Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Botanical Gardens and a Park Play Date



Yesterday we welcomed back our old friend the sun. After nearly three weeks of rain (had I mentioned that?) we were thrilled to see blue skies in the forecast. It happened just in time for the first day of July holidays. The girls and I were thrilled to get out and about after spending so much time inside. I was amazed to see how soggy everything still looked. It's going to take a while to dry out the area. Several of our friends are dealing with major mold issues in their rental apartments. I'm relieved we've been spared and I hope the drier days will help them out.

We decided to do a bus - ferry - bus - walk home circuit. We started by heading into Sydney CBD (Central Business District). Emily wanted to go to Myer to look at Lego. She even sweet talked me into a small Lego Friends set. I thought it was cute she wanted the one of the girl playing soccer.


From Myer we walked over to Hyde Park, Archibald Fountain and St. Mary's Cathedral. It felt great to just explore and take our time. We stopped for snacks, balanced on walls and generally just enjoyed the warmth and the change of scenery.



I'm amazed by how green things continue to look in winter.


You occasionally pass bare trees like this sycamore but they are the exception.


From Hyde Park we wended our way towards the Royal Botanical Gardens. This continues to be a favorite spot of mine. Every time we go through we take a slightly different path and we discover some wonderful new corner. Yesterday we went through a new gate and the girls stopped to play by the fountain for nearly an hour.


We picked up some maps from a helpful volunteer.


We walked through the Fernery and even stopped for lunch in the heart of the garden.


We continued down to the water's edge, around past the Opera House and over to the ferry. We took the ferry to Balmain East, took the bus up the hill and met up with friends for a play date in the park by school. One friend brought a soccer ball and the girls adored practicing their moves.


Emily and Tess both doted on little Caelan. They loved helping him up the stairs and down the slide. They definitely sent him faster than either his mum or I would have but he laughed all the way.



In all we covered about six miles and slept well at night. It was a great start to our vacation time. 

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