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

Sydney is nice...
Roo!
Friendly little fellas
Dingo
They sure have a nice view
Whoa! Are we in the outback???
Magic!

Darling Harbor
A view from the ferry ride to the Zoo
More beautiful Sydney
I think these guys were my biggest fans

The Rocks - Sydney

We're STILL together...

Walking the Sydney Harbor Bridge
Tasmanian Devil! Too bad we didn't spot any in Tasmania!


Little angel! I fell in love with the Koalas!

Nice view from the zoo!

Little sleeper
Cricky!


I think I'm in heaven...and maybe a little shocked

Sunny skies!
Happy Easter!
A little reading time in the park

I think Adam took me to this pub before???

Des, Amie and Jenan
The bee-factory!
Bike ride around Canburra
Cute old sheep that loved to wake us up in the morning!
Alexis, Mariole's daughter and little sweetheart! Yes, they start early in Australia...

BIRTHDAY SHOPPING!!! Thanks Mom!
...
No, don't worry, I didn't buy that one
Birthday dinner

Sydney, Australia

I think our plane may have crashed on the way here because I’ll be damned if we didn’t die and go to heaven. Amie’s “Uncle” Ian was waiting for us at the airport, helped us scoop up our luggage, and before we knew it we were on a driving tour of Sydney in route to the 1.7M house he had just finished building that we will be staying at for the next few nights (maybe more if Amie has her way!). From what I saw of Sydney today I was instantly impressed, it feels much like a cleaner, sunnier San Francisco.

On the way to Ian and Marie’s we stopped at their daughters place to meet them and spend some time at the beach picnicking while Marie finished up the open house (the home is for sale). Their ridgeback-mix Choko really made us miss Candy. When we got to Ian’s place we were blown away. We felt like celebrities checking into a five star resort. The home is gorgeous, we have our own room and bathroom (no camping tonight!), dinner was sumptuous, wine was delicious, all and all amazing time.

Before dinner we stopped to meet Bill and Marion (Ian’s parents, and Amie’s Grandmother’s sister). They were very friendly and happy to meet me—Amie saw them last briefly when she was here 6 years ago. Incidentally, she left Australia early because she was missing me so much (and I her), so the relatives were more than a little curious about me and happy to see things were working out so well for us.

We will be here for at least a few days, then will head south to meet some more relatives out on a ranch near Canberra, from there, we plan to come back to Sydney for Amie’s B-day on the 9th, then head up the gold coast to Brisbane. We were both feeling really home sick as we watched Pele and Jeff head off towards San Francisco—almost wishing we were going with them—but now that we are here we are having a great time and are really excited about the next 3 weeks!

Sydney from the sky

Maroubra beach with Liz and Greg

Choko reminded us so much of 'Dings

Sydney is GREAT!
Marie is GREAT TOO!
Amie in the lap of luxury
Dinner in Ian and Marie's beautiful home

Tasmania, Australia

We arrived in Hobart with the agenda to rent bicycles and figure out how we were going to meet the Flemings who were currently making good progress up the East coast of the island. We did well on our second day in the lovely city and soon had our backpacks traded for panniers and bicycles. We boarded a bus to Launceston, and then to Scottsdale, where we arrived at a free campground just as Jeff and Pele pulled in after a long days ride. It was amazing seeing them in such a strange place after being on our own for so long. The reunion was really enjoyable. We spent the rest of the evening (and coming weeks) catching up.

Tasmania has to be one of the hilliest places in the world. At least it began to feel like it after our first couple days on the bicycle. Our bums were very sore, our legs ached and we sweat more than we have since central America. By the third or fourth day however we found our rhythm and both really enjoyed the change of pace (no pun intended). Jeff is in great shape and set the pace most days, but Pele was the real hero conquering hill after hill and refusing to give up. She did really well, rarely complained, and worked harder than the rest of us far and away. We would often break at the top of hills to give her a chance to catch up, but as soon as we did, we were off again, and so was she—with scarcely a break!
We camped the entire time and stayed at some fantastic spots, often right on the beach. We ate like pigs after long days peddling (everything was so delicious after a hard day on the bike) and got creative making great meals with one pan on a propane camp stove.

In route to drop the backpacks

Mike all geared up

Reunited, and it feels so good

Lets do it!

Pele doing it

Camping with a view

A tree

Mike won't give up
The guys match
The seasoned cyclists
Mike and "the shiek"

The shiek ponders his next dessert
This ferry saved us many kms
The shiek takes the lead
But then Pele pulls ahead!
Amie likes her cow photos

My hero
Rural Tassie

Tassie kids

The Tasmanian Devils Cycle Club
5 Lane drive through liquor store
Ma and Pa Fleming
Mike and the Wallaby are friends