20060503  Sydney, New South Wales, OZ            Photo link

We checked into the hotel right in the middle of the business district. They hadn't a room ready but took charge of the luggage. 

We went down the block and caught the monorail that runs in a circle from downtown to Darlington Harbor, the Maritime Museum, Convention Center, and back. Did 1.5 circles, then got off and walked around Harbourside, a shopping/restaurant complex much like the one in downtown Baltimore. Very interesting shops, but we delayed purchases since we'll be back through here later.

On return to the hotel, the room was ready and our luggage was in it. Time for showers, repackage the luggage, put stuff in the room safe and rest for a bit. Called Mastercard and found out that, yes, they had notes in our file that we would spend May in OZ/NZ, but we charged a couple hundred in California on April 30th, so they put a stop on the card. I thought they might be able to figure out that one has to go to California to get to OZ/NZ, but they didn't.

We napped for two hours, then up and out again. Around the corner to the chemist (pharmacist) for aspirin, then onto the monorail again. Out at Harbourside complex and started a walk around the end of the harbor. We got sidetracked to the Outback Center and heard a half-hour lecture/performance by a half-aboriginal young man on the digereedoo. Very enlightening. The instrument itself is only an echo-box; a hollowed-out branch of a eucalyptus tree. The action is all in the lip and tongue action of the player.

Then we walked back to Jordan's, a restaurant that was, tonight, open to the outside. The temp was in the high 60's, clear, and just beautiful. The dinners were great - Dolores with Salmon and steamed vegetables, Owen with Barramundi and Greek Salad, and all with a Western Australia chardonnay.

D started feeling a little beat again, so we hiked back to the monorail and around the horn back to the motel. Put things away, organized a little, and to bed at 9:30pm local (still getting acclimated).

Great first day on a new (to us) continent.

 

20060504  Sydney OZ                   Photo Link

We woke up at 5:45am, obviously still not in sync with local time but not too far off. Made instant coffee in the room and read brochures of the various things-to-do. 

Caught up on keeping track of expenditures, which is a little scary. But you multiply the expenditure in Aussie dollars by 0.811 (today) to get US$, which puts things back into perspective. Still, this is a big city and expensive.

We went out to breakfast, called son Bill. He was a little surprised. He played with the time difference, asking if we were in Thursday and he was in Wednesday, could we offer any stock tips. Then we went to a stop on the Sydney Explorer. This Explorer is a hop-off-hop-on thing that stops at twenty-some places around downtown Sydney and passes by many historic places. We first rode it all the way around (two hours), then around again, stopping off at the Aquarium and Mrs McQuaries Point.

The Aquarium is a large place, today full of small schoolchildren in their uniforms, cute but loud. There are a couple of oceanariums where you walk thru clear tubes underwater and watch sharks, rays, and other swimming things swim over you. It's really a cool place.

We saw many pools with water creatures we don't have in the US, and some that we do (catfish, for one). The platypus really is a weird creature.

At Mrs McQuaries Point there's a great location at which to take pictures of the Opera House and Sydney Harbor Bridge, so we did. There's also a good view of the Garden Island naval base & shipyard, so we took a few shots of ships (no subs) there.

At both these places there was a lot of walking to do. After finishing the ride and stopping off at Woolworth's for some bananas for Dolores's potassium needs (which she pronounced inedible after trying one), we put up our feet at the hotel (the Metro Hotel on Pitt).

Then we got to watching an Australian Rules football game. It resembles organized mayhem. Guys were getting knocked unconsious and then run over. I couldn't learn enough of the rules to understand the game before it ended.

Finally, we gathered enough energy to go down to the corner Italian restaurant. Dolores had lamb shank & mashed potato, I had lasagna and Italian salad. Very good. 

Toward the end of the meal, another couple sat at the next table. After a few minutes, we asked each other where we were from. They were from Shropshire, England, and took 24 hours getting here with only a two-hour fuel stop in Dubai. Makes our 14 hours from LA look puny.

Then back to the hotel to take it easy. Tomorrow's another day.


20060505  Sydney OZ                          Photo Link 

Up late, out for breakfast at a new place to us near the hotel. Then down to Circular Quay by cab, then by ferry to the zoo.

The views from the ferry to the zoo are spectacular on a beautiful day such as this. The only nicer view was the total view of the Sydney skyline from the tram at the zoo from the ferry pier to the top entry.

We took in the Australian animals first, of course. The koalas are as cute as they look on TV, but they're always asleep. Turns out their diet of eucalyptus leaves is very low in energy, so they sleep 20 hours a day. But they are capable of moving fairly quickly and climb well.

This zoo doesn't emphasize kangaroos, probably because they're not well thought of hereabout. But there was a grouping of wallabies and roos, with emus. The aviary person was really well acquainted with his birds and counted off 17 of the 22 species in the aviary that he had shown us, some beautifully colored.

We wandered back and forth across the side of the hill as we slowly went down toward the waterfront. Some of the things we saw in addition to those above: Komodo Dragon, some deadly snakes, many mouse-type creatures, many small apparent marsupials (at least they hopped like roos), crocodiles, and wombats.

We took the ferry back and stopped in a bar for an ale and wine. The server was from Ada, Michigan, so we said hi. She said she'd just graduated from Western Michigan and came down to see what the place is like; she's enjoying it immensely.

Back then to the hotel to rest our feet. Then out to dinner, this time in the hotel restaurant/bar open to the sidewalk. Dolores had barramundi, I had salmon, with pinot grigio.

We fell into conversation with another couple who had climbed the Harbor Bridge today. He's New Zealander, she's Aussie, so they gave us hints on what to be sure to do the remainder of the trip. Some of the hints sounded awfully good.

We made arrangements for a wakeup call and a taxi in the morning so we can go on to our next city - Auckland in New Zealand.