From Canerra, thru Barrosa Valley to Adelaide

My apology to those of you following the posts, but we have had only scattered access to the Internet recently. In South America it was more readily available. We are now in Perth and we have access, so I'll bring you up to date over the next two days.

Friday, Jan. 21
Before we leave Mildura, we drive to the shore of the Murray River. This is one of the biggest rivers in Australia and it is slowly flooding, but a peak is not expected for another week. At some points the front of the flooded area is 20 kilometres wide. We see the side-paddlewheel river boat, The Rothbury, coming in to dock. I get a good picture as it turns in the swollen river.
We share the driving today. We experience a pot-pourrie of landscape in our short stint: dead-straight road for miles, sagebrush, corn fields, fruit trees and grape vines, rolling hills, desert, and the odd fluffy cloud. On the road we see more dead kangaroo, two dead fox, and a weasel that runs across in front of me and, although I felt nothing, he is either dead or has a very sore tail. At Renmark, we see the first fruit-laden citrus tree.
The Murray River has a steep escarpment on the far side. No flooding there. It turns south at Morgan and we cross it for the last time at Blanchetown as we continue west into the Barossa Valley.
We will stay in Tanunda for two nights so we can visit the vineyards and cellars tomorrow. The room is extremely big and there is a pool with “naturally”-heated water. The downtown is only a kilometre away, so we take a walk. The houses are the typical square-stone, fretwork decorated verandas, products of the late 19th or early 20th centuries. Most have tin (galvanized-steel) roofs with gutters and rain-water tanks connected. Obviously, they do get rain, but have long periods of drought. Everything is very “neat!” The downtown is about four blocks long on the main street. Since getting away from the city and east coast, the towns have begun to look alike. The huge churches are mostly varying Protestant denominations. There is a Presbyterian and an Evangelical Presbyterian one in this town. Quite different than South America.
I have a swim when we return and change into my long “low-cut” Brisbane $15 cotton dress. It is great for dinner-out or to wear to the beach over my bathing suit. And it doesn’t wrinkle in the suitcase. Bonus!
The braised lamb shank I have reserved as they only have one left is tasty, but I prefer the stewed-stuff from N.Z.
The motel owner suggests some wineries we should not miss tomorrow.

The Royal Doulton fountain in Mildura.
The long, straight road.

Another toilet with a frog statue enjoying the sun.

The paddle-wheeler Rothbury.
A typical lunch with the Eski (chilly-bin) on the table.

The local stones used in construction in Tanunda.

The dark green is the width of this hedge! Maybe someday at the back of the 10th tee box.




The Barossa Valley from the lookout.

Saturday, Jan. 22.
The Barossa is a wonderful wine-producing valley. It was actually named “bar rosa” but the locals spelt it incorrectly and so the single “r” and the double “s”. Some of the exported wines include: Jacob’s Creek, Penfolds, Lehmann, and Wolf Blass. Grant Burge and Kellermeister are big in the area. We visit the oldest winery - Bethany - which has vines that are over 100 years old. The sixth generation are the hands-on owners now. I wonder if their kids will keep it going!
Rockford is one of the smaller wineries, but they do export to Vancouver. The valley grows the Grenache grape which is new to me, but then I’m not into much beyond the very ordinary stuff.
At Grant Burge Wines, the lady serving us said she and her husband drove from Vancouver to Calgary last summer. It was obvious by her description that they probably went through Castlegar. Well, of course she remembered it as she was the navigator and she spells it out! This is the first person we have met in our travels who has personally been to our home town.
After visiting cellars of very differing wineries, we return to the first - Bethany - and buy a bottle of shiraz
During the day we go to the Mengler Hill lookout which includes a sculpture park. It looks like the rocks were found right on the hill, but there is no information except a plaque that says there was a sculpture conference here in 2008. From the lookout the whole valley and two towns are visible.
We continue over the hill to Angaston where the mystery of the biking signs along the narrow country roads is solved. There are teams of bikers doing a 30, 50, or 100 km. ride to raise money for Childhood Diabetes Research. Each team must rise $1000 to enter. The ladies I spoke with had grandchildren on one of the teams. They were very proud of the kids.
At the cellars of the wineries, as elsewhere in Australia, there is no charge for tastings - and they will let you try five or even more wines.
After our frivolous expenditure of a $20 bottle of wine, I settle for the left-over of last night’s meal and Peter has a take-out pizza for dinner.


The Eagle.


The naked lady lounging on the top of the benches.


This is the same stone as in the building above.

A sculpture in honour of the hard-working Clydesdales titled A Day Off.

The quarry at the Bethany vineyard which was family income for the family before the grapes.










Kate and Kimberly, our friendly hosts at the cellar at Bethany's.

The Chateau restored at a cost of $5 million.

Sunday, Jan. 23.
We are really on the outskirts of Adelaide, so we leave at our leisure. I drive as we will be only one hour to the city. We realize that the Santos tour down under is in its final day in town today. We hope we are not delayed too badly. As it takes almost as long to get across Adelaide as to reach it, the slight slow-down as we pass the finish-line area, does not cause any problems in our navigation. As we approach Glenelg, the beach area where we are staying, the traffic thickens. Yes, on a Sunday anyone not watching the final stage of the bike race is going to the beach.
Our motel is still in the Golden Chain, but includes a casino, sports bar, off-track betting bar, and a “bottle shop” - the drive-through liquor store. We get the last room available - Peter phoned last week - and have saved $30 a day as we are supposed to be without a sofa. Well, it is still there and is to be picked-up tomorrow.
I finally get to use the sun-tent I bought in North West Rocks. We wander down to the beach and I stay while Peter goes off to find an Internet café. There is a sandbar about 100 feet off shore and the water between is almost as warm as a sauna. Even beyond, the ocean floor is rippled sand and the water is warm. I am, once again, in heaven. I have a nice swim and return to my lean-to and read. Peter arrives and enjoys the “sights” (Australian beauties in bikinis (eat your heard out, golfing buddies) - he has been rating them!) About 4 p.m. we head back and I shower and change before we go Coles market to pick-up some fruit. We are the last ones in as they close at 5 on Sat. & Sun. It has been a lovely day.


The statue: Immigrants, at the Migration Museum.











A building at the museum.

A building at Rundle Mall.

Monday, Jan. 24.
We go to town, dropping off the car on the way. As we have read, the entire downtown is within walking distance, much like the main Vancouver downtown.
We get directions to the zoo and walk by the University (huge) grounds and along the river. Unfortunately, it just seems excessively expensive, especially when we just want to see the pandas which will probably cost extra, so we wander back to the Migration Museum. Like Canada, the country is populated mostly by immigrants. In fact, a class of adult ESL students are touring the museum at the same time as us.
As with most Australian museums, personal stories are the core of how the history is brought to life. This is a tiny museum, but still it takes a good hour to go through. I know it is past noon as I am hungry.
We head for Rundle Mall. Subway is as good as anywhere. After lunch we are stopped by the Caribbean style music and a black man with dreadlocks dancing up a storm. We watch as he engages a young boy in a few dance steps as the accompanying keyboard player and drummer play along. Finally, the pole balanced on two coke bottles becomes the focus of attention, but first - adding to the delight and suspense of the audience - the performer does some back-handsprings, then after hesitation, a standing back-somersault. Great clapping - but everyone is awaiting the limbo. We are not disappointed. I will post some pictures so you will see that he is not a tiny man, but he sure is flexible! Even we, along with many others, leave a tip for this performer.
We walk the couple of blocks to the Art Gallery and the South Australian Museum. We plan to meet in 1 ½ hours. I could have spent longer, but the stuff I see is lovely, mostly South East Asian art and artefacts. A young boy about six is coming through behind me and it is very entertaining to listen to his questions and reactions to the pieces. He says that two of the statues appear very angry. He is right. His mom points out that they are fierce men who are guarding the temple (Vishnu & Indra who guard Buddhist temples).
One extraordinary thing that struck me is a blue card beside a particularly wonderful, and large, painting. On the card are the thoughts of school children about the painting. The children are very insightful. The gist of one comment is: Everyone is dressed in black and daddy is not there. He is dead. Mommy looks sad. The boy looks tired and is leaning on her. The girl is brave and even in the rain she is selling flowers to help the family.
We meet as scheduled and get on the free Loop Bus to do a tour of the perimeter of the downtown. Even in traffic it only takes about 20 minutes. Outside the core is green-space. We get off at North TCE and King William where we can get the Tram to Glenelg. It is rush hour and the tram is jammed. We get all the way with nobody coming to sell us a ticket. Yes, there are free rides at the right time!
The walk to the terminal from the motel is less than 10 minutes. We stop, as usual, at Coles on the way to pick-up supplies. We decide to go to the buffet at the motel restaurant. It has a wonderful variety of food from which I can try lots of “good” food. Unfortunately, the desserts are also great, so I come away waddling, but feeling great. One needs to strike when opportunity presents itself.


The Jamaican performer.

A standing-back-sommersault.

Under the bar with a hair's width to spare.

He was just beginning here.

Tuesday, Jan. 25.
Tomorrow is Australia Day and Coles is advertising a beach set of tank top, short shorts, and flip-flops in the Aussie flag design. On the way to the beach, we stop and I try some on. Peter pretends not to know me as I stand in my bathing suit trying on the pieces. They will be good in Perth and on the beach in Vietnam. We also stop at the I-site and discover that there is a community breakfast on the foreshore for Aussie Day celebrations tomorrow. We will attend.
Peter comes and helps set-up my shade-tent, then goes off to the Internet café. He will return with our lunch (I made earlier) at 1:00. I swim and sun and read. I love being at the beach - just the sound of the waves and the salt water smell. Peter wears his bathing suit when he brings the lunch so we go into the water afterwards. Now he can say he went into the ocean - just. We spend until almost 4 reading and drying off. The clouds have filled the sky and it looks like rain, so we pack-up and return to the motel.
Dinner is left-overs for me and a tuna salad for Peter. Tomorrow is our last day in Adelaide. Staying at Glenelg, by the beach, has been a good move.


The tall condo/hotels on the beach.


My shade tent we bought at South West Rocks.











Camels by the beach at Glenelg.

Blue Mountains and Canberra

Thanks Patrick for the correction about the “Snowball Earth. Who can conceive of 650 million years?
Any other readers - I love comments, so please interact. It’s nice to know what you are up to and I have little time for e-mails when I am blogging.
Also, Patrick informed me that you can make those little pictures I post bigger by clicking on them. Give it a try - especially the soft-porn ones - Patrick’s description.


Thursday, Jan. 13
We leave Sydney for the Blue Mountains - not the wonderful Jamaican ones. Here, as we ascend, the fog continually gets thicker. By the time we reach Blackheath, you can see nothing, and it is the middle of the afternoon. Once we are settled, we do drive to the canyon lookouts, manage a peak at the Govett’s Leap Falls, and see their “grand” canyon. There are lots of hikes in the area, but we choose to return without the pleasure of getting soaked.
Historic rumour is the Blue Mountains got their name because of the vivid blue hue from a distance which is a combination of the moister in the air and the oil the eucalyptus tree emits.
The motel room is dark and dreary, the “free” Internet service is for 15 minutes, and the place is cold and rainy. We are moving on in the morning.
Grovett's Leap Falls

Friday, Jan. 14.
This is a much better day. We share the driving the short distance to Parkes. We stop at the I center and get information about the Parkes Radio Telescope. It is still an intricate part of the astrological work going on in Australia.
The motel is much nicer, but we are the only visitors. We have lunch, then make our way out to the research station. The museum is small, but very well put together. The Dish, as it is called, rotates to the horizontal while we are outside. In the log book it says there will be maintenance done at 3 p.m. Two workers are making their way to the top section, up an outside ladder. Around three-thirty, we hear the motors going and the dish rotates to the vertical, and there is a line and “something” dangling from the top. Over the next few minutes the workers, who are now on the ground, guide the piece down. It is a slow operation as it tends to swing precariously in the wind. We assume all went well, as we returned inside to see the rest of the exhibits before the closing.
This dish/radio-telescope was used in the broadcasts when the first Americans landed on the moon. This is what made the Parkes Telescope world famous. Anyway, they have upgraded it and it is still used in regular scientific study.
I return and take the dirty clothes to the local Laundromat as the motel does not have facilities. Turns out well as the owners gets to talking when he realizes we are Canadian. He spent Christmas in Whitehorse in the Yukon! He had a wonderful time visiting his daughter who is working there. But, the interesting thing is, his daughter spent last winter in Rossland, working at a coffee shop and at Red Mountain! Small world.

The Dish st Parkes.

Saturday, Jan. 15.
We share the short hop into Canberra. I do the city drive-in now, as Peter is a better navigator and I don’t panic if we make a wrong turn. Works for us.
The motel is lovely and we get a great rate, so we decide to stay here the four nights.
We have lunch (this is always picnic style), and head to the black Mountain Tower. It is a nice sunny day, so we get a good view of this pristine, tree-filled, fully-planned capital city. The circle lay-out with main streets and arteries emanating out likes spokes on a wheel is actually very efficient once you get used to it. I noticed the twice we got directions, the locals give you the route that takes to the left-hand turns so you don’t have to cross traffic. It probably becomes second nature to them.
I get a map with directions for my Weight Watcher’s meeting on Tuesday from the gal on the reception. Turns out, she is a WW as well!
Each area of the town is clumped into small neighbourhoods with a central commercial area within walking distance. We walk to the Forrest area one. We choose an Italian restaurant that has homemade pasta. It is excellent, if the service leaves a little to be desired - maybe because there is not tipping in Australia! My spinach & ricotta cheese filled ravioli does me tonight and tomorrow! I don’t even have room for there homemade gelato ice cream.
We are now in touch with Margaret Moir in Perth and she has kindly offered us her home for our stay there, as she will be away on a cruise to South Africa. This will be so nice because, if we want to take an overnight trip up or down the coast, we will not have to drag all our “stuff.” We are traveling light in comparison with most, but I wish we could get even thriftier in our needs.

Sunday, Jan. 16.
We start the day with a walk to the artisans market at the Old Bus Depot building. It is not until we enter that we realise that this is the place to be on Sunday! It is hopping with visitors. The stalls are laden with woodworking, beadwork, designer (not name) clothes, hand-knitted and crocheted woollen articles, paintings, glasswork, fudge, chilli sauces, olives, oils, cheeses, soaps, hats, metalwork, and more I can’t remember. The food stalls are mostly made-from-scratch stuff, and as I plan to have breakfast, I bee-line to the Mexican huevos rancheros. Even on a paper plate without hot chilli, I is excellent. Unfortunately, Peter cannot find anything to his liking, so his settles for a crusty oversized bun! He doesn’t even have butter! We also buy a crusty loaf of French bread that does the next three days.
By the time we walk back to the motel it is almost 2 p.m. We drive to the War Museum and will return Tuesday if we need to.
The size of the museum is not appreciated from the view across the river. We drive around the circle and onto Anzac boulevard which is bordered by monuments of varying sizes and styles. As we arrive, and drive another half-mile to the parking lot on the left, we begin to realise that this will be a multi-day adventure.
We get a brochure as we enter and decide to meet at 4:30 and see what we will do next. I manage the Hall of Honour and some of the First World War exhibits and its time to meet Peter. We stay for the closing and the playing of The Last Post at 5 p.m. Emotional.

Monday, Jan. 17.
Yes, we will leave the War Museum until tomorrow. Today we head out to visit the new Parliament Building. We walk over and go the wrong way around the circle so we arrive at the back of the building. We must walk the kilometre around to the front - yes, it is two kilometre (over a mile for our American friends and oldest Canadian friends) around the grounds.
It is a building meant to last forever. It is huge, open, and bright, and constructed mainly of marble.
We take the one-hour tour which has been recommended by a visitor who said she had taken it the day before and it was both entertaining and informative. The guide is about our age and reminds us decidedly of Lach Farrell. He was educated “by the Christian Brothers”, he tells us. How about you, Lach? He is so enthusiastic and slyly gives the answers to the questions which appear on the children’s “fun work sheet.” I wish they had given us the option to have a sheet as there are lots of facts I know we will forget.
They have approximately half the number of senators to the number of members of the commons. Their MPs represent approximately the same number of people. The number of senators is divided by the number of states - each having 12 senators at the moment. But, like in the USA, the senators are elected. I decided I wanted to be a Tasmanian senator.
After lunch we head to the National Museum. It is on a peninsula of the snaking of Lake Burley Griffin which is the dammed part of the Molonglo River. It is very modern and, again, huge, but has little in it!
We return and I do some Skyping, then we drive to the actual working downtown - called The City - and stroll the mall. We find a historic (and popular) pub for dinner. My baked perch is delicious.

The Entrance of the War Museum

The Hall of Memory and the Pool of Reflection with the Eternal Flame.

Parliament Building.





The flag above from the roof.

The Dancing Walrus, a gift to australia from Canada.




The main entrance hall of the Parliament building.

The Old Parliament building and, in background, the War Museum from the New parliament building.

Tuesday, Jan. 18.
We arrive at the War museum at 10:30. We decide to meet at 1 p.m. for a picnic lunch. I go to the Hall of Memory first. There is the Pool of Reflection in front which contains the Eternal Flame. It is stunningly beautiful. One of the soldiers in the stained-glass windows has a resemblance to King George Vl. I wonder if this was intentional by the artist as his caption is loyalty!
This is an emotionally difficult visit, so I decide to take a walk. I go down the boulevard, walking swiftly between each monument, but stopping to read about each. I then turn into the tree-lined street of the oldish, but upscale, neighbourhood and take-in the sounds of birds and the scents of flowers. I am photographing a crimson “something” when a lady is taking a picture of her garden. We chat a few minutes about Canada and Australian. I then continue back to the museum and pick-up my trail in the First World War area.
After we have our picnic lunch, we decide to meet at 4:30 once again. I make my way around, reading all the facts, taking in the displays, and admiring the multitude of paintings by war artists. I watch the kids in the helicopter pretending to fly as the view changes in front of them. I look through the periscope of a submarine and see the ocean waves above. I stand by a helicopter from the Vietnam War which has life-like model soldiers in the act of exiting as the noise and wind of the propellers vibrate the room and the sounds of the radio operators and a scene from Vietnam unfolds on the screens around the wall of the room. I am in the action.
After we bump into each other, I go with Peter and we stand on the bridge (the real stuff!) of the Canberra and see it from a night-time simulation. We are both a little weary, so although we would love to see more, we decide to call it a day. And a wonderful day it has been.
Peter drives me to the WW meeting, but it doesn’t begin until 7, so he awaits me until 7:45. I have to stay and learn about the new ProPoints program! I am still within my goal, but hitting the top so I must get into weight-loss mode for the next few weeks. The new program seems good, but sure puts the brakes on my red wine drinking habits!
I’m sure you are getting some of the news of the flooding around Australia. We have been staying ahead of the areas. Unfortunately, as we go into the Murray River catchments area, we may need to do some detouring. We have changed our course and, unfortunately, will miss the Great Ocean Road on the coast west of Melbourne. It would have meant crossing the area that is now receiving the flood waters. Instead, we are heading northwest through Wagga Wagga to Narrandera. Then we go through Hay and Bairanald to Mildura. The next hop is to the Barossa Valley wine country.

Wednesday & Thursday, Jan. 19 & 20.
This is the edge of the outback. We spend two days (about 9 hours total) driving at 100 to 110 km/hr (the legal speed limits) along four-lane then two-lane roads seeing rolling countryside, flat bare-ass prairie, swampy-bush, clear blue skies, a thousand transport trucks, a few cars, and lots of road kill. Mostly kangaroos in varying stages of decay. But, guess what - it is the Australia I was expecting! Last week the kangaroos were in heavily forested areas, which was new to me, as I have always seen the pictures of them in arid areas. Well, now I know they live in both environments.
While driving today, Peter reacts well and misses a family of ducks which are crossing the road. Cheers for him!
Yesterday, we walked an area that had been flooded a month ago (and which will probably flood again in the next two or three weeks) in Narrandera, but we did not see any of the promised koalas that live there. They are more elusive than the bats on the east coast.
Today, after doing my wifely chores and washing and hanging the clothes (right - I have so much to do!), I take a dip in the naturally warm, salt-water pool. It is wonderfully refreshing.
The motel owner recommends the pub across the street for dinner, so I will blame him the stuffed-feeling I’m suffering. There is lamb’s fry with mashed potatoes on the menu. This is the first time in Australia I have seen my second favourite meal from “Down-Under” offered. My favourite, you wonder: lamb shank cooked in a red wine or stout gravy.
We have not seen a cloud for two days which is good for the water-logged land. I think we may see water tomorrow, but on the ground not falling from the clouds.

More pictures from the War Museum:

WW2 airplane

Helicopter from Vietnam War.












War War 1 model of trench warfare.

These beautiful blue flowers are in bloom all over Australia.

Crimson "something" in Canberra.

A "wild" cockatoo in Canberra. there are millions!

Sydney

Sunday, Jan.9.
Instead of driving with the thousands of residents who are returning to Sydney from their Christmas holidays, we venture onto Route 69 which travels through the Wollemi and Yengo National Parks. Unexpectedly, as we pass Bulga we see miles of open-pit coal mining. There appears to be no “reclamation” of the land as you see east of Princeton. Now we know they probably do take coals to Newcastle as that would be the closest port.
Peter drives as we wind around the mountains, only this time they are well-treed. There is, as we hoped, little traffic. This changes once we get to Wilson and stop for a picnic lunch by the river and for information from the I-site. I take over the driving so Peter can navigate us to the hotel in downtown Sydney.
All goes well until we are not on the map and begin to wing-it. I take a left instead of going straight just as we get downtown, but I do avoid the lane that would take us over the Harbour Bridge. That would be bad! As it turns out, we are on a good street that takes us within a block of the hotel. A quick whip around the block and we are safe and sound.
I really don’t mind being on the left side of the road if only I could stop hitting the windshield-wipers instead of the turn signal! This only occurs when I have to do it quickly. If I know a turn is coming up or if I am passing, I think about it and get it right. Also, in this car I need to roll-up the beach towel Lesley so nicely gave us to sit on to see over the steering wheel.
The Travelodge is great and, although we don’t have a toaster (which might set-off the smoke alarm which would cost us $400 for bringing the fire brigade), we do have a microwave and small fridge, so we can be quite self-sufficient.
Once settled, we head downtown to get our bearings. It is wonderful the way old facades remain and new high-rises tower up from behind. Our first impression is that Sydney is neither dirty nor clean - it’s just a big city. We are close to Hyde Park and the immense Anzac Memorial. The Australian are as passionate about their patriotism as we found the New Zealanders.
We find a Woolworth’s which is a grocery store in Australia. We take a chance and choose a couple of TV dinners. I think McCain’s are better at the business than Weight Watchers! Peter’s dinner looks much more appetizing than mine. The wine helps my tasteless beef go down. We watch a program about the Snowball Earth of 45 million years ago. Our usual exciting night!

What I think about when I think of Sydney:

Sailboats in the harbour;
The Harbour Bridge;
The wonderful buildings; my neck is sore from looking up.

The Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park.

The Harbour Bridge with and without people!

Monday, Jan. 10.
What to do first is always a conundrum. We decide we will walk - see the Opera House, the pier, walk the Harbour Bridge (not over the “top“ but just on the sidewalk with the other less extravagant people), and find out about the ferries. We plan to spend Wednesday ferry-hopping. It is $20 each for a
day-pass, so we will see some surrounding areas. The weather does not draw one, even me, to the beach. It is warm, so the showers don’t stop us.
We head to China Town for some won ton soup, but can’t find a place with a big bowl. Just a couple as an appetizer (entree here). We end up at a pub which is often our choice.

Tuesday, Jan. 11.
The weigh-in at Mayer’s is a special one-on-one counselling format, so I will get my once-a-month weigh-in in Canberra. Through my reading, I discover that the library has free WiFi, so we head there and I manage to contact Douglas. I will not be able to post a blog until we move on.
I take in the Annie Leibovitz photography exhibit at the Art Gallery. I don’t get time to see the rest of the gallery, but am glad I saw the photos. She is so much of our generation. I am taken aback when I see her photo of Queen Elizabeth 11 - she looks so much like I remember my mother!
Peter goes on the heritage building walk. We walk some of it together in the afternoon. I enjoy the observatory. Peter explains that the ball on the roof drops at 1 p.m. each day as it did when first installed to allow sailors and citizens to keep time as most did not have watches. Also, some of the houses in this area remind me of Point St. Charles of years ago. Probably the same time and kind of immigrants built similar buildings on opposite sides of the world. Wasn’t the British Empire something!
Another microwave dinner, and I’m switching to McCain’s next time as I have another spicy, but yucky-chicken W.W. meal. I’m off wine until my clothes get looser, so a few nice cups of tea complete the exciting evening.

NOTE: We are not in the horrific flooded areas of Australia. Today, they did close one of the roads we traveled last week and it seems the Breakfast Creek hotel I posted in early Jan. will be flooded later this week, but we are far enough south that there is no flooding. But what a horrendous time they are having. Yet, besides the tears of grief that interviewees cannot contain, there is a buck-up and get-to-work attitude from the Auzzies. Strong stock!

The Observatory & time-ball (yellow).

Buildings like in old Montreal & Quebes City.

** What is this? Answer at end of blog.

Wednesday, Jan. 12
Ferry Day. What fun! We hop the up-river run to Rydalmere first as the low tide will not all permit it all the way in the afternoon. There are eleven stops on the run; a real commuter‘s run. We see the downtown skyscrapers from many angles as we dip and dive through the various bays. There are a number of houses I could imagine owning! Across from Kissing Point there is a group of buildings like Macdonald college which turn out to be a convalescent hospital - or was when it was built. Many people get off at the Olympic Park stop, but it means a bus ride and we decide to skip it. The end of the run is a refinery area, which is probably the reason for its existence. I speak with a British lady who gets a concession rate - I guess because she has an accent! She was to go to Brisbane but has changed to Perth as Brisbane is expected to be under water for a week, and then the clean-up.
We take three more quick ferries before deciding to take the bus to Bondi Beach. Peter is not too thrilled, but I can’t come this far and not see it.
It is huge! There are a number of people on the beach and in the water. Lots of surfing students. This is the place to learn. One young girl throws her hands up in victory when she gets a five second ride on her board. It sure looks like fun.
It is illegal to smoke on the beach and carries a $200 fine. (you have to go to the boardwalk where ashtrays are provided.) But, obviously, it is not illegal to be topless. We see one youngish teenager and one oldish, well-bronzed lady enjoying the sun - what there was of it through the high clouds.
We make a quick stop at the hotel to drop off excessive baggage, a Peter to wet his whistle, and we are off to the Manly Ferry. This trip takes us to the edge of the sea, so as we reach the Sydney Heads the ferry swings and sways for a few minutes. The walk to the sea is down a shopper’s promenade. The wind begins to blow a gale as we approach the beach. There are few people on the sand, but three kite-boarders in the bay. They are really whipping along. One guy goes up in the air over the waves. I wonder how they get the kites to lose air so they can stop.
Hunger drives us to a busy pub where Peter has the best pizza on our trip and I have a tasty creamy chicken and corn soup. It is so nice to have good, friendly service and not be expected to tip!
We catch the 8:45 ferry back so we can see the city lit-up. It is a lovely way to finish our visit to Sydney.


Bondi Beach - Bathing beauty

by the railing.
Kite-boarder, Manly Beach

Bondi Beach.

Sydney by night.

The Opera House by night and day.

** A public urinal, still in use.