Time for holidays

April 29, 2019

The last two weeks were Easter/Autumn holidays in Australia, of which I worked one week and then went to Nambucca Heads with my host family in the second week. 

So, the first week, my work week, went more or less normally. Sofia had time off, so I had her the whole Tuesday and both kids on Wednesday and Thursday. 

On Tuesday, after dropping Matthias off at daycare, Sophia and I went on a bike ride from Oatley to Como. Unlike the last holidays, Sofia can finally ride a bike now and is very eager to do so. Como is a suburb next to Oatley and there is a pedestrian/bike path you can take to get from one place to another. 

Once we arrived in Como, Sofia and I had our packed lunch and Sofia played a bit on the playground. Then she had an ice cream and we made our way back. 

Back home, we had a bit of quiet time in my bed and then painted each other's nails, a typical girls' day. ;-)

On Wednesday, despite the holidays, Matthias had Little Kickers, so Sofia and I dropped him off there and then went to a cafe together. After Little Kickers, Matthias got to choose something from the bakery and then the three of us went for a walk around the block because the kids brought their bikes and scooters. 

In the afternoon, the kids packed their suitcases, mostly by themselves but with a little help, because the next day we were going to Nambucca Heads on the East Coast early in the morning. 

Since we had to drive about 6 hours and it was Good Friday, we left very early. For the first three hours, I sat next to the kids in the backseat, until we arrived at the sister of my host dad, who lives on a farm. We took a short break there and for the rest of the journey, I was able to sit in the front passenger seat because Ash and his mother continued driving in their car. It was much more comfortable and I even got to choose the music. 

After three more hours and a total of about 500 km, we finally arrived in Nambucca Heads.

In Nambucca, our days mainly consisted of breakfast, going to the beach, lunch, afternoon rest, shopping, and then dinner. It was a nice and quiet change of pace, and one morning I even got up before sunrise to go to the beach with Karo, my host mom, to watch the sunrise. Unfortunately, it didn't work out as well because there were too many clouds on the horizon, but the atmosphere was still very nice... and luckily there was coffee afterwards. 

The Easter Bunny came to Nambucca as well. I didn't see much of it because the kids started looking at 7 am, which is way too early for me (except for watching the sunrise), but they definitely got a lot of chocolate, and I got a chocolate bunny too.

Originally, we planned to go back to the aunt's house on Friday and I would leave two days earlier than the others by train, but since my host family wanted to take advantage of the nice weather on Friday, and I wanted to be back home earlier to fully enjoy and make the most of my last weekend in Sydney, I spontaneously flew back to Sydney on Thursday morning. It wasn't much more expensive than what I would have paid for the train from Nambucca, and definitely faster! I landed in Sydney again after just one hour of flying, drove to Oatley to drop off my things and freshen up, and then went back to the city.

The next day, I went to The Rocks Markets for the first time and walked across the Harbour Bridge. It was also something I hadn't done before. In the evening, I met up with a friend and we went out in Sydney together.

With the same friend, I went to Cronulla Beach on Saturday, and on Sunday we went to the Bondi Markets and did the Bondi to Coogee Walk. These were all things I hadn't gotten around to or thought I had plenty of time to do in Sydney, but time flies too fast!

Now the Easter holidays are officially over, and tomorrow begins my very last week as an au pair. It feels strange to write that, and even stranger to think that in a week from now, I'll be in New Zealand and my kids will have a different au pair.

By the way, two weeks ago, I borrowed a backpack, a sleeping bag, and a weatherproof jacket from my aunt for my stay in New Zealand, so I'm well equipped now. Now I just have to pack cleverly to fit everything in the backpack, but I'll do that on Friday when I also pack up my room here. 

I don't know if I'll have time to write in New Zealand, but probably not, because I won't have my laptop with me, so for now, I'll say goodbye for about three weeks and then write a post about my experiences in New Zealand. 

Until then! Nora