Wednesday April 16 to Saturday April 19, 2014

Woo hoo we are in Sydney.  Twenty-nine years ago I had plans on coming to Australia, then I met Ralf.  We have finally got here together and I couldn\’t have wished for a better person to share this adventure with.  He is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Last night after we had settled into the YHA and had dinner, Ralf and I sat down and we both wrote down what we wanted to do while we were in Sydney. Then we checked each others list and they matched, the only extra thing on Ralf’s list was the Military museum, but not bad for 28 years of marriage and we still agree on things we want to do together.

We then had to decide when we would do what, not forgetting the essential stuff like updating the blog, and cleaning the bikes and planning a route out of Sydney to Brisbane.

We were both awake early and had breakfast and was out of the hostel by 8:30 am.

We decided we would check out the Harbour Bridge walk and walk inside the pilon, take in a tour of the Sydney Opera House, Circular Quay and maybe a ferry ride across the harbour.

We decided not to do the Bridge Walk, it was too expensive and although we would probably have got some awesome photos we decided we could get some good photos from the top of the “pilon”.

We walked across the Bridge and up the pilon and then had lunch on the other side of the harbour.

Ralf has got some great photos of the bridge and the Opera House.

After lunch we caught the ferry back to Circular Quay and wandered up towards the Opera House.

 

We were going to do the Tour of the Opera House but unfortunately we couldn’t get in because Will and Kate were due to arrive.  Bloody royals spoiling my plan.  Thinking of my friend Celeste, an avid royalist, I said to Ralf it would be really neat if I could get a photo of Will and Kate for Celeste.  We waited for them to arrive and then had to wait an hour and a half for them to finish their engagement inside the Opera House before they came out to greet the crowd.  Ralf got a great photo of them.

Thursday April 17, 2014

Today’s plan was to have a wander down town, get my tire replaced and check out bike shops, camp stores and just take in the atmosphere of the downtown.

This is the part of Sydney where we are staying, it is about 2.5 ks from the downtown and is very Bohemian – that is what the guide book says anyway. We were awake early again and after breakfast we walked towards the downtown area.  We spotted a local bike shop and popped in to see if they had any Schwalbe tires for my bike.  Yep they had the perfect tires for my bike, we walked back to the hostel for the bikes.  They replaced the tires and the tubes, Ralf also got his bike checked out as his back brakes were rubbing. His wheel needed to be trued.

After leaving the bikes at the bike shop, we continued to walk downtown again.  I stopped at a hairdressers and got my hair cut.  While we were downtown we checked out 5 other bike shops and no one else had 26” touring tires.  We also found the street that has all the camping/outdoor stores.  We both would really like to find a decent pillow.  The two things we really miss, are good towels and good pillows. Whenever we get to a warmshowers or stay in a motel/cabin it is so nice to have a good pillow and a fluffy towel.

Throughout the downtown of Sydney they had these statues of rhinos – there were about 100 of them in different guises.  They were going to have an auction at some stage in the future.  Joy I have put a bid on this one for you!! Not really.

This guy was a \”living statue\”.  We saw him again later when he was putting his stuff away and he told us about the busking licenses they have to get and where he can perform.  Apparently there are discs embedded into the side walk with letters in them for instance QP which means quiet performance area.  All the buskers have to get a license and abide by what the disc indicates – quiet, musical etc.

We have found a difference between the people who stay in backpackers/hostels and camp sites/caravan parks.

The campers we have met are primarily that, on vacation and staying at a camp site for a week or so.  They are generally interested in what we are doing and where we are going etc.  Some of them are permanent stays, but are still very friendly and like to talk about Oz and the Town we are staying in, giving us advice where to go and what to see.  Backpackers are not always young people, we have met a range in ages from 18 to 60.  Apparently there are 40,000 over 60 year olds ‘travelling’ and working in transient jobs throughout Australia every year.  The lady I spoke to was over 60 working in a variety of tourist related jobs around Australia.  She had decided to do it for 2 years and is still travelling and working 2 years later, she intends to carry on doing it for as long as she can.  The other backpackers are generally younger people who are on a ‘gap’ year and are travelling from one place to another.  Some are working, but they stay at hostels with other backpackers and in my opinion do not always get to see and talk to regular Australians.  We are so fortunate in the way we are seeing this country and able to talk to the average Australian, especially when we stay with warm showers hosts.

Friday April 18, 2014

We actually had a lie-in, until 8:00 am.  We made a lovely breakfast of cheese omelette and fruit salad with yogurt.  It kept us going for our visit to Bondi beach.  One of the things we have noticed about backpackers is their very unhealthy eating habits.  Part of it is because they don’t know how to budget and cook but today we watched a young couple eat the most unhealthy, bizaare breakfast ever – Tim Tams (chocolate biscuits) dunked in milk followed by white bread, also dunked in milk.

Today we took a bus to Cogee and then walked along the coastal route to Bondi.  When we arrived in Cogee, Ralf noticed this sky-writer and pointed it out to me.  I gave him a big hug and pretended that he had done it for me. People around us thought it was lovely.

It was a long walk about 7.5 kms but very nice.  There were a lot of people walking the route as it was a lovely warm day.

Ralf had to go out on this ledge.  I was having kittens and got annoyed at him, he could have fallen to his death. I thought I had better get a photo of him before the ledge broke off!!

We had a second breakfast at a café in Bondi, then had a wander along the beach and caught the bus back to the hostel.

Yeah I have actually been to Bondi Beach.

The YHA here offers various activities and different meals for a good price.  On Wednesay night when we arrived we joined them for their pizza night $5.00 a pizza.  Today, Friday is BBQ night, BBQ and a beer for $5.00 each can’t complain at those prices.

Saturday 19 April

Today\’s plan was to clean the bikes, visit the local market and go to the Convict museum.

I cleaned the bikes while Ralf headed into Town for a much needed hair cut.  He looks much better now.  I must admit I was beginning to nag him.  He had never let his hair grow this long before.  He hadn\’t had it cut since leaving Canada in December and he was beginning to look a little unkempt (in my opinion).

After a quick lunch we walked to the local Saturday market.  We thought it might be a farmers market but it was actually a market with local crafts, food and clothes.  We both enjoy wandering around markets, even if we are only window shopping and not in the market to buy anything.

We then caught the bus to the Historical Barracks, which houses the convict museum.  It was really interesting, you could type in your name and find out if you had any convicts transported from England.

Now my maiden name (Hall) is quite a common name and that is probably why there were 10 pages of Halls that were transported to Australia – not one of them, am I related to according to my Dad!!  There were only about a two pages of Coopers (my Mum’s maiden name) again it is a very common name.

We are now getting ready to leave Sydney tomorrow and head up towards Brisbane.  Our last leg of the Tour de Down Under.