Coastal Walk & Stroll through the Gardens

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

This morning we returned to Bondi Beach and took the 5K walk along the coast to nearby Tamarama & Bronte beaches.  The views were absolutely beautiful! After lunch we continued our day of walking in the Royal Botanic Gardens (right next to our hotel) and found a perfect spot to put out our blanket to relax, read & journal.

The grand finale was dinner in the North Beach area with our new Aussie mates, Leigh & her husband Simon.

Surfers waiting for the best wave-

The water is cold!

Fig tree in the Royal Gardens

Dinner at The Oaks-
Thanks Leigh for all your hard work- we will leave off the thanks to Simon for the musk Lifesavers!

Blue Mountains

Monday, April 27, 2015

This day was dedicated to exploring the Blue Mountains just outside of Sydney.  It was beautiful weather (only a bit chilly higher up) allowing us to hike to a waterfall, enjoy spectacular views & have a delicious picnic.

Wentworth Falls-
we hiked to the top-(see photo below)

Bird on the trail

making our way up...

Standing at the pool at the top of the falls

Panorama of the Three Sister's Rocks

closer view of 3 Sisters

Chicken wraps and Ginger beer from the Blackheath Deli

atop Anvil Rock- a great view of Sydney just to the right of this picture...

Fun on the ferry back to Circular Quay

Opera House & National Maritime Museum

Sunday, April 26, 2015

The 3 boys woke up this morning around 4am and were ready to go but sweetly let mom sleep in for a couple of hours...  We set out for the historic Rocks area which was the original town of Sydney for a big "brekky" & ran into a big surprise.  In a city of 5M people we ran into my dear friend's pilot husband who was in town for a layover! So unexpected & exciting to run into someone from home while so far away...

After breakfast at the Rock's Cafe we toured the magnificent Sydney Opera House then walked to Darling Harbour to explore the Australian National Maritime Museum.

Early morning in the harbour

Thad?!?!  Hi Kerry!

Architectural Masterpiece 

admiring the interior...

Utzon's hand woven tapestry inside the Opera House

view from the back

 Harry's on Wheels for a meat pie

The boys gobbled them up!

Warship at the Maritime Museum

Bunks barely big enough for the boys- how did the seamen do it?

Heading for the hatch

In the belly of the submarine

Daddy gave the boys the map to find the way back to Circular Quay & our hotel-
they figured it out!

Opera House at night- stunning!

ANZAC Day

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Anzac (acronym for Australian & New Zealand Army Corp) Day is similar to the US Memorial Day set aside to honor all those who have served in the military.  Today was the 100 year anniversary of Australia and New Zealand entering WWI so this year's rememberance held greater significance & veterans were honored all over the country.

In the morning, we participated in watching the parade & that afternoon were shuttled around for some of the sights in Sydney.

The red poppies represent the blood shed in Flanders Fields during WWI.
Many of the veterans and their families wore them on their lapels.

Turns out we were in a prime "front row" viewing spot!

When we headed off for our tour after 2.5 hours, the parade was still going...

Opera House & Harbour Bridge

Mrs. Maquarie's Chair

An echoing point- reminded the boys of the Roman ampitheatre

Australia's very first lighthouse- designed & built by convicts

Bondi (pronounced "Bond-eye") Beach

Notice the clouds... a "southerly buster" forming...
we knew the rain was coming but did not expect the hail!

R's first Australian souvenir- Zac the Koala

Special lighting on the bridge for Anzac Day & the lights of Luna Park
(taken from our room balcony)

Headed Out- to the Land Down Under

While contemplating all that our European journey meant for our family and preparing for our Australian trip, I looked up quotes about travel for inspiration and to use as our motto ... there were many that I connected with...

"Not all who wander are lost." J.R.R. Tolkien

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." Mark Twain

"Traveling abroad is a progressive exercise in the discovery of our own ignorance." Wm. Blake

"Two of the greatest gifts we can give our children are roots and wings."

...but in facing 3 flights with one of them 15 hours long, the quote that seemed the truest and made me laugh out loud is this:

"Airplane travel is nature's way of making you look like your passport photo!" (emphasis mine) HA!

Ready to head out

It turned out that the travel was not as hard as expected. When we arrived in Sydney 2 days later we dropped our bags at the hotel, had breakfast and hopped on the ferry to Manly beach straight away.

View of Sydney Harbour from our room

Ferry to Manly Beach

First view of the ocean in Australia

He could not help himself and jumped right in- clothes & all!

"Triple Crown" pizza- crocodile, kangaroo & emu
***Correction 5/13/15:  "Coat of Arms" pizza*** 

The harbour at night- beautiful!