A Celebration in Sydney and A Bittersweet Farewell

 

In February,  we took a long awaited trip to Sydney for my birthday.  Truth be told, we had already been to Sydney and viewed the iconic landmarks, the Sydney Opera House and Harbor Bridge, from the decks of a cruise ship. (Sydney was our port of departure/arrival for our New Zealand cruise last November.)  However, we didn't really think that counted as an official visit, so it was time to actually experience Sydney.

Our flight was very early in the morning and as a result we arrived hours before we could check into our hotel.  We dropped off our bags at concierge and didn't waste a moment of time.  

Good Morning Sydney!

We started off by catching the ferry to Manly. It's a very pretty ride through the harbor and includes beautiful views of the opera house and city from the water.

Opera House from Manly Ferry.

We immediately strolled down a coastal walk to Shelley Beach hoping to get a closer view of all the dolphins we could see in the distance.  Unfortunately, the dolphins had moved on, but we did get nice views back to Manly beach. 

Along the pathway there were many of these mini statues in and amongst the rocks.

After returning to Sydney, we walked through the beautiful Royal Botanic Gardens.

 and had views of the opera house and bridge from another vantage point.

From here we thought it would be a good idea to walk back past the opera house, through the city, and across the bridge.  

On the other side of the bridge is an old amusement park called Luna Park. 

The Luna Park face



View of Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbor Bridge from Luna Park.

After the picture above was taken, we decided to call it a day and head back to our hotel downtown and out to dinner.  This meant we needed to walk back across the bridge and into the city.  Take a look at my footwear.  Those were the sturdiest shoes I packed.  Yikes. 

The next day we had arranged a city and opera house tour.  Giving our feet a bit of a rest, we were able to see all sorts of city sights including Bondi Beach, one of Australia's most famous beaches. It's known for its beautiful people and also for its dangerous rip currents.

The lifeguards perform about 5000 rescues a summer and have a television called "Bondi Rescue" where you can watch the lifeguards at work.

The lifeguard station is a prominent fixture in "Bondi Rescue."

We were amazed at how uncrowded the beach was for 11am on a Saturday.  However, we were told is was quite crowded the day prior, as the cast of Modern Family was there filming.

We also headed out to the Gap, which is an ocean cliff facing the Tasman Sea and is the opening to the Sydney waterway.  It is a beautiful location in the National Park with spectacular views.



The Gap

We missed the Modern Family cast, but we did see Russell Crowe in his Woolloomooloo penthouse apartment. Can't you see him?  He's clear as a bell, right?  Our tour guide was so excited that we sat and watched for a little while.  Hadn't really planned to snap a photo, but stuck my camera out as we were driving away.

We drove all throughout town and our final stop was the Sydney Opera House.  We were looking forward to stepping foot into one of the world's most recognizable buildings.

The inside of the opera house is not very elaborate, but I found the structural aspects to be quite interesting. 

 

There are eight different venues inside the opera house.  The main concert hall is not ornate, but it is known for it's superior acoustics and houses an organ with over 10,000 pipes.

After our tour, we had a little bite at the Opera Kitchen.

That night we headed to Darling Harbor to take in the sights and the Saturday night fireworks.

Having had our fill of views of the bridge and opera house, we took to the city for our last day.  We started the day with breakfast at a great little café at The Rocks.

Market at The Rocks

Then we walked through the city to Hyde Park.  The city landscape is a mixture of really old buildings and very modern buildings.

Sydney General Post Office

a mix of old and new



Fountain in Hyde Park



St. Mary's Cathedral 

If you ask the girls what we did during our three days in Sydney, they would say we walked....and walked, and walked, and walked.  Which is basically what we did, with a lot of sightseeing in between. It was a great trip to a beautiful city and now we can say we have officially been to Sydney.

Waiting for the train to take us to the airport.

Unfortunately, February also brought with it some sadness as we had to say good-bye to Chase, our first "baby" and trusted companion.  Although he still seemed to be of sound mind, his thirteen-year-old body was giving up on him.  Due to his age, the length of the flight to Australia, and quarantine, David's parents have spent the last two years spoiling him rotten. He could not have been in better care.

 

just a pup

We Skyped with him every time we spoke with Grammy and Granddad, and even though he probably couldn't see us or hear us, we enjoyed getting to see him. 



This photo was taken right before our departure to Australia.

 He was a large and loving part of our family and will be missed.  "Good Boy Chase!"