After weeks of traveling up and down the coast it was time to see Sydney, but not before paying a visit to our friends from earlier in our journey. You may remember the names Gord and Kay from an early
blog post in Turkey. They were nice enough to invite us to stay with them at their home in Cronulla for a number of days before and after our visit to the big city. Cronulla is a beautiful beach side suburb south east of Sydney. It is full of charming shops and cafés and of course a perfect beach to die for!
Kay, having read an earlier blog post of ours picked up on the fact that we might like to try surfing. Over a great BBQ dinner they prepared for us she asked "So... would you like to go and have a surf?" Why not I say! So plans were forged for Gord and I to go bright and early the next morning. I was very excited to try it, but a part of me was also thinking about how some great white shark was going to have a nice early brekky! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit intimidated at first, but Gord was a great instructor and was there by my side the entire time coaching me how to position myself on the board and when to paddle and catch a wave. Although I caught a few waves, I wasn't able to get perfectly up in a standing position but I had a blast and can definitely see myself spending more time out there!
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| Me, Gordon and Kay enjoying a great BBQ meal they prepared for us! |
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| Gord giving me a few last minute pointers before we head out. |
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| Trying to catch a wave with Gord faithfully by my side. |
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| Now if I can just stand up I'd be all set! |
Sydney
We really lucked out in Sydney on a couple fronts. First of all the weather was picture perfect the entire time. The skies were clear and sunny and when you think it's getting too hot a nice breeze blows in from the harbor. Most of our time seemed to be spent walking to and from and around the harbor. We spent quite a bit of time simply sitting at various spots around Circular Quay, which is the transportation hub for the harbor. From here you have perfect views of the iconic Sydney Opera House which is merely a 5 minute walk away. Of course no visit to Sydney is complete without a walk across the Sydney Harbor bridge. They have many ways and places that you can pay to see Sydney from various towers and bridge pylons etc... but the iconic bridge walk is really so great and it's right there for anyone to use!
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| The Opera House and bridge. |
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| The iconic harbor view from a scene in Finding Nemo. (c'mon...! I totally had to make reference to this at some point!) |
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| View of the Sydney Opera House from the Harbor bridge. |
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| Dy standing at the Opera House with a perfect view of The Sydney Harbor Bridge. |
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| View of the Harbor Bridge from one of the first European settlement in Australia called "The Rocks". (I'm Pretty sure there was no bridge view back then....or opera house for that matter.) |
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| Dy having a look across the Barbour from the bridge. |
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| Walking along the Harbour Bridge. |
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| Darling Harbor... Yes Sydney has many beautiful spots along their great harbor. The good news is they love their city and country and want to share it with everyone! |
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| Dy enjoying some fresh seafood at the Fish Market just down from Darling Harbor. (I ate sausage rolls for all you that are wondering!) |
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| Sydney tower. |
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| In my opinion, part of what makes any city great is the amount of space in it that isn't city at all. Sydney does not disappoint in this area. There are so many very large parks scattered throughout the city, and some within a 5 minute or so walk from the city center. |
Queen Mary 2
Another bonus that I eluded to earlier was the fact that on our last full day in Sydney the
Queen Mary 2 was paying a visit in Sydney Harbor. We have seen a few cruise ships in our travels, but this is a whole new level. When this ship was built it was the largest cruise ship in the world. There are a few bigger now, but this is still the largest true ocean liner in the world! We had a conversation with a couple that were boarding it in Sydney and would be cruising North on it through Asia, across the Indian ocean, through the Suez canal, through the Mediterranean and finally ending in the UK. I have to admit, although I don't really think a cruise is for me, I would love to do that trip on this icon of a ship!
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| Queen Mary 2 docked in Sydney Harbor |
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| The stern of Queen Mary 2 flanked by the Barbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House. |
After 4 days in Sydney, Gord and Kay asked us to come back out to Cronulla for our last night and stay with them. They also offered to drop us off at the airport. We have been so blessed to have met them and are humbled by their kindness and hospitality. We just said good bye to them a few hours ago and we are very much looking forward to the day when they come to Canada so we can have the pleasure of being their host for a while.
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| Dy, Gord, Kay and me. |
Well, here we are at the international terminal at Sydney airport. We are about to face our longest flight(s) so far. As always, sad to say good bye and excited for the next chapter...
