Off to Cairns (CANS)

We started off the morning with breakfast at Pancakes on the Rocks in Darling Harbour. Harley loved the breakfast and for some reason my stomach wasn’t tolerating it.  We then boarded the fast ferry back to Circular Quay.  I know it may sound pathetic but I wanted to get some pictures of the Sydney Opera House from the Harbour and when I had the chance my camera battery was dead.   So alot of fuss for a picture or two but it made me happy.

Upon returning to our hotel, we packed up for our trip to Cairns.  The whole airport experience was amazingly different than home.  We checked in via a computer using Harley’s passport.  It printed both our tickets and baggage tickets.  We then weighed them and the machine accepted or rejected the bags.  Not one person was involved in the process.  So I had my passport ready to be checked at security and no one asked for it.  We didn’t even have to take our jackets and shoes off and water bottles were allowed.  So I boarded the plane without anyone ever ID-ing me.  Rather odd I thought!

After a three hour flight we arrived in Cairns without problem.  We rented a car and drove to Trinity Beach where are accommodations are.  It is a small quiet beach village about 2o minutes from the main city.  The manager upgraded us to a two bedroom apartment which is just about the size of our home.  Laundry facilities, fully equipped kitchen, a big jacuzzi tub, and lots of extra space!  What a treat!

Sydney Opera House, Seafood Market, and Bondi Beach

We started the morning with the essential tour of the world famous Sydney Opera House.  Harley’s sister Pam and husband Hugh met us there to join the tour.  The Opera House is located in an area referred to as Cincular Quay (pronounced Key) on Syndey Harbour.  It is a gorgeous location with views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. 

 

The Sydney Opera House was completed in 1971 after nearly 14 years of construction and a final cost of 102 million dollars.  Way over budget a lottery fund was set up to cover the cost.  The tour guide mentioned that per capita Australia gambles way more than any nation in the world.  The inside of the Opera house was very interesting.  The carpets in the lobbies are all bright purple.  This is how the original architect Utzon wanted them.  I thought it was pretty ugly but I am certain Nicole would have loved it.   We were able to tour both concert halls which sit side by side.  The concert hall pictured below is the largest seating 2,690 and is where the majoirty of the operas and ballets take place. 

 

Following the tour, we jumped on the Hop On- Hop Off Bus to see a few more sites.  The first stop was at the Sydney Fish Market for lunch. It’s the place for getting freshly caught fish for lunch.  Harley ordered Barramundi with chips (fries) and I had Shrimp and chips.  I was surprised to find out that you had to pay for ketchup ( or tomato sauce as they call it).  Harley has been in search of good Barramundi in the US without much luck so he was very happy.

We then got back on the bus and traveled to Bondi Beach.  The word bondi is Aboriginal for waters breaking over rocks.  It is a cresent of beautiful white sand.  Along one side of the beach there is a club called Icebreakers.  To become a member you have to swim in the water every Sunday for four years straight. It looked absolutely freezing.   Needless to say it is a pretty exclusive club.  We enjoyed a nice stroll along the beach and admired the sandstone and the erosion that has shaped it over the years.

While in Sydney, their annual festival of the arts, sculpture, music and lights was taking place.  So we ventured down to the Rocks and found an incredible light show on the Customs House.  I can’t possibly describe how amazing it was and the following picture doesn’t do it justice.  We also saw a fire show in Campbell’s Cove choreographed to music.  To top it off they had a laser light show continuously on the Sydney Opera house.  It was truly spectacular.  We finished out the evening with dinner at a pizza place. 

Days 1 & 2 Down Under

We arrived at LAX with no problem and plenty of time to spare. The first surprise was when the ticket agent informed us that I would need a visa to fly to Australia. I was not aware of this at all and had a mini panic attack. Luckily the agent was able to take care of the paperwork and I paid a $25.00 fee to get one. The flight was 14.5 hours and it actually didn’t seem that long...thank goodness. We both slept for 6-7 hours and watched a few movies. Harley enjoyed the airplane food and I wasn’t too disgusted by it. We took a cab to Sydney with is about a 25 minute ride. The weather is much cooler than I imagined it would be.

We arrived at them Menzies hotel at 10:00 and surprisingly we were able to check in early! The hotel is centrally located and the room in nothing fancy. It reminds me of a few hotels in Europe in which everything is small.  Thank goodness it was truely a king size bed though. After getting cleaned up and ready for the day, we hit the streets. First stop was to have a meat pie and a ginger beer for Harley. I was pleasantly surprised by how tasty the meat pies were. Then we walked the streets and ended up at the Sydney SkyTower. The SkyTower is Sydney’s landmark tower which affords you a 360 degree views of the city. It wasn’t the clearest of days but still the views were amazing. My only complaint would have been that it was a bit pricey! We then wandered the streets, walked through Hyde Park, and stopped in the Queen Victoria’s Building which has been renovated and turned into an upscale shopping center. We were so exhausted, we went back to our hotel to rest for a bit. We began walking the wrong direction which we actually realized after about 20 minutes. Ooops. We took an afternoon nap and woke in time to get ready for dinner with Harley’s sister Pam and her husband Hugh. We walked down to the part of the city called the Rocks to find a place to eat. Unfortunately the streets were jammed packed and every restaurant was also. We ended up eating at a sidewalk cafe and the food was decent. We had a lovely visit with Pam and Hugh over dinner and retired to bed early to prepare for our big day.

 

Day Two began around 4:00 when we woke and couldn’t get back to sleep. We must have since the alarm woke us at 6:00 to get us out the door for a 7:00 pickup. We had arranged a tour with a company called Blue Diamond Tours. It is a small company owned and run by a young married couple. They picked us up in a 12 passenger Mercedes van. Seven others joined the tour. It was great to have a small intimate group. Our first stop was for English tea, scones, and pretzels at a little family owned bakery outside Sydney. Then they drove us into the Blue Mountains which is about an hour and a half from the city center. We first went to Scenic World which is an old coal mining area that has been turned into a tourist attraction. You first ride across the valley in a glass floor Skyway. When you arrive on the other side you take a railway which is supposedly has the steepest incline of any in the world at 53 degrees. It was a bit nerve wracking....yes. Then you have arrived in the Jamison Valley.

We walked through this beautiful rainforest canopy for about an hour and tried not to freeze. You return via a scenic cableway. The views of the Blue Mountains and surrounding valleys were beautiful. A stop at a beautiful waterfall preceded the most popular lookout at Echo Point. The site was crammed with tourists but we were able to get some incredible views of the Three Sisters, despite the less than ideal pictures. A quaint shopping village nearby was the next stop. Lunch was had a the Sportsmans Club. We then traveled to Featherdale Wildlife Park just outside Sydney. It is a small park with animals common to Australia. We saw wombats, emus, tasmanian devils, dingos, koalas, wallabies, kangaroos, echinidas, penguins, and much more. We feeds some tiny wallabies corn flakes and had our picture take with a koala. Unfortunately, not ten minutes after arriving the battery on my camera died. So I went for my backup and the battery on it was dead. I was sooooo sad. I wanted pictures of allthese cute animals more than anything. Oh well, there wasn’t much I could do but be disappointed. They drove us by Sydney’s Olympic Park which is completely still utilized. The tour guides Alena and Rob dropped us off in Breakfast Point and we took the ferry back to the Circular Quay. Due to the weather, we chose to sit inside which obscured the views a bit but the bridge and city views were spectacular. Wished I had a working camera.  We walked all over trying to find a place to eat dinner tonight and settled on a meat pie for Harley and a Subway sandwich for me. We were to the point we were so hungry we didn’t care. The tour guides recommended a chocolate bar and it just happened to be down the street from our hotel. So on the walk back we picked up a toffee flavored hot chocolate and honestly weren’t too impressed. Another early night for us.