SYDNEY… A Rockin’ Place!

We arrived via JetStar on Wednesday afternoon.  After a cab ride in the largest cab/van on this earth, we got to our hotel located across the street from Hyde Park.  That was my first hint that many streets, buildings, parks, etc… share names with places in England! 

We walked a lot on Thursday.  Our goal was the Opera House and Sydney’s harbour and we made it there via the ANZAC memorial, Hyde Park, The Domain and Botanic Gardens.  It seemed ages to Sofia, but we recharged with coffee/hot chocolate as the rain found us.  We nipped into some shops, a little café for a quick lunch then we found the infamous area known as “The Rocks”.  We went to the “Discovery Museum”, finding it very easy to spend an hour or more learning a little bit about the history of Sydney.  Afterwards, we made our way back to the hotel.  We were soaked so we went to the hot tub on the top floor of the hotel and warmed up.  A successful first day, we made plans for our next…

ANZAC Memorial

The Domain/Botanic Gardens...

Botanic Gardens

First good impressions of bridge

Day two started wet, but we could tell it was clearing.  The Australian Museum was a stone’s throw from our hotel – we decided it was a great way to spend part of the day.  And were we right! It was an amazing place – the kids even really enjoyed it.  The only complaints centered around empty stomachs!  We had enough after a good three hours so crossed the road to St Mary’s Cathedral.  We arrived during mass, so we entered the church and sat at the back for about five minutes, taking in its splendor.  We didn’t stick around and found ourselves back at the hotel, regrouping.  We took a walk down one of the quaint streets by our hotel to a local pub to enjoy a late afternoon drink.  John met some university folks for dinner while the kids and I did our own thing.  Another successful day in Sydney!

Skeleton room - cool stuff...

Indigenous masks

More masks...

T-Rex biting John's head off!

St. Mary's Cathedral

Granny's mineral!

Saturday was bright and sunny though cooler and windy.  We packed a lunch and hiked down to the harbour.  There was a great market along the streets of The Rocks.  We spent some money there and then hopped on the ferry to Manly.  We found ourselves immersed amongst loads of people enjoying the shops, restaurants and even the beach!  Manly Surf Beach was cool and windy, but people still swam, surfed and played beach volleyball.  We strolled along the promenade, the kids messed around at the parks.  We returned to Sydney and went back to the hotel to get warmer clothes on.  Afterwards we walked down to Chinatown for dinner and then went back to the harbour to take in the light festival.  It’s hard to explain exactly what it entailed, but it was interactive, extremely creative – so much so that Sydney’s harbour was absolutely heaving with people and energy!  What a coooooool city!  We arrived back late Saturday night feeling very tired – I don’t know how many kilometres we did, though it was a lot…

Walking to the harbour

The market at The Rocks

Aboriginal musician playing a didgeridoo

Sydney Opera House from Manly Ferry

Choppy harbour

Manly Surf Beach

Beach Volleyball

China Town

Sofia-powered light!

Light show on the Opera House - can't really see but it was amazing!

It’s Sunday morning and we’re getting ready to pack up the rental.  We plan on checking out Bondi Beach in the eastern suburbs of Sydney.  From there we’ll head down the eastern coastline towards Melbourne.  We’ve chosen the long route to our friends’ home – should be with them by late Monday night or more likely mid day Tuesday.  Then we’ll have four good days to explore the Melbourne area before flying to England.  Melbourne has a great reputation – something tells me if we loved Sydney, we’ll LOOOOVE Melourne… 

Week Two: Gold Coast

After renting a car, we found ourselves a lot more mobile and in a position to venture out a little further.  We explored Byron Bay which meant spending part of an afternoon at the beach.  With the most eastern point of Australia about five minutes up the road, we went to Byron Bay Lighthouse.  The views of the lighthouse, of the sea, of the beach - of everything - were beautiful.  It was a great day!

Byron Bay Beach - great beach for swimming, sandcastles & soccer!

Bryon Bay Lighthouse

Another surf beach below the road to Byron Bay Lighthouse

The next day was Mother's Day and it started off with coffee and breakfast at the local coffee shop!  We then went to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary to see native Australian wildlife.  We managed to get a deal which included a picture with a koala!  The sanctuary wasn't big, but we managed to spend the better part of a day there.  Sofia got to hold not only a koala but a snake so her day was complete!

My Mother's Day Flat White...

Petting a kangaroo!

Dingos!

During the week I was able to get the kids to Mount Tamberine for a walk in the forest.  The drive to the walk took longer than the actual walk, but it was still great to get out and see something new.  We stopped at Surfers Paradise to check out one of the local parks before going back home.

Skywalk @ Mount Tamberine

Fabulous park...

We took another day off to hit Wet'n'Wild water park!  What a great place this is.  Unfortunately some of the rides/attractions were closed, but the kids still had a great time in the massive wave pool, water slides and Sofia even talked me into going down some crazy 'drop' in a dingy with her.  I thought I was going to get tossed right out but we survived and Sofia admitted it was a little 'scarier' than expected.  Sorry - no photos!

Our last weekend in Burleigh Heads included a trip to the Australia Zoo.  It was a bit of a trek for us, but we figured we'd better make the effort as we may not get another chance to go, and the kids are at that perfect 'zoo' age.  The entrance of the zoo had a memorial for the late, and beloved, crocodile hunter Steve Irwin.  A zoo worker with a young alligator in hand greeted people as well.  We walked around, taking in what we could, until it was time to see the "Australia Zoo Show".  We were entertained mainly with an impressive bird show, followed by a croc feeding show.  It was amazing to see how big those crocs get!  After this we walked around the rest of the zoo, finishing up with the amazing laughing Kookaburras!  I had no idea what these birds looked like and was blown away... they are amazing, not so little, creatures!

Steve Irwin Tribute

Cassowary - very aggressive and very large bird...

Macaws

The exotic EMU...

Reticulated Python... creepy stuff...

Kookaburras!

We moved out of our holiday apartment last Sunday and stayed with Danny and Rosie until leaving for Sydney on Wednesday.  We had a few great nights with them, including one last meal at a Surf Club, which seemed fitting as surfing is a way of life for the folks of Queensland!

Dinner at Currumbin Surf Club!

So, yes, we are now in Sydney which after a day has proved another wonderful place... but that's for another day!

Ciao for now!