Sydney – 4

Hmmm, glad I added I think to the end of the last post *s*

Just as soon as we got outside, it started to rain – a little heavier than the past couple of days so we changed our plans. First off was coffee so that I didn’t suffer caffeine withdrawal again!

After that, we headed to the Sydney Aquarium (where we bought a combined ticket with the Sydney Wildlife World and the monorail). What an awesome experience the Aquarium was – the first animal we saw was a

platypus.
It was so cute. Just as cute were the

Little Penguins
– and I could even take a picture of them here, Lizz. After that we went through the other exhibits and were amazed at the different fish. We saw a

salt-water crocodile
that we were sure was a stuffed one until he opened his eye and looked at us. One of the highlights was the

glass tunnel
under the seal and shark exhibits. We were under the shark exhibit when it was feeding time and it was quite the sight to see all the sharks milling around the divers.

When we came out of the Aquarium, it was sunny but it was already after noon so we continued on to the Wildlife World exhibit. That was fantastic too – although if you have a fear of spiders or snakes, maybe you wouldn’t think so. There were

butterflies,

lizards,

birds
and nocturnal animals. Just when you thought you were almost at the end, there was another area to look at. We climbed up to the rooftop and found the

koalas.
Two were wide awake and chewing on leaves, the other two were sleeping. They were so cuddly looking but we didn’t get close enough to touch them.

One level down, were the

wallabies
– you could see them from the rooftop and hear the digeridoo playing. We went back down to the wallaby level and were entertained by their antics. At the end of the wallaby habitat, there was an employee holding a blue-tongue lizard – I tried to get a picture but it wasn’t light enough and there were a lot of children touching it.

Next up were the butterflies – they were everywhere and so pretty. One of them even landed on

John’s shoulder
– proving that they are not only attracted to bright colours.

Once outside again, we encountered more rain so we went to the monorail station and rode around once and then half way around again so that we could pick up a few more groceries.

It didn’t seem like we walked as much as the other days, but we still didn’t get back until 3:30.

Tomorrow – Bondi Beach and the suburbs. (Will try to post but I’m not sure when the internet expires – which reminds me, I should have looked around before purchasing because there are a ton of internet cafes, etc. around this area).

Temperature yesterday: 19 C with rain – heavy at times and very sunny at others.

1893 Building

Hot Wheels Car, Darling Harbour

Butterfly

I’m pretending I’m not asleep

Comfortable Wallaby

Sydney – 3

Left the condo at 9:30 a.m. and headed for Hyde Park and the first thing we saw was the Anzac War Memorial which was a very powerful and moving experience.

From there we walked down through the Park to the Royal Botanical Gardens. The lady at the

Wooloomooloo Gate
(a Friends of the Gardens volunteer) was surprised to see anyone on such a cool, wet day but we told her we didn’t find it cold and the rain is just a drizzle, not heavy like on Vancouver Island. What a beautiful place – I’m sure we missed quite a few areas, the trails wander and branch off constantly. We saw a

Kookaburra and a

Golden Orb-weaving spider while we were walking but the most surprising things were these:

Grey-headed Flying Foxes. There were also Sulphur-crested Cockatoos who were hopping on (and biting) an unsuspecting couple who had paused in their midst. We gave them a wide berth *g*

We walked along the seawall to Mrs. Mcquarie’s Chair and got our first sight of the Sydney Opera House.

Opera House
It really is as impressive as it looks in pictures *s*. We walked back through the park and exited beside the Opera House. Wed been walking quite a few hours by then, and the sight of the stairs leading up to the Opera House was intimidating but we made it *g*

Wandered back through Darling Harbour again and stopped for a coffee at Starbucks (yes Erik, I know we don’t go to Starbucks but we were having caffeine withdrawal). Just around the corner was the Chinese Gardens. It was raining again, so we decided to visit the gardens (hoping for a little shelter). They were beautiful – very serene in the midst of the city.

Once we finished at the Gardens, we actually looked at our watches and found that it was 3:30 p.m. already – don’t know where the day went. *s* We wandered back to the condo through Chinatown and John found the Minnesota-Colorado game on tv (well, a condensed version of it). At about 9:30 we were falling asleep, so we called it an evening.

Today, off to explore some of the suburbs, I think.

Temperature yesterday: 19 C with rain showers

John with palm tree in The Domain

Growing along the bank in the Botanical Gardens

Hyde Park

Chinese Garden Moon Gate

Ceiling – Anzac Memorial

Anzac Memorial

Sydney – 2

Well, we went out exploring yesterday after posting. We walked down to

Darling Harbour, through

Tumbalong Park and then along the

waterfront – our destination was the Sydney Opera House but we discovered that the walking path was blocked by construction so we backtracked a little and crossed the harbour by way of the

Pyrmont Bridge (a walking and monorail bridge)

Once on the other side of the harbour, the rain started. We took shelter for a while during the worst of the storm and then decided to walk through town. That was interesting – it was lunch time and everyone was rushing (so no photo ops). Add to that umbrellas everywhere and it was a challenge just to manouevre through the crowds. My first impression of people in Sydney – they’re friendly but always in a hurry. After a while, we decided to head to the grocery store which the receptionist had recommended. What she forgot to mention was that it was down an escalator (and the only advertising for it was part way down the escalator). We finally found it after John asked someone in a wine lounge and she sent us in the right direction. Food seems to cost a little more than at home (however, since we were in the middle of the city, that might be the location). We found some fantastic large prawns and salad makings and headed back to the condo, with the thought that we would go out again after eating.

Once we got back, we crashed – I set the alarm clock to wake us up in an hour and a half and then made dinner. As soon as dinner was over, we sat down to find the weather on tv and that was the last we knew until 9:30 p.m. when we woke up again and decided it must be bedtime. To my surprise, I slept through until 6:30 a.m. and am now ready to explore again (and to find real coffee – there’s only instant here at the condo and no coffee maker).

More photos are in the photo category (on the right side bar) under Australia.

Temperature yesterday: 18 C with rain showers

Sydney – 1

We made it – left home at 6:30 on Saturday morning (April 12 in Canada) and arrived at Los Angeles Airport at 4:00 p.m. – then we got to wait in a tiny portion of the terminal with very little to see or do. We walked and people watched and walked some more but finally it was time to board the plane to Sydney.

What an awesome experience – they provided all kinds of little extras – and yes, I did get my special fruit plate meals (and they were scrumptious – lots of melon and fresh pineapples and grapes.) John had a salmon dinner with baby potatoes and snow peas and raisin bran for breakfast. Worked out well for both of us.

After dinner was served, about 2 hours into the flight, the lights were turned out so that we could try to get some sleep. We kind of napped but actual sleeping was a little difficult. Too many people moving around but we did rest. The flight attendants gave everyone a “snack bag” so that when we woke up, we could have bottled water, dried fruit, M & M’s *g*, and a cookie. There was also a courtesy bag which contained an eye mask, some socks, and a Qantas lanyard.

We got into Sydney Airport a little early (about 6 a.m.) – even though we had to veer off the flight path a little because of a spectacular lightning storm near the Brisbane area.

Immigration and Customs weren’t too bad – they were a little concerned about the new tripod – a Gorrillapod for those of you who don’t know. When they saw it, they were impressed by it though.

We caught a shuttle bus to the condo – John kept saying that he hoped it would make it as far as our drop off point as the u-joint was making some very loud noises. We were the second stop, and when we got to the reception desk, they actually had a room ready for us – what a beautiful start to the day. John had a nap and a shower and I just showered – it felt wonderful to finally change clothes *lol*

Something we haven’t seen before – to work the lights in the apartment, you need to leave your key card (the one that opens the door and works the elevator) in a slot. Certainly reminds you not to waste electricity *s*

Key Card Light Switch

There is internet access in the room but it’s not exactly cheap. Oh well, it’s the lifeline home, right? I’m going to pay it here for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday but maybe not everywhere. When we have a car, we’ll be able to find internet cafes or wireless (fingers crossed) a little easier.

Well, that’s not much of a post but we’re ready to go out and walkabout. Here are a few photos of the condo:

Worldmark Sydney – Kitchen

Worldmark Sydney – Entertainment Centre

Worldmark Sydney – Bedroom

Worldmark Sydney – View from our room

April 11, 2008

Wow – one more sleep (providing we – or maybe that’s I actually sleep). Today is being spent packing, unpacking, and repacking the bags – and trying to decide whether I want to take one extra bag so that there is a little more space in each one. I’m trying to pack light but it’s hard to know what we’re going to need for clothing – the temperatures are warmer there right now but it’s also raining and I really hate being cold.

We’ve decided to catch the 7:45 ferry and take a taxi to the airport – Erik and Lizz will drive to the ferry with us and then bring the van home again. I know how much they hate getting up in the morning so I really appreciate it *s*

I booked the overnight camping trip to Fraser Island for May 13/14 – now we just need to figure out the transportation from the condo at Caloundra (Golden Beach) to Noosa where the tour picks up. It looks like the bus system will work to get there but I’m still waiting to hear if we will be back to Noosa in time to catch a bus back or if it will be a taxi back to the condo.

Thanks to Lizz for updating this blog site – it looks really neat now – and, as much as I loved the previous background of flowers, it’s now easier to read.

Off to pack (again) – next update, Sydney.

April 4, 2008

Well, the tickets arrived in the mail and, of course, there’s a change in plans *s*. Quite a few of the flight times changed within 1 hour of what I posted but that’s not too big of a deal. I’ll edit the last post to show the changes and the flight numbers.

However, instead of leaving Vancouver Airport at close to 5 p.m., we now leave at 1:16 p.m. This means that catching the 10:15 ferry won’t work – so now we’re looking at various options. As you all know, John prefers to be early for everything *s*, so he’s not liking the timing of the 7:45 ferry as it means we would get to the airport at about 2 hours before the flight (which is the check in time). Other options we’re exploring are:

going to Vancouver on Friday night and staying at a hotel close to the airport (with a shuttle bus to the airport)
getting up really early and catching the 5:15 ferry from Duke Point – then taking the bus to the airport
catching the 7:45 ferry from Duke Point – then catching a taxi to the airport (taxi will cost about $55 – so far this is the one I like – I don’t have to get up too! early and it’s the second cheapest solution – the cheapest being getting up too early in the morning *lol*)
flying Harbour Air from Nanaimo Harbour to Vancouver Airport

We’ve already discarded the idea of someone driving us all the way to the airport and then coming back on the return ferry. Hardly seems like a fun thing to do (although John and I have done that before when Justin left after the second visit).

The other really fun thing that the change in schedule brings is a 6 hour stopover in Los Angeles Airport – oh joy! Sure glad John isn’t smoking right now or he’d be going crazy in the airport for that long. Too bad I won’t be able to have any knitting to keep me occupied – guess I’ll spend a lot of time “people watching” and pacing *g*.

March 3, 2008

Guess it’s time for an update – especially in light of the fact that in three weeks we’ll be in Australia *gulp* Not sure we’re ready (or maybe that should be that I’m ready) but it’s coming up fast.

After a lot of searching for airfares (in town, on the internet and through ads in the paper), we finally found a travel consultant who was helpful and knowledgeable. To our surprise, she was located in Toronto, Ontario (even though I emailed the Victoria office of the same company). For travel to Australia, I highly recommend Melissa Soward of Pacesetter Travel. She recently lived in Australia and had a lot of suggestions (quite a few of which already matched what we had decided were on our must do list). The airfare to Australia (plus 3 domestic flights and a stopover on the return trip in Phoenix) was just under $2600 each. We also had her book our car and campervan rentals as her cost was much less expensive than any we came up with.

I’ve ordered a fruit platter meal selection for myself on the flights – it seemed to be the safest way to avoid eggs and will take some granola bars and sandwiches with me to supplement the fruit.

So, I guess we’re mostly set – just packing left to do and to make sure that none of our luggage weighs too much or is too big. I’ve been “scouring” the permissible and non-permissible items lists for Canada, the United States and Australia to make sure we don’t inadvertently pack something we shouldn’t and cause a security breach *s*

Our revised itinerary: (Edits on April 1st in bold type)

April 12 – catch 10:15 ferry from Duke Point to Tsawwassen and then the bus to the airport
April 12 – Leave Vancouver on United Express at 1:16 p.m. – Flight AC4142(was Alaska at 4:51 p.m.)
Arrive Los Angeles at 4:18 (was 7:13)(6.25 (was 3.5) hour stopover there – enough time, I hope, to do the immigration stuff – have I mentioned I hate LAX?)
Leave Los Angeles on Qantas – Flight QF012 at 10:30 (was 10:40 p.m.)
Lose a day crossing the International Date Line
April 14 – Arrive Sydney at 6:05 a.m. (was 6:20 a.m.)
April 14 to 17 – Worldmark, Sydney studio suite
April 18 – Pick up rental car at Sydney Airport – Drive to Lakes Entrance (route still to be determined – either via Canberra or along the coast)
April 18 to 21 – Worldmark, Lakes Entrance 1 bedroom suite
April 22 – Phillip Island Nature Park (to see the little penguins)
April 23, 24 – stay in Melbourne
April 25 to 28 – Worldmark, Ballarat 1 bedroom suite
April 28? – Great Ocean Road
April 29 – return rental car – fly from Melbourne at 10:25 a.m. on QF081 (was 11:10 a.m.) to Adelaide (arrive 11:15 a.m. – was noon) – yeah, we realize that this was kind of silly – wasn’t really thinking when we did the planning.
April 29 to 5 – Campervan rental from Oz Maui Motorhomes and travel from Adelaide to Alice Springs adding Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) and Kings Canyon as we have an extra night and most of the day to explore Alice Springs before our flight leaves
May 5 – Best Western Alice Springs
May 6 – fly from Alice Springs at 5:10 p.m. on QF1948 (was 4:40 p.m.) to Cairns (arrive 7:45 p.m. – was 7:15 p.m.)
May 6 to 10 – Cairns Queenslander Apartments
May 8 – Skyrail Rainforest Cableway to Kuranda (so I don’t chicken out *g*) and the Kuranda Scenic railway back to Cairns
May 10 – Great Barrier Reef trip – not sure what one yet – will wait until we get there and see what we like
May 11 – fly from Cairns at 10:05 a.m. to Brisbane on QF709(arrive 12:10 p.m.). Pick up rental car at aiport.
May 11 – Hockey game – Brisbane Blue Tongues vs West Sydney Ice Dogs at Gold Coast Iceland
May 11 to 17 – Worldmark, Golden Beach 1 bedroom suite
May 13 or 15 – overnight camping tour of Fraser Island
May 18 to 24 – Worldmark, Kirra Beach 2 bedroom suite (room for visitors to stay overnight)
May 25 – travel by rental car to Pokolbin Hill (possibly leaving Kirra Beach on the 24th and staying overnight at a hotel on the way to Pokolbin Hill)
May 25, 26, 27 & 28 – Worldmark, Pokolbin Hill 1 bedroom suite
May 29 – travel to Sydney via the Blue Mountains
May 29 – Airport Sydney International Inn at the airport
May 30 – Leave Sydney at 9:45 a.m. on QF149 (was 10:20 a.m.) for Los Angeles (arrive 6:05 a.m. – was 6:40 a.m.)
Retrieve lost day crossing the International Date Line (which explains how we arrive in Los Angeles before we leave Sydney *g*)
May 30 – Leave Los Angeles at 9:40 a.m. on US Airways US156 for Phoenix (arrive 11:04 a.m.)
May 30 to June 3 – Worldmark, Rancho Vistoso 1 bedroom suite
June 4 – Leave Phoenix at 10:11 a.m. on US Airways US506 for Vancouver (arrive 1:43 p.m.) – figures that this one which I wanted later didn’t get changed.
Bus to ferry terminal and home

September 9, 2007

Another step closer to Australia – no, haven’t got the plane tickets yet but we renewed our passports on Monday.

What a production – we spent the night at the timeshare in Victoria so we could get an early start on the day. I don’t know what time John was up but he came back to the condo at 6 a.m. and told me there were already 25 people in the lineup and that we had to get there right away. Well, you probably know I’m not a morning person so I grumbled a bit and then said I’d go but I was sleeping in the van until the offices were opening. Yeah, right! My cell phone rang at 7:30 and John told me to get into the lineup as one of the passport office employees would be handing out the initial set of numbers at about 8. By this time the lineup was all the way down the block to Douglas Street and the commissionaire was telling the people who were still arriving that it was touch and go as to whether they would get into the office on Monday.

I was waking up by this time (especially since John had got me an extra large coffee at the nearby McDonald’s). When the tickets were handed out, we were at almost the end of the second group of people (there were only 2 people behind us) – and we waited about an hour outside. It was nice weather and the people around us were a lot of fun so the wait wasn’t too bad. We were so excited when we were allowed into the building – we thought it would be over soon and we’d have the whole day ahead of us.

But no – we then got a second set of numbers and had to wait to be called up for a preliminary inspection of our paperwork. Of course, we were at the end of the lineup so it took quite a while to make it to the first step. Luckily, our paperwork was in order so we were given another number and we had to sit down and wait for it to be called so the paperwork could be processed. This turned out to be very interesting – there were A#’s, B#’s, C#’s and D#’s (along with more E#’s – which were the preliminary paperwork numbers). The display board would display the number being served and the agent you were to report to. The letters weren’t in any kind of apparent order – there would be an A, then a D, then a B and then another A. It was a little aggravating but we still had our “friends“ from the lineup in the same area and we were getting a little rowdy. I think they finally gave up and called us just to get us out of the office.

The actually processing only took about 15 minutes (for the 2 of us) – the passports will be mailed to us within 3 weeks. That`s a change from the last time we got passports when we had to go back to Victoria to pick them up. The entire process took 5 hours – from the time we got into the lineup until we were back on the street. Hopefully by the time another 5 years has passed, the process will be even more streamlined.

July 15, 2007

I’m going to use this blog mainly as a record of our “odyssey” to Australia in April and May of 2008.

We’ve been “saving” our timeshare time (for the last 3 years) so that we can maximize the days spent in the timeshares while in Australia. The plans have worked out quite well – we’ve managed to book 27 days in 6 different locations. The remaining days will be spent in hotels (or hostels) and in a campervan.

The air travel hasn’t been finalized yet but we’re tentatively leaving Vancouver on April 12, 2008 and arriving in Sydney on April 14, 2008. We’ll flying out of Sydney on May 29 or 30 and are hoping to stopover in Hawaii for a few days of heat before heading home.

Our itinerary (as of July 15, 2007):

April 12 – Leave Vancouver
April 14 – Arrive Sydney
April 14, 15, 16 & 17 – Worldmark, Sydney studio suite
April 18 – Car rental until April 28 – Drive to Lakes Entrance via Canberra
April 18, 19, 20 & 21 – Worldmark, Lakes Entrance 1 bedroom suite
April 22 – Phillip Island (to see the little penguins)
April 23, 24 – stay in Melbourne
April 25, 26, 27 & 28 – Worldmark, Ballarat 1 bedroom suite
April 29 – fly from Melbourne to Adelaide
April 29, 30, May 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 – Campervan rental and travel from Adelaide to Alice Springs
May 6 – fly from Alice Springs to Cairns
May 6, 7, 8, 9 & 10 – stay in Cairns
May 11 – fly from Cairns to Brisbane
May 11, 12, 13 & 14 – Worldmark, Golden Beach 2 bedroom suite (room for visitors to stay overnight)
May 15, 16 & 17 – stay in Brisbane
May 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 & 24 – Worldmark, Kirra Beach 2 bedroom suite (room for visitors to stay overnight)
May 25 – travel (train, bus, rental car?) to Pokolbin Hill
May 25, 26, 27 & 28 – Worldmark, Pokolbin Hill 1 bedroom suite
May 29 – travel (rental car?) to Sydney International Airport
May 29 – Leave Sydney for Honolulu or Vancouver

More to come on what attractions we’re interested in seeing in various locations – this is still in the “talking” stages but I really like the Lonely Planet Australia travel guide for some suggestions of things to see when you’re only in the area for a short period of time.

Travels with John and Chris

A diary of our travels

Australia