La Diva is BAAAAA-AAACK!!!

View of Sydney and Circular Quay from Lavender Bay in North Sydney with huge Gymea Lily in the foreground.

Hellooooo darlings, I am finally home! It's been a grand holiday but I'm soooo glad to get back home to Miami again. Three weeks in Sydney was plenty of time to catch up with old friends and family but Diva found the longer she stayed, the more she ran! The last week was ridiculous with me scheduling three to four meetings with friends a day! It was loads of fun but.....I need a holiday from my holiday!

My days pretty much went like this:

Run. Meet. Kiss. Hug. Drink. Eat. Gab. Drink. Eat. Gab. Drink. Gab. Drink. Repeat in two hours.

All in all, a wonderful time, I was able to do everything I set out to:

The wedding was beautiful.

My birthday was grand.

Catching up with old friends was fantastic!

I met some fabulous hip and strong women who were old school chums of hubby's and new partners of old friends! (Gotta love an Aussie sheila!)

La Diva ate seafood and Asian food until I could take no more.....(just one more wafer thin prawn cracker?! blech!)

I had a tranquil few days out of the city with gal pals and took a fabulous bushwalk.

I drank my weight in Aussie and New Zealand wine and sparkling.

Went to many beaches but only swam once.

Made the most decadent seafood dinner for special friends.

Sang with a good friend at the pub on a Sunday arvo in front of friends I've known for 20+ years.

But mostly, I ran, drank, ate, kissed, hugged, drank, ran, ate.......

Here's what I did on my first day back in Ol' Sydneytown:

Walk down to Kirribilli and around Lavender Bay

Our walk started north from Clark St. in Neutral Bay, down to the Harbour via Kirribilli and around the foreshore up to the top of Lavender Bay. The "2" sign indicates the Sydney Harbour Bridge while the dark orange line indicates the tunnel.

I can't remember what the name of this spider is but it's not poisonous and is quite large, about three inches long. These spiders make their silky homes all over Sydney and are an annoyance to those that walk tall. (but not me, naturally!)

Kirribilli is a Sydney suburb that sits on the north side of Sydney Harbour and is easily one of the prettiest and most posh parts of town. The Kirribilli Pub displays classic Art Deco architecture as do many of the city's pubs.

Under the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Kirribilli. You can click on all the photos to see more detail.

The Opera House and a well-timed ferry from under the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

One of the things I love about Sydney is the juxtaposition of classic architecture amongst modern new buildings. Vintage Federation terrace homes sit in front of office and residential high rises in North Sydney.

Bib and Bub are cartoon gumnut babies turned into 3D sculpture from classic Aussie children's books by May Gibbs. The Lavender Bay walk boasted many tiny sculptures based on fictional storybook characters.

View of amusement park Luna Park on the left, the Sydney Harbour Bridge and downtown Sydney from Lavender Bay.

More beautiful sculptures dot the walk around the cliffs and foreshore of Lavender Bay.

Did you hear what the Bee said to the Butterfly?

This lovely park sits at the top of the walk up the cliff above Lavender Bay and boasts flat green grass and benches for a peaceful respite from city life.

The view from the park at the top of Lavender Bay. This was a very special place to see again as it brought back beautiful memories of when DJ Nevah L8 and La Diva used to rendezvous here for picnics, wine and sloppy kisses!

Lovely to be back home, dears, more to come and see you soon! Ciao!