Travel Zette

We arrived on a beautiful, sunny day in Sydney after a quick flight from Adelaide and took a lovely walk from the hotel in Potts Point through the Botanic Gardens to Circular Quay. I had been to Sydney 12 years earlier in April 2003 and I was happy to be back.  Dinner at Portabella Cafe came with great views of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House.  We were in Circular Quay that evening for Vivid Sydney, an annual light festival that takes place over 3 weeks, usually in May or June.  Bright colored lights and lasers provided art deco style displays on the waterfront buildings and the Opera House.

The next morning we walked over to The Rocks market near Circular Quay.  There is everything here from jewelry, clothing, handicrafts, chocolates, cheeses, breads, etc. In the evening, I took a ferry to Darling Harbour and we saw Vivid Sydney with fireworks and a delicious Italian dinner at Olivio.

 

 

The following day we went to Featherdale Wildlife Park, about an hour outside of Sydney by train. We had fun seeing the Aussie animals and birds, feeling a bit sad some were caged.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I enjoyed my last evening in Potts Point watching the sunset and night lights come up over the Harbour Bridge and Opera House.

 

 

 

 

 

The next day, I moved to the Sydney Harbour Marriott at Circular Key.  I wandered through the food market at the Rocks but opted for champagne and calamari at the Opera Bar enjoying the lovely view.  I found a whale watching tour leaving soon and they had space available.  It was a lovely calm day and we saw some whales, even got a few photos of the flukes but it was a bit challenging to catch on camera.

 

 

 

I spent the next five days at Ayers Rock Resort, a venture Into the Heart and a much anticipated visit to the Red Centre that was a highlight of my time in Australia.

 

I returned to Sydney and felt inspired by having experienced a place in the world that I had longed to visit.  I rented a car and went to an Airbnb in Rouse Hill, a suburb of Sydney, for the week.  The apartment was above shops in this cosy little town. It was a lovely place to relax and reflect on all the wonderful sights I had seen over the past two months.  The weather was mixed that week, sunny, cloudy, and even thunderstorms but I loved having this time to myself.  On a cool, rainy afternoon with a thunderstorm and lightning delighting me, I went out and enjoyed a Theobroma dark hot chocolate, a warm and delicious treat!  On my walk back, I found a guitar player with a sign that read: ‘Do you fear change? Leave it here!’ And so I did.

 

 

After my relaxing week in Rouse Hill, I took a two hour drive north to Newcastle, with beautiful scenery of hills, rivers, trees, and the Hawkesbury River along the way.  I was invited to stay in Newcastle with a friend I had met almost 6 years earlier on a trip to Antarctica. We had kept in touch and she kindly offered to let me stay with her for a few days.  One of our excursions was a drive out to Port Stephens on a beautiful day.  We stopped at Gan Gan Lookout, then to Nelson Bay Lighthouse for lunch with lovely views of the harbour and ocean.  In Fingal Bay, we stopped to find people were whale watching from shore. We drove to Boat Harbour and walked up to the top of the rocks with lovely views and saw where my friend and her sister spent holidays as children.  Stopping at Birubi Beach, we had a glass of wine, a garlic loaf and chips while the sun was setting.  We watched people on camel rides along the beach as we enjoyed the beautiful views.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My friend was a great tour guide over the next few days as we explored the harbour city of Newcastle.  We walked along the waterfront all the way down to the Nobbys, up to the lighthouse then out along the breakwater.  Gorgeous views on a fine day!  On the walk back, we stopped near Scratchly’s to watch a container ship (Chenan) come into the docks from Hong Kong.

Another day, we walked through the Christ Church Cathedral and then went to ANZAC Memorial Bridge and walked along with fabulous views of the coast and city.  We had a wonderful lunch at Customs House of garlic bread, oysters and linguini pesto with feta cheese.

 

We took a day to drive up and have a nice lunch at Hunter Valley Gardens, stopping on our way back for wine tasting at Peterson Wines in the Hunter Valley.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Returning to the Sydney Harbour Marriott for a couple days, my friend from Newcastle met me for a light dinner at the Vienna Tea room in the beautiful Queen Victoria building.  Afterwards, we went to a screening with Aurora Expeditions showcasing spectacular photographs of Antarctica by Peter Eastway and reminding us of our expedition there 6 years ago.  The next day, I took the Hop On, Hop Off Bus to Bondi Beach.  Too cool to swim but a nice walk and lunch at the Bucket List.

 

I also hopped off at the Maritime Museum. The Shackleton exhibit with still life of the huts in Antarctica was quite moving as I clearly remember being there, standing in that very place.  The Maritime Museum is in Darling Harbour with a replica of the HMB Endeavor docked there.  The original HMB Endeavor was the ship Captain James Cook was given command of for his first voyage to Australia and New Zealand from 1769 to 1771.  Walking through the ship, where their daily life was replicated was fascinating.

 

 

I was coming up on 3 months in Australia and my visa would be expiring in a week. I took my last few days to see a few more sights in Sydney.

 

I went to the NSW State Library, a lovely building I had walked by many times over the past couple weeks. I loved looking at the maps including the giant atlas which to my delight was displaying the map of Antarctica in the Mitchel Library Reading Room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walking back to Circular Quay, I took in my last view of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge before boarding the train to Wolli Creek for my last night.  My three months in Australia were truly a spectacular journey through the magical land of OZ.