Sydney

We didn't have nearly enough time in New Zealand or Australia but I think we made the most of what little time we had.
Our hotel was in a pretty good spot again.  The Solar Tours tour company has yet to steer us wrong.  We had a balcony at the Cambridge hotel in East Sydney.  You can see the peaks of the Sydney Opera House in the distance.  We spent the afternoon on a double decker bus that tours around the city.  It is a great way to see all the highlights in one quick round, then you can hop off and on the bus at places you want. 

 We rode around in the afternoon and got off near Circular Quay that evening to walk around before heading to the observatory.  We also found a little family owned Italian place nearby for dinner.  Not lamb but delicious all the same.

The "Coat Hanger" was a pretty impressive bridge. 







Not quite as flashy as the Zakim bridge in Boston but very elegant as bridges go.




It was even more impressive at night.

We didn't make it in for a tour of the Opera House but it was a beautiful building.  I never realized that the roof was all tiled.  Amazing.

One of the unexpected surprises were the wild cockatoos that were flying around not only the Blue Mountains but also around downtown Sydney.  Our bus driver said they were a pest.  Unbelievable.  They were very cool!

We did take a bus up to the Blue Mountains.  Art's cousin had recommended that if you could only see one thing that was it.

We saw the Three Sisters rock and took a tram across a great ravine that was reminiscent of the Grand Canyon covered in jungle growth with wild cockatoos flying around.

There were breathtaking heights and falls galore.
We rode on a very steep rail-car into the canyon and hiked around a bit before going on another tram to complete the tour.

We were fortunate enough to be able to hike down to Wentworth Falls.
It wasn't a big walk but it was gorgeous.

The weather was perfect this day!

Koala bears sleep a lot, and in interesting positions wedged up in trees.

He was a lot softer than we thought.
Very woolly and warm.

Feeding the kangaroos was high on my to do list at the Wildlife preserve.

I thought they would just munch the greenery inside the cone so a little joey surprised me when he munched a big bite off of the cone!

They were happy to let you pat them.  Except for Momma.

She wouldn't let me pat her baby.  She gave me a dirty look then hopped off.

We spent a lot of time here...

I saw a lot of creatures I have only read about.
Wallabies, Kangaroos, Koalas, a Tasmanian Devil, Kookaburras.

We took a ferry back to Sydney that night.  An amazing coastline and a wonderful sunset.

A lot of colorful characters helped shape Australia.

One last meal before heading home.
Left Sydney at 1:20pm and arrived in Dallas at 1:45pm.  Longest 25 minutes of my life (somewhere near 15 hours in reality).
Another five hours to Boston, then shuttle and ride home.

Thanks for the memories!