The Christmas and New Year period feels like it’s fast becoming a fading memory of copious amounts of delicious food, wine, champers and catchups with family and friends from near and far. I think our holiday season this year was one of the best ever, perhaps made more special by the fact we stayed in Sydney and did the tourist thing, discovering more amazing places on our own doorstep instead of hightailing it elsewhere in search of adventure. Here are some highlights of our Sydney staycation:

Sydney’s Little Bay

The beach

Little Bay is officially my new favourite beach. Located in Sydney’s southeastern suburbs (think below Maroubra) it has a hideaway factor with few visitors and no roads directly surrounding it. You access Little Bay via a short walk through a golf course and down a steep staircase, where there’s conveniently a new looking bathroom and shower facility. The beach itself is actually a sheltered bay surrounded by dramatic cliffs and rock formations, with white sand and crystal clear, calm water. You definitely feel far removed from civilisation while swimming here.

The eats

A chance discovery and new favourite post-beach pitstop is Croquembouche Patisserie, a French-run patisserie and cafe in the unassuming location of Botany Road, Botany. We stopped here after swimming at Little Bay and were surpised to discover coffee and sweets rivalling the best of those found in cooler locales, with macarons to rival Zumbo’s. Highly recommended is the jaffa macaron and the luscious salted caramel variety. The coffee’s good too.

The daytrip

We decided to check out the Grand Pacific Drive, a picturesque stretch of road weaving south through the Royal National Park leading to a stunning ocean vista at Stanwell Tops. The road then hugs a curve of coastline enroute to the surfing villages between Sydney’s south and Wollongong, like Thirroul and Bulli (cue holiday house envy), and eventually ends in Nowra. To say it was beautiful was an understatement – think blue sky, sunshine and sparkly sea. Future staycation possibilities are endless… but the daytrip in particular gave us a newfound appreciation of living back in Australia, and the family fun that is ‘the roadtrip’ – our holiday style of choice at the next opportunity!

Early morning tai chi on the riverfront

It was so great to see Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh looking so lush, green, shiny and happy when we dropped in a few weeks ago. On our first morning (after waking for the day at 3am…ahem) we made our way down to the riverfront at dawn to be greeted with tai chi classes, dancing (dancercise?!) and joggers on the newly paved, landscaped and exercise equipment-bedecked public space fronting the swollen Tonle Sap river.

Beautiful morning on the full and fast flowing Tonle Sap

It was a happy sight and a far cry from the riverfront of old. In 2007 (in Phnom Penh years 2007 is really old news) I would return home filthy from early morning walks along the unpaved dirt, after dodging rubbish piles and bedraggled kids. In 2008/09 we’d weave in and out of the jumble of parked motorbikes on the footpath as the riverfront was cordoned off with a big billboard covered fence for maintenance. Finally, it’s been restored to a beautiful, practical and clean space Phnom Penh-ites can enjoy.

Riverfront makeover aside, the city looked newer, glossier, shinier – there were new businesses everywhere from cool new eating and drinking establishments (Brown, Yumi, Rahu et al) to the not so cool but inevitable encroachment of a KFC on what seemed like every block. The streets surrounding the Russian Market were almost unrecognisable, with a rash of new clothing stores cashing in on the brand name western clothing made in the city’s garment factories. The Central Market’s multi-million dollar renovation project is complete, and many existing businesses have expanded, been renovated, or opened multiple branches.

Inside the revamped Central Market

My old street (108) has new green spaces and far less rubbish. There are no longer homeless families literally living on my old doorstep. It’s so amazing and heartening to see Phnom Penh rise from the crumbling, poverty stricken, dangerous place of old to a thriving, creative, constantly improving mini-metropolis, still with loads of charm and a dose of edginess for good measure. I think I will always feel some kind of pull to Phnom Penh after spending a few years living there – an intense period of change, new experiences and new life direction for me.

This Bangkok Post piece is a great read on the new face of Phnom Penh but raises interesting points about the dark side of rapid change, like forced evictions. It will definitely be interesting to keep an eye on how the city continues to evolve.

One of the things I miss about living in Asia is seeing a place through our daughters’ eyes (well our oldest anyway, Zara, who lived in Phnom Penh until she was 3 months old then Saigon until she was over two. The youngest, Sofia, was only a few months old when we left Saigon for Sydney).

I miss the days we used to walk to our local market to buy our fresh fruit and vegetables, and that Zara thought it was normal to go to ‘the market’ instead of ‘the shops’. I miss her trying to climb up our neighbours motorbikes until someone would sit her on one for fun, and how happy it made her. I loved that pre-babycino obsession she used to drink out of coconut shells bigger than her head, while I had my daily cafe sua da, and that she’d sampled street food by the age of 18 months. Zara was so used to all things Asian that she had noticeable culture shock after moving to Australia – wondering where all the motorbikes were, why we weren’t jumping in taxis anymore, and where her little friends had gone…

I’m happy we lived in Asia for her first two years, but I’m a little regretful and sad for the opportunities that could have been if we stayed a bit longer. I wonder what our now almost three and a half year old would be like if we still lived in Vietnam, what she’d be doing, what she’d be saying, how she’d react to everything. And I wonder how our one year old would be different should we be in Asia instead of here, the only home she will remember.

I have to keep reminding myself it wasn’t a utopian wonderland though – Zara hated being touched and grabbed by strangers on the street on a daily basis. Manoeuvring a stroller around was a bit of a nightmare sometimes, and things like powercuts seemed extra annoying with little ones around. As time passes we (luckily) remember more of the good bits than the bad though.

I love that Zara remembers Asia well enough to be excited for our upcoming trip, and I’m thankful Sofia will get a taste of the continent she was born – to experience some of the things her big sister got to do at her age. I also like to think their ‘living in Asia’ adventures aren’t over forever, but we’ll see!