Visas, Tickets and a Harbour Cruise

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We head down early to the Viet Nam consulate to pick up the visas. When we get there, they seem not to be able to find our stuff and at one point have three people looking for them. As this included our passports, this is a bit disconcerting. Finally the find them, but when we look at them we realize that we may end up going Thursday and that the visas aren't valid early enough. Fortunately, they can make the change easily and we are off to Skylink travel again.

Our great agent Cathy has been able to get us on the Thursday flight and also handles hotel details for Kuala Lumpur and Hanoi. With tickets in hand, we are finally ready to leave tomorrow.

Now that we have things planned, we can finally enjoy a bit of Sydney. On Cathy's recommendation, we decide to do a harbor cruise and head off for Circular Quay.

The cruise is ok, but the commentary is pre-recorded and a bit disappointing. We do, though, get great views of the Opera House, the bridge and the amazing multi million dollar properties that line the waterfront. The harbor is full of sailboats and the cruise turns out to be a great way to conclude our visit.

After the cruise, we head to the bridge and walk part way across. Joshua is a bit disappointed that we are not joining the likes of Richard Branson (pictured in a signed photograph along with other celebrities) and climbing “the coat hanger” (on top of the bridge), but they charge dearly for this and we have limited time.

We next head to the Sydney Opera House to get a closer view. The architect of this masterpiece, Jon Utzon, just died a few days ago, so we sign the condolence book before exploring the structure a bit more. It is truly a spectacular building and very photogenic.

After our visit, we spend quite some time looking for a place for dinner, but find most lunch type places are closed and the pubs won't let kids in. We decide to head back to Bass Hill and look there.

Near the Chester Hill train station, we find a small Thai restaurant and figure that this will be a good chance to introduce Benjamin and Joshua to some to the flavours that they may be eating for the next two months. It goes over quite well and they both find things that they like. Tired, we head back to our cabin as tomorrow will be a busy day with a lot to do before heading to the airport at noon.

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Photos

On the Bridge
Poor Joshua--we're staying at this height