On Wednesday morning, Lori and I got to wake up at 4:15 am to catch our 6:05 am flight to Sydney. We watched the sunrise as we took off from Gold Coast airport. It seemed we were barely in the air before we were descending and announcing the time and temperature in Sydney. We got off the plane and headed out to the curb (since we had no luggage) to meet Duncan, our new friend and tour guide. Duncan arrived in his speedy turbo Subaru Forester and off we went. We zoomed through the morning traffic in Sydney.
Duncan first took us to Bondi Beach (above), a very famous beach and tourist spot, then to "The Gap", a rocky overlook on the coast. We did a little rock climbing and hopping fences to get a better look at the water. Once I saw the rocks below I decided to go back to the fence. A little too adventureous for me- a mother of three. Duncan and Lori posed for the photo below (notice they are on the wrong side of the fence).
We then headed through the city and stopped at another great lookout point- a park right in the middle of a neighborhood with a great view of the harbor. Duncan knew all the right places to go. He obviously helps out a lot of people and is very accomodating to visitors. I just found out that he actually knows Jared's best friend, Jeff, completely independent of us. He stayed at Jeff's wife's house in Huntington Beach since they had it listed on an LDS house-swap website. So when Jeff and Brittany came to Sydney 2 yrs ago, he took them on his tour and showed them around as well. What a small world!
We had breakfast at a little French cafe near King's Cross then drove through the city towards the north end and Manly. Duncan took us to some more great lookout points on the north headland. Since he had a 1:00 appointment, we decided to part ways in Manly. We really enjoyed our morning with him- a total stranger just a week earlier. We walked around the little town, looked in a lot of surf shops (we are now officially OD'd on Billabong, Roxy and Quicksilver). Lori found some cute stuff at MAMBO, her favorite store here in Australia. We got lunch at a small cafe and relaxed and chatted for a while.
From Manly, we caught the ferry for $6 back into Sydney Harbor. It was a nice, breezy ride with great views of the skyline, the Opera House and Harbor Bridge. We took lots of photos, of course. Once we arrived in the harbor, we headed towards the Opera House to check out the tours.
For $26 we decided to pass on the tour since we figured it's basically just a bunch of seats inside and we were short on time. Instead we walked over to George Street/The Rocks. We headed up George Street towards the Queen Victoria building, which we heard was worth checking out. On the way we found a cheap little shop with clothing for $6.95 and $9.95. Surprisingly, it was nice quality stuff, apparently just came off the boat from China or something. After spending about an hour in the dressing rooms and digging around, we both bought a bunch of stuff. By the time we left, it was dark. We walked up the busy street and found the QVB. Unfortunately, it closed at 5pm (all shopping closes at 5 in AUS unless it's "Late night shopping" on Thursday nights). Something I still haven't gotten used to. Anyway, it was 6:45 by then and since we were working around train schedules, we only had time to get a drink and go find the subway station to catch the 7pm train to the airport.
We made it to the airport by 7:30 and our flight wasn't until 9pm. We read some tabloids in the bookstore and Lori got a smoothie. Our flight was delayed a few minutes but we still got home by about 10:30 pm. We were SOOOO tired. I felt like I was ready to collapse. All day Thursday (the next day) I was ready to fall asleep and almost had an involuntary nap at about 5pm on the couch with the kids. I held on and we even watched "24" (we finished Season One) that evening at 8pm. We all went to bed about 9pm b/c Jared and Lori left this morning for Townsville at 6am. I should be in bed now actually- I am working on a serious deficit.
Sigh. Life as a tourist can be exhausting! Thanks Jared for surprising us and buying the tickets for Sydney and for taking care of the kids (although I know Katherine did most of it). We appreciate it!!!
FYI, I have added photos to my online gallery of trips to Sydney and Byron Bay.
6 comments:
Whew, what a whirlwind trip, but so fun. I love the picture of you and Lori together with the Opera House behind you, so cool. How awesome that you had a local for a tour guide. What a cool experience.
I just have to say I love your blog!! I have been obsessed w/Australia since I was little (probably b/c my name is Sydney) but haven't had a chance to go yet. My dream was to marry an Australian - how did I end up with a Provo boy instead - lol!! Sounds like you guys had a great time!!
P.S. I found your blog through Jill's (I lurk there). Oh, and I love Pumpkin too!!
It sounds like a perfect day. I love the picture of you guys with the Opera House behind you, too. You look like you are having SO MUCH fun! What an adventure and what a nice hubby to set it all up for you. (I think I'll have Andy read your blog to plant some ideas in his head. This transition to 3 kids is starting to wear. I need a break.)
You always look so good in all of your pictures.
Your trip sounds great!! My husband was there in Sydney this week, and I don't think he saw anything except the Opera house. He flew in to Aukland to ski in Australia, and just did a quick, quick tour in Sydney. He did see kangaroos hopping through the fields on his drive there though, which I have to say is mighty cool.
oh......how fun! I love the picture of you two with the sydney opera house...wow life as a tourist is tough but it is one of the most rewarding things in life...I think and then a great amount of memories to follow
It looks like you guys had a great time, even if it was a brief visit! I'm so glad you found some inexpensive clothes, that's always a good thing in my book. Too bad about the stores closing early.
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