Last Day in Sydney

We are so glad we decided to take an extra couple days in Sydney before heading home! Of course now, as we face our final full day here, we wish we'd taken even more time. But all good things come to an end and so, too, must this fantastic vacation.

As this was our last day, we slept in to catch up on some much-needed rest, then headed out to explore a bit more of the city.  First stop, lunch at The Rocks Cafe, followed by a nice walk up George St. in search of the Christmas windows in David Jones an upscale depot store a little like Saks 5th Ave. While there we wondered up to the Christmas shop and Santa's workshop. Some elves invited us in even though we didn't have any "age-appropriate" kiddies with us. And of course we had to get in the spirit of the season with a Happy Christmas crown.

Next, we crossed through Hyde Park to St. Mary's of the Cross, the RC cathedral of New South Wales. It is a beautiful church made from the tan, local sandstone so prevalent in the area. Outside were some beautiful Jacaranda trees in full bloom. We were told that they only bloom for like a week before dropping their flowers and just appearing as any other leafy tree the rest of the year. How lucky we were to see them in bloom. They were beautiful!

We were so lucky to see the Jacaranda trees in bloom. 

Following our visit to the cathedral, we stopped in to the QVB - the Queen Victoria Building, an ornate 19th century building that had been repurposed as an upscale mall. They have installed a Christmas tree decorated in 69,000 lights and 82,000 Swarovski crystals that runs through a center hall from the 1st floor to the 4th (top) floor. It was fun to walk through the shops.

While there, we received a text from some friends from the tour that said there would be an aboriginal art show projected on the east sail of the opera house this evening, so we met them in the lobby and walked over to enjoy the show.  We weren't disappointed. The 10 minute show was beautiful, and such a wonderful way to finish up our fantastic vacation of a lifetime.

We returned to our room for a champagne toast to the end of our adventure down under.   New Zealand and Australia have exceeded our every expectation. The people we've met, the scenery we've seen, and the cultures we've experienced have all been so wonderful.  How blessed we are to have done all we've done over the last four weeks. We can't wait to start our next adventure. 

Hope you've enjoyed following along with this grand experiment.  If you enjoyed the blog, let us know. We'll invite you along on our next big adventure  

Love you all..

Rob and Susan

Cliff Walk

Today we took the ferry from Circular Quay (pronounced key) to Watson's Bay and did the 6 to 7 kilometer cliff walk through the 7 beaches.  At Watson's Bay, we went through a park that abutted the Don Richie Grove from yesterday and then caught a bus to Bondi Beach where we treated ourselves to Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy Gelato.  We began our trek at Bondi Beach and then continued until Coogee Beach.  It was hot today in the mid 80s and bright sun.  The wind helped to keep us more comfortable on our walk.  We were gone from 11:30 to 5:30 and it was very relaxing.  The stairs and uphill climbs at times were challenging but overall the walk was worth the trip.

At the top of Watson's Bay 

Looking out over the bay with Sydney downtown in the background

Bondi Beach, apparently topless is the way to sunbath like in Europe

They plant beautiful yellow flowers on each of the graves overlooking the sea and it was such a peaceful place. The cliff walk goes right by this old cemetery 

Coogee Beach where we walked along the water's edge and put our feet in the water which was refreshingly cold on a hot day.

Australian Ibis

We met back up with Elmer and Hettie Lee for dinner at an Italian place others had recommended the night before under the cliffs in the Rocks section of town.  They had been given a bottle of champagne by the hotel and they gave it to us, which we will enjoy on our last evening here tonight.

Our last port - Sydney

After arriving in Sydney yesterday afternoon and checking into the Four Seasons Hotel, we had a leisurely evening walking around "The Rocks", an area where Sydney was originally founded.  There is a mix of new with old and a great night life.  The temperature was in the 70s and it was pleasant to walk around.  We went to a pub, Hero of Waterloo with another couple, Hettie and Elmer from Tennessee and had fish and chips with a beer.

Today is Remembrance Day in Australia which is the 100th anniversary of Armistice that ended WWI.  It is truly celebrated here.  The streets were crowded.  We took a four hour tour by bus of all of Sydney which turned out to be surprisingly fun and very interesting.  Jo, our tour director was full of information and history.  We stopped along the way at many beautiful spots.  One of which was the South Head (The Gap at Watson's Bay) which is the start of Sydney Harbor.  Apparently, it has been a favorite spot for leaping to your death over the years and an Australian Hero named Don Richie (who lived close by) spent 50 years asking people the simple questions, "Are you okay?" and "Do you want to talk?"  He saved close to 400 lives in those 50 years and was named, "the angel of the gap", before he passed away a few years ago.  There is a grove named after him there with the quote from Don Richie, "Always remember the power of the simple smile, a helping hand, a listening ear and a kind word."  He often invited those people who needed a helping hand to breakfast or tea in his home.  I would have liked to meet this man.

We also stopped at Bondi (pronounced Bond I) Beach, the Waikiki of Australia.  We plan on returning there tomorrow and taking the 3 mile cliff walk that runs between 7 beaches and a number of hamlets.  We drove through the high end shopping district which we hope to visit over the next few days as well.

Many of us decided to go on a tour of the Opera House this afternoon and an evening dinner cruise through Sydney Harbour and Jo arranged it for us on the Majestic Dinner Cruise.  Inside the Sydney Opera House was just as stunning as the outside.

Sunset on the dinner cruise in Sydney Harbour

We left King's Wharf at 7:00 for a wonderful, romantic dinner cruise at sunset.  The scenery was incredible and the food was great.  We couldn't help but know how incredibly lucky and blessed we are to be able to be here.

The sails of the Sydney Opera House were lit with Poppies in honor of Remembrance Day, the 100th anniversary of the Armistice.

Cairns and the Rainforest

This was definitely a place to return to.  Cairns (pronounced like "Cans") is the perfect blend of culture and nature.  We started our day snorkel-diving off the Great Barrier Reef.  It took 90 minutes to get out to the edge of the reefs where we off loaded from our cruise to a huge pontoon dock.  From there we suited up in body shields to protect us from jelly fish, which we did not see but were told are beginning to "blossom".  We saw tons of coral and tropical fish while we snorkeled the reef for over an hour.  We also saw clams that were between 3 and 4 feet long and 1.5 to 2 feet wide with huge valves that were pulsing.  They actually filter the equivalent of an Olympic sized swimming pool of water in one hour.  They keep the coral area and sea clean.  Who knew?  We did not see any sharks (they have white tipped, black tipped and tiger sharks), and Rob was disappointed.  I was not.  After an hour, I came in to have lunch while Rob continued to swim.  He came in a short while later, ate within 15 minutes and went right back out.  I got a free 10 minute back massage and looked at the underwater observation area.  At the very end of our 3.5 hours out there, we both went out on the glass bottom boat to see even more of the reef. 

About an  hour after we got back we went to the Didgeridoo Dinner which was held by the Tjapukai People, the aboriginal people of the rain forest.  We began with wine and champagne and some hors d'ouerves, then a wonderful buffet dinner which included crocodile and kangaroo.  The crocodile was okay in my opinion (Rob didn't try it) but we both absolutely loved the kangaroo (which tastes more like beef, not chicken as everything else in the world is compared to).  Before dinner, we were made part of the tribe with each of us having face paint in either black and white for the wet season, or red and yellow for the dry season.  Once welcomed and a part of the tribe for the evening, we were part of the fire ceremony with the playing of the didgeridoo, a very long wood instrument that was played with air, voice and tongue to create incredible music.  After dinner, we were treated to more music and dancing in which Rob was invited with three others to come up on stage and dance with them.  We learned many Tjapukai words and learned much of their culture as well.

The next morning, we drove about and hour out of town to the Skyrail in the rain forest.  We soared well above the rain forest and could get off at two different stops to explore a bit.  Their was a small village there but unfortunately, due to a change in plans (due to flights - a long story) all the shops were closed while we were there.  I would stay there overnight or at least for the day if we could.

Beautiful waterfall in the distance that was hundreds of feet tall.

A winding river through the rain forest.

We went right over this river.

You can see the skyrail cars that seated 6 coming up from below where we are well above the canopy. You could not see the bottom between the trees.

Sitting inside the skyrail car.

Darwin bonus post

While Susan rested this evening, I went out and walked some of the area near the hotel.  Deciding to find something quick to eat, I started seeking out the food opportunities.  Oddly, unless you wanted to drink your dinner, options were a bit limited.  Most everything in the city except the bars close down between 4-5 in the afternoon, and bar food (and bar company) was not what I wanted for dinner this evening.

That said, I found a wonderful little restaurant right around the corner from the hotel that is open laer into the evening..  Here's a picture of the cover of the menu.  Can you tell what I found for dinner?  Go ahead and guess.  I'll wait...

It's a-me!  Mario!!  Or maybe Chef Boy-ar-dee?

Figure it out yet?








If you said Vietnamese Pho, you were right!  And mighty tasty, too!  I just got a kick out of the menu cover, and thought I'd share my amusement with you all.  

Yum!  This was one good meal.  Possibly the best since we left the ship.

Welcome to Darwin - Jumping Crocs and Darwin Harbor

After a better (and longer!) night's sleep at the Darwin Hilton last night, we jumped a bus to the "Spectacular Crocodile Tour", about an hour's drive outside of the City.  On the way we drove past acres upon acres of mango orchards which are just coming into full ripeness.  We're told they'll be harvesting soon.

The tour took us on an hour+ cruise up the Adelaide River in search of saltwater crocodiles.  We weren't out 5 minutes before we came across one on our side of the boat.  A woman staff tied some water buffalo meat to a 10' bamboo pole and started slapping the water with the bait.  Before long, the 10' female came right up to the boat and gave a couple jumps up into the air before being rewarded with a tasty snack. 

On the way back, the pilot started whistling a distinctive trill which brought in about a half dozen kites, smaller birds of prey that hunt the river for fish.  As one of the crew tossed cubes of lamb, they swooped and soared around the boat, snatching the treats from the air as they whistled that same unique tune as the pilot.  

Back on the bus, we returned to the Darwin Harbor area for a great lunch of crisped-skin barramundi fish ("barra" to the locals) and then a stroll across the harbor walk to the Harbor Museum where we learned about the Japanese attack on the Harbor at Darwin in 1941, done by the same fleet that had just destroyed Pearl Harbor.  Previously unknown (to me) fact: More bombs were dropped on Darwin Harbor than on Pearl Harbor.  In fact, the City and harbor were attacked a total of 63 time between 1941 and the end of the war.

After returning to the hotel, we had the evening free to ourselves.  Susan was tired, so went to bed early.  I took a walk around the area near the hotel and down to the park adjacent to the harbor.  

Darwin is a nice little town with pretty active night-life.  Sadly, as with most cities, it has its share of poverty, mostly in the form of small groups of aboriginal peoples asking for handouts.  It was tough to witness, and I wish there was more I could do for them.  Not unlike our own Native Americans, they've gotten a raw deal from a national government that took everything from them, then left them to fend without resources, opportunity or hope.