Australia July 2008 - Day 18 - Tuesday, 29 July 2008

Today in a nutshell:
- AFTRS
- CAPA
- Australian Hotel
- Bar Hop

Well, it’s finally here – the last full day in Australia. We have mixed emotions. We love the idea of our perma-vaca travel schedule, but also miss the comforts and friends at home. We spend the morning collecting ourselves and our mega luggage stacks in order to be ready to depart tomorrow.


We first head over to AFTRS so Chad can return a badge from work and say goodbye to his work group one final time. Everyone is sad to see us go, but wishes us well. We grab a quick lunch in the Entertainment Quarter and head across town for another errand.

Next we are off to CAPA – Billy Blue to drop off fresh flowers for one of Chad’s study abroad program planners who underwent surgery while we were here. All the PU students chipped in to get her a recovery gift and Chad was designated official “purchaser and deliverer” of said gift because he was going to be here the longest. Turns out that the CAPA person was out this day, but we left the flowers with another co-worker and chatted with her a bit about dinner options and suggestions.

We head back over to Glebe and enjoy San Churro treats for an afternoon snack. This place is fabulous and hits the spot just right. We phone Welby and meet up with him across town before heading to dinner at the Australian Heritage Hotel.


We enjoy kangaroo and duck pizzas for dinner. Both are excellent and have a decidedly different taste. After we stuff our bellies we head off to hit the bar scene for our final night. Our first stop is Scruffy Murphy's where we enjoy a strange mix of music videos, amateur boxing, drink specials and dancing. Our friend Michael (originally from LA but transported to Sydney for his job) joins us and we opt for a new location as the bar becomes packed with Uni students who have come out to enjoy the cheap drinks.

Our next stop is 3 Wise Monkeys where the crowd is a little more mature and the room is a little less crowded. Another of Michael’s friends joins us here and we enjoy a live band and people watching.


We cross Darling Harbour and decide to end the night at the Pyrmont Bridge Hotel. I have included a photo of the nighttime view of this area. Rodney (the Melbournian we are staying with) also comes out and joins us for a couple rounds here. By this time of the night, it is passing 1 a.m. and we have to think about heading back to Rodney’s house for some shut eye.

We head back home (only a brief walk from the Pyrmont Bridge Hotel) and enjoy one final glass of wine with Rodney before heading to bed to rest our weary heads. I counted the number of steps we took on this trip (over 330,000) and converted that to feet (based on Chad steps which are slightly different than Crystal steps, but you get the idea) and came to the conclusion we traversed over 1 million feet during our 20 some odd days here.

Tomorrow we board a plane to come home – and mentally prepare for our 17 hours of air time. Thanks to those of you who have stayed with us until the end! We look forward to seeing you again in the flesh in the near future.

Australia July 2008 - Day 17 - Monday, 28 July 2008

Today in a nutshell:

- Monorail

- Paddington

- Oxford Street

- Dinner at Daphne's House

Okay, so we didn't get off to what I'd call an early start today, which should make coming back to the States on almost no sleep absolutely no problem. (Mind you, each day we get up a little later here makes us that much further off the U.S. timetable, but I guess we'll worry about that in 48 hours or so when we return.)

We opt to hop the Sydney Metro Monorail to make our way toward Paddington - one of Sydney's exclusive eastern urban hubs. We explore a few shops and various cafes along Oxford Street, notably the most famous and populated in this area. We don't make it far before we have to hang out and hide from the weather in Micky's Cafe for a bit due to dreadful rainstorms. We move away from Micky's and down Williams Street to attempt some additional exploration, but the rain sets us back a bit.

We opt to hop back on Oxford (mainly due to the plentiful awnings) and stop for a cider in the Imperial Hotel, which turns out to be a pretty good idea because it is warm, cozy and directly across the street from the bus we need to catch about an hour later.

After the rain stops a bit, we catch a bus and head out toward Daphne's house for (hold your boomerangs folks) kangaroo steaks. Daphne was Chad's boss when he was working at AFTRS and was kind enough to invite both of us over for a proper Aussie meal before we depart. Daphne lives in Leichhardt which is a nearby western suburb. She's just renovated her home and has opted for a uniquely modern style which is quite impressive. We enjoy a lovely meal with her family and friend, Sarah, who also shares travel stories with us about a recent European tour.

We head back home after dinner and prepare for tomorrow - our last full day in Australia. We hope to make the most of it.

Australia July 2008 - Day 16 - Sunday, 27 July 2008

Today in a nutshell:
- Fly back to Sydney
- Dim Sum
- Dinner with friends

I barely remember flying from Melbourne to Sydney today because I slept so hard on the flight. We arrive in Sydney at about 9:30 a.m. and head over to Rodney’s house to drop off our stuff and get ready to meet up with a large group of friends for dim sum. We enjoy dim sum (a Chinese cart buffet for those of you who are not familiar) at Marigold in Chinatown along with about 500 other eaters.


After we’ve sufficiently stuffed our little faces with various Chinese delicacies such as shrimp, scallops, chicken, duck and octopus (I drew the line at chicken’s feet), we head over to stroll through Paddy’s Market – an eclectic assortment of varied tourist junk, fruits, veggies and other random stuff that may or may not have “fallen off” some commercial trucks along the roads of Sydney.

We don’t end up making any purchases at the market, but we do grab some more piping hot emperor’s puffs from the takeout counter. These are well known throughout the city and a long line is typical. These little custard dreams don’t disappoint on today’s stop either and we head back to Rodney’s so I can toy around on the Web and Chad can take a nap.

We head over to Glebe for dinner with friends and to watch “Thank God You’re Here” and then watch the ESPYs. Australian television is interesting because it is so consistently driven by U.S. entertainment and activities. Our friend from Holland, Welby, is utterly impressed with Tivo (or the Australian brand of the same concept) because he’s never seen it before.

After all this activity, we have to head home and hit the hay. I will say that tonight was my first time getting to sit on the opposite side of what we know as the driver’s seat and drive home with Rodney on the left-hand side of the road (British style). More tomorrow friends.

Australia July 2008 - Day 15 -Saturday, 26 July 2008

Today in a nutshell:
- Royal Botanical Gardens
- Tourist Bus
- Queen Victoria Market
- Supper Inn
- Charlie's Bar
- Crown Casino



We headed back into the city today to explore the Royal Botanical Gardens. It's a little colder and grey today, so we make a couple of stops indoors for lunch and tea. While we are there, we have the chance to see several sculptures and the black swans I have included a couple photos here.

The rain picks up and we hop on the Melbourne City Tourist Shuttle again to make our way around the city the fast way. We hop off at the Queen Victoria Market and make it around for a few brief moments before closing time. We decide to hop on the Circle City Tram (a nostalgic tram that goes around the city) to check out the docklands and some other areas we'd missed so far.


We hop off again and head to the Supper Inn for dinner. The Supper Inn is a great Chinese restaurant tucked in the back corner of another Melbourne lane. We must have done something right by making this choice because the place was full within about 15 minutes of opening for the evening.


After dinner we head over to Hardware Lane for dessert and drinks. Charlie's Bar provides a great selection of both in a overly suitable atmosphere, and (hold your split ends ladies) also has the first-ever coin-operated flat iron I've ever seen in a public bathroom. Who says we're not making technological progress quickly enough these days?




We hop another tram and head over to explore the Crown Casino. We both decide it is sufficiently disorienting (as all casinos should be) and wildly interesting simultaneously. After watching a ceiling glass/music/light show, we head back home to get ready to leave at 6 a.m. for the airport. (Early plane flights, while cheap, really put a damper on my evenings.) More to come later!

Australia July 2008 - Day 14 - Friday, 25 July 2008

Today in a nutshell:

- Trams / Southgate

- Walking Tours

- Laneways and Arcades

We started off this morning with breakfast (Breky in Australian) at il Farnaio in St. Kilda. If you ever find yourself in Melbourne, I recommend this joint due to the friendly service and ample menu.

Next we headed by tram into the city to explore Southgate. Southgate is one of Melbourne’s main entertainment destinations and has many bars, restaurants and Australia’s largest casino, the Crown. I have included a couple of photos here so you can have an idea of what we’ve been seeing.

We took the Melbourne City Tourist Shuttle for a few stops and decided to walk a couple of Melbourne’s suggested walking tours. Our first was in East Melbourne – one of the most historic and affluent areas in town. The tour included 33 highlights and countless examples of Victorian era ironwork, columns and verandas. One of the houses we saw had just been sold in 2003 for a mere $7M. I did include one photo here of a converted church (Cairns Memorial Presbyterian) on Hotham Street that is now apartments after a 1980s fire. Again, this walk reminds us of just how absolutely artistic this entire town is and how much we love that.

We have to head back west to get to the main part of the city again, so we cut through the Fitzroy Gardens. We stop to photograph some beautiful flowers, and a lorikeet. Lorikeets are these absolutely stunning little parrots that can be found all over Australia. They seem to be happiest traveling in bunches and congregating in trees throughout the city. You have never heard birds truly sing until you’ve had 100 of these little buggers sitting outside your hostel window at dusk in one tree screaming their heads off talking about the day’s activities. It is so loud you literally can’t hear anything else for quite some distance. (Pretty to look at, not as pretty to hear in person.)

After this walk, we’re ready for some dinner and grab a bite in the theatre district at Pellegrini’s on Bourke Street per a local’s suggestion. The food here is outstanding and the waiters are authentic – only Italian. We share a great plate of gnocchi and a scrumptious raspberry pie with cream and ice cream per the waiter’s suggestion.

Properly refueled, we head out once again to explore the laneways (alleys), arcades (open air malls) and cosmopolitan vibe of Melbourne. There are two additional walking tour devoted entirely to these areas and they prove to be equally as entertaining. In general, everything in Melbourne is extremely clean and well tended. The laneways prove to be no different with their bustling cafes, small shops and neat pubs. We strolled along these and the arcades for quite some time and then had to take another break at a pub we’d discovered along the way. We stop to catch some local music from a small group of street (or should I say “lane”) musicians who were set up next to an outdoor café. (This is really a great city!)

After this, we decide to see a couple of art exhibits that have been set up in the lanes. The most interesting is a brick wall installation that literally makes the wall appear to be breathing, or pregnant, or suffering from some sort of gastrointestinal dysfunction. Call it what you want people – it is really quite outstanding to see in the flesh. We were fortunate enough to pick up a flyer in the pub or we never would have seen this thing, tucked back away off the alley 15 feet above our heads. As I’ve said before, art is absolutely everywhere here.

We finally make it back to the trams and head home. We’ve been out all day and have now officially logged over 230,000 steps on our trip. Our dogs are barking and we’re giving them a much deserved rest before we head out for our final day in Melbourne. Cheers

Australia July 2008 - Day 13 - Thursday, 24 July 2008

Editor's Note: Yep, I've done it again, these are a few days late and you'll have to jump back to Day 10 if you want to read in order. Sorry about that.

Today in a nutshell:
- Federation Square
- Carlton
- Fitzroy Gardens
- Windsor Hotel Afternoon Tea

I am sadly realizing now that the vacation is more complete than not and July 30 is just around the corner. Bummer. (For those of you B&T folks reading these posts, of course I've missed you all greatly and look forward to seeing your smiling faces again....just not so damn soon!)

Anyway, we certainly make the most of today by heading out after our free pancake breakfast and taking the tram into the city. The tram is a great way to get around because you can make it nearly anywhere and it isn't too expensive. As a matter of fact, due to some tourist misinformation, we end up riding for free and the driver tells us that most Melbournians do the same thing and just jump ship when the inspectors come around. (Mind you they have trams, buses, a subway and a free metro circulator in this city.....why the hell can't we get decent public transportation in Indy I ask you?)

Our first stop is in Federation Square and we do a recommended walking tour to catch the best of this area which includes several churches, public buildings and artistic touches. I wanted to include one unique photo here of some outstanding graffiti we saw on Hosier Lane. This is obviously an artists' city when even the graffiti is outstanding. Everyone had told us that Melbourne was essentially the cultural mecca of Australia and I'd have to say I agree with that assessment after today.

After our walking tour we head over to a metro area called Carlton, which is effectively the "Little Italy" of Melbourne, to check out possible lunch venues. We opt for lasagna at Tiamo, and desserts at Koko Black and neither disappoint.

After Carlton, we walk a little further over to Fitzroy and connect with one of Chad's Purdue study abroad program buddies, as well as two native Aussies and check out the Fitzroy Gardens. I have included a photo of the city from this vantage point for your enjoyment. After the gardens, we head over to the Melbourne Cricket Ground to take a quick peek at the stadium and related practice areas.

(As a side note, our Aussie companions are 2/3 of a set of triplets whose grandfather signed them up for membership to the MCG at birth 20-some years ago and they just got their memberships if that tells you anything about the importance of cricket in Australia.)

We make our way back over to the CBD to catch afternoon tea at the Hotel Windsor. This is an absolutely delightful way to spend your afternoon if you've carted yourself all over hell's half acre (or half kilometer in this case) like we had today. Here is a shot of our posse for today's adventures.

After tea we get a ride back to the hostel and catch our breathe for a bit. Another big day lies ahead.

Australia July 2008 - Day 12 - Wednesday, 23 July 2008

Today in a nutshell:
- Arrive in Melbourne
- Crash
- Tour St. Kilda

So, today started off in a very interesting fashion. We arrived at the airport to depart for our flight down to Melbourne, where is is decidedly colder than Cairns. (Think hats and gloves people.) When we get to the airport, we learn that we (or perhaps Virgin Blue) have somehow booked ourselves to Sydney instead of Melbourne, and are stuck going there. (uh oh)

We fly to Sydney and are fortunate enough to have someone help us book a flight to Melbourne and get straight off on the next flight and arrive by 11 a.m. (Her theory - get there now, worry about the hundreds of dollars in double booking tickets and computer error later.....right)

Anyway, we are finally here and it is such a relief. We have booked ourselves at a nice hostel in the St. Kilda suburb called The Ritz. (Yes, the irony of a hostel called the Ritz was not lost on us either.) It is clean, seemingly convenient and offers a free pancake breakfast, so we really can't complain. Because we had a hectic morning, we crash for a decent nap when we get here and awake about an hour later to explore the St. Kilda area.

St. Kilda is a suburb and near the beach in Melbourne. It turns out that it is full of fun restaurants, boutiques, pubs and bakeries. Now, I have come to the conclusion that in having reviewed my other posts, it seems as though all we do is eat and talk about baked goods. I don't want to disappoint here, so I will include a photo of the Acland Cake Shop where we enjoyed a delightful french vanilla treat and tea. It was a tough choice though because this area is loaded with gorgeous windows like this, laden with hundreds of mouthwatering treats.

We also found a great pub with free wifi (rare to come by in Australia really) and hung out here for about an hour to check e-mail and check in with our mainland peeps. While here, we meet some lovely Sydney folk, one of whom is in the television industry. Chad and he talk shop for a bit about the differences between television and film. We head out after the computer battery dies and hope to catch some zzzzz's so we can get up early tomorrow and hit the Melbourne CBD (central business district - Australia's fancy name for what most of us would know as "downtown"). Cheers!

Australia July 2008 - Day 11 - Tuesday, 22 July 2008

Today in a nutshell:
- Palm Cove (beach)
- Dinner at The Pier
- Casino
- Gilligans (bar scene)

Okay, so even though the sky was cloudy, we wanted to make sure we saw at least some beach time while in Cairns. We heard some of the nicest beachfront area was in Palm Cove, so we headed up to check it out via bus.

Turns out the rumors were right, and Palm Cove does have some great beaches. We spent a fair amount of time walking along the beach and enjoying the tide. We also walked out on the pier and watched a sea falcon do some "fishing" of his own for dinner. That was pretty interesting because neither of us had ever seen that before.

Palm Cove is full of swanky hotels and temporary housing along the beach and reminded us both a lot of "wealthy" Florida. It was a great place for outdoor fun and families, but definitely takes a second seat to the flashier scene of Cairns.

We headed back down to Cairns as nightfall set in to grab dinner and head out with friends. Chad and I were meeting up with his friend Welby from Holland, and Johannas, Kim and Jill from Sweden. This brings up a good point I've failed to mention until now - Australia is swarming with tourists from all over the world all the time. It's great because you are always meeting someone from somewhere else and it's a great way to connect and make new international friends. We all headed over to the Pier Bar & Grill for dinner along the waterfront. Because it is warm here (even in winter), everything has outdoor seating all the time, which is great fun.

After dinner and drinks, we head over to the Reef Hotel & Casino and do a quick run through. No one was willing to commit any serious money to the effort though, so we opted to head back to Gilligans for some drinks in their first floor bars. I call it a night a little earlier than Chad because of our early departure for the airport, but a good time was had by all in general. I have to get my beauty rest now....the airport calls at 5 a.m. tomorrow - yikes.

Australia July 2008 - Day 10 - Monday, 21 July 2008

Today in a nutshell:
- Kuranda Scenic Railway
- Kuranda Koala Gardens
- Skyrail

Okay, so those of you who have been following along closely may have noticed that I skipped two days, but that is for good reason. We basically just bummed around Cairns for those days (which isn't too hard to do because this is effectively one of the most well-oiled beach towns I've been to in recent years) and hung out in our hostel, Gilligans, with our Australian roommate Jeff. We handled exciting adventures like grocery shopping, scoping out laundry facilities, bus routes, etc. It was somewhat rainy on these two days and we needed a little recovery time from our rapid pace the last several days.

But, but Monday we were ready and able to get an early start and head over to the train station to head north on the Kuranda Scenic Railway. The railway was originally built in 1882 by hand and includes 15 tunnels and 93 curves. The rail begins in Cairns and terminates 75 km north in Kuranda - a true Australian rainforest village complete with the requisite souvenir shops, restaurants, etc.

Fortunately, they also have a personal Aussie "petting zoo" of sorts called the Koala Gardens which was high on my list because it served two purposes: 1) I was able to hold a koala (finally) and 2) I had the luxury of seeing kangaroos in real life. Oh, they also had loads of crocs to see up close and in person so we did that as well. Here are a couple of photos related to the experience here.

Once you are up in Kuranda by train, you have the option of going back down by skyrail over the rainforest, so we chose to do that. I have included a picture from the canopy, as well as a photo of the Barron Falls which were visible both from the train and the skyrail.

Australia July 2008 - Day 7 - Friday, 18 July 2008

Today in a nutshell:
- Great Barrier Reef Tour
- Whales
- Didgeridoo Hip Hop
- Pyros

Today we are heading out to the Great Barrier Reef via Down Under Dive Cruises for stops at two outer reef sites, as well as a submersible glass boat tour. Chad and I snorkel at both sites and take in the corral wonders. The waves are somewhat aggressive out in the Pacific and that takes me a little bit of courage to shove my head under the water and snorkel without a slight bit of panic, but I get over that entirely by the second site and have no problems. Chad has no problems at either site and serves as resident photographer for all our underwater adventures. (We picked up one of those disposable underwater cameras and consequently I don’t have any of those photos to add here b/c it is on eek, gasp – real film.)

The Great Barrier Reef is (of course) beautiful and gigantic. We spent several hours at both sites, but realize that we saw just the slightest tip of two sections. The water is so clear you can see the formations from above in the boat. We were lucky to see a sea turtle at the second site as well as several schools of fish. I did include a photo here from the glass boat tour so you could see just a little of what we were seeing underwater. (pic to come)

I am also very happy to report that I happened to be the first visual spotter on the boat of whales when we were coming back to shore. The captain of the boat was kind enough to turn us around and let us over to go get a closer look. These Minke Whales did a few tail whips for us, but didn’t come fully out of the water like the humpback whales do. I added a picture here for your viewing pleasure.

After the whale sighting, I head back in the boat to check the Blackberry for pressing US news and gossip. Meanwhile, one of the crew performs ad lib singing and guitar strumming for us.

We catch quick showers back at the hostel and grab dinner. After that, we hit the Cairns Lagoon and open-air park for entertainment.

I’ll have to admit I saw my first didgeridoo hip hop / world beat performer that night. It has to be one of the coolest sounding things I’ve ever heard. Second, Cairns has these amazing flame throwers once a month called the Cairns Circus. They hit the beachfront and do all these crazy tricks with fire and set to music and dance. I’ve added the “pyro hula hooper” here for your review.

We’ve decided we are taking the next couple of days easy to regroup and recover. We plan to bum around Cairns, meet locals, grab cheap meals and gear up for our next outings – the Kukaru Railway Express and Skyrail, and the beaches of Palm Cove. Cheers!

Australia July 2008 - Day 6 - Thursday, 17 July 2008

Editor's Note: These posts are several days late, so start on Day 4 if you want to keep up in order!

Today in a nutshell:
- Daintree Forest
- Cape Tribulation

I'm recovering from my plane trip to Cairns - I've developed a cold while I'm here and the descent into Cairns was quite painful (eardrums bursting painful). Because we'd already booked our all-day tour to the Daintree Rainforest, I press on and take a pillow along for the ride to sneeze, blow my nose and sleep along the way. We pass several fields of sugar cane and I included a photo so you can see what that looks like in the native form. They produce thousands of pounds of pure sugar from these crops annually.

The World Heritage Daintree Forest is a pocket of ancient tropical rainforest located on the driest continent on earth. Our guide, Sven, is one of many at BTS Tours. We travel via an all-terrain vehicle for this trip which includes a wildlife river cruise along the Daintree River where we spot a few crocs. I have included a photo here for you.

Our day also included the Alexandra Lookout, a walk in the rainforest, lunch and a walk along the beaches of Cape Tribulation which looks out on the Coral Sea.

Tomorrow is our trip to the Great Barrier Reef and I am hopeful that my ears and head will cooperate! Cheers!

Australia July 2008 - Day 5 - Wednesday, 16 July 2008

Today in a nutshell:
- Waterloo
- AFTRS
- Surry Hill
- Off to Cairns (airport bliss)

We spend the morning taking care of our last packing efforts. We enjoy breakfast at home and then head out to Waterloo to visit Chad’s former internship location – AFTRS – the Australian Film Television and Radio School. I get to meet some of Chad’s co-workers and see part of the FOX studios grounds in the Entertainment Quarter. We enjoy the EQ Village Market and grab a great Ethiopian lunch with Fiona (a co-worker). After lunch we enjoy a made-to-order Nutella and banana crepe with fresh cream. (yum)

We visit Chad’s apartment location (the Meriton) and the hostess let’s us check out a room for the sake of posterity. Chad walks me though his old haunts and takes me on his daily work route through Centennial Park – one of the most serene places in Sydney I’ve seen so far. (Think of something similar to Central Park in NYC.)

We head back home via bus and prepare to depart for Cairns. We make it through check in and security in less than 10 minutes. Did you hear that my American counterparts? LESS THAN 10 MINUTES! There was no hassle, no fuss, no shoe removal, no third-degree questioning, no triple bag review – nada. I have decided that Australia is a MUCH BETTER place to fly than our securi-hyped misguided TSA-ridden country. (so there, take that George!)

p.s. Wanna hear a joke I heard from an “unidentified” airline carrier employee? What does TSA stand for? Thousands Standing Around. (ha ha)

Australia July 2008 - Day 4 - Tuesday, 15 July 2008

Today in a nutshell:
- Sydney Fish Market
- Wentworth Park
- Victoria Park
- 3 Dots
- Casino
- Fireworks (World Youth Day)

We spent this morning working on getting ready for our trip to Cairns ("Cans") and doing some laundry and other equally exciting housework. We decided to hit the Sydney Fish Market for lunch and opted for fish and chips. I decide to get up close and personal with some of the octopus selection. Apparently Sydney’s market is second in size only to Japan’s market and is the largest in the southern hemisphere. All the action happens in the wee hours of the morn when local shops, chefs and other quality-hungry bidders squabble over the best catch.

After the market we head off on foot and see Wentworth Park and Victoria Park. Victoria Park has a beautiful pond and tons of “Birds of Paradise” to view. We snapped a photo of just some of this gorgeous plant which can be found in almost all the professional landscaping of Sydney.

We decide to hit a neighborhood establishment for dinner and try 3 Dots for pizza. We are pleased with our selection and head off to the Star Casino – Sydney’s only casino to check out nighttime views of the city. Much to our surprise, there is a great fireworks display to celebrate World Youth Day and the Pope’s visit which we enjoy before heading home. Tomorrow we have to finish up last-minute packing and a quick tour of some of Sydney’s suburbs before departing for Cairns. Cheers.

Australia July 2008 - Day 3 -Monday, 14 July 2008

Today in a nutshell:
- Pancakes
- Hyde Park
- Botanical Gardens
- Flying Foxes (Bats)
- Woolloomooloo
- Kings Cross (Neon-paradise)


I am finally starting to feel a bit more connected to Sydney. We've now made our way around on foot, bus and train at an average of about 20,000+ steps per day. To put that into perspective, I believe that is the equivalent of walking about 6 - 9 miles every 24 hours. Tomorrow, we've decided, will be a lighter day b/c our feet won't tolerate this frequency. Nonetheless, we are off this morning to enjoy one of Sydney's more noteworthy tourist eateries (and the locals don't mind it either), Pancakes on the Rocks. We've included a photo of our morning delights. Chad and I agree that the vanilla pancakes with the chocolate ice cream is the best combo.

In order to walk off some of our Pancake Pleasure, we take a harbor tour by foot along the boardwalk all the way back to Darling (more or less). We stop back at Rod's house in order for me to catch up on journaling for this blog and gather our strength before heading out for an afternoon of sightseeing.


We first make our way to Hyde Park, one of the best places I've been so far in Sydney. We sit on a bench and watch the crowds. I should have mentioned before now, but it happens to be "World Youth Day 2008" right now in Sydney. Gaggles of teens have converged here to see the Pope. They are everywhere with their parochial chaperones in full clergy-wear. This is quite amusing as you find yourself with nuns and priests in the strangest places. We enjoy Tim Tams (dark chocolate variety) which are also a local favorite. Chad has put away more than a hundred of these chocolate covered wafer "biscuits" during his short stay here. Addiction to cookies -- Chad -- never.


Next we are off to the Botanical Gardens so that I can see these giant bats I keep hearing about in person. They actually refer to this species as the "Flying Fox" because they really do look like miniature foxes with wings. I have to tell you that these are the biggest damn bats I have ever seen. They must have something close to a 3 - 4' wing span and hang about 12" down from their trees. They actually are starting to harm the trees in the Gardens so they are trying to figure out ways to control their populations. We had the luxury of seeing this massive group both during the daylight and then again at sunset when they took off for evening explorations. A pretty neat experience actually. (In case you can't make them out in this photo - they are the 25 black hanging masses from this tree.)

After the BG, we head over to Woolloomooloo for no other reason than to actually say we've been in a place called Woolloomooloo. Turns out that Woolloomooloo is Australian for "the projects." It's a little "dodgy" (aka sketchy) in this part of town and we decide right then and there that we will not, under any circumstances, be walking back through Wooloomooloo during the wee hours of the night. Because it is winter in Australia right now, it gets dark at about 5:30 p.m. and we head off to King's Cross to take a quick run through this much-discussed part of town.


King's Cross is full of a select number of things: (1) neon signs of all shapes, sizes and orientations, (2) prostitutes of all shapes, sizes and orientations, and (3) hostels of all shapes, sizes, and questionable building standards. if you only get one chance to take in the sins of the city, do it here. In the middle of all this neon village of eye candy lies one great little bakery serving up the most unusual meringue treats. We grab a duck and head back home to rest our tired feet and grab a dinner close to home at the Pyrmont Hotel (in photograph from Day 2). We hit the grocery late this evening to grab some breakfast items and snacks for the next couple days. More tomorrow!

Australia July 2008 - Day 2 - Sunday, 13 July 2008

Today in a nutshell:
- Manly Beach / Manly Cove
- Chinatown
- Rodney's House - Pyrmont / Darling Harbour


There's nothing like 10 hours of sleep to help you feel like yourself again. We hit Sydney today a little later than usual, but make up for it by scurrying off to Manly Cove for beach-side viewing and a wander through this seaside town. On our way, we had the benefit of seeing hundreds of sailboats in Sydney's harbor. I added a pic here for your enjoyment.

Manly is one of the most visited beaches each summer (our winter) in Australia - particularly the Sydney area. The local art museum has some great photographs depicting Manly's history and significance to the Sydney community. We enjoy breakfast at the Blue Cafe along the waterfront, but only after being turned away from another (more favorite) local option that had stop serving food for the morning. The Blue Cafe was fine, but overpriced. We recommend asking a local if you can and using their recommendations. We made up for lunch by consoling ourselves with a couple of scoops of "Gelatissimo" gelato - a chain brand here in Australia that is FABULOUS.

We take a spin through the art museum and enjoy some of the works outside along the wall - a local artist has made a canvas out of common household items such as forks, nails, keys, etc. We ferry it back to Sydney Harbor and head home momentarily before meeting Welby (Chad's new friend from Holland) in Chinatown for dinner. The highlight comes after dinner though when we enjoy pipping hot emperor's puffs filled with sweet custard - a Chinatown must-have. We visit Circle Quay (pronounced Circle Key) in search of a great cafe experience, but sadly learn our sought-after option is closed early on Sundays. We bus it back to Michael's to transfer our baggage to Rodney's house which is located in the Pyrmont neighborhood - right next to Darling Harbour.


Rodney is another friend and has a spare room he's allowed us to use while we're here. He is from Melbourne ("mel-bun" if your local) and has recently transferred to Sydney for his job, which, ironically, is similar to what Chad did for Purdue. My pillow is calling once again, so more details tomorrow. We head off to Cairns ("cans" if you're local) on Wednesday to see the Great Barrier Reef and more.