Blogs from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, Oceania - page 16

We spent most of the day traveling from Port Douglas to Cairns, and then flying to Sydney. On the way to the airport, we traveled along the coastal highway and got a spectacular view of the Coral Sea. I have checked into my hotel room in downtown Sydney and am preparing to travel to the Olympic Park, site of the 2000 Olympic Games, and there to see the Boss - Bruce Springsteen in the Qudos Bank Stadium, site of the olympics basketball events. During his Australian Tour he is playing at smaller venues than in the U.S. I am overexcited to see the show. As it will be a late night, I will post pictures later. Tomorrow we have a busy day. Sydney Harbor cruise, tour of the Sydney Opera House. I have posted a picture ... read more

We arrived in Sydney at noon and checked in at the Grace Hotel. This is a central location and a comfortable, refurbished facility that provided good value. Day one was spent trying to recover from the long flights and we managed to stay up until 9:00 P.M. Experience has taught us over the years to try and integrate as quickly as possible to local time. We visited the Rocks, an area close to the harbour, where there are numerous pubs and restaurants and they have a local market every weekend with various crafts, souvenirs etc. After dinner in Darling Harbour, an area next to the Rocks, we dragged our tails back to the Hotel. Day two in Sydney mostly was spent on the Hop on, Hop off bus. We've found this to be the most effective ... read more

We are done! That's it. Trip done. We were on the road for over 6 months 23 days or 206 days, travelled once around the world, visited 3 continents & 14 countries & over 57 cities and wrote 28 travel blogs (each taking 3-5 hours. You do the math). We were on the steppes of Mongolia, marvelled at the red Square, had beer in Germany, spend time with family in Austria, visited Castro's Cuba while he was still alive, admired the Panama canal, wondered what the fuss is about Costa Rica, stared into an active volcano in Nicaragua, had a quick beach stop in El Salvador, roasted marshmallows on a volcano in Guatemala, saw our first Mayan ruins in Honduras, explored a cave in Belize, ate tacos in Mexico and visited Mickey in Disney World in ... read more

Christmas and New Year...a time for reflection...not necessarily good cheer. A time for reflection I find. Means different things to many people. In Oz it is when families get together that either get together often...or only on this day. To Denise a joyous time...Christmas lights, making cakes for everyone, gleefully wrapping presents, dreaming of family together and happy, a Christmas kinda gal. Even refused to join me on my first trip to China for 5 weeks away 'cause it would have meant not spending Christmas Day with her family. When your family is close I kinda get it. "I'm the Queen of tangy sauces," she exclaimed today. "The harissa really lifted the mayonnaise and jazzed up the prawns." That far away look...her twinkling smile that always makes me smile too. Yet for me Christmas is different. ... read more

After the last travel fiasco coming home from Iceland, we purposely built in a 7 hour layover for this trip to Sydney. Rushing through the airport was a wonderful thing and the 15 hour flight was mostly uneventful, though sleeping in a middle seat is just not that easy. Fun fact: they have Uber here, so when we finally landed in Sydney, we used the familiar app to grab a ride to Dave's apartment in Glebe. We were smart enough not to nap when we got here, and after showering and changing, the three of us headed out together. First stop, lunch at the adorable all vegetarian Badde Manors café, then we headed over to the shopping center to pick up a hair dryer and some hard ciders for the New Year's festivities. The walk to ... read more