Sydney

Today was our last day in Sydney. We took the bus out to Bondi Beach. A nice beach but not what we are used to in the US. A small crescent with a deep beach of very fine cool sand. It is a great surfing beach. We took the bus back along the coast to the central station and then walked back to hotel from there, about a 1 1/2 hour walk through the city, very interesting. We saw a long line outside a chocolate shop, thought this must be good, got in the Que and bought some very good Easter chocolate. Tonight we had a dinner in the small town of Rose Bay on the water at sunset. Yesterday we took a tour out to the blue mountains. They get their name from the blue haze that hangs over the area. We took a couple of nail biter cable car rides and a ride on the steepest cable railway (almost straight up) in the world. On the way back to Sydney we stopped at the site of the 2000 Olympics and then took a boat down a river back to the heart of town near the Opera House. We also did our own mini tour of the rocks area, which is the original area of Sydney where the prisoners were left to found a colony, then a city and eventually a nation. They seem to erect statues here to outlaws, many of whom did many good things toward the formation of this country, even though they were scoundrels.

Tomorrow we head home after a wondeful time in NZ and OZ. We have seen so much of these amazing countries, and met so many people from all over the world, and have had so many positive experinces that it is amazing we were able to do so much in such a short period of time.

Eileen on the Bridge

Eileen Climbs the Bridge

We arrived in Sydney yesterday and promptly started walking the town. We are staying near the harbor, so we explored the are called the rocks which includes the opera house and the Sydney harbour bridge. There is quite a bit going on especially since it is St Patricks day. They were practicing yesterday and we are right next to the oldest Irish pub in Australia. What they do here is put barricades around the pubs to keep the revelers contained. This morning was Eileen's big day. She climbed to the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, up ladders, over catwalks and up and down over 1337 steps. At the top she was 134m(approx 45ft) above the water. While she was climbing the bridge I walked the bridge to the other side and walked down to the water and took some pictures looking back to Sydney. I then walked back to the pylon on the Sydney side and got there just in time to see Eileen climb the ladder to the bridge arch. After that we took the "Hop On -Hop Off" bus around Sydney getting off when we saw something interesting. Sydney is a very energetic city, we are glad we took and extra day here, there is so much to see.

Pictures from Reef and Palm Cove

Palm Cove

We are in Palm Cove just up the coast from Cairns. It is a tropical paradise with a beach, palm trees and a rainforest just across the main highway. It has rained both mornings here but by the afternoon everything clears up and is fine. You can't swim here this time of year because of sting rays, posionous jellyfish, sharks and crocodiles, other than that, no worries. Yesterday we went out 50 miles in the Coral Sea to a large pontoon on the Great Barrrier Reef. You can scuba, snorkel or take a semi-submersible sub to see the reef. The snorkeling wasn't good, so we took the sub twice. The reef is beautiful with all different types and colors of coral and fish, it was a real fun time. Tomorrow we are on to Sydney.

Uluru (Ayers Rock)

We are just outside of the middle of nowhere, 1300km from the nearest large city. Alice Springs is 300km away, but it is just a small town in the desert. Over 400,000 people come here to see Ayers Rock and a formation of rocks called Kata Tjuta also known as the Olgas. We walked among the Olgas yesterday being constantly buzzed by large flies. Not really a lot of fun. These are sacred places to the Aborigines and they are supposed to hold many secrets. The big secret is how they get so many people to come here to see a few big rocks. We saw the sunrise this morning at Ayers Rock and will do a dinner under the stars tonight. Tomorrow on to Cairns and civilization. p.s. You can double click on the pictures to enlarge them.