Friday July 31, 2009

July31, 2009

Last evening for dinner to celebrate our anniversary we went down to Darling Harbour. It was a nice walk from our hotel. Both of us were a little daring with our choices but we were pleased. Jack ate Kangaroo and Donna had Morton Bay Bugs. We took a leisurely stroll back via a different route but are amazed at how easy it is to navigate Sydney.
This morning at breakfast we met Simon a member of the Federal Police Force. He was here for a disability conference. Donna was quite intrigued to learn about the disability acts here in Aus and he was able to give us lots of info as he is confined to a wheelchair. He also shared with us that recently they increased the retirement age to 70...I guess we don't want to live here.
When breakfast was finished we boarded the Bondi Beach explorer bus. Like yesterday it was a narrated tour through the beach areas of Sydney. We stopped at a convent for a breathtaking view of Sydney's skyline. We got off at Bondi Beach and walked the cliff walk from Bondi, past two other beaches. It was a very hilly yet scenic walk. We had the opportunity to watch surfers. On the board for the water temperature they wrote Brrrrr (70). At Coogee Beach we ate lunch at the Beach, having both Sushi and FishNChips. We headed back to our hotel when the tour was over and took a nap.
After nap time we got up for some night time exploring. Having wanting to see the harbour at night we boarded a ferry out of Sydney to Manly Bay. We did not get off but will go back to the Bay tomorrow during the day. We then boarded a bus for King's Cross (referred by the locals as a red light district) which has some active night life, similar to Bourbon St in New Orleans. At the Lolly Shop the owner recommended eating at Swan's Club. the hangout for their Australian Football League. Food, atmosphere, price and drinks were great.
Right now we are at an internet cafe in Kings Cross and decided to drop a note before we did any more exploring. Won't be able to download pictures now but will share more tomorrow.

Happy Anniversary Day

AM Update ... Jack figured it was more than 45 hours till we finally got into bed. He fell asleep before 7. Donna wasn't too far behind and actually fell asleep sitting up. Jack woke up during the night and needed to read for awhile before he fell back to sleep. We are up and about ready to go to breakfast and start another day of exploring.
Gary we have checked many toilets to see the direction theyu flow. They are all pressurized and just flow downward, although I think I saw a small trickle going counterclockwise. You turn the faucets to the right for hot and left for cold. That provided a few surprises when adjusting the water for the shower.
Thursday July 30th,2009 Our 5th Wedding Anniversary
We got up around 6:30 and began another day of our holiday(the Australian word for vacation). The hotel package we booked included a dily buffet breakfast. It was delicious. Dick yes they had skim milk and a cereal with fiber. Juliana I tried the vegemite and I promise all of you I will not be bringing any home. My tastebuds weren't impressed. When we finished breakfast we boarded the Sydney Explorer bus. It is a narrated bus tour of the city in which you can get on and off at various stops. We got to see and learn so much of the city. The 2 areas we stopped at today were the Sydney Opera House and Chinatown.
We took a tour of the Opera House, which took us into the concert halls and the opera hall. The history iof the house is really impressive from the contest to design to the finiashed project. We had dessert and beverages at one of the cafes. I couldn't get over how many steps there were just to get into the Opera House. All the pictures you see of it are white, but it really is a cream color. The reason behind it is so that when it is sunny out (which we have had a lot of) it was not to be blinding especially since it sits right on the Harbour.
At Chinatown we went to Paddy's market. Melissa and Jen you would have been in your glory. It is the largest public market of goods (very little food) that I have ever seen. Lots of purses, shoes, sunglasses...better than New York City. We also got to ride on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It is quite expansive. You can walk it or even walk up and across it. We saw some people walking up the bridge but NOT US. I am not even sure I will walk across it.
Well we are on our way out tonight to celebrate our anniversary. By the way ...Happy 3rd Birthday George. Hey Beckie how do you convert a size 6 1/2 ring to Australian sizes. And Lisa and Garrett, good luck on your closing and moving.

July 29th 2009
Believe it or not we are sort of wishing it to be bedtime. We have been going strong since we got here but are about ready to collapse. It isonly 5:30 PM but we have been advised we need to try to keep awake until around 9. I don't think that will happen' After we had a bite to eat at the Internet Cafe across form our hotel this morning we went sight seeing. We did it all by walking. We left our hotel and the first landmark we saw was the Sydney Tower. This is right next to our hotel. We then proceeded down the street and walked through Hyde Park. It was amazing how many people buy their lunch and picnic in the park.
Across the street from that was the most amazing church I have ever seen ... St. Mary's Cathedral. It is the Mother Church of the Catholic Community in Australia. There were at least 6 altars in this church. The architecture and size of it are quite impressive. It would take a bride 10 minutes to get down the aisle. The organ pipes were "Huge." Inside the church is a memorial trribute to the soldiers who have died in war. To get to the choir loft, you better not be afraid of heights. It sure would be awesome to have the Commonfolk folk group to sing there. We do plan on going to mass there on Sunday. It also has a Cathedral School as well as a Crypt.
From there we walked down towards Mrs. Macquerie's Chair and Macquerie's Point.As you walk there you see boats, yachts, freighters. John O. you would have a lot of freighters to chase here. From these locations you have one of the most scenic views of Sydney Harbour. You can see both the Circualr Quay and Sydney Opera House. We saw both but will actually visit them later this week. History has it that the chair was made for Mrs. Macquerie by her husband as she used to love to watch the harbour. The chair is actually made from sandstone with slabs of sandstone for sitting and viewing pleasure. When Jen went to Australia, I remember her talkingabout this and seeing a picture of her and her whole group there.
Next we proceeded to the Royal Botanical Gardens. This garden borders the harbour. The flowers were too numerous to count yet well marked. We just walked part way into it as you probably need hours to explore, but will probably revisit before we leave. Kathy Schuler would be in her glory walking through the gardens and along the harbor.
We sure did get a lot of walking in. Besides having to watch cars driving on what is to us the wrong side of the road, we had to watch out for joggers. We started the walk around noon. We think that many people jog during their lunch hour. There were so many joggers it looked like a marathon/race was occuring.
On our way back to the hotel, we stopped again in Hyde Park and listened to a guitarist performing. We then explored the Shopping Galleria food court to see what we wanted for dinner. Upon entering there you go to the lower level and the largest food court imaginable. The most amazing thing was walking in the area on one side of the street, walking around, checking different levels and when you exited you were 1- 2 blocks down from where you entered and across the street. No idea how that works, but it was a bit disorienting at first,
Once back at the hotel we got our room and took a well deserved & needed shower and unpacked. We went to dinner and then headed back for the night.

We've Arrived

We have arrived. Right now it is 11:00 am, Wednesday, in Sydney (for most of you it is 9 pm Tuesday). The plane ride was definitely long....but they fed us well. The plane we rode on was the biggest I have ever seen.Besides food we got pillows, blankets, a pair of comfy socks, headphones, eye masks, toothbrush, snack packs and whatever you needed All foods and beverages (including wine) were complimentary (and you didn't have to be in first class). When was the last time you got that on a plane trip? The meals were hot not a boxed sandwich. We had salmon for dinner (or should I say early morning brunch as they fed us at 3:30 AM California time. Donna did not have a working TV/movie screen but kept busy reading, doing sudoku and logic problems dozing, listening to her MP3 player. We were grateful that it wasn't Jack's as he is more of the TV watcher.
Basically the trip had no glitches and we arrived safely. We are just getting a bite to eat at the cafe and then are going to do some sightseeing/exploration. Just wanted to let you know we were safe and sound.
The view in the city is awesome. We spotted the Circular Quay Bridge and the Opera house. We haven't gotten our room yet but boy is the lobby ever impressive. We got to go up to the spa to freshen up.We will write more later. We have to keep busy to avoid jet lag.
Donna and Jack

Pre trip check-up

We have been busy getting everything in order for the trip. Packing is done and the paperwork is almost all organized. Double checking the lists to make sure we haven't forgotten anything. Itinerary copied for the girls and our neighbor, keys taken care of, final plans made with the contractor as we will be having some work done while we are gone, refrigerator cleaned, house cleaned, laundry done. ALL SET.

Here is a copy of the itinerary for our trip:

Australia Itinerary
Monday July 27th
11:36 AM Jet Blue from ROC to JFK Flight 53 arrive at 12:48 PM
7:10 PM Qantas from JFK to Sydney Flight 108 arrive at 10:10 pm in LA, depart LA @
11:50pm, Arrive Sydney @ 7:25 AM on July 29

Wednesday July 29th – Monday August 3rd in Sydney
Swissotel Sydney
68 Market St
Sydney
Phone # 61292388888

Monday August 3rd
10:35 AM Qantas from Sydney to Cairns Flight 922 arrive at 1:45 PM

Monday August 3rd to Friday August 7th in Cairns
Cairns Harbour Lights
1 Marlin Parade
Cairns
Phone # 61740570800

Friday August 7th
1:40 PM Qantas from Cairns to Melbourne Flight 703 arrive at 5:00 PM

Friday August 7th – Monday August 10th in Melbourne
Hotel Lindrum
26 Flinders St
Melbourne
Phone # 61396681111

Monday August 10th
10:15 AM Qantas from Melbourne to LA Flight 108 arrive at 7:30AM on Aug 10th
09:15 AM Qantas from LA to JFK Flight 107 arrive at 5:30 PM on Aug. 10th
09:10 PM Jet Blue from JFK to ROC Flight 36 arrives at 10:52 PM on Aug. 10th



Please note that the times and dates reflected are in Austrlian times. Australia is 16 hours ahead. Therefore at 6 PM in the evening in the US is 10AM the next day in Australia .

Thursday July 23rd

Well the countdown continues. In 4 days we will be heading to New York's JFK to board the jet that will be home to us for the next 24+ hours - Quantas. Packing is just about done and our check-off list is about complete. Whatever we don't remember we will do without or we will buy "down-under." The hardest part of the trip will be that we land at 7;30 Am and we need to make sure we keep going till bedtime. This has been advised by many who have taken long trips before. This will help to keep jet-lag to a minimum.

For many of you, it doesn't seem possible that 5 years have passed since our wedding day. It was such a memorable event and we decided to mark this 5th anniversary in a special way...a big trip. Where to go was the big decision but then a "Godincidence/inspiration" occured in the form of an email. A place we both have wanted to go but never thought we could afford. Without even double guessing the suggestion, Australia it was. So the planning began and in less than 2 weeks from today the adventure begins. We will be leaving on July 27th and arriving on the 29th in Sydney. We will actually be in Sydney for our 5th anniversary and actually hope to do a dinner cruise near the Opera House.
We will stay in Sydney till August 3rd and then head to Cairns where the Great Barrier Reef is located. On the 7th we head for Melbourne and then return home on the 10th of August. We definitely are getting excited and can't wait. This next week will be very busy getting everything in order and packed. Our goal is to pack light.
We have made all of our own hotel reservations after many countless research hours on the computer. Some of our adventures have already been planned and more to plan. Thank goodness for the internet.
So check back often for updates ! This blogging is new for both of us but we are having fun learning. Love from Donna and Jack