Last Night Down Under

My day today started in Queenstown and ended in Sydney. It was another gorgeous day in New Zealand with interesting low-hanging clouds. After packing (my flight didn't leave until mid-afternoon) I walked around and found that there was both a farmers market and an art market. This was a good opportunity to make a few more purchases!

I had a great lunch at a Thai restaurant (naturally, recommended by LP) and then I headed to the airport. Got to Sydney without anything exciting happening (watched Gran Torino on the plane), got to my hotel, and decided to have dinner in an area called Darling Harbour.

And WOW, was this a HAPPENING part of town! Now granted, it's a Saturday night, but the area was hopping! I had a good dinner at the Blackbird Cafe, sat on the deck and alternated between watching people go by and reading. I decided to walk around a little afterwards, and there was a fireworks show! I'm not even sure what the occasion was, but there was some holiday music being broadcast over loud speakers.

I must say, it seemed to be the perfect finale for my wonderful trip!

Arrowtown

For my last full day in Queenstown (and New Zealand, for that matter!) I took a tour to Arrowtown, and old gold mining town. We drove there in an old London-style red double decker bus, making a few stops along the way at Lake Hayes, the K-bridge bungy site, and the Gibbston Valley Winery (which is also a cheesery – I didn’t even know that “cheesery” was a real word…)

As expected, the scenery along the way was gorgeous, plus it was a really beautiful day, at least in the morning.

Arrowtown is pretty small with just one main street, but there’s a really neat museum there all about the gold rush. Supposedly, it’s “the best museum in New Zealand” and they make a big deal out of the fact that Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip have been there. I must admit that it IS a pretty impressive museum, and I wish I’d had more time there, but we had to get back on the bus and head back to Queenstown.

When we got back, it was still a nice day (although getting a little windy) so I had a picnic lunch in a park next to the lake with walnut bread and cheese from the cheesery.

And soon after lunch it started to rain! So I spend most of the rest of the day reading and watching movies in my hotel room. At least the weather was nice for most of my stay!
So tomorrow afternoon I fly back to Sydney for one night, and then I head home for the longest day ever, which also happens to be Mom’s birthday. It’s been a great trip (and I’m not looking forward to the cold!) but I’m ready to go home and get back to “normal life.”

TSS Earnslaw Steamship

Yesterday I noticed that Queenstown has a vintage steamship. Actually, I smelled it first – that smell of burning coal that I associate with some cities in Europe. So this evening I decided to go for a cruise.

We left Queenstown at 6 PM and set off across Lake Wakatipu for Walter Peak. The scenery was beautiful and many of the mountains had snow at the top. The steam engine was also really cool. They had the engine room open so that you could see how everything worked. There were four ovens burning coal and a guy who was shoveling in more coal every few minutes.

The whole voyage to Walter Peak and back was about 90 minutes. It certainly wasn’t as thrilling as bungy jumping or hang gliding, but I thought it was really cool. I think my Dad would have gotten a kick out of it too!

Day in Queenstown

Today I decided to explore Queenstown, which started with sleeping in! Because New Zealand is so far south (and I’m even on the south island), it’s still light out at 10 PM and the sun comes up at 5-something. This morning, since I didn’t have a specific schedule, I put my pillow over my head and slept until almost 9 AM.

I decided to head up to the Skyline Gondola, and on the way there I passed the Kiwi Birdlife Park. It was about 9:52 and the next posted kiwi feeding time was 10 AM, so I decided to check it out. The kiwi house had two birds, a male and a female, and it was kept dark (with an infrared light) to simulate nighttime. The kiwi were really cute! It was hard to see them clearly, of course, but they were like little puppy-sized balls of fluff with really long straw-like beaks that they kept poking into the ground after bugs. They walked around on two legs like drunken old men. It was pretty neat to watch them for a while.

Then I continued up to the gondola station and rode up the hill. The view was gorgeous! When I got to the top, I walked the Loop Trail, which wound through the pine woods on the peak. The forest smelled so good! And I didn’t meet another single person. Then I rode the luge a couple times – it’s two tracks (one “scenic” and one “advanced” with 3-wheeled carts). That was fun. Then I looked longingly at the bungy jump site off the side of the mountain, but decided that I need to stop spending money like there’s no tomorrow…

By this time I was getting hungry, so I went back down into town and had lunch at a place called Halo, recommended (of course) by my LP guide book. I had corn and feta fritters with mango salsa and a strawberry milkshake. I started reading “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” and ended up extolling the virtues of the Kindle yet again to a couple German tourists. Pretty soon I need get on the Amazon.com payroll.

In the afternoon I stopped by the Underwater Observatory where one could see huge rainbow and brown trout, occasional long-finned eels (more than 2 feet long!) and diving ducks (scaup or black teal ducks) diving. The ducks were very cool! It was so neat to see their little webbed feet kicking away as they dove. They looked silver underwater because of the air trapped in their feathers, and when they went back to the top it looked like they were wearing little silver helmets! The observatory was free, so I’m thinking that I might have to go back again tomorrow morning. I only saw two eels (or the same eel twice) and it was very brief. They put out food for the eels in the morning, so I’m thinking that I might get a better view if I go earlier. Of course, that does require getting out of bed…

Hang gliding over Otago

Hang gliding is another one of those “always wanted to do” things for me. My Lonely Planet guide had a really good write-up about SkyTrek tandem hang gliding that insisted that it really does feel like you’re flying, so I decided to try it!

I really wanted to do my hang gliding on Thursday or Friday, but I was a little worried about the weather report for my time in Queenstown. So I decided to book the hang gliding for Wednesday afternoon (after bungy jumping Wednesday morning) just in case the weather wasn’t good, so that I would have 2 more days to reschedule. It got windy in the afternoon but we had a weather check call at 2:30 and SkyTrek said we were good to go.

At 2:50 I was picked up from my hotel by Ian, one of the pilots. We then picked up his colleagues Dave (another pilot) and Augustin (the “ground crew”) and Eve (from Finland), another client. We then headed west out of Queenstown – the opposite direction from the bungy site, which was to the east – and drove for about 25 minutes to the launch site. It was (logically) up the slope of the mountains and considerably cooler.

There Dave and Ian assembled the hang gliders (which we had been carrying on the roof of the van) and Augustin helped Eve and me get dressed up in our very attractive flight suits. Once everything was ready to go, Ian gave me a quick tutorial on how we would take off. In order to do this, we would have to run down the steep slope in tandem until there was enough lift for the glider to take off. We had to do this while attached to the hang glider with a harness, and also while I was hanging on to him.

Luckily, with my extensive marching band experience, the “step (left), step (right), run run run run” didn’t seem too difficult! As it turned out, there was enough wind that we only needed to take 2 or 3 steps before we were in the air!

Wow, was it amazing! For about 15 minutes we flew above the trees with gorgeous views of the valley. At one point, we flew over a pine forest and the pine scent was wafting up to us – so neat! Another time we were over a field and I could see birds flying far below us. A little bit before we landed, Ian asked me if I liked roller coasters, and when I said yes, he steered the glider into a roller-coaster-like rise and fall, which was pretty cool a couple hundred feet in the air!

Too quickly it was over, and we touched down to a rolling stop on a landing field for hang gliding and paragliding. Maybe I need to add “learn to hang glide” to my list of things to do!

Bungy Photos!

Jumping off the Kawarau Bridge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Woohoo! Yes, I did it! Today I bungy jumped off of the “K-Bridge,” which is the home of the first-ever commercial bungy jumping site, established in 1988. What a rush! The height is 43 meters (142 feet) above the beautiful blue waters of the Kawarau River.

I booked the appointment yesterday and last night I didn’t sleep very well. I had some weird dreams about the jump, which involved doing some kind of training in a gym to make sure we jumped the right way. And my Mom was there! (Not to jump, just to watch!)

So anyway, I got up this morning, had a couple granola bars for breakfast, and headed to “The Station” to check in. From there, our group was bussed to the K-Bridge site, about 25 minutes outside of Queenstown. From the command central building, you could see the live action on a TV, and there was a young woman in a pink t-shirt out on the bridge who looked pretty scared!

I stashed my stuff in a locker and then went to the check-in counter to get weighed. Turns out that they have two different bungy cords – a shorter one for people who are heavier and a longer one for people who are lighter. (I was on the longer one.) They write your weight on your hand so that the guys on the bridge attaching the cord know which one to use.

Then, I went up to the bridge. There I was outfitted with a safety harness. The bungy cord is actually attached to your feet, but then there’s another line attaching the bungy cord to the safety harness. Once I had the harness on, the guys wrapped a small blue blanket around my ankles and attached the bungy cord.

There were a couple other people already there waiting, including the woman in the pink t-shirt. She ended up not being able to jump and I went in her place!

The guys asked me if I wanted to go in the water or not. It was still pretty chilly, so I said that I’d like to touch the water, but not get dunked, and they said they’d do their best. They told me to “do a nice swan dive” and when I see the water coming close to me, put my hands together over my head and tuck my chin. Okay, I think I can do this…

Then, with my ankles tied up, I hopped to the edge of the platform about 18 inches wide, looking down 43 meters to the water! (It looks a little higher than a 10-meter diving platform, I decided!) But I didn’t have a whole lot of time to look around and think about what I was doing, because the guys counted “1, 2, 3…” and I jumped!

I must go off on a tangent here and mention that a couple of the people on my bus back to Queenstown told me that I had “great form” in my jump. Must be all that diving experience!

And it was A TOTAL BLAST! Similar to my (one) skydiving experience, beyond the initial couple seconds’ drop, you don’t have that much of a sensation of falling – it’s more like floating. And the “bounce” when the bungy cord stretches and bounces back is very gentle – not jarring at all like you might think it would be. You bounce back in the air at least half of the distance back up on the first bounce, and then you get that falling sensation all over again! Then after a couple more smaller bounces, you’re just hanging upside down by your feet, swinging from a bridge!

At that point, two guys in a yellow raft on the river came over to retrieve me. They held up a white pole for me to grab, and then the guys up on the bridge slowly lowered me down while the raft guys hauled me into the boat. When I was lying on my back in the raft, the guys in the raft could get the bungy cord off my feet and the guys on the bridge hoisted it back up for the next person. I was laughing and my heart was pounding the whole time! My legs were shaky getting out of the raft and walking up the path back to the building and lookout site.

And then I decided that I DEFINITELY want to do this again sometime! (Maybe tomorrow…???)

Oh, and I do have the photos and DVD to prove it! I'll post some of the actual jump photos once I'm able to download them from the AJ Hackett site. Woohoo!

Queenstown, New Zealand

Today I arrived in Queenstown, on the south island of New Zealand. I had heard a lot about how gorgeous the scenery is here, and I can definitely say that I agree! The area reminds me a little bit of Colorado – beautiful mountains, crisp air, lots of trees and pine forests, and sort of a “ski chalet” resort atmosphere. (Speaking of atmosphere, it’s a little cooler today that I expected, although I think that the people wearing parkas and scarves are overdoing it! Luckily, tomorrow and Thursday are supposed to be warmer. By Friday they are forecasting thunderstorms, so I may be partaking of indoor activities that day!)

Queenstown is situated on this huge lake – Lake Wakatipu – and one of the claims to fame is that much of the “Lord of the Rings” movies were filmed here.

Tonight I just got my bearings and walked around a bit. I also scheduled my “activities” for tomorrow (which you’ll have to wait to hear about!). The area really is beautiful and I look forward to hiking around and taking the gondola up the hill to the scenic lookout point.

One other interesting “small world” note. On the plane, I was seated next to a couple from the UK about my parents’ age (in other words, young, middle-age-type folks) and after a while we got to talking a bit. (I’m sure that will surprise Nate.) Actually, I think the chatting started when they asked me how I liked my Kindle! Anyway, it turns out that they have children and grandchildren in both Australia and New Zealand that they were visiting. They gave me lots of suggestions on what to do in Queenstown and were incredibly nice. After we had talked a bit, they asked me what I did back home, and I mentioned recently getting my MBA and that I would soon start working for a management consulting firm called Deloitte. (I never know if someone is going to know what I mean when I say “consulting,” and I’m never sure whether someone will recognize the name Deloitte.)

They started laughing and nodding!

Turns out that the husband retired as a partner at the London office of Deloitte & Touche (the accountants) ten years ago!

Fratelli Paradiso

Last night I had a meal in Sydney that was so good, it deserves its own blog entry! First, I need to thank my father, Allan D. Kellar. I believe I must have inherited my love of trying new and interesting restaurants from him. And Dad, you would have LOVED this place!

I traveled from Cairns to Sydney on Monday, arriving in Sydney around 5:30 (and leaving for New Zealand the next morning), so I really didn’t have a lot of time to do anything that night other than have dinner. I decided to try another restaurant recommended by my Lonely Planet guide book, and I also wanted to walk through Kings Cross (the “seedier” part of Sydney, in a Las Vegas showgirl kind of way), so I chose a restaurant called Fratelli Paradiso in Potts Points. To get there, I would walk through the Kings Cross area, including past the iconic Coca-Cola sign. (See photo)

When I got there, I actually walked past it – partially because I didn’t see the name at first and wasn’t positive that this was the right place, and partially because it looked so schicki-micki that I felt slightly underdressed in my jeans and sweater. So I walked down the street, and then got up my courage and went back. And I am SO glad that I did!

The waiter didn’t seem at all fazed by my request for a table for one, and seated me in a prime spot out on the sidewalk next to a table of four women who looked like they were vacationing from Rome. He immediately gave me a glass of water, and then I settled in with the wine list, waiting for the menu. I was engrossed in my Kindle (God bless this wonderful invention!) when I realized that the waiter was going over a very long list of specials with the women at the next table, and suddenly I noticed that they didn’t have menus. In fact, no one in the restaurant seemed to have menus. I suddenly felt a little sick as it occurred to me that this might be one of those fancy-schmancy places with a “set” menu of just a few dishes. And I felt even sicker when I realized that almost everything the waiter seemed to be mentioning (that I could hear) involved seafood of some kind! Had I just made a horrible mistake??

Well, at least I had some forewarning to prepare myself. So when the waiter came next to me, and asked what courses I was interested in, I said that I wasn’t sure and would like to hear everything, but I didn’t eat any seafood or fish. Once again, thankfully, he didn’t seem at all fazed and started through the “not from the sea” menu options. I settled on a Caprese salad (Joan is rolling her eyes right now), some meat ravioli, and a glass of Riesling.

By the way, I did realize later that the “menu” was written up on the wall inside the restaurant – there were just no printed menus.

What followed was two and a half hours of such culinary bliss that I concluded that “paradiso” is indeed an appropriate name! The buffa mozzarella and tomato salad had no fewer than 6 different varieties of tomatoes, perfectly seasoned with sea salt, ground pepper, fresh basil and a drizzle of olive oil. And five perfect little beef and veal ravioli were served with a sage and butter sauce and fresh tomato relish. All the flavors were just absolutely exquisite! And perhaps most importantly the portions were just right – enough to enjoy and savor but not so much that I felt stuffed.

I was having so much fun (and laughing out loud reading my Janet Evanovich book) that I decided to have dessert. I was having a hard time deciding between the white tiramisu (the women next to me ordered this and it looked delicious!) and the strawberry mousse. I asked the waiter for his recommendation and he said that the tiramisu was very rich, while the mousse was lighter, so I decided to go for the mousse. Like everything else in the meal, it was fantastic!

It was dark by the time I left, but I felt like it was an evening (and money) very well spent!

So if you are ever in Syndey, check out Fratelli Paradiso on Challis Avenue in Potts Point. I promise that you will not be disappointed!

For the Bird Freaks

I talked to Sam and Grace on the phone yesterday and Sam asked me why I hadn't written anything about these bird photos. So I figured that I'd better write something!

I'm not going to take the time to mess around with the formatting, so from top to bottom, these are...

• the lorikeets and cockatoos I saw walking at Manly...
  
  the scrub hen and brush turkey from Cairns...
  
  two white, dove-like birds in a nest right next to the Lagoon in Cairns...
  
  the brown, robin-like birds I mentioned earlier (that Joan has identified as a common myna)...
  
  and some water bird right on the shoreline in Cairns
  
  
  
  

Last day in Cairns

Do I really have to go back to work soon? Can't I just keep traveling around? Oh, I guess there is that money thing...

For my last full day in Cairns I decided to just do some walking around. I started off with this beautiful park area that is right next to my hotel complex. The thing that I loved most about it was that the air just smelled so good! Luckily, they had the trees labeled so I was able to figure out what it was -- rosewood, with pretty orange flowers. There were also tons of birds (Mom, you really should think about coming here) and a couple little lakes.

Then I got to a hilly area and a hike through the Mt. Whitfield Conservation Park, which wound up the hill through the rainforest. There was lots of bamboo and also many sightings of brush turkeys and scrub hens (both about the size of a chicken) scratching in the leaves. The lookout spots gave nice views of the airport and across Cairns out to the ocean.

It actually rained a little bit while I was hiking up the hill, which felt pretty nice! Once again I was thankful for the shade of the forest because it is HOT under the sun!

After my hike (and reapplying sunscreen) I took the hotel shuttle bus into Cairns. I was really hungry by this time, and thankfully I was able to find something I've been craving for the past week -- a good salad!! I ate at a place recommended by my guide book called Perrotta's at the Gallery which is right next to the Cairns Regional Gallery. I had a delicious salad with spinach, grilled chicken, onions, grapes, hazelnuts and blue cheese and also some bruschetta with ricotta, basil and tomatoes.

I ended up staying there quite a while because I was getting close to the end of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" and I had to finish it. (Very good book!) Plus, it was really pleasant -- a patio right on one of the main streets, and out of the sun!

After lunch I decided to check out the Cairns Regional Gallery, which had interesting exhibitions of ceramics and "tapa," which is beaten bark cloth from the Pacific Islands. (Side note -- I think I need to add Fiji to my upcoming travel destinations.)

Then I walked around a little bit, got some mango cheesecake at Beethoven's Cafe (also recommended by the guide book) and ended up at the Lagoon, which is a big saltwater swimming pool. Cairns really doesn't have beaches because the coastline is all muddy and swampy, so they built this great pool, which was pretty crowded. Given my lingering sunburn on my back from snorkeling, I generally avoided direct sunlight and didn't spend any time on my stomach! I started reading "What the Dog Saw" by Malcolm Gladwell. LOVE the Kindle!

So now I'm back in my apartment, doing a couple loads of laundry and packing. Several times today I thought, "I'm really going to need to come back to Australia." I'd like to visit the Reef again, and I'd like to go into the country, to the outback and the desert. Have I mentioned that I just really love traveling and seeing new places????

Kuranda

Today was another great day! A couple people had recommended that I take either the train or Skyrail (gondola cable car) up to a little village in the rainforest called Kuranda. I decided to do a package that included the Kuranda Scenic Railway going up and the Skyrail coming back down (plus transfers from my hotel -- always a plus!).

The train ride was really nice with gorgeous views of the Cairns coast, Barron River Gorge and Falls, and the surrounding mountains and rainforest. Once I got to the top, I decided to do a little hike through the rainforest and along the river. It was HOT and I was glad to be under the rainforest canopy! Regardless, I was pretty sticky and sweaty before long. Again, this area reminds me a lot of Costa Rica. We certainly don't have anything like this in the States!

Then I walked around the town a little and (mostly) resisted the urge to buy anything. I got some ice cream and this neat little shop that sold fudge and sweets. The ice cream had all kinds of fruits that were local ingredients -- including mango and lychee. Yum!

I took the Skyrail down in the afternoon and that was really neat as well. It was really interesting to be up above the canopy and to be able to look out to the ocean.

Tomorrow is my last full day and I plan to walk around Cairns (which probably won't take long) and the Cairns Botanical Gardens and Whitfield Range Environmental Park. I feel like I really need to get some exercise each day as a good salad is kind of hard to come by. (Plenty of burgers and fish 'n chips, though...)

Nana and Sam, there's a bird that I see a lot. It's about the size and shape of a robin, mostly brown, with bright yellow legs, beak, and yellow around the eyes. When it flies, there are wide white stripes across the wings. There are a lot in this resort complex and they call to each other quite a bit.

It occurred to me again today how much I love traveling and seeing new and interesting places!

Great Barrier Reef

TODAY WAS SUCH A FANTASTIC DAY!!! I had booked a day excursion snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef, and I thought that I might do another day of "introductory" diving, but I have to say that today was SO GREAT, I'm not sure that I need to do another trip! The weather was perfect (after yucky weather the past few days -- overcast, rainy and super sticky), I saw tons of fish, giant clams about 3 feet across and two sea turtles, and I only got a little sunburned, which is perhaps the most wonderful part of all!


But I have a confession to make... I think I pictured the Great Barrier Reef as sort of an underwater Great Wall of Coral, but there were actually sandy patches in between the coral patches. Hm. Live and learn.

So anyway, I was picked up at 7:20 this morning for transport to the boat and we left around 7:45. The boat trip was about an hour before we got to the first stop where we could get in the water on the Reef. It was really amazing! I've done a little snorkeling before, but just the incredible quantity and variety of fish was amazing. Perhaps the most interesting (besides the sea turtles, of course!) was the flute fish -- thin and about 2 feet long. (As one of the boat crew guys pointed out, most things out there are named for what they look like!) The coral was also really neat -- so many different colors and shapes. My favorite was the finger coral with purple tips, almost like purple Christmas tree lights! There were also purple starfish all over the place, and many of the giant clams were purple inside.

After swimming around for a couple hours, we had lunch (not worth mentioning -- Amy was right, the food's not very good down here!) and then headed off to a different spot about a hundred yards or so off of an island that was only an island during low tide. It had long, sandy sloping beaches and was probably about 100 square feet -- seriously. Sometimes a wave would wash over the whole island. But there were coral patches around there also, so we had the chance to swim around for another couple hours before heading back.

[The photo is of the island. The darker blobs in the foreground are the coral patches. It was really neat how you'd be swimming along and see some coral up ahead, and as you got closer you'd realize that there were just hundreds of colorful fish all around it!]

I did get a little sunburned on my back, but I don't feel like it's nearly as bad as it could have been! I tried to be diligent about reapplying the sunscreen, but I was probably in the water for at least 45 minutes each time I went out snorkeling, so it's probably inevitable that I'd get a little burned. We'll see how I feel tomorrow!

Speaking of tomorrow, I'm taking the train up to Kuranda and the Skyrail back. More soon!

Haydn's "Creation"

For my last night in Sydney (if you don’t count the upcoming two nights I’ll spend back in Sydney in between flights) I went to the Sydney Symphony concert at the Opera House – a performance of Haydn’s “Creation.” This was in the Concert Hall – a gorgeous venue seating about 2,000 people. The interior is beautiful, with great acoustics. It all reminded me a little of Disney Hall in LA – both buildings have somewhat nautical inspiration, with sails and other boat-like design elements.

The concert was excellent as well. I had a great seat about two-thirds of the way back (so that I could get a good blend of chorus and orchestra as my father recommends) and just slightly left of center. I’m not sure if I’ve heard “The Creation” live before or not, but I thought it was really well done. I also had a little “blast from the past” reading the program when I realized that Mark Elliott, the former marketing director at the Pacific Symphony, is now with the Sydney Symphony. I’m going to have to send him a note!

Before the concert I decided to have dinner at a place recommended in my Lonely Planet book. It’s called Firefly and located on a wharf in the Rocks area a little bit away from the main touristy places. It was billed as a tapas/wine bar and “compact, classy and never snooty.” (The “never snooty” appealed to me. I realize that a party of 1 is not necessarily very appealing to some restaurants.) I arrived around 6 (the concert started at 8) and apparently I was just in time! I got one of the last available spots along a bar looking out the wharf to the water. The restaurant was open-air and could only hold about 25 or 30 patrons. Several people were turned away after I arrived.

The waiter recommended that I order two dishes (since it was tapas style) so I got chicken chorizo with maple mustard sauce and parmesan thyme tartlets with wild onion jelly. Both were delicious! I also sampled a couple Australian Rieslings, one from West Australian and the other from Tasmania. I had my Kindle with me and alternately read and gazed out at the water. It was a lovely dinner!

Public Facilities

I must say that I’m impressed with Australian public facilities in general. The public transportation and general cleanliness of Sydney are top-notch. But by far the best thing I’ve seen is this ultra-modern, fully automated bathroom in Manly along the scenic walkway. (I know never to pass up an opportunity to use a bathroom.)

A green light on the outside indicated that it was vacant. I pressed a button and the door slid open. Pressed the button on the other side and the door closed. The toilet flushed when I pressed the button to turn on the water. Soap was dispensed automatically and the hand drier turned on automatically as well. But the best part? The whole time, I was serenaded with a muzak version of “What the world needs now is love, sweet love…”

Perhaps what we really need are more fully automated public restrooms!

Manly Beach

For my last full day in Sydney, I decided to take a ferry to Manly. There I wanted to do a hike (recommended in my Lonely Planet book) and also hang out on the beach.

When I got up in the morning, it was overcast, but I trusted that it would clear up as the day went on! I caught the ferry at 9:30 and arrived in Manly around 10 AM. I decided to walk the short distance to the beach before I did the hike. There were some surfers already there, but I didn't see anyone swimming. Luckily, the cloudcover was starting to break up!

Then I did a hike (the "Manly Scenic Walkway") along the coastline and through part of Syndey Harbor National Park. The first part of it was sort of residential (there were houses built pretty close to the coastline) and I saw a TON of birds! (Too bad Nana and Sam weren't with me!) The most interesting ones that I could identify were lorikeets and cockatiels. It's so strange to see "exotic" birds like those just flying around in the trees! There were others too, including a couple interesting black and white ones -- about the size and shape of a crow.

The whole hike was supposed to take about 4 hours (and then you take a bus back to Manly), but I decided to just do part of it and then walk back. My end point was in the National Park -- this lookout point with gorgeous views of the water. The day was pretty HOT and I kept reapplying the sunscreen and tried to drink plenty of water. It was a beautiful walk, and the National Park had plenty of interesting trees and lizards.

Once I got back to Manly, I picked up some lunch at Subway (hey, it was cheap and relatively healthy!) and then went to the beach. By this time it was after 1 PM and there were many more people there.

The guide books make a big deal about making sure you swim in between the flags on the beach, and I found out why! I consider myself to be a pretty strong swimmer, but the currents were such that without even realizing it, suddenly you find yourself a long ways down the coast from where you went in the water! And the water isn't even very deep. I could always touch, with the exception of when a wave was rolling through.

The water was colder than I expected, but I got used to it! There were enough waves that you pretty much would just ride the waves or body surf -- there really wasn't a lot of time in between the swells to just float or hang out, and you needed to pay attention to the next one coming! I had a great time just frolicking!

After a little more than an hour, I decided to head back to Sydney. I'm trying to be really careful about sunburn (mostly successful) especially with my days on the Great Barrier Reef coming up!

Bridge Climb

So what do Prince Harry, Al Gore, Michael Caine, Keith Urban, Nicole Kidman, and Holly Kellar have in common?? We've all climbed to the top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge!

As I mentioned in yesterday's posting, I booked a Bridge Climb for 7:15 last night, which meant that by the time we started climbing the bridge, it would be dark outside. It started clouding over late yesterday afternoon, and it even looked like it might rain. (It did.) So I checked in by 7 PM and at 7:15 on the dot, our small group was ushered into a room to begin our screening and safety training. There were 5 of us -- all women, the other 4 were from Germany, Brazil, and two from France -- and the small group turned out to be very nice. Our climb leader, Erin, was also a woman.

First was signing a release form and a breathalizer test. Then we got suited up in the nifty climb suits (after removing watches and anything in our pockets that might fall out) and the waterproof rain pants. Next was the safety belt (we were attached to the bridge for the entire climb), and then all kinds of accessories -- a radio and headset so we could hear Erin, fleece, rain poncho, hat, and head lamp. Everything had to be attached to us and we even went through a metal detector to make sure no one had anything (coins, a watch, whatever) that could fall.

Last step was a little simulation where we went up and down some ladders, getting used to the cable "leash" attached to our safety belts. I gotta tell ya, these people were ALL about the safety!

Then we headed out! We had to walk for a little while along a walkway under the bridge before we actually started the ascent. We also had to climb up some ladders right in between the lanes of traffic on the bridge (in a protected area -- it's not like we were actually IN the traffic). Once we started going up the arch, and could see the lights of Sydney, it was really cool!

The climb itself wasn't ridiculously strenuous, partially because we kept stopping to look around or for Erin to point out some landmark. She said that we would burn about 800 calories (which I actually find hard to believe -- I don't think it was that much, although it certainly was exhausting!) and there certainly was one part where the incline was steeper and we were out of breath after a short bit.

The weather also made it very interesting. It was WINDY, although I never felt unsafe. We had railings on both sides at all times, and once we were going up the bridge, we always had something solid under our feet and we couldn't look straight down because of a ledge on the other side of the railing. Plus, as I said, we were always attached to a cable. The cloud cover meant that it wasn't that dark as much of the city light was reflected down.

After maybe 45 minutes or so of climbing, we reached the top! If I remember correctly, the summit is 154 meters above the water. VERY COOL! You could look either way and just see the steel of the bridge sloping down. It was really neat!

Then, shortly after we started our descent, the weather got even more interesting. We could see lightning off on the horizon (which was pretty cool to watch from that altitude), but of course that meant that a storm was rolling in so we ended up going down pretty quickly! (Again, they were all about the safety. Luckily, it didn't start storming before we got to the top, otherwise we would have had to turn back without going all the way up.) Before we got back to the roadway level (where we could take cover under the roadway), it started raining and the wind picked up. Luckily, we all had our rain ponchos (sewed into the little pouches attached to our belts -- again, making it impossible to drop anything).

The whole thing with training, etc. took a little over 3 hours, and it was definitely a trip! Like I said, I never felt even remotely unsafe or nervous about it. It was a like a serious hike up a steel mountain, with the reward of a gorgeous view!

Of course we were not allowed to take cameras, but they had photo ops along the way. Maybe when I get home I'll scan my photo to post!

Tuesday - start with the Opera House, end with the Bridge Climb

It's been a pretty full day, and it's not over yet! I gave into the jetlag last night around 9 PM and slept until 7 or so. This morning I walked through Hyde Park (right near my hotel) to the harbor, and my first stop was the Sydney Opera House. Last night I bought a ticket for "The Creation" on Wednesday, but I also wanted to do the Opera House tour. It was fascinating! And the concert hall is GORGEOUS. I really look forward to hearing the concert tomorrow night.

After the tour I walked around the harbor and decided to have lunch at one of those overpriced touristy places with a great view of the Opera House and water. So I didn't mind that it was touristy! (I had my Kindle along so I started reading "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.")

After lunch I walked around the area called "The Rocks," eventually ending up at the base of the Harbor Bridge. I had decided in advance that I wanted to do the Bridge Climb, which goes along the top arch of the bridge, so I signed up to do that tonight at 7:15. It takes 3 1/2 hours, so I hope I can stay awake! (Someone on the plane recommended that I do it at night.)

After that I walked up to the lookout at the top of one of the pylons supporting the bridge. Very neat! (And windy.) Then I wandered around a little more, visited the Museum of Contemporary Art and bought some earrings at a store that has the work of local artists.

Now I'm just taking a little break to prepare for my exciting evening! I'm really looking forward to climbing the bridge. I think it will be a rush!

Koalas, kookaburras, and kangaroos

Why is it that so many Australian native animals have names that start with K??

Monday I decided to fight the jetlag by spending as much time outside as possible. At about noon I was able to get into my room, and then I headed out to the Featherdale Wildlife Park in a Syndney suburb, which required taking a train and a bus. (On the train, I did happen to pass the Deloitte office in Parramatta -- I'll post the photo to "Deloitte Around the World" on my Facebook page.)

Several people recommended Featherdale instead of the zoo because you have the opportunity to get up close to the animals -- including a koala. (His name was Pebbles.) They also have kangaroos, wallabies, peacocks and various other birds just roaming around, which is pretty cool! I did find one wallaby that was either tame enough or tired and hot enough that he let me pet him.

Side note -- there are many advantages of traveling alone, but one DISadvantage is that you always have to find someone else to take your picture! So far, I've been pretty successful.

Sydney - Supersized

So here I am, in Australia!! I'm sitting in a McDonald's in downtown Sydney. Forgive me... it's the place with free wireless!

Everything is going really well so far. Apparently, I should have bought a lottery ticket yesterday -- on a packed 777 with only a handful of empty seats, one of the empty seats was next to me! It was really quite wonderful. Between that and the Skyrest pillow, I was actually able to get about 6 hours or so of sleep. (The earplugs and eye mask helped as well!) Had no problems with the flight, immigration, or getting my bag and I took the train into the city and walked to my hotel. Of course, since I was arriving at about 10 AM, the room wasn't ready, so I did a quick "freshening up" in the (very small) bathroom and headed out.

So now I'm trying to plan my 3 days here. (I also have a couple more chances to explore Sydney -- overnight stays in between flights.) I could catch the Sydney Symphony doing Haydn's "Creation" at the Opera House on Wednesday night, so I'm seriously considering that. I'll definitely do a tour. I'm also pondering the bridge climb (someone on the plane recommended I do that at night), visiting Manly Beach, and going out to the Featherdale Wildlife Park (or possibly the Zoo instead, since it's a little more convenient). Other "must dos" are a harbor ferry tour and general wandering around!

I like what I've seen of Sydney so far. It's like a lot of European cities but with a much stronger Asian influence. And it's HOT! It was such a nice shock to come up out of the subway station and smell blooming flowers! And, for Nana and Sam, I had my first interesting bird sighting at the park right near the subway -- a large (duck-sized?) bird with a long, black neck and a black head, some green on the back, and a long, flat, curved bill.

Okay, I think I'm going to go back to the hotel and see if my room is ready. If not, I'll leave my backpack and I think I'll see if I can get out to Featherdale Wildlife Park and hang out with the koalas. More soon!!

On the way!

Grace and Sam inspired me with their Costa Rica blogs. And enough other people asked me if I would be posting pictures, etc. from my trip down under that I decided that maybe I should do a blog of my own. So here I am, at the Delta Sky Club Lounge (thank you, Amex, for the day pass!) getting everything all set up. First leg of my trip... so far, so good! I have about 2 1/2 hours before they start boarding the flight for Sydney.

I'm really excited! After months of planning and looking forward to this trip, I can't believe that it's actually here! At the moment, my biggest concern is getting some sleep on the flight. It's 14 hours, and I arrive in the morning Sydney time, so ideally I would stay up for a few hours and then sleep for the last half (or so) of the flight. Wish me luck! I did buy one of those "Skyrest" pillows that sit in your lap, so I'll be posting a review.

Woohoo! On the way!