2nd day at home

We arrived in Vancouver Wed. morning at 7.30 am after an almost 15 hour flight from Sydney on a Boeing 777 Air Canada plane that was quite comfortable with enough leg room, wider seats and a very friendly and accommodating crew. It was still almost dark when we touched down. By the time we came out of customs and the baggage area it was light and NOT raining. The temps however were quite the contrast to Sydney though. Down to about 6 degrees from 43 the day before.

Take that, body, and don't go into shock! We got home by taxi before 9 am and called the kids and other family to let them know of our arrival. Then we fell into bed to sleep for about 6 hours, got up and tended to mail, food and other logistics. Later the kids came over, and we had a good reunion.

We are now into day 3 at home, and still our wonderful trip lingers on. Sigi has installed a picture series on our digital photo frame in the living room that reminds us even more of the many great places we have visited in Australia. Our trip was exciting, amazing, relaxing, much more than expected, and the Aussies proved to be a most welcoming, fun and cool bunch of people. "No worries" - we'll be back one day. Till then, g'day, mate!!! 

1st day at home

You don't want to know.

Good Bye Sydney

Last Full Day in Australia and Sydney

We had to get up early today to drive to “Budget Rental Agency” and give back our trusted black Mitsubishi monster that had stood us well over the last 3 weeks and given us no trouble at all. Sigi found the agency on Crown Street without problems, without our “Oscar” GPS, even though we had to negotiate a few one-way streets and lanes. The temps were still OK, hot but not blazing. It was told on TV that the heat would be blown in around 11 am. We still had an hour and a half to do something in town.

Therefore we WALKED from Budget to the # 555 green bus stop on Elizabeth Street, hopped on the cool almost empty bus with a/c and got driven to Circular Quay. We hopped off and decided on the spur of the moment to take a round trip on the Taronga Zoo Ferry. We were told by friends that you hadn’t really seen Sydney if you hadn't taken a ferry and seen the city from the water. They were right. What a great sight!! We LOVED the trip and the vistas, as well as the cool breeze. Back at Circular Quay we walked over to the Contemporary Arts Gallery for more pictures with a different angle. Another huge cruise ship was moored at the pier, and the Opera House peeked through every photo we took. Quite suddenly the temps seemed to soar, as if one had turned on an oven on “broil”, and we needed to retreat into the Arts Gallery for some cool-down before heading back to the green bus stop. On our way back to the hotel we felt the full brunt of this record breaking heat wave of 43 degrees. The asphalt under our feet was burning and seemed to melt. In the hotel we took a cool shower and rested for an hour before daring to go out again in the heat around the corner to “Caffetini’s” for lunch and some much needed free wireless and computing time. We ate and e-mailed and went back for an afternoon siesta at the ‘Aspire’. The a/c had some trouble keeping up with the demand but at least the fan gave us some relief. Luckily the temps are supposed to come down to a chilly 25 degrees tomorrow which would make our trip to the airport not hazardous, as the Sydney taxi drivers never turn on the a/c in order to save on gas.

This is almost the end of our blog. We are leaving Australia tomorrow at 12.15 pm local time and will be flight bound for 15 hours, arriving in Vancouver at 8.15 am local time to really cold weather of 6 degrees and rain…

Taree to Sydney

The time had come to say good-bye to Mescal and Rod and leave their serene oasis for the hustle and bustle of Sydney. We left Pampoolah around 10.30 am and arrived in Sydney at 4 pm. It was a hassle free drive with light traffic and bearable heat. We checked back into the familiar “Aspire Hotel” close to UTS and took a rest till dinnertime. All TV stations were warning the population about the coming heat wave on Tuesday that would spike temps to 43 degrees in Sydney and surrounding areas. So far we were spared any extreme weather, but would get to experience it on our last full day in Australia. The temps were still OK though (around 29), so we went for dinner at the Chinese neighbourhood restaurant.

From there we went straight down to Darling Harbour, first taking the Monorail twice around to see the great sights again (and cool off in the air conditioned compartment of the train) and then walking home from Darling Park Station. An ice cream was enjoyed on the promenade and a view of the harbour and crowds as well as the big yellow duck on the water indicating the “Sydney Festival” going on from Jan. 5 to 27.

Pampoolah at Mescal’s B&B, Black Head and Diamond Head Beaches

We had a late start this morning after an elaborate brekki orchestrated by Mescal. Sitting in the garden, reading the newspaper, gabbing with Mescal all made for a very relaxing Sunday morning.

It was almost lunch time before we left for Halliday’s Point for a special Sunday market and Black Head Beach.

The market, put up in a little park, sold all kinds of goods, amongst others Rod’s nursery plants. We visited his stall, admiring all the different plants and flowers for sale. Mescal and Rod ran a wholesale nursery for 27years, and Mescal opened the B&B a few years ago after they had built the house for this particular specification. Rod hopes to retire from the nursery business in a few years.

It was HOT at the market and hardly any breeze there today. We made our way a few hundred meters further on to the Black Head Beach which was totally crowded with Sunday beach bums, no parking, lots of cars etc. We decided to try Diamond Head Beach a few km away which was lovely but again way TOO HOT in the midday sun. We made an executive decision and went ‘home’ to take the plunge in Mescals saltwater pool instead. It turned out to be a super decision, and we floated in the warm water the whole afternoon, wet Tilley hat, sunscreen and sunglasses on. Mescal spoiled us with an afternoon snack of ice cold watermelon on the pool deck, and we blissfully accepted.

We went into Taree around 6 pm for a very authentic and good Italian dinner at the “Il Colosseo” and for a stroll afterwards along the Manning River in Taree’s park and shore walk. We saw more pelicans begging for food and fighting with the seagulls.

A great sunset was enjoyed on our way to “Old Bar” Beach where we got the last rays of sun and the purple haze over the beach onto our camera lenses.

Tomorrow we have to leave this lovely paradise and go back to Sydney, where we will have only one more full day before flying home on Wednesday to Vancouver into the winter cold. BRRRR!!!! Not such a great outlook!

Manning Valley around Taree

We got up to blazing sunshine and heat and a delicious breakfast made by Mescal and served on the shady back terrace, surrounded by sweeping lawns, bamboo groves, wisteria arbours and a lemon tree.

After making up our mind of where to drive to first we left Mescal with the housework and set out to explore the beautiful Manning Valley. First we went up north for about 20 km to the Crowdy Head Lighthouse from where we had a 360 degree view over the area. Miles of white sand beaches, mountains (The Three Brothers) in the background and forests, farms and little villages abound as far as you could see. A strong gale was blowing from the north east that made the heat bearable. We went down to the small harbour, watched huge pelicans do their thing, took tons of pictures and just let the landscape and atmosphere sink in. We went back to the little seaside town of Harrington to enjoy a picnic lunch at a lagoon under a shady hut watching pelicans, fishermen and boats as well as weekenders go by. 

Next stop was Manning Point, a small picturesque village with lots of water access, parks and a great fish and chips shack directly above the bay. On we went to Wallaby Beach and Saltwater, National Parks with splendid beaches and wildlife.

We needed an afternoon break and went to the Taree “house beach” in “Old Bar”, not far from our B&B. We plunked ourselves on the warm white sand and watched the surfers, swimmers and skimmers. 4 volunteer lifeguards were on duty for the small area between the yellow-red flags open to water activities. We stayed for about 2 hours, took a little nap and more pictures. 

On our way home we went into the only supermarket of Old Bar to pick up a barbequed chicken, some veggies and fruit for an al fresco dinner poolside at Mescal’s. It turned out to be delicious with some VB beer and wine afterwards. Mescal and Rod joined us for a drink and “de-briefing” of the day and some more tips for tomorrow’s outing.