Sydney and Ayers Rock

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Dear friends and family,

Ann, Riley and I have begun our 3 month tour of Australia and New Zealand. In Australia, it's called long service leave for over 10 years at a company. We arrived in Sydney and stayed with my god parents, Les and Rosemary. They took us on several day trips including the Hunter Valley and the Blue Mountains and generally made our vacation in Sydney easy. We walked around the city centre and over several days saw the Rocks, Circular Quay, the Harbour Bridge, the Opera House, Botanical Gardens, NSW Art Gallery, Hyde Park, Darling Harbour and much more. My buddy Al led us on the Bondi to Coogee cliff walk before a welcome beer at his local Irish pub. We also saw some of the northern beaches including Mona Vale, Avalon and Palm Beach. On our last day, we visited the Taronga Zoo with a great view of the city skyline. We managed to see the feedings of the lions and tigers, a bird show, seal show and peacock on full display.

We also spent a couple days at Ayers Rock (also known as Uluru) and the Olgas. While the views of the changing colours from a distance were impressive, we really enjoyed our hikes up close around the rocks. There was a lot more wildlife than expected around the watering holes and shaded canyons. Fortunately, we were able to fly directly to Ayers Rock which cut out 12 hours of buss to and from Alice Springs.

We are currently in Brisbane with our friends Anna and Tom and will be heading up to Cairns next.

Cheers, Richard

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Comments

[Leanne]

Great pics
Looks like you all are having a grand ol time!!

[Leanne]

Great pics
Looks like you all are having a grand ol time!!