Australia Day Weekend
Posted by at 8:41 PM
Luckily we moved to Australia at a good time as most of the public holidays occur at the first of the year. The first one up was Australia Day. This is basically Australia's version of 4th of July. We started the weekend out strong on Friday night with a fabulous dinner with Pip (Jess' Boss) at the Bentley Hotel celebrating Jess' Birthday. Side note, the restaurants/pubs/bars are called hotels here...don't ask me why, it is just the way it is. What we (Americans) call hotels are also called hotels...very confusing.
Anyway, the Bentley hotel is located in Surry Hills - a short cab ride from our place. We met Pip at the bar a little early for a pre-dinner drink. The drink list is quite exquisite - Jess had a stawberry basil mojito which was very impressive to watch being made. The dinner menu was also quite inviting with tapas or entrees. We opted to have two tapas (chorizo & calamarri) and then individual entrees. Pip selected an excellent white wine that paired well with the meal. The food was superb and went well with the minimalist atmosphere.
On Saturday, we got up early and started our hunt for a car. We know we want a 5dr hatch, but that still leaves a lot of options to choose from. We went to look at the Toyota Corolla hatch, VW golf, Peugeot 207, and Honda Jazz (or Fit as it is know in the U.S.). Our main concern is safety (considering the history), but Jess prefers to get something we can't get in the U.S. and I want something that fits the purpose. Ideally we hope to find something a few years old with a few thousand kms. After several hours of car shopping, we met up with Chad and Whitney Casey at The Glenmore Hotel. Side note: Chad and Whitney both graduated from UT as engineers and got me my job at URS. Suprisingly Jess and I had actually been to the Glenmore hotel once before. The hotel features a rooftop terrace with amazing views of the harbor - we of course forgot to bring the camera. The roof (and entire bar) was packed with people celebrating Australia Day. It was a wild experience, but everyone was nice and we ended up meeting some new people.
On Sunday, Jess and I did some more car shopping. This time looking at the Holden Astra and Mazda 3. The Holden seemed to fit the best balance of cost, safety, and utility for us. Now we are on the lookout for a used one. Afterwards, we took the 30min ferry ride to Manly Beach for dinner. Manly is a beach community on the North side of the harbor. Dinner was good, but nothing spectacular. On the way back on the ferry we had a great view of the city at night.
On Monday, we met up with Pip for Victoria Sponge Cake (see separate post) then we headed over to Watson's Bay (on the ferry again) for Fish and Chips at Doyles. Watson's Bay is right on the edge the Harbor with some amazing Ocean Views. The Fish and Chips were good and we finally felt like we got to enjoy the long weekend.
Anyway, the Bentley hotel is located in Surry Hills - a short cab ride from our place. We met Pip at the bar a little early for a pre-dinner drink. The drink list is quite exquisite - Jess had a stawberry basil mojito which was very impressive to watch being made. The dinner menu was also quite inviting with tapas or entrees. We opted to have two tapas (chorizo & calamarri) and then individual entrees. Pip selected an excellent white wine that paired well with the meal. The food was superb and went well with the minimalist atmosphere.
On Saturday, we got up early and started our hunt for a car. We know we want a 5dr hatch, but that still leaves a lot of options to choose from. We went to look at the Toyota Corolla hatch, VW golf, Peugeot 207, and Honda Jazz (or Fit as it is know in the U.S.). Our main concern is safety (considering the history), but Jess prefers to get something we can't get in the U.S. and I want something that fits the purpose. Ideally we hope to find something a few years old with a few thousand kms. After several hours of car shopping, we met up with Chad and Whitney Casey at The Glenmore Hotel. Side note: Chad and Whitney both graduated from UT as engineers and got me my job at URS. Suprisingly Jess and I had actually been to the Glenmore hotel once before. The hotel features a rooftop terrace with amazing views of the harbor - we of course forgot to bring the camera. The roof (and entire bar) was packed with people celebrating Australia Day. It was a wild experience, but everyone was nice and we ended up meeting some new people.
On Sunday, Jess and I did some more car shopping. This time looking at the Holden Astra and Mazda 3. The Holden seemed to fit the best balance of cost, safety, and utility for us. Now we are on the lookout for a used one. Afterwards, we took the 30min ferry ride to Manly Beach for dinner. Manly is a beach community on the North side of the harbor. Dinner was good, but nothing spectacular. On the way back on the ferry we had a great view of the city at night.
On Monday, we met up with Pip for Victoria Sponge Cake (see separate post) then we headed over to Watson's Bay (on the ferry again) for Fish and Chips at Doyles. Watson's Bay is right on the edge the Harbor with some amazing Ocean Views. The Fish and Chips were good and we finally felt like we got to enjoy the long weekend.
Labels: Australia Day, cars, Ferry, food, Manly Beach, Watsons Bay
