After spending a few days in Hong Kong, we continued our Australian journey by flying through the night from Hong Kong to Sydney. We arrived in Sydney at 08:00 am. It was a relatively easy entry into the country. The Customs Officers didn't even want to see the Travel Authorization we had applied for and paid for online.
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| Sydney Harbour Bridge |
We negotiated through the airport and got on the subway into the city center. We were staying at a hotel near Circular Quay and it was quite a short ride, some 15 minutes, from the airport to the Quay. Exiting the station at Circular Quay you look one way and you see the Sydney Harbour Bridge, you look the other way and you see the Opera House, and in front of you all the ferries are to and fro-ing between the various parts of the city. It is quite a spectacular location.
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| Sydney Opera House |
Our hotel, the Sir Stamford, was just up the hill from the Quay. It is a nice older hotel, named after Sir Stamford Raffles, the British East India Company official who founded Singapore. I don't think that it has any relationship to the Raffles Hotel in Singapore though.
At that early hour, we couldn't check in so we left our bags and went off to explore the city. We walked through the Botanical Gardens which were opposite the hotel and went down to the Opera House. There are many amazing buildings in this world but I struggle to name one that is more iconic than the Sydney Opera House. It is truly amazing from whichever side you view it from. The architect, Jorn Utzon, did a remarkable job. It stretched the abilities of the civil engineering world back in the early 1970's when they building Utzon's design.
The Sydney Harbor area is really quite wonderful. You look one way there is the Harbor Bridge, the other way the Opera House, the office towers of the CBD (Central Business District) and all the time there is a constant stream of ferries running back and forth from Circular Quay across the bay to the various Sydney waterside neighborhoods.
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| The Cruise Terminal |
It was a beautiful sunny day, warm, almost a hot day. We walked over to the west side of the Quay to an area called The Rocks. This area is full of tourist shops and restaurants nad is adjacent to the Cruise Terminal. Unfortunately they allow seriously large cruise ships to dock, right in the heart of the city. There was a cruise ship in that day, Carnival Line, I think. They really dominate the area dwarfing everything else in sight. Why would a city allow such a thing? Probably because they bring in a lot of money, that's why.
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| Aboriginal Art on Bark |
We had a more modest breakfast/brunch of coffee and pancakes before visiting the Museum of Contemporary Art. A nice Art Gallery on the waterfront, where we got our first introduction to Aboriginal Art. We both really like it.
Feeling a little jet lagged by the afternoon, we went back to the hotel for a little nap.
In the evening, Diana's school friends, Zlatica and Nesima, from Zenica came over to the hotel and met us in the bar/restaurant of the hotel. Yugoslav exiles left their home country for all corners of the world and it seems like many of them stay in touch with each other. Having escaped such a terrible time in their own country I think there is a bond that is a lot deeper than just school or university friends.
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| The Bridge at night |
After Zlatica and Nesima went back home we took an evening stroll down to the harbor and wandered around some more. The Bridge, Opera House and City Center are all lit up and make for a wonderful sight. We had pizza and beer for dinner at one of the restaurants next to the water.
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| The Bridge and Opera House from the Botanical Gardens |
Next morning, I got up early and went for a run, or at least I call it a run but it was more like a sightseeing run/walk with a lot of photo breaks. I ran through part of the Botanical Gardens down to the Opera House. I ran around the Opera House and then back through the gardens to the hotel. What a delightful place in the early morning.
The first thing on the agenda for the day was the purchase of an Opal Card. This card is used to pay for all bus, subway, train and ferry travel in the city (like London's Oyster Card). With the card we got on the ferry over to Manly, one of the suburbs on the North East side of the city. The journey across the bay is wonderful with great views back towards the CBD, the Opera House and the Bridge.
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| Manly Beach closed |
In Manly we walked through the town and over to the beach. It is a beautiful beach but it is also a little tricky for swimming. The beach was closed because the currents were too dangerous.
We walked along the beach and over to the next bay, Freshwater Bay. This is a beautiful bay and there were a few people swimming and surfing in the ocean.
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| Duke Kahanamoku, Freshwater Bay |
We walked across the bay and up to the next point where there is a statue to Duke Kahanamoku, the Hawaiian Surfer, He is recognized as the guy who brought stand up surfing to Australia (he did a surfing exhibition there in 1914). Subsequently surfing has really caught on. We took the bus back to the town of Freshwater (using our Opal Cards). While we were waiting for the bus the lifeguards at the beach were announcing that the currents were too dangerous for swimming and that everyone should get out of the water.
In Freshwater town, we stopped for a coffee and cake at a bakery. Wonderful meat pies, sausage rolls and lots of sweet pastries and everyone can make a good latte or flat white.
We caught another bus back to Manly for the ferry back to Circular Quay and our hotel.
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| Diana's cousin and family |
After cleaning up and having a rest we took the train out to a suburb called Warwick Farms to visit Diana's cousin, Branco. Warwick Farms is a nice suburb, lots of new multi-story flats. I met Branco and his daughter Ariana and her two sons. After Diana and Branco had a chance to catch up we all went out to a local Italian restaurant in the Liverpool neighborhood for dinner. I had baramundi, a popular Australian fish that I hadn't tasted before. A nice meaty white fish. After dinner we caught the train back to Circular Quay and our hotel.
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| Government House, Royal Botanical Gardens |
The next morning, Sunday, I went out for another run. Again through the botanical gardens and this time out past the Government House to Mrs McQuarie's Chair. This is a rock that overlooks the harbor below. Mrs McQuarie was the wife of an early governor of New South Wales and apparently she used to go out to the rock and sit there watching the ships from England arrive in the port.
We had the nice buffet breakfast at the hotel and then walked down into the harbour and the Rocks area. There was another massive cruise ship docked in the harbour, a different one to the previous day. We walked up from the Rocks to the old observatory, on the appropriately named Observatory Hill. There is a nice view of the water and the bridge from there.
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| The old General Post Office, now a Hotel |
We walked into the city admiring the old buildings like the Post Office, the Strand Arcade, the Victoria Building, the Sydney Town Hall. These old 19th Century buildings built out of the local sandstone rock look very impressive. We went inside St Andrew's Cathedral and, it being Sundasy, there was a service going on. We sat and rested and listened to the sermon while admiring the grand interior. Sorry to say we were not converted.
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| The ANZAC Memorial and Reflecting Pool |
Next we walked over to Hyde Park and the ANZAC Memorial and reflecting pool. A very nice park that merges into another park called the Domain which then continues into the Royal Botanical Gardens making for a lot of green space in the middle of the city. We walked past another Cathedral, St Mary's, where there was also a service going on (I think perhaps it was Easter Sunday). The sound of the organ playing as the congregation left the church was wonderful to hear.
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| Aboriginal Totems |
We next visited the Art Gallery of New South Wales. An excellent gallery and free, like all Art Galleries should be. The aboriginal art was great but there was also a nice sample of more traditional European art (even a Canaletto). On the way back to the hotel we stopped off at the State Library of New South Wales, another wonderful old building with a vast reading room and a small art exhibit on the upper level.
We then retreated to our hotel for a nap before going out in the evening - the jet lag was beginning to catch up with us.
In the evening my cousin and her husband (Jane and Andy) came over to the hotel and we went out for dinner. We walked down to the Circular Quay and caught a ferry to Darling Harbour. It was an impressive ferry ride, past the Opera House and under the Harbour Bridge, stopping off at a couple of other spots before dropping us off in the very busy entertainment district around Darling Harbour. So many restaurants and bars, so many people out drinking and eating.
We had a nice meal in an Italian restaurant and then walked back to a train station and caught the train back to Circular Quay and the hotel.
The next morning, Easter Monday, I had another run, this time over the Harbour Bridge to the other side and back. There were great views from the height of the bridge of the city below.
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| Sydney from the Bridge |
After breakfast, we explored more of the city. We caught a bus out to an area called Paddington and walked around the very nice gentrified neighbourhood. Most shops were closed because it was Easter Monday (they observe religious holidays more in Australia than we do in the USA). We could both live in Paddington, I think. However it is not a cheap neighbourhood, the small homes were all over $ 1 million Australian.
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| Bondi Beach |
We next caught another bus to Bondi Beach. I had always heard of Bondi Beach as the quintessential Australian Beach so I really wanted to swim there. I bought a towel from one of the shops along the beachfront and changed to go swimming. There were some serious waves but it was most enjoyable. Diana did not join me.
After showering at the beach and changing we boarded the bus back to Circular Quay. We again explored the area on the west side of the Quay, the Rocks and then went back to the hotel for a rest.
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| Nijinsky Cast, Sydney Opera House |
In the evening we had tickets to the Opera House to see a ballet, Nijinsky. I am not a huge ballet fan but I must admit it was very good. The ballet tells the story of the brilliant but somewhat troubled life of Vaslav Nijinsky. It was a treat to see such a lovely performance in such an iconic venue.
The next day we had arranged to meet my cousin and her husband and they would take us to the Blue Mountains. Instead of them driving into the city we took the train out to the suburbs, to Beecroft, where they picked us up and we drove into the mountains.
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| The Blue Mountains, near Wentworth Falls |
The weather was not great as we drove out of Sydney. There was intermittent rain and it was cloudy. We stopped first near Wentworth Falls and walked the Wentworth Falls Trail. It was a lovely loop trail down into the canyon and along the cliff side. We had our first experience of the colorful bird life in Australia, a Crimson Rosella, a beautiful bright red bird.
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| Crimson Rosella |
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| Sulphur Crested Cockatoo |
We went back to the car and drove on to the town of Katoomba. The raid got a little more serious for a while so we stopped for coffee in Katoomba. We had another encounter with bird life - a Sulphur Crested Cockatoo. They are apparently quite common and they are quite a pest - they are noisy, they steal your food and they damage things.
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| Three Sisters, Katoomba |
The rain abated and we drove to the parking lot for the Three Sisters rock formation. These are three pinnacles of rock overlooking the Jamison Valley. Quite a beautiful rock formation and a great view across the valley into the distance. We could see the rain clouds moving across the sky in the valley below, but we were fortunate to have a brief respite while we were at the viewing platform above the Three Sisters.
With the weather not welcoming us, we drove back into Sydney. Andy dropped us off in Hornsby where we took a train into Sydney. The train system in Sydney is very good - there are many stations, there are frequent trains, they run on time, and they are quite affordable. In fact the entire public transport system in Sydney is great. Hardly a need for a car.
In the evening we had dumplings at a nice Chinese bistro near Circular Quay. The rain was still on and off and it was sometimes quite heavy. We returned to the hotel and prepared for our departure the next morning.
After breakfast in the hotel we checked out and took the train out to the airport for our flight up to Cairns. We were surprised to find that no one asked to see a passport or ID to board the plane - all you needed was your boarding card.
We had assumed that like in the USA, a carry on bag is a carry on bag, but that's not the case in Australia, at least not with their low cost carrier Jet Star. As we waited at the gate, a Jet Star lady came by with a weigh scale and asked to weigh our bags. Apparently we were only allowed 7 kilos per bag. Ours were 13 kilos so we had to check them (even though they would have fit in the overhead). What is worse is the cost for a gate check is double the normal price - we paid Australia $80 for each bag. That did not leave a good taste in my mouth.
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| The Esplanade, Cairns |
The flight up to Cairns was about 3 hrs. We arrived early afternoon and took an Uber to our hotel, the very nice Crystalbrook Bailey. After checking in we walked down to the harbor to confirm where we should go for our boat to the Barrier Reef the next morning. Barrier Reef trips are a huge business in Cairns and there are many, many boats. We identified ours and confirmed we had a valid ticket. The beaches are not very remarkable in Cairns, they are really mud flats, and, because of the deadly box jellyfish, no one swims there. There is a man made salt water lagoon in the park by the harbor where people swim or at least cool off but it is not very inviting.
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| Swimming Pool - Cairns |
Diana's back was becoming an issue for her so she went to rest while I walked around town. It is not a very large town. I walked to the railway station (4 trains per week to Brisbane, daily tourist trains to Kuranda) and then back to the hotel.
We had a nice evening meal by the harbour and followed it up with gelato for the walk back to the hotel.
The next morning after breakfast in the hotel (a great buffet), we walked over to the harbor for our boat, the Silver Swift. We boarded at 8:30 and were off to the Great Barrier Reef. Our destination was the outer reef because on the inner reef there are still box jellyfish and those are quite deadly (within 4 minutes apparently). The boat ride was about 90 minutes. The sky was grey and it was windy so the boat was moving around a bit. I was doing fairly well for a while then I started to feel a little sick. As we were arriving at the reef I was called to the back deck to be fitted with my scuba gear. I started to feel worse and just as we arrived on location I threw up in a spectacular fashion. There was no time to get me a sick bag, and there was a lot of content in my stomach. Fortunately on the back deck there were plenty of hoses and the crew were very adept at hosing down the deck, their dive equipment that was near me and myself.
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| Ready for the dive - post vomiting |
All a little embarrassing but fortunately after I had purged my stomach I felt just fine. I was kitted out with snorkel, fins, air tank, BCD and a stinger suit (a thin body suit that would hopefully fend off any nast jellyfish or whatever). I hadn't scuba dived in 30 odd years so I was a little rusty. It sort of came back to me but I was a little unsure at first - I couldn't quite get my buoyancy right and instead of adjusting the BCD, the guide kept adding and taking away weights.
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| The undersea world at the Barrier Reef |
What wonderful undersea world it was. Many colors of coral, even more colors of fish, an incredible experience. I think we went down to about 30 ft and we were out for 45 mins.
Diana did not scuba dive, she snorkeled and after I had finished my dive I joined her snorkeling. In actual fact the colors of the coral and fish are much brighter at the surface so snorkeling is in some ways more impressive.
We went back onboard the boat for lunch. Fortunately the weather was now calmer and the sun was shining so there was no risk of me losing my lunch. In the afternoon I dove again and then joined Diana in snorkeling. Truly a spectacular experience.
The ride back to Cairns was uneventful. We cleaned up at the hotel and then went out for dinner on the harbor. Again we made a stop at the gelato shop on our way back to the hotel.
The next morning, Friday, we had booked a trip on the tourist train that goes up the hillside to the rainforest town of Kuranda. We walked over to the train station and boarded our train. The carriages were beautiful - quite old with plenty of wood paneling. The railway line was built in various stages from the late 1800's up until completion in 1915. It is now run as a purely tourist attraction.
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| The Kuranda Railway |
As we pulled out of Cairns we passed a parade for ANZAC Day (Australia and New Zealand Army Corp Day). Lots of people paying respect to the armed forces and the war dead.
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| Barron Gorge Falls |
The train ride up the hill was quite scenic. There were waterfalls, rainforests and 180 degree curves where you could see the engine ahead. At the second waterfall, at Barron Gorge, the train actually stopped to give us all a chance for a photo op. It was quite a spectacular flow of water down from the Atherton Tablelands down to the Cairns Coastal Plain below.
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| The Kuranda Railway in Kuranda Station |
After 15 or 20 minutes we all boarded the train again for the short ride into Kuranda. The station in Kuranda has been well preserved. The signal box is still manually operated with direct physical links to the tracks below. It was good to see the signalman operating these levers to switch tracks and change signals - it reminded me of my youth in Staveley.
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| The Signal Box at Kuranda |
We walked into the town of Kuranda which is now comprised mainly of tourist shops selling aboriginal art, hats, t-shirts and other paraphernalia. We bought a very small piece of art on a piece of leather. The artist's name was Bungan.
There was not much else to do so we visited a small "zoo". Sleepy koalas, sleepy wombats, sleepy fresh water crocodiles (freshies) and more active kangaroos and wallabies.
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| The Skyrail Rainforest Cableway |
For the return to Cairns we had a booking on the cable car, the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway. It takes you all the way down to the coast through the rainforest with a couple of stops along the way. The first was another chance to see the Barron Gorge Falls, this time from the other side of the river. The next stop was a chance to do a little loop walk through the rainforest. We marveled at the size of the Queensland Kauri tree - immense trunk and branches and a beautiful smooth bark.
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| Kauri Tree |
We also saw a python sliding through the undergrowth below the viewing platform.
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| Python, or a part of a python |
Back in Cairns we debated whether we should do another Barrier Reef trip. We had originally thought that we might go further north to Cape Tribulation or somewhere but the Barrier Reef was so wonderful we wanted to do it again. We went out to the harbour to find another boat that could take us. Most were fully booked but we did find one that would take us out to a floating pontoon from where we could snorkel. It was more expensive but it turned out to be a better trip.
The next morning we had an early breakfast in the hotel and then walked over to the harbour and our boat. We also rented a GoPro camera because we wanted to try and capture some of wonders of the reef.
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| The Reef Magic Pontoon |
The boat was larger than the previous day's boat and it was a much more professional operation. It transported to a floating pontoon permanently moored on the reef. We transferred to the pontoon and were given our stinger suits, masks and flippers. We then had a lovely morning swimming around a marked off area around the pontoon. The GoPro was not so easy to operate, particularly with the small screen and my lack of reading glasses under my mask. Still we got a lot of nice memories recorded.
We were back on the pontoon for lunch and then we paid a visit to a submerged viewing area at the back of the pontoon to watch the swarm of larger fish being fed. Pretty amazing.
In the afternoon we had signed up for a so-called Snorkel Safari. They took about 8 of us out on a launch to a separate part of the reef and then we all got in the water and a guide took us around the reef area. There were impressive reef walls that sharply dropped off to the very deep water outside the reef. Somehow the guide managed to talk to us and we managed to hear her while we snorkeled around in the water. We loved the snorkeling so much we were the last ones back on the boat and we didn't want to leave.
After showering on the pontoon, we all got back on the boat for the ride to Cairns. It was nice to see that there was a very thorough counting of the passengers so that we didn't leave anyone behind (that has happened). On the way back to shore, there was a short presentation where a couple of aboriginal crew members talked about their culture and history and demonstrated their didgeridoo music. Quite informative and the music was great.
Back in town for the evening, our last one in Cairns, we had a nice dinner and the mandatory gelato desert before collapsing exhausted into bed.
We had an early flight the next day, so we were picked up by our Uber driver at 5:30. I had pre-paid for the checked in luggage this time so we weren't caught by the carry on police at the check in. A simple boarding process, again without any ID being shown, and we were on our way to Sydney.
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| Central Station, Sydney |
Back in Sydney we caught the train into the Central Station and left our bags in luggage storage. Then we went on to Circular Quay and caught a ferry over to the zoo, Taranga Zoo. The zoo is on a hillside adjacent to the water. You start at the top and then walk down through the various animal exhibits to the exit near the ferry terminal.
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| Taronga Zoo, Sydney |
We were able to see quite a wide range of Australia's animals. Kangaroos, wallabies, wombats of course, but also the very cute koalas, the spiny echidnas, the weird looking platypus, the beautiful dingos (they look like they would make wonderful pets), and a blob of black fur that was allegedly a Tasmanian Devil.
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| Koala Bear in Taronga Zoo |
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| A Dingo, Taronga Zoo |
There were also beautiful birds in the aviary, though the Cassowary was somehow hiding. We skipped the African animals, we didn't need to see those.
We took the ferry back to Circular Quay and walked up George Street into the city. We had lunch in the Fullerton Hotel which is housed in what once was the main Post Office. Then we went to pick up our bags and we went our different ways - me to my cousin Jane's and Diana to her cousin Branco's.
Jane and Andy picked me up at Hornsby station and we drove back to their house. Andy is quite the cook so we had Toad in the Hole with mash and gravy - a fine English staple.
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| Queen Victoria Building, Sydney |
The next day, I had a restful morning with Jane and Andy before going to the train station for the train into the city where I was going to pick up a rental car. It was a rainy day so it wasn't conducive to exploring too much. I did go inside the Victoria Arcade and marveled at the stained glass windows and the elaborate clock hanging from the ceiling above the arcade.
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| The Hanging Clock in the Queen Victoria Building |
I picked up the car from the Europcar office in one of the hotels. I got a bit of an upgrade to a small SUV. A nice surprise. With the aid of Google Maps I very carefully drove back to Normanhurst and Jane and Andy's for the evening. The next day I would be leaving for our drive to Melbourne.
