And, indeed, there were no worries for us in Australia – a beautiful, clean, organized country. Even the cows were where they were supposed to be – in lush, green meadows munching grass – not competing for lanes with us in rush hour traffic!
View of Sydney Harbor from our room
Our flights from Mumbai to Sydney were again long legs, with a four hour layover in So. Korea. Happily the Executive Lounge there had a nice shower room, so we cleaned up a bit and felt more refreshed going into the second leg of the trip – another 9-hour flight.
Sydney is a wonderful, very cosmopolitan city and, once again, the Marriott was right on the harbor with our big, comfortable room overlooking part of the harbor and the fabulous opera house. We had 2 ½ days there before meeting our friend, Helen, so we took the time to walk around the city. We started by taking the lift to the top of the City Tower for an incredible view of all of Sydney, the harbors, and the sea. We chose this path instead of climbing the very steep steps up the Sydney Bridge as one of our more adventurous friends (Joanie B) did! Once we had our aerial orientation, we walked through their beautiful version of Hyde Park, with its very moving ANZAC (Australian New Zealand Army Corps) Memorial. We also wandered along the harbor, into a section called “The Rocks”, an old sailor area with neat alleyways, quaint shops, and pubs.
Sydney is a wonderful, very cosmopolitan city and, once again, the Marriott was right on the harbor with our big, comfortable room overlooking part of the harbor and the fabulous opera house. We had 2 ½ days there before meeting our friend, Helen, so we took the time to walk around the city. We started by taking the lift to the top of the City Tower for an incredible view of all of Sydney, the harbors, and the sea. We chose this path instead of climbing the very steep steps up the Sydney Bridge as one of our more adventurous friends (Joanie B) did! Once we had our aerial orientation, we walked through their beautiful version of Hyde Park, with its very moving ANZAC (Australian New Zealand Army Corps) Memorial. We also wandered along the harbor, into a section called “The Rocks”, an old sailor area with neat alleyways, quaint shops, and pubs.
From Harbor back to Opera HouseThe Opera House is world famous, so months ago Rance purchased tickets for us to attend an opera - the only one playing was The Gondoliers by Gilbert and Sullivan. The house was beautiful, with great acoustics and very intimate settings, but G & S sure ain’t Mozart! We also took a harbor cruise, getting off at the Sydney Aquarium to view all the wonderful fish we hoped we would see on the Great Barrier Reef, and walked back via Chinatown for some exquisite dim sum. Opps! Sorry! Out of India and it seems we’re back to the food and drink! J
As we were discovering Sydney, our dear friend Helen was driving cross country with her niece to meet us and drive us back to her home in Adelaide. She took the shorter route like the string of the bow, and we would follow its longer arc back.
Bathing Beauties: Helen and Susan
On the appointed day we took a passenger ferry across the expansive harbor to Manley Bay where Helen’s niece lives - a picture perfect beach occupied by young, picture-perfect, male and female bodies. Helen was there at the ferry dock waving to greet us and tell us what we would be doing and seeing for the next 9 days. We had underestimated Helen. Not only is she an intelligent, warm, fun friend - she’s one helluva good tour guide (with a great wine cellar). But, again, we digress! She also has good friends along the way who were willing to take in her wandering American friends.
Dinner with her was again on the harbor, where the fish lived up to its reputation. Early next morning for the first day out on our “road trip” we drove about 4 hours to Canberra, the seat of the federal government of Australia. It’s much more compact than our capital, and we easily drove by all the government buildings and foreign embassies. Needless to say, the American Embassy was the largest and most impressive – at least what we could see. Sadly, the street leading to it was blocked off and the brick wall surrounding it had grown by a couple feet since 9/11. We had also seen this sad but necessary commentary on American safety concerns abroad in other places, most notably our beloved Bern.
From Memorial to Parliament Hill
After checking into a lovely little boutique apartment hotel Helen knew, Rance was given a kitchen pass to visit the Australian War Memorial while Helen and I visited a Flower Festival which was on for the weekend. Rance: I thought the War Memorial was one of the best I have ever seen – very well laid out, thoughtful and incredibly moving. It started with the Boer War (the first one in which Aussie troops had fought overseas, albeit as part of the Commonwealth) then through the terrible sufferings of Gallipoli, WW I and II. That was about as far as I got in several hours before they kicked me out at closing. Before I left I watched their version of Taps called Last Post. I really loved it, especially how informative the presentations were. They treated the events honestly and fairly, neither glorifying war nor glossing over the mistakes, but still recognizing the incredible sacrifices made. Anyone who has a few hours is invited to discuss these aspects with me!
From Canberra to Melbourne. Beautiful countryside. Lots of Eucalyptus trees, meadows, sheep, cattle. No kangaroos yet – except the ones which had tried to cross the road at an inopportune time. Remember the expensive wine we wrote about in France? It would go well with these particular kangaroos.
From Canberra to Melbourne. Beautiful countryside. Lots of Eucalyptus trees, meadows, sheep, cattle. No kangaroos yet – except the ones which had tried to cross the road at an inopportune time. Remember the expensive wine we wrote about in France? It would go well with these particular kangaroos.
Melbourne Mall
We stayed at a neat B & B in Melbourne, Villa Donati. I should mention here that Helen had booked all the places we stayed at on the way to Adelaide – a 2 bedroom apt. in Canberra; this wonderful, old place in Melbourne; her friend’s fantastic home in Mornington, a southerly suburb of Melbourne overlooking the bay just south of Melbourne; and another Victorian B & B right on a river heading out to the ocean in Fort Fairy.
Back to Melbourne. The night we arrived Rance got to choose from the lovely choices in walking distance, and opted for French – what a treat this one was, with its authentic atmosphere and even more authentic food, wine and congenial French waiter/owner – don’t get me started again! After sleeping in a bit and being served a great breakfast by owner, Trevor, we took a nice walking tour of Melbourne. This city is more the every day citizen’s city as opposed to the “up-market” feel of Sydney. We left the car at the B & B and took the tram downtown, then used the tourist tram to get all around. Melbourne (pronounced Melb’n) has some wonderful old buildings and the Yarra River passing right through, to give it shape and tie it to the harbor. It also has another Chinatown where we just happened to be around brunch/Dim Sum time (guess Rance got two votes in a row).
We spent that night at Brit’s (Helen’s friend) lovely house overlooking the sound. Brit was Norwegian, married to an Australian navy guy, and was another delightful and interesting personality (as all Helen’s friends are). Unfortunately, her husband was out of town: a retired 2 star admiral working on a project to raise a WW I sub sunk off Gallipoli, and before that was “hiking in the Pyrenees” – I like the guy sight unseen! After a morning hike with energetic Brit, we drove futher south and took the ferry across the tip of the bay, making the boat with 2 minutes to spare – did we mention Helen’s impeccable timing?
Back to Melbourne. The night we arrived Rance got to choose from the lovely choices in walking distance, and opted for French – what a treat this one was, with its authentic atmosphere and even more authentic food, wine and congenial French waiter/owner – don’t get me started again! After sleeping in a bit and being served a great breakfast by owner, Trevor, we took a nice walking tour of Melbourne. This city is more the every day citizen’s city as opposed to the “up-market” feel of Sydney. We left the car at the B & B and took the tram downtown, then used the tourist tram to get all around. Melbourne (pronounced Melb’n) has some wonderful old buildings and the Yarra River passing right through, to give it shape and tie it to the harbor. It also has another Chinatown where we just happened to be around brunch/Dim Sum time (guess Rance got two votes in a row).
We spent that night at Brit’s (Helen’s friend) lovely house overlooking the sound. Brit was Norwegian, married to an Australian navy guy, and was another delightful and interesting personality (as all Helen’s friends are). Unfortunately, her husband was out of town: a retired 2 star admiral working on a project to raise a WW I sub sunk off Gallipoli, and before that was “hiking in the Pyrenees” – I like the guy sight unseen! After a morning hike with energetic Brit, we drove futher south and took the ferry across the tip of the bay, making the boat with 2 minutes to spare – did we mention Helen’s impeccable timing?
Some of the Apostles
Our route then took us along the Great Ocean Road, and was it ever great! For those who know Highway 1 which goes along the Pacific Coast in Northern California, it was a bit like that. Big cliffs looking down on a magnificent ocean – the Southern Ocean in this case. It was very windy along this part of the trip and the ocean reflected that – great big treacherous/exciting waves crashing on what small beach there was. Along this road we also got to view the Twelve Apostles, great hunks of rock which had ended up separated from the mainland through erosion. The ocean waves continue to batter at them and in the past several years has “taken down” two of them. What can one say about missing apostles??? Of course the wave action constantly (in the sense of over centuries) creates new outcroppings and destroys the old.
The end of that day brought us to our next wonderful B & B in Port Fairy, a really quaint village on an inlet from the ocean. We all rested comfortably there, with excellent food and drink – finally! - at a fantastic, small seafood restaurant Helen had discovered on an earlier trip. Shark overhead!
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