Taronga Zoo

Taronga Zoo lies a pleasant ferry ride across Sydney Harbor from Circular Quay, the ferry depature point from downtown Sydney. Since Australia is home of many creatures not found in any other parts of the world, we decided it was time to see some of them at this zoo.


One of my favorites was the Koala bears.  Check out this little fella that Richard and I admired.  We were lucky to see him awake since Koalas sleep 20 hours a day!


We also were educated on the difference between kangaroos and wallabies. Kangaroos are larger and have pointy faces, while the wallabies are smaller with rounded profiles.  Another interesting fact - kangaroos and emus can only travel forward - never sideways or backwards.  That's why they are often pictured on the rugby team emblems - in other words, meaning the teams only move ahead.


Check out some of the other unusual animals that Richard photographed below.


Later in the evening we enjoyed a fabulous home-cooked salmon dinner with the Hunts and their friends who were visiting from New Zealand.  They told us that New Zealand is only a short 3-hour flight away from here; therefore, these friends visit frequently.  We've been so impressed by their friendliness and hospitality and hope that when they visit Florida, we will be able to return some of it to them!






Pictures

Born to Be Wild

Sunday - Walking through Hyde Park on our way to St Mary's Cathedral  on a warm &  beautiful morning , we crossed tracks with  Sydney Marathon  runners doing their part to reduce Australia's 70% obesity rate. Australia must use a different standard of measure than the US because folks look pretty good here -- especially the girls in their leggings and short skirts! 

After fish and chips at the Fish Market, we experienced Scott's South Pole expedition at the
Australian National Maritime Museum.  We were also surprised by the very large United States Exhibition there.  Apparently President George Bush Sr. donated quite a bit of his money to establish this to highlight the collaborations between our 2 countries throughout the years.  We read about the Japanese threats to their coastlines during WWII and viewed pictures of the U.S. Navy Ships coming into Sydney Harbor to defend them.  The Australians are still very grateful to our nation and have supported us in most of our conflicts - and very recently in Afganistan.  

Sydney boasts the largest IMAX screen in the world; upon it we watched Born to Be Wild in 3D.  It was an inspiring story about scientists who are saving baby elephants in Africa and orangatangs in Borneo. 

Blue Mountains

The Blue Mountains are just a 2-hour drive away from Sidney so we decided to check them out.  We boarded an Ozzie tour bus full of European students and had a blast talking to them and the tour guide as we rode along.  So - why Blue Mtns?  Well, it's because there is a blue haze around them caused by light striking droplets of eucalyptus oil that evaporates from the leaves of the dense surrounding forest. 

We arrived at Katoomba where we visited dramatic overlooks of sandstone rock formations.  We hiked downthe Furber Steps into the Jameson Valley through waterfalls, fern valleys and unusual looking trees complete with white cockatoos with yellow plummage.  Since the walk was quite strenuous, we decided to take a funicular railway, the world's steepest at 52 degrees, back up to the top - and it was quite a thrill. 

On the way back, the driver took us by some protected Australian Government Land where we saw kangaroos moving around.  I was surprized how large they were.  The tour driver had visited the US and he gave us some of his random thoughts of Australia compared to the United States.  For the record, here is what we can remember...
    - We don't play cricket and much rugby (these are big sports here!)  However, rugby isn't followed much until there are international matches.
    - They are still a commonwealth of England and get a day off for the Queen's birthday - but Great Britain doesn't!   No days off for us for Obama's birthday!
    - The US has the fattest people in the world - and Australia the second fattest.  However, he thought our country has more morbidly obese folks than they do.

    - Their Prime Minister is very unpopular and they've heard our President is, too.   They don't seem to have any good candidates to challenge her...and well, probably, we don't either.
    - They don't tip for anything; consequently, their customer service is just not as good as the U.S., especially in restaurants.

    - The internet has changed everything in Australia.  They buy many things "on line" from the U.S. at much cheaper prices. There is no duty on obtaining our goods. This is having a bad effect on their retail industry.

    -  Their average worker makes more money than a U.S. worker.  However, they are taxed at much higher rates and think the U.S. has very low taxes compared to the rest of the world.  They have health care, but many people buy supplemental private policies to obtain better access and care.  Their homes are much more expensive and the younger folks cannot afford their own home.

All in all it was a great day!  Pictures

Sydney Opera House Tour

                          
Today, we had internet tickets for a tour of the iconic Sydney Opera House. Iconic -three of of four people in the world  recognize the building!   Our tour guide explained that a Danish architect, Jorn Utzon, won an international competition to design it.  When the project ran overbudget, the country raised the money to finish it in 1973 at a staggering price tag of $102 million.  It has a large concert hall, a smaller theater for the ballets and many other venues for smaller productions. We were very impressed by its beauty - enough so that we decided to purchase opera tickets to hear Lakme on September 21st.  Since we've never seen an opera before, we decided this was the opportunity to see one!  The rest of our day was spent enjoying the sunshine in the Royal Botanic Gardens and visiting the Art Gallery of New South Wales.  Check out our pictures by double clicking the word "Pictures" below.



Waiting for the Tour to Begin



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Sydney Harbor Cruise



Southern Princess Approaching Harbor Bridge

Our second day in Sydney was just fantastic!  It began with John, our friend Dorrit's family friend (AKA big brother), who picked us up at our hotel and drove us to his gorgeous home across the Harbor Bridge.  We met Irene, John's wife, and surprised them with 5 boxes of Betty Crocker Angel Food Cake Mix that Dorrit asked us to bring from Punta Gorda as it is unavailable in Australia.  Irene was thrilled that the cake mixes made it here as previously, when they tried to obtain the treasured mixes, Customs had a problem with the egg whites contained in them!

In the 1960's when John was working at the United Nations, he met Dorrit's family and sailed many weekends with her father.  The families remained close friends through the years.  We are incredibly fortunate to have friends like Dorrit & Bruce who arranged a day for us on Sydney Harbor on with them on John's sailboat,  a 57 ft Beneteau called Southern Princess. 

We boarded Southern Princess, berthed at a small pictursque marina, a short car ride from John and Irene's home.  We were awed as we sailed up Middle Harbour, through Spit Bridge and down around to Sydney. After picking up a little diesel fuel, we sailed under the famous Harbor Bridge , passed the breathtaking Sydney Opera House, dipped into Darling Harbour, traveled under Madona's Bra Bridge (click on to discover why it is called this name) and anchored off the fish market in Blacksmith Bay.  A dinghy ride to the dock allowed us to purchase FRESH extra large prawns (shrimp) and oysters for lunch.   What a feast we had -  complete with Australian chardonnay, sourdough bread, fresh fruit and cheeses.  YUM !

After a fun-filled day of great conversation, sights and food,  in late afternoon, John and Irene dropped us off at the foot of the Harbor Bridge afterwhich we walked back through the city to our hotel.  WOW!  What a unforgettable day! And, an added bonus, Irene and John invited us over for dinner next Tuesday.  We will look forward to even more time with these wonderful hosts.


Photos

Skipping Tuesday



Platypus at Sydney Aquarium

 We arrived Sydney Airport Wednesday morning at 6 AM, skipping Tuesday altogether.  After clearing customs, collecting our bags and purchasing an Optus donngle for the Internet, we shuttled to the Vibe Hotel on Goulburn Street.  What luck, our room was available and we checked in.  After showers, we walked down to Darling Harbour on a wonderful sunny morning. Cockle Bay at harbour's head looks something like Baltimore's Inner Harbor - lots of  restaurants lining the walk around bay. 

Just to see the platypus, we made the Aquarium our first tour stop.  The platypus, much smaller than I had imagined, was extremely lively, zooming all over the place.  Also zooming around were lots of uniformed school children filling out multi page assignment sheets.  Among all the down under sea life, also on view: the Napoleon Wrasse,  fairy penguins  and dugongs (looks like manatees to me)

After a little lunch and a walk back to our hotel, I promptly fell asleep.
 
Pictures

September 12 - On Our Way to Sydney Australia



4:30 Am Departure from Punta Gorda

 Here we are all set for our Australian Odessey loading up the luggage into the car of our friends, Dorrit and Bruce.  Wow, what great friends to tote us up to Ft Myers Airport at that early hour!

Just double-click to see our Pictures

We flew via Houston and San Francisco.  We had quite a layover in the City By the Bay so we hopped a BART commuter train connecting to a trolley (SF Muni F Line) to
Fisherman's Wharf.  It was a beautiful day!  After a great seafood lunch, we toured a restored Liberty Ship, the SS Jeremiah O'Brien , and then took a harbor cruise under the Golden Gate Bridge and checked out Alcatraz from the sea.  Richard snapped some great pictures.  Check them out above. 

At 11:00 PM we boarded our 13-hour flight for Sydney, just a mear 7,439 miles across the Pacific.  We lucked out and managed to get seats in the less crowded back of the plane and were able to take turns lying across 3 seats.  We actually were able to get a little sleep and arrived in Australia at 6:00 AM - losing an entire day!  No Tuesday!