Part II: Sydney, Australia

We’re having a great time in Australia. We’ve explored some of Sydney’s finest including The Rocks, Darling Harbor, the Zoo, Opera House and plenty of shopping malls. We also took a trip out to Canberra and the surrounding area to visit some more relatives who live on 40 acres of outback land. 10 days on the mainland and we’ve been able to get some much needed R&R (thanks to Iain and Maree’s great hospitality and lovely home), see wonderful sites and meet great family!

Sydney is beautiful. It reminds us of a bigger and cleaner San Francisco; tons of gorgeous bays and harbors, brilliant clear blue water, pristine restored old buildings and plenty of neighborhood varieties. If it we’re for their deadly ‘funnel-web’ spider I might put this on my list of places to live! Yes, the funnel-web spider is one of the deadliest spiders in the world (Australia seems to have quite a few species of the ‘worlds deadliest’ type) and lives primarily in Sydney region. It can be found in the ground and known to jump on you if cornered. Let’s just say I’ll be quite happy when I depart Australia knowing I didn’t have an encounter with one myself! I’ll keep my fingers crossed for the time being… Along with the dreaded ‘funnel-web’ spider, I would like to add that Sydney has helicopters patrolling the beaches all day long, everyday to spot sharks. Yes, they are constantly up there watching out for sharks in order to vacate a beach if one is spotted. I think that only tells me how many they must have here! I guess that must be mild compared to the northern section of the continent which has plenty of salt water crocs (the biggest in the world), box-jellyfish (deadly) and plenty more sharks. They say that the jellyfish are only ‘seasonal’…but I wonder how good they are on judging the seasons????

I keep looking around at the woman here and admiring what great fashion sense they have. Although I don’t doubt Australian woman know how to dress, part of me thinks I must be that much out of touch. I think anyone who wears the same few t-shirts and pair of jeans for 6 months in a row might loose touch with fashion-reality. Especially if surrounded by woman wearing top hats, ragged skirts and the sorts for the majority of that 6 months. Either way I’ve been in awe as I look at the people in the big city and peer into the shop windows. Styles have definitely changed; I guess that just shows how long I’ve been away.
Our time stay with Iain and Maree has been a trip saver for Mike and I. We both were at a point where packing up and moving on to the next location was the last thing we felt like doing, no matter what it was we were about to see. Seeing my folks fly home and knowing that home was just a flight away even tempted me further from not wanting to be on the go anymore. I was sick of not being in one place for too long. Not eating from a home kitchen. Staying in smelly and run down hostels. Camping in the pouring and cold rain. Showering with my flip-flops on to avoid touching so much filth. All of the things that come with traveling were starting to seriously ware on me. Thankfully for the great hospitality we’ve both recharged and are again excited with the remainder of our travels. We have had some wonderful meals, great company and such a comfortable bed.

It was great to see a bit of the countryside (‘bush’ as the Australians say) with our visit to Jenan and Des’s house. Jenan is my mom’s cousin and she lives on a 40 acre lot with her husband Des who is a bee-keeper. Mike and I had a great time visiting with them and learning more than we thought existed about bees and bee-keeping. It’s quite fascinating! They took us on a nice bike ride around the city (also the capital) Canberra with their daughter Pele. We were hoping to spot some Roos as there are plenty of them out there, but somehow the Roos must have known the Americans were in the area with their cameras, because they were no where to be found. Des took us in his 4x4 on a deep search of the ‘bush’ to find them, but to our avail, all we saw was their dropping and tracks. Next time I guess! It was a great visit and so nice to meet such lovely people. We’re just about to take off on our own up the Gold Coast. We leave tomorrow after picking up our rental car. We stayed in Sydney an extra couple of days to celebrate my birthday. Did some shopping and enjoyed a really nice Italian meal overlooking Darling Harbor. Such a nice day, Mike really treated me great although it is always sad to be away from friends and family during these times…

Sydney Opera House