Mom's Visit - Part 5 - All Good Things Must Come to an End

Well, the three weeks finally came to an end and Mom had to fly home. We had a beautiful last night in Sydney, taking the jet cat to enjoy one last Sydney sunset before listening to "Jazz Meets the Symphony" at the Opera House. It was a beautiful night and the performance was fabulous. The guest conductor that evening, Lalo Schifrin, is the composer of the "Mission Impossible" theme music and that piece was performed by the Sydney Symphony as an encore - fun! I think Mom had a great time but is happy to finally rest her knee a little bit!

Mom's Visit - Part 4 - Darling Harbour, the Fish Market and the Infamous Bondi Beach...

My mom commented often that everything in Sydney was so picturesque. With her here, it was a good opportunity to explore Sydney's touristy side. Darling Harbour, home of Sydney's famous Aquarium, Maritime Museum and all sorts of other major attractions, including yet another beautiful Sydney harbour (as shown above), was much more than I expected. We had time for a loop on the Monorail before heading to the Fish Market. After visiting this working harbour, I'm not sure how an ordinary fish market will satisfy me...fresh fish and seafood of over 100 varieties is deposited daily for auction and public sale...and consumption. We shared an enormous seafood platter which included seafood that tasted as if a mermaid had prepared it and delivered it straight from the sea. Yum. The bridge in the background of the harbour where the fish comes in for the fish market - see the two points? - is the Anzac Bridge, although I am told by Sydneyers that it is referred to as "Madonna's Bra"...weird. The friendly penguin in that same picture happened to be the most caricature-like animal I have ever seen...when staring at it I thought I had happened into a Walt Disney picture.

My cycling buddy, Paul, was kind enough to take us for a day trip to Leichart, the Italian area of Sydney, where we had fun in "The Merchant of Venice" playing with the beautiful masks delivered directly from Venice. We then made our way through Newtown (where I managed to snap this Martin Luther King depiction from the car), on our way to Australia's favourite and infamous beach - Bondi. An entire television series based on the work of Bondi's lifeguards, called "Bondi Rescue", has been created based on Bondi Beach. And there it is behind Mom. It is quite a place and has a characteristic 'feel' about it, although it's a bit over-rated in my opinion. But then, what do I know about surf beaches. In any event, there is a fantastic boardwalk that goes on for many kilometers and we enjoyed a great walk along it that day.

Mom's Visit - Part 3 - The Sunshine Coast

So we could see Queensland, we thought we'd take a four-day hiatus away from Sydney and fly to the Sunshine Coast. We stayed in Noosa, a popular tourist destination for Australians, at the northern end of the Sunshine Coast. We thought it was a little too quiet, but it was certainly relaxing. While there, I went mountain-biking and on a run through Noosa National Park along low-trafficked walking trails. My mom gave her sore knee a little break during these activities. Here are pictures of the beach, the park and dinner - a favourite activity of mine, particularly when accompanied with a fancy drink - along the one main street in town.

Mom's Visit - Part 2 - Bus Trips to the Hunter Valley and the Blue Mountains

I don't know if it's the "senior" in me but there's something about bus trips that I just love. We took two while in Sydney...one to the Hunter Valley during Mom's first week and another to the Blue Mountains during her third and final week. The Hunter Valley is the oldest wine-producing region in Australia, famous for it's semillons (yum). We visited three wineries on our tour, with an exceptionally impressive number of tastings at each. I don't think I've ever seen my mom drink so much all in one day...in one month, actually (holding her alcohol is not one of her best traits).

The Blue Mountain region, an area of bush and unique rock formations, is approximately an hour and a half northwest of Sydney in a national park. On the way there, we visited Olympic Park, home of the 2000 summer Olympics, and an area of the national park with large kangaroo and wallaby populations, before heading to the main attractions...the famous "Three Sisters" (the three-headed rock formation above Mom's left shoulder), Wentworth Falls and Katoomba Falls. Mom was such a trouper, agreeing (despite bursitis in one knee) to walk down over 1000 steps, a lot very steep, to visit the rainforest at the foot of the 'mountains'. She did great! Fortunately, we were able to take the (so-called) steepest train in the world to get back up.

Mom's Visit - Part 1 - Mom Starts to Explore Manly and Sydney

My dear mother was able to visit recently. Her three-week stay was jam-packed with activity. She arrived Easter Weekend, during which we enjoyed the famous Sydney Easter Show (a cross between the Royal Winter Fair (horse, other animal and agricultural/horticultural shows, competitions and exhibits of all kinds) and the Canadian National Exhibition (midway, exhibit buildings (but much worse than in Toronto...they could use some improvement in Sydney), fashion shows, etc.), an Easter Sunday visit to the beautiful Botanic Gardens and lunch in the Gardens' Restaurant, overlooking the gardens, St. Mary's Cathedral and Hyde Park (Hyde Park will be featured at another time in the blog).

During her first week, Mom was also able to get her first taste of life on the edge...of the sea. Australia does a fabulous job of using gentle coastlines to build "natural swimming pools", allowing those wanting to swim without fear of crashing waves and strong currents to enjoy the therapeutic salt water in shallower pools bordered by natural rock and landscape. Mom also benefited from a much warmer-than-typical Fall, and caught the last bit of lovely climate before winter arrived. At the date of this posting, it has become quite chilly and downright cold in the mornings and evenings.

We had fun hanging out in Manly and Sydney. Mom thought taking the ferry back and forth from Manly to Sydney was excursion enough sometimes, but that didn't stop us from spending even more time in the Harbour than was necessary, taking advantage of a sunset dinner cruise one night. We were amused at how efficiently dinner was served during the 90-minute cruise, the result of cruise organizers attempting to ensure guests enjoyed the sun sinking into the horizon as much as possible. The all-you-can drink wine was a nice touch, too...

OK, I promise, no more pictures of the Opera House! For now, at least.

My First Visitors

One evening in early March, I had the pleasure to meet up with Anne Marie and Collin. They were enjoying a few days in Sydney before heading for a two-week, camper-van adventure in New Zealand. They had a fabulous time in what I am told is a thoroughly picturesque and nature-filled country. Here, the lovely couple is enjoying dinner at the Rocks in Sydney Harbour and enjoying a walk around the Harbour, and there's Anne standing by the Canadian 'mosaic' bear...that night, a bear for (what seemed like) each country was exhibited in the Harbour for a reason we didn't explore. I hope to make it to New Zealand on a future trip to this part of the world.