Four Seasons High Tea Party

About The Event

Sunday was the High Tea Party at the Four Seasons Hotel in Sydney. The High Tea Party is an all day shopping and pampering event/expo organised by the Four Seasons Hotel and a number of partners including the National Breast Cancer Foundation and Million Dollar Woman. The event ran from 9.00am to 6.00pm on the 27th and 28th of October.

Arrival

We arrived at the hotel around 11.30am and were directed towards the registration tables where we handed over our tickets and received a Price Attack gift bag containing vouchers and samples.

We were given a short spiel about the event and the high tea by a lady near the entrance, and then we were handed some Lindauer champagne to enjoy as we wandered through the expo.

High Tea

At 12.30pm we headed towards the Grand Ballroom for a lovely high tea. We were seated at a table of 4 with some comfortable chairs and plenty of room. It was nice that we had our own table and didn’t need to share with people we didn’t know.

The high tea itself was lovely. We had one tray between the four of us with four of each item on it. I was a little peeved when I saw that the dessert plate was in the middle and the scones were on top (have some order people, order!) but we ate them in the right order anyway!

We started with some sandwiches which included chicken and mayo, salmon on brioche, a strange mint/tabbouli/lettuce wrap, and the best ham and cheese sandwich I’ve had in a while.

 

We were given unlimited tea (which I definitely took advantage of, having about 4 cups!) or coffee and another glass of champagne.

We then moved on to the scones with jam and cream. The scones looked very cute but tasted more like a bread roll than a scone. However they were soft and still tasted nice with the jam and cream.

Finally we tried some of the desserts, although we were all getting full by then. There was an opera cake-style slice, mini cupcakes, and some carrot cake with toasted muesli on top. The desserts were all nice but were quite sweet and we were already very full by then!

 

During the high tea, there was a fashion show put on by Living Silk, which provided some entertainment and something interesting to watch. There were a few giveaways and then the high tea part of the day was over, and we headed out of the ballroom to the other levels of the expo.

 

 

Stalls

MDS and I enjoyed taking photos with the Porsche, getting some eyelash extensions (with a mascara brush), tasting the Galliano, Lindauer and Skinny Girl drinks, and checking out some of the jewellery, clothes and hair and make-up products on show.

 

 

There were some cute pieces of jewellery and some fascinators on display there but I thought the event would be improved with a few more food-related stalls. Also, some of the items, such as the fascinators, were beautiful but were sooo expensive. One fascinator was about $600 and a plain silver bead necklace was for sale at $650.

The room on level 2 where girls could go to get their hair, makeup and nails done was a really good idea and MDS and I thought it would have been perfect if we attended the Saturday session and were going out afterwards!

Overall this was a really fun girl’s day out and I would recommend it for a little bit of pampering and fun.

Balmoral Beach and Chowder Bay

Since we had a day off work and a beautiful Sydney day, we decided to explore the Mosman/Balmoral area of Sydney. The area is situated in Sydney’s lower north shore area and is one of the more expensive areas of Sydney due to its beautiful beach views. 

We drove through Mosman to Balmoral Beach and found a 12 hour parking. We paid $15.00 for about 4 hours of parking at Balmoral and $3.50 for an hour of parking at Chowder bay as there is virtually no free parking in the area.

We walked along the length of the beach, with its beautiful golden sand and crystal clear waters.

We also explored the little “island” called Rocky Point, which is connected to the beach by a small bridge.

 

You can see Rocky Point and the bridge leading to it in the background of the photo above.

 

 

A little boy flying his kite near Rocky Point

At the entrance to Rocky Point

Here are a few pics I took of the view from Rocky Point island:

 

 

Relaxing and enjoying the views 🙂

 

 

 

Balmoral has a beautiful gazebo/rotunda which is the setting for Shakespeare plays in summer, and is also a popular location for weddings.

Gazebo

As we were starting to get a little hungry, we had a look at the menu at the Bathers Pavilion which, although it sounded lovely, didn’t appeal to us today.

Bathers Pavilion

 

We decided that the weather and beachside location called for some fish and chips, and so we headed over to the nearest take-away which was buzzing with people and ordered 2 fishermans baskets and some iced tea! Yum!

Takeaway Shop

Fish n Chips

The fish was battered using a light tempura-styled batter, and the chips were crunchy and hot. We made sure to coat them well in chicken salt before we left the shop. Although I was soooo full afterwards, I thoroughly enjoyed this naughty meal!

We then continued our walk down the beach, stopping to take a few photos and admire the beautiful views.

 

 

We came across a little wishing well with sections for different types of wishes….

 

 

…..and the cute looking boatshed!

When we had walked the length of the beach, we turned and started walking through Balmoral park, heading towards the Balmoral to Taronga walk.

 

 

 

 

We continued on the walk for about 20 minutes (it takes 60 minutes in total), and decided we were too tired/full/fat/hot to continue!

So we turned back and grabbed some ice blocks, Rekorderlig cider and cold water from some stores by the beach to cool off.

We then jumped in the car (with an hour left on that ticket which we didn’t use) and drove to Chowder Bay.

Chowder Bay was named after the seafood chowder made by whalers and fisherman from their catches in and around the bay. There is a navy base located nearby and although the bay is small, there is a playground and a couple of restaurants including Ripples and the Sergeant’s Mess function venue to keep everyone happy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a lovely afternoon relaxing by the beach, we headed home.

I really enjoyed the day out and the perfect weather certainly helped. Although parking felt like a bit of a rip off, the view was beautiful and there was a lot to see and do.

I would definitely recommend a visit to Balmoral Beach or Chowder Bay this summer!

Karen’s Historic Walks- Ghost Tour of Manly

Website: http://www.karens.com.au

Email: info@karens.com.au

Tel: 0404 338 652

* * *

Karen runs day tours, night tours, history tours, ghost tours, halloween tours, and educational tours of the Manly area.

Being a bit of a “scaredy cat”, I for some reason, thought it would be interesting to try the Ghost Tour. We had booked tickets for the tour a few weeks ago but had to post-pone as something came up. Karen was lovely and was fine with us changing our booking to another night.   

We received an email from Karen a few days prior to the tour, advising us of the time and meeting point. We got there a little early and joined the others who were waiting near the creepy-looking St Andrew’s Church on Raglan Street.

Karen arrived, dressed in a blue cape, with long black gloves on. She had black lipstick and theatrical, spooky makeup! Very scary!

We began the tour with a walk down a small, dark side street. I was very scared at this point and stayed close to my tour companion, and in the middle of the group! Over the duration of the tour we visited a number of sites where there had been ghost sightings, deaths, murders, and even poltergeist activity. 

Although I was quite frightened during parts of the tour, being in a large group meant that I wasn’t so afraid that I ended up running away in tears! I’m sure that on a darker night or with less people around I would have been terrified.

Karen’s tours aren’t just about walking around Manly and hearing ghost stories. The thing I liked most about them was that they actually contained historical facts, that Karen had researched and investigated herself, which gave the stories some truth. For example, eye witness accounts, stories which were published in newspapers and historical records of convicts and prisoners. It was an interesting night and we had a great time.

Karen informed us that she holds a Halloween Tour as well, which I think would be particularly spooooky with everyone all dressed up. If you’re interested in one of her tours, whether it be a ghost tour or a history tour, please contact her using the email or phone number above.

To see what we did after the tour click here.