Friday, June 1 — Travel Day from Adelaide to Sydney
After a quiet night at our hotel, Breakfree Directors Studios, Trevor and I drove, in the rain, to the Adelaide Airport. While I knew we were going in the right direction, according to Trevor's iPhone Map directions, I said to him, "Isn't it strange that we haven't seen any signs for the airport?" He looked at me like I was crazy and said, "there have been signs." I don't know why I hadn't seen them. Must have been the driving on the wrong side of the road phenomenon.
Checking in for our flight was not fun. Our baggage was over the weight limit. Trevor started throwing things away from what was to be his carry-on, but which Jet Star would not allow him to carry on in any case. I really hate to see perfectly good necessities being thrown away because of weight limitations. I guess this has really become a part of flying and is something which we all should pay more attention to as we travel. That is one reason why I like to drive when I can—I CAN take anything I want with me!
We arrived in Sydney without any fanfare, took a taxi to Trevor's flat, and basically crashed. We realized that packing to come back to the United States was going to be a nightmare.
We went out in the evening to replenish money stores and had dinner at a Mexican restaurant near the University of Sydney, which, incidentally, is also where Trevor's flat was located. He had nachos, and I had chicken quesadillas which were pretty good. Back at the flat, we crashed again, for Trevor had to get up at the crack of dawn to meet his friend Jessica at the airport Saturday morning, June 2.
After a quiet night at our hotel, Breakfree Directors Studios, Trevor and I drove, in the rain, to the Adelaide Airport. While I knew we were going in the right direction, according to Trevor's iPhone Map directions, I said to him, "Isn't it strange that we haven't seen any signs for the airport?" He looked at me like I was crazy and said, "there have been signs." I don't know why I hadn't seen them. Must have been the driving on the wrong side of the road phenomenon.
Checking in for our flight was not fun. Our baggage was over the weight limit. Trevor started throwing things away from what was to be his carry-on, but which Jet Star would not allow him to carry on in any case. I really hate to see perfectly good necessities being thrown away because of weight limitations. I guess this has really become a part of flying and is something which we all should pay more attention to as we travel. That is one reason why I like to drive when I can—I CAN take anything I want with me!
We arrived in Sydney without any fanfare, took a taxi to Trevor's flat, and basically crashed. We realized that packing to come back to the United States was going to be a nightmare.
We went out in the evening to replenish money stores and had dinner at a Mexican restaurant near the University of Sydney, which, incidentally, is also where Trevor's flat was located. He had nachos, and I had chicken quesadillas which were pretty good. Back at the flat, we crashed again, for Trevor had to get up at the crack of dawn to meet his friend Jessica at the airport Saturday morning, June 2.
Saturday,
June 2
Lucky me, I got to sleep in, except that I woke up briefly, checked my Facebook and saw that Trevor had checked in at the airport with Jessica, hit "Like" and went back to sleep. Of course when they reached the flat, because I hit "Like," that meant that I was "UP"! Not! Jessica and Trevor went back out while I tried to get a bit more rest. Eventually, I got up and got dressed and waited for them to return to the flat. Trevor texted that they were in the city and would be back shortly. I had put in a request for coffee, so texted back that I was awaiting my cup of coffee. I was rewarded with a mocha!
Refreshed, we three headed back into Sydney, to Circular Quay, to introduce Jessica to the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. We went into the Rocks area, which is where the original Sydney settlers settled. How is that for alliteration? I went back to the Flame Opals shop my neighbor had recommended to me since it was the only place that had the Pandora style beads for my bracelet upon which I put charms of places I have visited. The store had just changed hands over the weekend, the saleswoman told us, and the bead I picked out was 50% off! And I had thought I wouldn't be able to afford one. While I wanted to put it on my bracelet right away, no such luck. In order to get it duty free, the bead had to be put in a sealed bag that could only be opened by a person in a red vest after I went through Customs on Wednesday, June 6!
Lucky me, I got to sleep in, except that I woke up briefly, checked my Facebook and saw that Trevor had checked in at the airport with Jessica, hit "Like" and went back to sleep. Of course when they reached the flat, because I hit "Like," that meant that I was "UP"! Not! Jessica and Trevor went back out while I tried to get a bit more rest. Eventually, I got up and got dressed and waited for them to return to the flat. Trevor texted that they were in the city and would be back shortly. I had put in a request for coffee, so texted back that I was awaiting my cup of coffee. I was rewarded with a mocha!
Refreshed, we three headed back into Sydney, to Circular Quay, to introduce Jessica to the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. We went into the Rocks area, which is where the original Sydney settlers settled. How is that for alliteration? I went back to the Flame Opals shop my neighbor had recommended to me since it was the only place that had the Pandora style beads for my bracelet upon which I put charms of places I have visited. The store had just changed hands over the weekend, the saleswoman told us, and the bead I picked out was 50% off! And I had thought I wouldn't be able to afford one. While I wanted to put it on my bracelet right away, no such luck. In order to get it duty free, the bead had to be put in a sealed bag that could only be opened by a person in a red vest after I went through Customs on Wednesday, June 6!
The weather turned rainy and windy, and Trevor and I had made a reservation with and aboriginal harbor tour with Tribal Warrior, Australia's only indigenous maritime training company and which operates Sydney's only authentic Aboriginal Cultural Cruise in Sydney Harbour. Our tour was confirmed before Trevor and I left on our road trip. So in the pouring down rain, we wait at the specified boarding point…and we wait…and we wait. Why are we waiting in the pouring down rain? Because the tour states they go in all weather! About 10 minutes after what was supposed to be our departure time, Trevor sends them an email asking what the deal is. (We don’t get a response to the email for 2 days!)
Deciding
that we must now create a backup plan, we made our way to Paddy's Market in
another part of Sydney via the train. The market is like a swap meet, and we
found many treasures to bring home. We also ate at Nando's, a restaurant
that features a Portuguese chicken and hot sauce. This market is 4
stories with what seemed to be a ritzy restaurant next to Nando’s—I say that
because there was a wedding reception going on there.
We were trying to keep Jessica going so that she would be ready to go to sleep when it was time to go to sleep in Sydney, not San Diego. On the way home, we stopped in at a pub, the Ambercrombie, to try a delicious dessert, a Deep Fried Golden Gaytime—graham cracker crumbs-coated choc-dipped caramel ice cream.
We were trying to keep Jessica going so that she would be ready to go to sleep when it was time to go to sleep in Sydney, not San Diego. On the way home, we stopped in at a pub, the Ambercrombie, to try a delicious dessert, a Deep Fried Golden Gaytime—graham cracker crumbs-coated choc-dipped caramel ice cream.
Back at
the flat, we broke open one of our bottles of sparkling wine from our winery
tours, and yes, found our ways to bed.
Our eyes were on the weather reports since we hoped to go to the Blue Mountains on Monday, June 4.
Our eyes were on the weather reports since we hoped to go to the Blue Mountains on Monday, June 4.
Sunday,
June 3 — Bondi Beach and a Tattoo!
When you under go radiation treatment, one of the fringe benefits is that you get tattooed. It's only black dots to help line up the areas to be radiated. I have 4 of those dots. One of them is, essentially, right in my cleavage. It looks kind of like a freckle, only freckles aren't blue-black. When I was getting ready for radiation treatment, my neighbor, who is also a breast cancer survivor, told me that some women embrace their "tattooes," meaning that the dots blossom into something more substantial. I have been thinking about this for 4 and a bit years, that if I did want a more substantial tattoo, what might I want it to be? I thought about a rose, a hummingbird, a fleur-de-lis, but it wasn't until Trevor got himself a tattoo of the Southern Cross constellation on his hip that I thought, hmmm, that might work. So one night while we were on our road trip, I said to Trev, "I am thinking about getting a tattoo." He was a bit shocked at first, then was very encouraging after I told him why I had been thinking about it. While we were trying to plan our days ahead once Jessica arrived, Trev made an appointment for me at Bondi Ink at Bondi Beach for a consultation, which turned into a tattoo. Jessica also has a tattoo, and both she and Trevor held my hand throughout the adventure. It helped that my tattoo artist, Nick, was super sweet and supportive. I just had to give him a hug when he finished. Before tattoo time, though, Trev walked me through the rules, such as I had to be sure my blood sugar was up so that didn't mean that I could only have coffee for breakfast. There was a little churro and chocolate cafe, Chocolateria San Churro, a few doors down from the tattoo parlor, so it was dark hot chocolate and a double chocolate muffin for me.
When you under go radiation treatment, one of the fringe benefits is that you get tattooed. It's only black dots to help line up the areas to be radiated. I have 4 of those dots. One of them is, essentially, right in my cleavage. It looks kind of like a freckle, only freckles aren't blue-black. When I was getting ready for radiation treatment, my neighbor, who is also a breast cancer survivor, told me that some women embrace their "tattooes," meaning that the dots blossom into something more substantial. I have been thinking about this for 4 and a bit years, that if I did want a more substantial tattoo, what might I want it to be? I thought about a rose, a hummingbird, a fleur-de-lis, but it wasn't until Trevor got himself a tattoo of the Southern Cross constellation on his hip that I thought, hmmm, that might work. So one night while we were on our road trip, I said to Trev, "I am thinking about getting a tattoo." He was a bit shocked at first, then was very encouraging after I told him why I had been thinking about it. While we were trying to plan our days ahead once Jessica arrived, Trev made an appointment for me at Bondi Ink at Bondi Beach for a consultation, which turned into a tattoo. Jessica also has a tattoo, and both she and Trevor held my hand throughout the adventure. It helped that my tattoo artist, Nick, was super sweet and supportive. I just had to give him a hug when he finished. Before tattoo time, though, Trev walked me through the rules, such as I had to be sure my blood sugar was up so that didn't mean that I could only have coffee for breakfast. There was a little churro and chocolate cafe, Chocolateria San Churro, a few doors down from the tattoo parlor, so it was dark hot chocolate and a double chocolate muffin for me.
After
the tattoo, we viewed Bondi Beach in the rain, then stopped at one of Trevor’s
favorite restaurants, the Grill, for authentic Aussie burgers and beer.
We had
thought about going to see the Sydney Harbor light show called Vivid the previous
evening but decided not to especially since Jessica was fading fast. So after our “Lundin” (Trevor’s portemanteau
word of lunch and dinner), we headed back to Sydney proper, where we walked
through city streets to introduce Jessica to the alley of bird cages, Forgotten
Songs. We decided to wait for 6 pm
show time at The Fortune of War pub in the Rocks, advertised as Sydney’s oldest
pub. When 6 pm rolled around, it
seemed like a mass exodus of the pub’s clientele, including ourselves.
What
had started out as another day of pouring down rain, turned into a beautiful
and comfortable evening for a light show.
Here are some pictures and a video of Vivid.
Monday,
June 4
All
throughout Sunday, we had been keeping tabs on the weather forecast and keeping
in contact with Trevor’s friend Christine who had volunteered to drive us to
the Blue Mountains. While the
weather was supposed to clear up in the Blue Mountains on Monday, Christine
fell ill. If we wanted to go, we
would now have to take the train there and back again. After some reflection, we decided not
to make the trip, not only because of the travel time but that it would be
muddy and not really good for hiking.
So Plan
Tuesday: What we were going to do
on Tuesday, we did on Monday.
First was a trip to Manly Beach via the ferry. Manly Beach is, well, a beach area and surfing hot spot,
kind of reminiscent of Ocean Beach in San Diego. We found a busy café for breakfast, the Blue Water Café:
Trevor gets Jessica to try some vegemite:
I sent Trevor and Jessica off to walk around the beach, and I wandered a bit in the pedestrian only area people, dog, and sea gull watching.
We stopped for ice cream before heading back to the ferry area. On the way to the ferry, we saw some pretty interesting street signs:
Back at
Sydney Harbor, we turned to the Royal Botanical Gardens. There are perfect views of the opera
house and harbor bridge from a spot named Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair.
At a
gift shop in the park, I bought some packets of Kangaroo Paw seeds. It will be interesting to see if I can
get them growing! I also bought a
children’s book written and illustrated by Australian Norman Lindsey. Lindsey’s house, in the foothills of
the Blue Mountains, has been turned into a museum, so since I didn’t get to see
it, buying the book was a bit symbolic.
Lindsey was an interesting person, and I had seen a film, Sirens, starring Hugh Grant and Sam
Neill, in which Lindsey is an important character.
Our
stroll in the park was somewhat whimsical, see pictures:
Trevor
also led us through the part of the gardens where there are bats hanging in the
trees, and as we walked through, another tourist gave a shout and scared us all
to death when the bats took off!
Outside
the garden, we walked by the Sydney Hospital. Out front
is a statue of a boar. I said,
“Hey, there is that exact same statue in Florence, Italy!” Turns out that it is a replica of the
Florence boar and symbolizes a friendship between Florence and Sydney while
also honoring an Italian-born doctor who practiced at Sydney Hospital.
Jessica and I waited and waited for Trevor while he ran an errand, and when we found out it was going to be a bit longer than he thought, Jessica and I went in search of coffee! The Australian White Ibis bird show:
Jessica and I waited and waited for Trevor while he ran an errand, and when we found out it was going to be a bit longer than he thought, Jessica and I went in search of coffee! The Australian White Ibis bird show:
Once
Trevor joined us again, and after walking what seemed to be aimless kilometers,
Trevor took us to his favorite Thai restaurant, In the Mood for Thai.
Back at
the flat, we were rewarded with a viewing of a partial eclipse of the
moon.
Organizing packing began with a bottle of Yering Station Chardonnay and continued through a White Barossa Riesling/Semillon.
Not to worry, we still made it home with 5 bottles of wine, leaving one for Trevor’s flatmates to enjoy.
Organizing packing began with a bottle of Yering Station Chardonnay and continued through a White Barossa Riesling/Semillon.
Not to worry, we still made it home with 5 bottles of wine, leaving one for Trevor’s flatmates to enjoy.
Tuesday,
June 5
By
Tuesday morning, I was beat. My
feet would swear that we walked every inch of Sydney on Monday, and they let me
know about it all night! I told
Trevor that he and Jessica should go off and do what they wanted to do. He said, “But it’s your last day!” I told him I’d see how I felt after I
took a shower.
View from Trevor's room:
View from Trevor's room:
So
eventually, I made my way into the city to Circular Quay via the Rocks, phoned
Trevor and said I’d wait for them at a café where I was having coffee. After Jessica and I had coffee, and
Trevor had hot chocolate, they ran some more errands, and I headed back to the
flat.
It was a beautiful day with very strong winds. When Trevor and Jessica came in later after having spent time with Trevor’s friends at a farewell gig at Pancakes on the Rocks, they said you just wouldn’t believe how many broken umbrellas they saw being thrown away. While at the airport on Wednesday, I saw a headline that said something about there having been a tornado in Sydney!
It was a beautiful day with very strong winds. When Trevor and Jessica came in later after having spent time with Trevor’s friends at a farewell gig at Pancakes on the Rocks, they said you just wouldn’t believe how many broken umbrellas they saw being thrown away. While at the airport on Wednesday, I saw a headline that said something about there having been a tornado in Sydney!
Final
packing and goodbyes, we tried to get some sleep before our taxi was to arrive
at 4:30 am for the long—for me—travel day ahead.
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