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