Australia

(Written on Saturday, February 14, 2009)

Well, as quickly as Australia began, it is now over. Kevin and I had only planned for 6 nights in Australia (5 of which we would spend in Sydney). Australia is a country that I've always wanted to visit -- and wish I would have while I had free lodging many years ago when my good friends Krichelle and Matt were living there temporarily. However, due to time constraints and wanting to visit so many other countries in (ironically) our short 5 months of travel, we had to limit our time somewhere.

We arrived in Sydney on Sunday, February 8th and from the moment I saw downtown, I was awestruck. The beauty of the city is unparalleled. The weather was warm, with clouds coming in overhead. We had booked a little bed and breakfast in a surfing town just 30 minutes by Ferry from downtown Sydney called Manly Beach. Our intentions were good -- we figured after nearly a month of traveling by bus every day or two around New Zealand and staying in hostels, we'd be ready for some ultimate sun and relaxation. So we booked our 5 nights in the B&B on Manly Beach, just a short 5 minute walk to one of Sydney's most popular surfing beaches. The ferry ride to Manly was gorgeous with fanstastic views of the harbor and skyline on full display.

We had picked up several brochures to help us decide how we would plan on our week -- would it be a 3-day surfing camp, bike riding nearby, or just lounging out on the beach until we've finished the couple books we bought at that used book shop in NZ? While our intentions were good, our luck was not so much. That first night would be the last clear day or evening that we'd see during our entire stay in Australia. Unreal!

The beach in Manly where we stayed:

Instead we woke up on Monday morning to gray clouds, wind, and intermittent rain. We checked the forecast thinking we had time to weather a few rainy days out -- not so much. The weather pattern looked to be here for the next week (our entire stay). At first, being from Seattle and knowing that you can never trust the weather forecasts, we just simply figured that we may have to "weather" out a few days, but the sun would eventually come shining. Alas, it never really did. But we still managed to get some of our intended activities in, even if the beach sunbathing would have to wait for Thailand.

Some of the highlights: We took a tour of the Sydney Opera House -- stunning! I was so glad to take the tour because while seeing the Opera House from the perimeter is quite amazing in itself, I had seen so many photos of it over the years. But actually getting to go inside and see the various theaters and learning the history of how it came to be (and how it almost didn't) was thoroughly interesting. Unfortunately, we don't have too many pictures to share here, because photos aren't allowed inside the theaters. But trust me -- it was beautiful. I was so entranced, I convinced Kevin (it wasn't easy) that we must see our first opera in this place while we were visiting. Alas, his luck ended up on the right side for him this time, for when we inquired for tickets the next day, they were all sold out. (Why am I jumping? I think it was due to my pure joy when Kevin finally agreed we could see the Opera!) The bridge shot is the view from the Sydney Opera House.

We also went to the Sydney Wild Animal Park -- basically an indoor zoo of sorts at Darling Harbor. It was pretty fun getting to see the various wildlife that is native to Australia. We especially enjoyed the kangaroos and getting close and personal with the koalas. They are so cute!

What else did we do in Sydney? Well, we basically took the 5 days pretty easy. We were surprised at how much we didn't mind the rain and actually welcomed several days of doing nothing -- if you call eating at great little restaurants, playing cards in the cafes over tea and a mid-afternoon snack, checking out the shopping and sites in downtown Sydney, and eating and drinking doing nothing.

Probably both the highlight and lowlight of our time in Sydney was when we attempted their famed "Spit Bridge to Manly Harbor" walk. It is a 9K walk that one of our books claimed was a 2.5 hour walk. When one of our days proved to be promising (mostly cloudy with pockets of sun and hopefully no rain), we put on our improper footing and set off to complete it. We caught the public bus to the starting point -- it would finish just steps away from our B&B. The walk was beautiful. But hardly easy. It didn't help that the moment Kev stepped off the bus, he must have stepped wrong, and possibly tweaked his leg a bit. He started out the walk limping. Uh-oh. Immediately the route had us climbing up rocks, over foot bridges, through sandy beaches, and via gravel & dirt paths. It was pretty to say the least, but several hours in, we realized this would be much longer than 2 hours for us. With the wrong footwear for such an intense walk (I had thought my sandals would be fine), my feet kept getting new and different blisters. Luckily, I had brought with me several band-aids, but halfway through the walk, I had exhausted them and needed more. After more than 3 hours of walking, Kev and I were spent. We finally found our way to a road and saw a bus stop. We waited it out 30 minutes until the next bus arrived to take us back. We never did finish that walk, though it was very pretty. Whoever said 2 1/2 hours was out of their mind -- and we seriously question the 9K -- it felt much longer than that and we didn't even do the whole thing! Oh well! Here are some pictures from the finer moments of that walk:

We finally left the rain and the grey skies on Friday, February 13th for the Gold Coast where we were hoping to find sunshine and warmer weather (so we could finally make use of those beaches I hear Australia is famous for). We should have known better flying in on Friday the 13th. Our plane barely was able to make it -- with the pilot telling us he may need to detour due to the foul weather preventing him from landing. We circled the airport for about 30 minutes trying to wait out the weather -- meanwhile many people starting to get ill from the motion. However, luckily the weather cleared up just long enough for him to make a safe landing. But it didn't hold -- the weather poured and the wind blew hard. This was the type of rain that you actually get wet in -- really wet (unlike Sydney's rain where is was more like a mist). However, we still enjoyed our day in the Gold Coast again relaxing and taking it easy. (I guess New Zealand really wore us out!).

Australia didn't exactly live up to our expectations (due to the weather), but I don't think either one of us is too disappointed. We needed the reprieve and it was nice to have the excuse of poor weather for convincing us to relax and stay in and take it easy. So we now leave behind all our experiences with English-speaking countries and look forward to navigating through non-English speaking countries (we left for Malaysia on Saturday). We are well-rested, refreshed and ready to bring on our adventures in Asia!

Have a very happy Valentine's Day. Miss you!