Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
OK...still in Tonga ...just read all my messages from everyone...exciting times Ian and Jane! heres the Sydney story.
Approaching Sydney from the air...wow...so spectacular...the bay, the buildings and Bondi beach...and the wow factor just continued.
Sydney must be one of the best cities I've visited..if not the best...next to Dysart of course. Very impressive city centre skyline, all the bays and harbours with ferrier and sailing boats, and beaches...stunning, fantastic botanical garden and parkland to walk through the city....with cheeky and noisy parrots, ducks, other exotic birds and huge fruitbats...all just doing their own thing....and Sydney bridge being Sydney bridge with people walking up over the superstructure,and THE OPERA HOUSE...just wow wow wow. My first glipse was in the evening we arrived. Took a stroll from my hotel! ( grotty backpackers hostel),...a lovely walk down really interesting street with lovely victorian terraced buildings...with me thinking ..it would be nice to have a wee apartment here, or further along around one of the warfs,...the naval dock...pristine with teak decking to walk around and posh hotel overlooking the crystal clear water in the harbour, then through the park with the most amazing huge trees, then around Mrs McCrossan's ( or some other Scottish wifie's) point...and there it was....THE OPERA HOUSE.....I could hardly believe I was there. I know we've been to some fantastic places but that first sight of the Opera House was really breathtaking...I hung around for ages just looking and taking in the most amazing sunset. I then had to walk quickly back to the dump ....I was on my own as Bob had his first migraine of the trip here....bummer! So single girl in city, first night, in the dark, through the park...walking smartly, but with other couples, joggers...lots of people enjoying the area, running, stopping to exercise, run up and down the steps, and generally trying to become the even more beautiful people....or learn the words to the songs in their ipods...or something!..or perhaps dealing with their hangovers!...not 'embracing their hangovers' but fighting them - Scott with hangover..."I feel crap" turnover fall asleep again, raid the fridge later......Australian hungover...."I feel crap...better get up, go for a 10k jog and have a gojiberry juice!" (paraphrasing Danny Boy ..Scottish comedian we were told about by an Aussie co-traveller)
Anyway day 2 in Sydney I went on a trip to the Blue Mountains....Bob embraced his migraine....the Blue Mountains are very close to the city so I couldn't let that go by. I really enjoyed the trip, including a whip around the Olympic 'village', searching for kangaroos and finding kokaburas,(..in the bush, not the Olympic village) the vistas..and the cable car and 'steepest train journey in the world' experience...and a great ferry trip back. ...a bit of tourist info here....The Blue Mountains are not really 'mountains' ..the whole area is actually a huge gorge/series of gorges....like The Grand Canyon...but with trees...Eucalyptus...which give off the Eucalyptus vapour ( no parrots, monkeys or kangaroos with colds here!) which give the appearance of blue mist over the trees....so there! Ate on my own that night in a fabby Thai stall next to the digs...as good as Bangkok! Bob had a biscuit!...and still felt shaky.
Our good pal Douglas, who emigrated here afew years ago came to meet us in Sydney...he lives in Melbourne...an hours flight away.....it was so good of him to make this effort.....we were students together in Edinburgh, flatmates and have kept in touch sporadically since then....so glad that we managed to meet up.......and he just loved the accomodation!...not. The backpakers was the worst place we'd been in in Australia...and more or less the same price as our other really posh appartments...but city prices..and as we're on a tight budget ..Douglas just joined us. We each had our own double rooms, clean sheets with wall to wall stickyness on the floor and hot and cold runnning cockroaches accross the bed!...Douglas said his bathroom was a bio hazard! So sorry about that Doug...we'll come back when we're rich and treat you! ...as he did us!... We had more city jaunts including tour of the Opera House, the sky rail and 'Manly ferry' with 'great to see you champagne' en route... and visit to Manly beach and a swim in The Pacific for me...whilst the boys caught up, and watched the surfers...I didn't have my 'togs' ( swimsuit)...so borrowed Douglas trunks and top...very dashing! Then Friday!
What a glorious 'best day of our trip' we had with Douglas. We started with a visit to the maritime museum, where we were shocked and glad to get out of our first submarine experience...on the surface..and that was well scarry enough for us thank-you....but so interesting.. Then a very thrilling tour around an exact replica of Captain Cooks Endeavour, with volunteer pensioner tour guides...just brilliant...and she sails...and you can get a passenger berth....so wished we'd found out about that, before....just need to come back.
We then dashed off to go out in the harbour on our wee beautiful yacht, picking up our lunch and the mandatory ice and beers for the trip. What a brilliant brillant time we had ...all taking turns and helming and crewing and Douglas ( who owns one of these ...24ft J class..and races in Melbourne), picking up some handy tips from the great guy who was the instructor with us....very casual guy...so just like pals out for a jolly....and he was so game ....there was a big charity race on in the bay..lots of huge boats including 'Wild Oats' ...mega machine...runner up in 'Sydney to Hobart' this year.....and we were sailing right through the field!...we would have avoided them and gone to the side...but the guy said..." no dad on through the middle...no worries"..so we got great pics and only friendly waves from the racing lads...they do do friendly waves with two fingers down under don't they?....only joking....it was beautiful and warm, sunshine, good wind...and around The Opera House and the bridge...wow wow wow!
Had great snack in the sailing club with Aussie beer then taxied to the Opera House for our Symphony concert......another stunning awesome experience...we just loved it.....the acoustics were incredible...and the interior roof design to acheive this amazing. We finished 'our perfect day' with a beer...then and ice cream overlooking the illuminated city and bridge....unforgetable!
Next day flight to Aukland...and a new adventure begins.
- comments