Our time in Sydney this trip was split into so many different parts it is hard to digest it as a whole. Tom and I stayed in three totally different places over our five nights! All were fantastic in different ways.

We decided to spend our first two nights in Coogee Beach, where Tom had stayed when he first landed in Australia in 1999. As we were there on the eve of my birthday it was a great decision.

We found an ideal dinner spot next door to where we were staying: the Coogee Beach Pavilion, with giant games and a great vibe. I enjoyed the perfect morning run from Coogee to Bondi and back on my birthday morning, rounding it off by a takeaway breakfast from Morning Glory café.

The graffiti wall at Bondi was initiated as a memorial to those lives lost during the Bali bombings of 2002 and has some startling images.

We had a great final morning in Coogee when I managed to get my hair cut at ‘Salt’, Tom and the girls enjoyed the beach (although it had got a bit chilly) and we all sampled some Vietnamese spring rolls.

For my birthday itself I had requested we went on a guided tour of the Sydney Opera House, a building and programme I had always immensely admired. It was wonderful to experience it in person and learn about the troubled history of its construction and variety of programming. We were very lucky to get a sneak peek and listen to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in rehearsal.

We went on to the Cornelia Parker retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA), again an artist whose practice I have always been interested in, with both familiar older works and more recent responses to the General Election and war memorials.

The afternoon and evening were made all the more special by meeting up with former Admirable Crichton chefs Andrew and Jade and their son Oliver. First strolling Circular Quay for ice cream at Gelato Messina, we took a ferry across to Darling Harbour, the kids stripping off in the fountains and all of us enjoying dinner and drinks at Fratelli Fresh. Jade even surprised me with a delicious gluten-free cake.

On leaving Coogee we passed through Leichardt where Tom had spent four months sharing a flat with numerous backpackers. Amazingly the first-floor flat was still there.

Our next port of call was Springwood in the Blue Mountains, to stay with friends Rupert, Katherine and their son Edward. It was terrific to catch up with them and for the kids to meet.

We had spent a few days in the Blue Mountains back in 2012 so didn’t feel we needed to visit the tourist spots. I had a slightly scary bush run around the Birdwood Gully reserve where the paths seemed to disappear at times!

We had a fun morning at an artisan’s market in the grounds of the Norman Lindsay Gallery, enjoying some hula hooping and juggling fun, listening to a very talented young singer/guitar player as well as sampling excellent hot dogs and corn fritters. An explore of the gallery and museum later amused us, remembering that Norman Lindsay gained fame through the film Sirens – his artworks pretty scandalous and mainly of nudes.

After settling the kids down to a dose of afternoon movie time, Tom and I took the train back to the city. We stayed a night in Surrey Hills to go to the U2 concert, an extra birthday treat. And wow did we have a good time.

We had some tapas at Trinity Bar on route to the concert and after drinks at Bar Cleveland. The concert was incredible – support act by Noel Gallagher and the entire Joshua Tree set by U2. The animations and backing visuals were stunning with lots of thought-provoking images set to some of U2’s most classic hits. As you would expect there were some strong politically minded statements especially regarding women’s rights and US foreign policy.

There was a point when we thought we might be watching it alone as we couldn’t find one another but eventually we were reunited!

The morning after warranted a fancy adulty brunch at 3 Williams, where I sampled a ‘Dirty Sunrise’ – cold batch coffee over fresh orange juice on ice. A rather good double hit of caffeine and vitamin C. Back in Springwood the kids enjoyed a swim in the pool and making a gingerbread train.

So Sydney had been a mad few days of friends, incredibly generous babysitting, date night extraordinaire, art, opera, boats, bush and birthdays. Phew.