Today was a work day for Mike so Maureen was on her own (except for her little cricket friend in the hotel room). After walking to the post office I decided to take the plunge and drive myself to the National Museum of Australia. I spent most of my time in the "Original Australians" area learning about the culture and history of the Aboriginals. Their treatment was sadly similar to that of the American Indians. It was disturbing to learn how the indigenous children were often taken from their families as a sort of assimilation into white society with the "intention" of giving them a better life. In reality they were never accepted and were often treated very poorly. It was moving, however, to see their recent progress with the Australian government apologizing for the past, ... read more

Another perfect day in Australia! Although the skies were cloudy we enjoyed viewing Canberra from the heights of first Mount Ainsley and then Black Mountain Tower. Canberra is beautifully laid out and the panoramic views revealed how it utilizes the land and water features of the area in its design. Then on the the Australian National Botanical Gardens where we wandered on well-groomed pathways and marveled at the variety of plants, trees and landscapes. After a bite of lunch at the Gardens we drove to the Canberra Glassworks where we watched the artisans at their craft. They have a popular program where people pay to participate in a learning course where they are able to make their own piece. There is a viewing gallery above the "Hot Room" and we were able to listen and learn ... read more

Yesterday beaches, today mountains. It took awhile to get to the Blue Mountains--morning traffic in Sydney and road work in the mountains--but we were on a hop-on-hop-off bus before noon. The weather was threatening to rain again so we opted to head straight for Scenic World to take the incline train down the canyon. This thing drops toward the canyon floor at a 52 degree angle!! At the end of the railroad ride we walked through the educational pathways telling about the mining that used to occur there as well as describing the flora and fauna. We were under the canopy of the tall trees and it was like a rain forest. Very pretty. Took the viewing cable car back to the top and got a great look at the canyon walls before it started raining. ... read more

What a great day! We got in about 12 hours of sightseeing activity today. Although the early morning sky looked threatening we opted for travel by ferry today. A nice 30-minute ride from Sydney to Manly provided great views of the Sydney skyline and the many parks that line the shores. Once in Manly we got this bright idea to rent bicycles so we could see more of the area in a few hours than we could on foot. I think the young attendant at the bike hire shop was chuckling as he sent us out, with upside-down maps on the handlebars, on a route that started out with lots of hills. After viewing a couple of secluded coves and a lot of huffing and puffing, we abandoned the suggested route to the Sydney Harbor National ... read more

Hi All! Well, we battled the traffic to LAX, sat on the runway for almost 3 hours after boarding, and Maureen didn't get the upgrade to Business Class and was scrunched in Enonomy--but we finally made it into Sydney. We bought our rail/bus/ferry passes straight away (see, we're speaking Australian already!) and got ourselves to the station closest to our "apartment". It was a pretty good walk from there pulling our suitcases along, but that just got us in shape for all the walking we've been doing since we got here. Had some lunch at a local gem (check out the picture of the greek salad) and walked to the shopping center to find a grocery store. Walked back to the same area for dinner that night as we hadn't purchased food due to the sticker ... read more