Cruising the WorldJanuary 9, 2020

Today was a hike day. Spit Bridge to Manly.

We left about 8:30 am and took the train to the Wynyard station where we boarded a bus. The entire trip took about one hour.

Great views of the harbour, some aboriginal etchings in the sandstone, obviously burned bushland and regrowth, many beaches, and high end homes. We stopped for a picnic lunch about halfway through.

It was a serious 10k (6.2 mi)  grade 3 hike and it did take a toll on our bodies. We took the ferry from manly back to the circular quay and stopped to have a drink.

Body parts were stiffer after a rest. We hobbled the 1.5 miles back to our apartment.…

Today began with a 5 mile run in Hyde Park. Another cloudy day and a bit cooler than yesterday.

We decided to do a bit of shopping in the strand. Terri bought a dress that should work at our annual trip to the jazz festival held at The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.

Shopping was followed by a walk through the botanical gardens. Lots of great views of the harbour, flowers, and other interesting things.

The Conservatorium of Music on the grounds of the Botanical Garden. Nothing happening here as everyone is on summer vacation. I did go inside and heard a student practicing flute.

Great day walking these grounds. Looks like a nice place to do our run.

Dinner plans were made last week for the Riley Street Garage. Great food. More like a high end restaurant than the bar atmosphere suggests. Our waitress was from Montreal. She came for a visit 5 years ago and never went back home.

We did comment to each other on the way back on the large number of young people on the streets of this city. Most of the woman wear dresses whether it it is work or casual attire. Most men and woman are in great shape. 

It is obviously very safe here. People out and about with young children at all times of the day.

 …

Today we plan to visit the Hunter Valley area and do some wine tasting. The Hunter Valley area is about 2 hours north of Sydney. The area is home to more than 120 wineries.

Rex picked us up in front of the Sydney Hilton at 7:10 am. A few other folks were on the small bus with us and we would stop later to pick up more. It rained most of the way to the winery but really not enough to quench the parched land.

McGuigan winery is the areas largest and was our first stop. It was about 10 am but no one thought it was too early to start in on the task. 

Here we sampled these 8 wines.

The sparkling wine wasn’t worth a second taste but the rest were pretty good. McGuigan crushes 10% of all of the grapes in Australia. If I were to become a wine drinker, the Verdelho would be my choice off of this list.

As in most areas we have been in the world, any task taken on by most folks is interrupted with constant phone use.

The folk with we were with were from New Zealand, Hungary, Denmark, and Southern Australia. The woman on the right, (Allie) handles insurance claims made in fire destroyed areas. She and her husband Pete are from the southern part of New South Wales where the fires are extreme this year. We spent about an hour tasting and learning about these wines. All of the grape varieties in Australia have been imported from other countries since the grape is not a native fruit.

The Tawny is actually Port. Much like Champagne, Port that is not made in Portugal cannot be called Port. Champagne made outside of the Champagne region in France is referred to as sparkling wine. Port made outside of Portugal is called Tawny. Port is a fortified wine and this blend was quite good.

Terri bought the Tawny Port and the Black Label Shiraz Blend.

MacQuariedale was next on our stop. Ross, the owner of the winery, presented the wines. These are all organically produced wines and he explained what that meant. No herbicides, no pesticides, no synthetic fertilizer were used in producing the wines. In the USA, no sulfur dioxide can be used as a preservative in organic wine. Not so in Australia.

We learned that grapes will be picked in the next few weeks. Ross believed most of the wineries would not pick this year or would only produce a limited amount of “drink now” varieties of wine. The smoke from the bushfires gets into the grape and the smoke flavor isn’t noticeable until the wine has aged for a while. He said that they had three great years in a row and this year would be a down year.

Terri bought the Merlot here after about 8 tastings.

Lunch was next. We share pizza and salad with our fellow tasters at the Hunter Valley Restaurant.

This winery had a restaurant and store that sold wine from many different wineries. Lunch was great but we did not want to waste more tasting time. Next door we sampled more wine.

Four more wines were sampled here. Cheese and crackers were also offered. We bought some cheese here as none of the wines did much for us.

Next stop was the Hunter Valley distillery. 

We sampled many of the vodkas and liqueurs out of test tubes that our host offered.

Next stop, sampling chocolate.

We reached our fill of wine and booze, cheese and chocolate and headed back to Sydney. A quick check of the temp.

A fun day! Tomorrow we have another hike planned!…

Today we decided to do laundry and then shop for food at Woolworth. 

The laundry machine took coin and we had no Australian dollars as we use a credit card for all purchases. I did set up a card through Fidelity that can be used at any ATM, fee free. The card is preloaded with US funds and allows withdrawals of local currency anywhere in the world. I found an ATM and took care of that.

After laundry and grocery shopping we relaxed the rest of the day. We did numerous miles walking in the past few days and needed a rest.

Tomorrow we travel to the Hunter Valley area for wine tasting. We leave about 7 am.…

Today we decided to hit the gym. We found a “City Gym” right in Darlinghurst.

Similar to LA Fitness in Woodhaven. Same kind of machines but also had 2 other levels. One for yoga and one for boxing. Same kind of people worked out here as did at home. Guys heavy into steroids and girls checking out their rear ends in the mirrors.

After our workout we decided to visit the Vaucluse House. This is a 19th Century Estate that has been restored to its original glory. It was a 6 mile walk so we packed our backpack and were off. I  use the maps.me app on my phone. I used this on the world cruise and it has yet to let us down. Besides roads, walking trails are also on these maps. Maps are downloaded beforehand so cellular service is not need. GPS guides us along. GPS is hard on the battery and I use a backup battery that seems to last all day.

Nice views of the harbour along the way.

We had some major hills to climb and some small trails through neighborhoods to navigate. This car welcomed us to the high rent district.

Lots of paths through neighborhoods with serpentine roads that  greatly reduced the walking distance.

Another path.

The gate to Vaucluse House after 2 hours of walking.

Indoor plumbing.

The larder.

The dairy.

We spent about 40 minutes touring this estate. We decided to have dinner at Doyles on the Beach. About 1.5 mile walk from here.

Along the way…

Doyles is quite famous and has been in the same family for more than 134 years. It is on the Hudson Bay and offers views of the Sydney skyline.

Our table was near Rudolph.

The food at Doyles was outstanding. Very casual dining right on the beach. We sat on the balcony.

7.5 miles back to the apartment. We were up for it but we knew that we would be walking some of it in the dark. The ferry to the Circular Quay was right next to Doyles. We opted to take that.

Very smooth ride back afforded some great views.

The Circular Quay is about 1.5 miles from the apartment. We could take a train or walk. We chose to walk. A 9 mile day. We felt great.…

Today we planned to do some shopping. First at the “Strand” arcade and then down to the Paddington Market.

The Strand is located in the heart of the CBD (central business district). It is really not a place you would stumble across as it is a bit hidden amongst shops in the Pitt Street  mall area.

Three stories high, this was the premier shopping center in Sydney when it opened in 1892.

The arcade was full of high end shops and had a few restaurants where folks were having breakfast at tables on the first floor. It was 9 am and shops were just beginning to open. We did a lot of browsing and decided we would come back another day when all of the shops were open. The Paddington Market happens on Saturday only and it opened at 10 am. The market was about 3 miles from the arcade.

It was already 89 degrees and a high of 97 was predicted. It was a very nice walk and the Paddington area was full of nice shops. The market is a weekly fund raising event of Paddington Uniting Church.

We spent about an hour here and started the hike back. Many high end clothing stores  drew Terri in on the way back. Two store employees in one shop gave us many “insider” things to do in Sydney. Emily commented that all of the restaurants that Trip Advisor recommends for Sydney are “awful”. We happily took their suggestions and started our way back.

The buildings in the area are much older than I imagined they would be.

It was very warm and we decided to go back to the apartment, grab some food and reading material and head into Hyde Park to relax and do some reading. I finished “Night” by Elie Wiesel which led me to start The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer. I am also in the middle of How Not to Diet by Michael Greger. I finished How Not to Die by the same author.

Hyde Park reminds me a bit of Central Park in Manhattan. A convenient escape from the noise of the city on a much smaller scale. The shade provided a cool place to relax.…

Who would have guessed? We met up with the Dickhudt’s from Dearborn at a Starbuck’s in Sydney. Dan, Spencer, Laurie, and Maya. It was fun hearing about all they have done since arriving in Sydney on Saturday. Nothing holds this group back. Laurie’s broken arm was taken in stride.

We did learn today that our “replacement” hike from the cancelled Blue Mountain hike was also cancelled because of the bushfire danger. We are making new plans. It will be in the 90s tomorrow.

Today we planned to walk to Centennial Park to have a picnic lunch. First stop was the famous Bourke Street Bakery.

There was a line out the door but the employees had a different attitude than at the “nousecomplainincausethereaintnothinyoucandoaboutit” kind of places. If I needed an employee, this would be my first stop.

A nice walk through a nice neighborhood. Interesting sights along the way.

Lot’s of row houses with wrought iron railing’s in the Surry Hills area. Reminiscent of New Orleans.

The park was a nice escape from the city. It had trails for horses, bicycles, and walking. 

 We had our picnic lunch and enjoyed the scenery. I had a chicken sandwich, toasted. Outstanding. I did order a pain au chocolat because they looked so authentic. It was not an authentic Parisian one. I gave it a 4. Terri had salad and it was also outstanding. Food like this creates the lines you saw.

We stopped at a pub on the way back. Close to ten miles today.…

I know it’s hard to believe but the entire continent of Australia is not on fire. I’m surprised the likes of CNN aren’t showing Australians swimming to Tasmania to escape flames.

Today we started our day with a 5 mile run in Hyde Park. It’s nice that it is right across the street from where we are staying. We do have to lap it but it is nice running under the palm and banyan trees.

Today we have a hike planned in the northern most point of Sydney, Palm Beach. There is a lighthouse called Barrenjoey. There was a series in the 80s called “Home and Away”. It was featured in that series. I never heard of it before.

We are taking public transportation the entire route. It will be a long ride but we will have some views up the peninsula where the lighthouse is located.

We started on the subway and then moved to a bus.

The lighthouse was a good hike up. The views were phenomenal. A good place to whale watch May – November.

This golf course appeared to be a par 3. “Who needs a fairway?” All of the fairways were brown. Rain is desperately needed here.

Very few woman were playing here. Not sure if that says something about the sport here or not.

 …

Happy New Year!

We are still adjusting to the time change. We are 16 hours ahead of Detroit. Most of the day we feel great and then it hits like a Mack truck and we are down for the count.

Since we are here for 30 days, we are knocking off the top 25 sites at a leisurely pace. We needed more items for the kitchen so we took care of that first. We noticed that an Aldi’s was close and stopped there. We also stopped in a wine store and chatted it up with a fine gent who made some recommendations. I bought some Swedish pear and passionfruit cider. Very good.

On the way back to our room we purchased two Opal cards. We will need this to get on and off buses, trains, and ferries.

Today we are visiting the Sydney Tower and Skywalk. 

This tower affords one views of the entire Sydney area. There is also a skywalk where you can walk along the top of the outside of the tower. Maybe we would have done that on a clearer day. Today it is quite hazy from all of the bushfires.

This photo reminds me of when I was a kid. In the Fall, we burned leaves in the street and the smoke made the neighborhood look like this. They also gave off a very distinct odor. Smells like Fall here.

After the tower experience we sat in a courtyard and listened to a violinist play.

Probably an accomplished performer but played what this audience wanted to hear with a canned backup. No Mozart but we did get some Elvis.

Median age in Sydney is 35. Lots of young folks around town. Probably as many asians as native Australians. Finding an overweight person is difficult here. Most folks are in good shape.

I took a photo of the store up ahead. It had an interesting name.

On the way back to our apartment we stopped in Woolworth. Many of them in the city. I expected to hear birds chirping and see a soda fountain but his chain has no relation to the FW Woolworth of my youth. It is a complete grocery store and we will probably do our shopping here.

Tomorrow we go for a hike up to the Barrenjoey LightHouse.

Our trip to the Blue Mountains on Sunday has been changed. Too much risk with the bushfires. Another National Park is on the docket.…

We landed just after 8 am Sydney time. 89 degrees. Our check in time wasn’t until 3 pm but after some negotiation I was able to get it moved to noon. I had applied for an Australian Visa last month. It is all computerized and it shows up when the customs agent scans your passport. Getting our luggage and getting through customs was a breeze.

We took an Uber to our room. The building has hotel rooms and apartments and we left our luggage behind the front desk and we were able to check out the city. Our goal today was to decide if we would be able to see the fireworks, check in to our room, find a grocery store, laundromat, and gym.

The fireworks were at the harbour area and the best viewing sites were at a premium. I wasn’t sure how we would feel after the long period of travel so nothing was booked in advance. The city was obviously gearing up for loads of people. Many streets were already blocked. It was early but there was little traffic. Obviously, most folks had the day off.

We walked by the Royal Botanic Gardens. Some of the best views of the fireworks happen here. $550 each for the evening. We passed.

The Opera House was the next area for viewing. It was early morning and people were already sitting on the steps for the show.

We knew that this area would be overwhelmed by the time we were ready to watch. The next area was an area called the Rocks and we decided that this would be our best option. It was very close to the bridge and had views of the Opera House.

We headed back toward the Hyde Park Plaza and walked through Hyde Park.

Check in was easy. Keys were left in a mailbox and I was sent the code.

We unpacked, went to an IGA down the street and loaded up on groceries. Terri made dinner and then we went to bed. Enough time remained to get some sleep and see the show.

It was 8:15 pm when we woke up. Time to get going if we wanted to see the “family” fireworks display at 9 pm. We did get to the Rocks in time but the area was jammed with people. We saw a few fireworks overhead but missed most of it. We spent the next hour working our way down to an area under the harbour bridge called Dawes Point.

It was a popular place and had many police controlling the entrance.

After an hour or so wait we were able to get a good spot.

We camped out here for the main midnight show.

New Years Eve in Sydney!

These fireworks are seen by 1 billion people worldwide. It still did not meet the level of the Bastille Day Fireworks at the Eiffel Tower in Paris we saw a few years back. Bastille Day fireworks are definitely a 10. Compared to those, I give these an 8. Spending $6.5 million Australian isn’t enough to match the French!

The walk back to our apartment was interesting as the streets were jammed with people. Not the typical drunk fest I was expecting. Most folks were just happy to be out.

 …

Courtney came to pick us up at 3 pm at we headed to the airport. Our flight was at 6:15 pm. Detroit to Los Angeles and then Los Angeles to Sydney. We have been dreading the flight all week. After crossing the international dateline and a total of 21 hours or so of flight time, we land at 8 am in Sydney on Tuesday, December 31.

The flights we took were incident free if you ignore the delay in loading the plane for Sydney. 3 times the loading process was interrupted because  passengers were disembarking from a domestic flight at the same gate we were loading from and the FAA does not allow the commingling of domestic and international passengers. There is nothing like government intervention to put a smile on your face. I’m sure Terri would agree after a recent day long trip to the Secretary of  State. Sometimes I think about complaining but then I think of the story Terri had on one of her trips to the VA hospital, another bastion of the success of centralized government institutions. The story doesn’t really matter because they are all so similar. The quote from the government employee I like to remember is: “nousecomplaininbecausethereaintnothinyoucandoaboutit“. (if you read it aloud with a nice southern drawl, it makes it even more memorable) When I remember this, I am able to put my worries away and continue life as a sheep in the government corral.

On the flight, I did lots of reading and watched a few movies. I did manage to get a few hours of sleep as did Terri. 

We put in a lot less planning into this trip than our recent world cruise. Being on land allows you to be a little lazier with planning then if you are on a ship for 4 months.

We are spending 30 days enjoying the summer temperatures and long days. We have many days with fully planned activities and also many days left for spur of the moment kind of fun.

If you decided to join us, great! It’s fun getting comments from back home. Doing a daily blog has really made me realize how much I do forget after a short period of time. I blame it on age but I probably have always been this way. If you would like to comment, realize that your first comment has to be approved before it is published. This cuts the amount of SPAM I receive. Once a comment is approved, future comments need no approval

The next post will continue with our landing in Sydney and our first day in the land down under. 

 …

We hope you will join us for another travel adventure. This time it’s back to Sydney, Australia. We are spending 30 days at the beginning of the Australian Summer. We have realized that blogging is a great way to remember a trip. We have referred back to our world cruise blog many times to confirm that we were actually in “that” country.

We leave Sunday, December 29, 2019 and arrive on Tuesday, December 31. We will be 16 hrs ahead of Detroit time.

DTW to LAX 6:10 PM to 8:14 PM flight time 5 hrs 4 mins

LAX to SYD 10:15 PM 8:10 AM flight time flight time 15 hrs

Bush fires have been a problem in the past month and we have seen pictures of dense smoke over the Sydney Harbour. Recent pictures suggest the worst is over. The fires are far from Sydney but the winds can push the smoke for many miles.

We are staying close to the CBD (central business district) in a neighborhood called Darlinghurst. The airbnb we booked is right across from Hyde Park. We arrive New Years Eve morning. A huge fireworks display/party is being held at the Harbour Bridge. Not a far walk but maybe we will be able to see from the roof of our building. 20 hours of flight time has a way of sucking the life out of you. We shall see what happens.

We have:

booked a show at the Opera House – Carmen

booked a wine tasting tour in Hunter Valley

made plans to see the Barrenjoey Lighthouse

dinner at Earl’s Juke Joint

a hike in the Blue Mountains

the Spit Bridge to Manly 10k walk

lunch at the Bucket List Bar at Bondi Beach

the Enmore Comedy Club

the Sydney Symphony “under the stars”

all kinds of shopping and sight seeing

many stops at the gym

 …