Aussie Week Adventure: Human Interest Photos

The Australian Outlet
Hotels have adapters and power converters
for your use (they just don't have free
internet access for your computer).

The Toilets
Australian toilets are much more conservation-oriented than US toilets. There is little water in the bowl, and there are two flush options: half-flush and full flush. We found that we could get by using the half-flush option all the time, except for the time we tried to flush our hotel cockroach--that little critter even clung on through the full flush (video clip available upon request).

More evidence for conservation awareness:

Don't Litter!

The "clean, green, transit machine" in downtown Sydney
called "Pedapod" -- a good job for keeping fit...

Hey, there's already a street named after us!

Highest Post Office Box, Sydney Tower

Need spices? Call C.V. Garlic. They deliver!

The concert we wished we could have attended at the Opera House,
even though John Williams himself would not be conducting.
It is scheduled for November 30th.

Artistic sinks in the restrooms at the Sydney Opera House

For our friends Dale and Ted:

What to do with a spare clay head model...

We could have taken Erin! And continued nursing!
(as a result of this trip, she is now fully weaned
although she will still ask for it on occasion)

Did you know that champagne bottles come in so many sizes?

Blue-tongued Skink Premium Lager
(don't know if it's better than the regular lager)

Eye-catching Display at the Botanical Gardens

April REALLY wanted to get this as a souvenir for her BYU professor, Hal Black.
Anyone who knows Hal would understand why. Kevin talked her out of it, saying
that Hal probably already has one. If not, sorry Hal, you can order one here.

Cigarette Warnings
We were very surprised by the graphic warnings on cigarette packages.
You can view more if you desire at this link. Apparently the TV ads
are also very graphic and depict people getting amputations.

Aussie Week Adventure: Free Choice Activities

Tourism New South Wales provided us with the See Sydney and Beyond Smartvisit Card, which gave us admission into a variety of places as well as discounts on shopping and food (which we didn't use). If you visit Sydney, we recommend getting this card. If we had had more time to plan out our free time, we could have utilized it more effectively and seen a few more sites.

Sydney Tower

After our long flight we attempted a short nap then decided to stroll through town and visit the Sydney Tower. Since we read it was the highest structure in Sydney we initially thought we could just look up and easily navigate to it. Instead, we were swallowed up by all the tall skyscrapers and found ourselves having to look at a map (but everything is clearly marked and it is easy to find your way around). Although most of the buildings were new, it was fun to see many historical buildings with elaborately-carved sandstone motifs holding their own against their towering neighbors. It seemed that most of the Sydney attractions were quite close to each other--the tower was about a 20 minute walk from our hotel, and is about as far away as we ever walked. For those who care about such things, there are extensive pedestrian malls and exclusive shopping areas.

Here is a look at the tower from the ground, and a view of the harbour from 820 feet.

Here is a sampling of other interesting sites we encountered on our walk through the city: an intricate carving of the lion and the unicorn in a sandstone building (these were frequently represented), the Il Porcellino statue by the Sydney Hospital (it was good luck to rub the boar's nose), and a smart car.

St. Mary's Cathedral

We also stopped for a visit at St. Mary's Cathedral. It was April's first "real" cathedral and rivaled some of the French cathedrals (according to Kevin). When we first walked in the organ was playing, and the acoustics were just amazing! The architecture, the carvings, and the elaborate stained glass windows were all very beautiful. This is the largest church in Australia and although it looks like something out of the Renaissance it was only completed in 1928 (and, unlike cathedrals of earlier times this one took "only" 60 years to build). Perhaps we should say it was mostly completed in 1928, as the spires were not added until 1998-2000. There was a large electronic marquee outside of it, counting down the days until the 23rd World Youth Day 2008, when Pope Benedict XVI and Catholic youth from all over the world will come to Sydney.

Sydney Aquarium

Our photographs of the Sydney Aquarium didn't turn out well because it was too dark inside. Instead you will have to wait for the upcoming video which we keep promising to edit and post one of these days.

The Royal Botanical Gardens

The gardens turned out to be our favorite place over the next few days. We were appreciating some of the giant fig and pine trees when April looked down and noticed a large number of owl pellets lying all over the ground. Being biologists, we both got very excited with finding animal sign so quickly in such a large city (and to our delight, other tourists had left the owl pellets alone so we could dissect as many was we wanted to). We excitedly pulled apart several pellets, trying to figure out what animal the bones came from. We are used to finding mouse and vole bones, but here we found large claws, long ulnas, and short femurs...hmm...due to jet lag and lack of sleep, we were unable to figure out the mystery prey animal and decided we would ponder the question again the next day. It was an odd sensation going from picking through owl pellets one moment to walking into our five-star hotel the next.

The following morning (thanks to jet lag), April was wide awake at 5:00 am and went out on the balcony to see Sydney awakening. She was thrilled to see dozens of fruit bats flying south over the hotel! There was the answer to the mystery bones. She woke Kevin up and insisted we go looking for a roost in the gardens as soon as possible. The irony is that we spent time carefully looking into the tops of every tree hoping to see a fruit bat or two, but when we finally reached the middle of the gardens the trees were absolutely covered in fruit bats!

We returned several times to the royal gardens, both to photograph bats and to enjoy the plants and landscapes. There is a lovely herb garden, which we were enjoying until the sprinkling of rain turned into a torrential downpour. We again had an odd sensation as we walked, sopping wet, into the lobby of our 5-star hotel.

Hike in Blue Mountains/Scenic World

It was cloudy and rainy the entire time we were in the Blue Mountains, but we didn't let that stop us from hiking down the Giant Stairway (that's its real name), more than 800 steps, to the canyon bottom. The rain apparently stopped others from doing the same, as we saw very few tourists. When we first received our itinerary (the day before we left), we were excited at the wildlife prospects of the Blue Mountains, but our five-hour walk in the rain only yielded distant cockatoos and one kookaburra. If you have the chance to visit this area yourself, be sure to listen for a lyre bird foraging in the leafs or singing to his mate--this bird is perhaps the world's best mimic, as demonstrated in this David Attenborough clip.

We hiked to Katoomba Falls, which were flowing at their utmost thanks to all the rain. Then we entered Scenic World and walked part of the boardwalk. We were really impressed with the information signs about the plants, animals, and mining activities of the area. We rode the Scenic Railway back up which is the steepest passenger train in the world (52° incline for 450 m), caught the Blue Explorer Bus and rode around Katoomba and Leura before returning to our hotel.

Observatory Hill

Our final day in Sydney was bright, sunny, and warm--warm enough for the skinks to come out! April caught this one while walking up Observatory Hill to visit the Sydney Observatory.

The Observatory had several interesting telescopes and other equipment. We did not coordinate our visit with one of the planetarium shows, unfortunately, so we mainly looked through the museum and then got to watch the exciting yellow ball descend, marking the 1:00 p.m. time (again, see future video post).

Grocery Shopping at Coles

We bought some fruit, golden syrup (for making Anzac biscuits), and too many goodies for the children. We should have gotten 3 more Tim Tam packages--they are too delicious! Why can't Americans make decent chocolate??? For anyone interested in traveling to Sydney, we recommend shopping here rather than at the little convenience stores surrounding the hotel areas. The prices are much more affordable (don't ask us about our $12.00 sunscreen...).

Libraries

Missing our weekly trip to the Logan Library, we instead found two libraries, one in downtown Sydney and one in Katoomba. We read up on some of the native wildlife. The libraries offered free internet access so we were able to email the children. One day we were even able to "chat" with Megan and Ian over the internet, which was very exciting! (Remember, this was the first time April had been away from the children for an extended time.) Kevin eventually had to drag April away from the computer to do more sightseeing.

Aussie Week Adventure: Scheduled Activities

Tourism NSW had booked several activities for us in advance. Our job was to participate in these and report about them.

BridgeClimb

We experienced the "Climb of our Lives" at the Sydney BridgeClimb. We took the 3.5 hour Discovery Climb Tour which led us along the lower part of the bridge, winding around and climbing staircases until we ended up on the very top. Before the actual climb we put on special jumpsuits to which everything clips, since they don't want hats, gloves, jackets, etc, blowing down into the harbour. It is worth noting that you cannot bring your camera along, so the only photos of the event are ones they take for you. Then we put on a harness (similar to a climbing harness) which clipped onto a cable that runs the entire length of the climb. It has a self-arrest device so if you were to ever slip you would not go tumbling down. Our small group was guided up the bridge by Olivia, a fun, entertaining, and resourceful guide. As we climbed Olivia told us the history of the bridge (parts of which you can read for yourselves at the BridgeClimb website) and interesting stories of Sydney. The climbs take place in all weather other than lightning storms, and during our climb we experienced strong winds and some beating rain, which added to the drama.

Just before our climb the manager came out specifically to welcome us, the prize winners, and we felt like celebrities. Speaking of celebrities, there is a wall of photos of famous people who have done the Bridge Climb, such as Will Smith, Chelsea Clinton, and Hayden Christensen--so if you go be sure to check the wall to see if they put our photo up too ;-). Thanks to our "See Sydney" card we received free hats. Thanks to our celebrity status the manager met us after the climb and gave us a CD of the photos taken of us on the bridge (a $65.00 value). The Bridge Climb was one of our favorite activities. It is rather pricey, so start saving in advance for this unique and incredible way to experience Sydney.

Fort Denison Heritage Tour

Fort Denison is a small outpost in the middle of the harbour. It was originally called "Pinch Gut Island," referring to the hunger felt by misbehaving prisoners who were punished by a week's stay on the little island. The idea to build a fort there came in response to American ships entering the harbour after the War of Independence. The settlers in Sydney had not heard whether the war had ended and were suspicious that the American ships were going to attack this English settlement. It took many years to construct the fort, and by the time it was operational ships had iron hulls so the cannons would have been useless. It is one of the few standing Martello Towers in the world. We went into the tower, saw where they had stored gunpowder, looked at the cannons, and learned about the history.

Later outside, Kevin fired the 1:00 cannon (sorry, no flaming stick to light the gunpowder--just the push of an electric button these days). Historically, ships could not determine longitude without knowing the local time (watch the movie Longitude for the interesting tale of timepieces at sea). So at 1:00, a signal was given to synchronize timepieces.

In conclusion, the tour was interesting, but would not be included on our "must see" list of Sydney sites if you are limited on time (no offense to Bindi, our wonderful National Park Service guide).

Sydney Opera House Tour

Yes, we had the opportunity of touring the famous Sydney icon, the Opera House! Unfortunately, our prize did not include attending a concert in one of the theaters :(. We would have paid to see one ourselves, but we were there during the off season and the only choice of venues that interested us was not a possibility due to schedule conflicts. Back to the tour: visitors are not allowed to take any indoor photographs other than in the foyer and stair areas, hence our lack of exciting photos for the collage (below). Even though we could not catch the drama of the building in a photo, we managed to capture some of the drama of our guide, Sharon, who loves everything about the Opera House. She explained that the tiles were specially made to repel any moss or fungus, so they keep themselves clean. The tiles are not uniform--different glazes were used to create a shimmering effect in the light. It truly is an amazing building, and we did not tire of looking at it.

A few things we learned: the "sails" of the opera house as it was originally designed would not have stood up to strong winds, so the architects and engineers eventually realized that they could all be "cut" from a single sphere.

We did not realize prior to our tour that there are 5 different performance theaters. The most exquisite (and famous) is the concert hall--and we didn't get to see it (due to a rehearsal), so we were disappointed. We did see the opera hall where we watched a ballet group warming up for a rehearsal. The story behind the architect, Jorn Utzon is a sad one. We think it is also a lesson on why one should forgive and not hold grudges--Jorn left the country over some disagreements and has chosen to never return, in spite of the belated recognition that the Australians would like to give him. Also, it was such a negative experience for him that some say he was prevented from creating additional masterpieces. You can read the history for yourselves here.

Taronga Zoo VIP Aussie Tour

The afternoon following our tour of the Opera House, we rode the ferry across the harbour to the Taronga Zoo. We met our guides, cute little volunteer ladies Pat and Ilona, who took us through the native Australian animal section. We got to see the food preparation room, some of the critters used for their educational center, and were able to feed a kangaroo and possum. After the tour, we watched a bird show and then had only about 1 hour left until closing time. Much to Kevin's dismay we didn't get to the reptile house. This zoo is not up to the caliber of the San Diego Zoo but is better than SLC's Hogle Zoo (or maybe it was the Australian wildlife that made it more exciting to us). We would recommend allowing a full day trip if you want to see all the animals and shows.

Some of our favorite animals were the echidnas and wombats. The echidnas were very active during our visit (perhaps due to the rain?). They snuffled about their enclosure as our guides explained their monotreme traits. We watched a wombat digging and looking cute. The koalas were all asleep, but the kangaroos and wallabies gave more of a show by hopping about. We took a lot of video, which is taking far too long to edit--hence the reason it has not been posted.

EcoTour of Blue Mountains

We were really excited for this ecotour, since it took us out of the city into the bushland (or so we thought). The 4WD bus was great (see Travel and Accommodations), and we had a very entertaining guide, Barry (who is a descendant from some of the original convicts). We started off with a quick trip to Featherdale Wildlife Park. We only had a short time there and could have spent another good hour if allowed. It was fun to take photos with the koalas and feed the kangaroos, but we ran out of time to see much else. During the drive from Sydney, Barry talked about the history of Australia as well as the ecology and fauna of the Blue Mountains area. We stopped for a restroom break at Bilpin Fruit Bowl, in a rural fruit growing community, and tasted the local apples. We were surprised they were ripe given that it was only springtime, but apparently they mature over the mild winters.

Once in the mountains, we stopped for a "walkabout in the bush." We were looking forward to a fun little hike and were disappointed when our "walkabout" took us only 10 meters from the bus for a short botany lesson of the surrounding plants. (Hmm...so what is the Aussie term for "hike?"). We ate lunch at the Imperial Hotel (see Dining Down Under: Part I), where Kevin had his photo taken with Elena the friendly ghost (bottom right of collage). The majestic views of the Blue Mountains were obscured by the mist and rain, but we were told to imagine the Grand Canyon covered with eucalyptus trees and giant tree ferns.

Aussie Week Adventure: Dining Down Under, Part II

Finding our Own Food

Fish and Chips, Quay Seafood, Circular Quay, Sydney

We ended up only having to find a few meals ourselves, and we always sought out high-quality foods, such as the traditional "fish and chips." The Fish and Chips found along the Australian coast are far superior to the Brine Shrimp and Flies found along the coast of the Great Salt Lake. We bought some "take away" (Aussie term for "take out") for lunch after our Bridge Climb and returned to our hotel to enjoy it from our balcony. It satisfied April's craving for deep fried food, and we hoped her gall bladder would be forgiving.

French Pastries, La Renaissance, The Rocks

Sandwich from cafe at Fort Denison, Sydney Harbour

Even though Fort Denison is just a tiny uninhabited island, there is a cafe, complete with a chef and kitchen staff. We were the only visitors that day and the waiter talked to us about how utterly boring it was to be stuck on the island waiting for boats to arrive. Out of pity Kevin bought a sandwich from him. It was actually quite the gourmet creation, but then again the chef had time to be creative. April waited until we returned to the Circular Quay where she picked up a spinach-cheese roll.

Thai Terrific, Bondi Beach area, Sydney

We spent Tuesday evening with Claire Mannus, one of Kevin's Aussie cousins from his high school exchange student program. Kevin remembered Claire as a cute little, blonde-haired, 10-year-old who loved the beach. Now Claire is a lovely young lady who still loves the beach. She drove us around Sydney area, showing us different sites (one beach after another) that would have been nice to walk around if it hadn't been dark and raining.

We ended up dining at one of Claire's favorite Thai restaurants by Bondi Beach. It was April's first experience with Thai food, and we got 3 dishes to share: pad thai, yellow curry, and a stir fry. It was very tasty, and yielded enough leftovers for the following day's lunch. Afterwards, Claire treated us to delicious gelati at Gelatissimo. Kevin ordered chocolate something, April ordered passionfruit-mango, and Claire chose chocolate chip. Kevin wants to start a franchise in Logan now.

Lebanese Take-Away, Katoomba

Our second night in the Blue Mountains, we knew we were not dining again at Darley's, so we looked at the many available options along the streets in Katoomba. We found a great Lebanese take-away cafe and ordered 2 spinach cheese triangles, a cauliflower omelette, and side of garbanzo beans and eggplant, all for only $9.60! What a deal and what a contrast to the $200.00 dinner from the previous night! Unfortunately we forgot to take a photo of our dinner. We were pretty hungry and damp after a 5-hour bushwalk in the rain and gobbled it down while walking back to our resort.

Sausage Roll and Meat Pie from sidewalk cafe, Sydney







Places We Saw But Didn't Patronize

McDonald's was ever present, but we didn't try it out. We couldn't imagine that the food could have been any better, even in Australia. We were surprised to see a rather nice dessert section (in the glass case if you care to enlarge the photo to view it).

Australia is apparently rather famous for its beer and wine. We took a few photos of the pubs that caught our attention, but you'll have to find other people to recommend the quality drinks.