Aus Day 1 - Corlette

Arrived at Sydney (woke up at 4am local time and landed at 7:30am). Nice to skip the long queues of the normal passport control but we had to hang around to get customs to check Kerry's medication. Bro-in-law, Neil wasn't at the gate but had waited at a different. Still he had driven 200kms to pick us up and was probably been up the same time as us.
Weather was wet with light rain but we appreciated the fresh air. The weather didn't change much in the 2 and half hour drive north. Getting out of Sydney was very slow with traffic and single lane roads. At least we drove over Sydney Harbour Bridge with a view to the Opera House. Still, it looked really different in the grey, dull light of the overcast sky.
Stopped for a coffee at a McCafe (crap coffee) then drove past Newcastle, very industrial with the coal business but surrounded with loads of fields where every house owned at least two horses. Saw our first wild kangaroos before reaching Neil's home in Corlette, a coastal town part of Nelson Bay.
The weather was still pants so couldn't enjoy his outdoor swimming pool so tried to keep the tiredness at bay with some more coffee and banana cake which kept us just short of feeling 'sketchy'. However, the jetlag did overcome us and had to have a couple of power-naps before the evening's BBQ. Neil was very insistent on plying me with beer and had bought too many crates for the stay. There was no way I could appreciate the Japanese beer in my state.
Couldn't do the BBQ food justice either as I guess our stomachs thought it was breakfast time. As we ate next to the lit up swimming pool we heard some strange rustling in the hedge. Neil expected to find a blue tongue lizard but it turned out to be a tree frog which posed perfectly for my first great photo. After some more chat we only lasted until about 10pm before giving into sleep.