2 seconds before the sights beneath you completely take
over.
So many turtles, fish, and coral in all colours of the rainbow
that you can’t take it all in.
The boat trip back took us down
mangrove lined river inlets where a very large crocodile swam
out to say hello, before circling the boat and swimming away.
Our final trip north of Port Douglas
was to the rainforests which were just staggeringly beautiful
although they certainly clarified the word 'humid' with
humidity standing at 100%!
The catch phrase of the holiday became ‘ all this for 15 words
or less’!
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All too quickly this part of the
holiday came to an end but the two days we had in Singapore
were a chance to do some final sightseeing, some of which was
on a Rickshaw-something not for the feint hearted!
A flying visit to the famous Raffles Hotel for a Singapore
Sling and a stroll through the Nightlife Safari on our last
day completed the trip.
I still can’t believe all this happened thanks to one winning
slogan and if I never win anything ever again, this trip will
keep me entering comps for years to come.
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