There are no bad days on vacation; and this would turn out to be one of those days. We arose to what started off as a somewhat welcomed cloudy day. Coming from Canada where we are just starting to come out of winter, we are clearly not used to the warmth and the thick humidity that has blanketed us since we arrived. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I'm just stating a fact. Getting used to being "damp" all the time is a bit of an adjustment, one that we will gladly accept.
The first item on the agenda was a bus tour around Sydney and the surrounding area. The tour was to start at 10:00 AM and we were to meet up with the tour guide / bus in Hyde Park at the Archibald Memorial Fountain. If the name of the park sounds familiar, it should; there is a Hyde Park in London, England as well (probably the original one).
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| Archibald Memorial Fountain in Hyde Park |
We gathered our things and headed out the door for the light rail train station that was just a block down the hill from our hotel. We found out that we could just tap on/off at each station with our phone/credit card. Hyde park was only a couple of stations away, so it was a quick ride. I'm glad the tapping "on" worked because we were approached by a couple of transit security and asked to scan our cards to make sure we had paid. Thankfully both registered on their machines.
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| Nearly Avoiding Being Hit by the Train to get the Photo (dramatization) |
We jumped off at the correct station and wandered into Pitt Street Mall where we found a little place called Coco's where we enjoyed a couple of ham and cheese croissants and some iced coffees (we were already feeling the humidity and it was only 9:30 AM). I went back for a piece of mango-coconut bread which they toasted and dropped off at our table with some butter. My mouth is watering just typing this out.
We then made our way to the park and the fountain to find a few other people milling around looking like they were waiting for something. Laureen chatted with one couple and they confirmed they were waiting as well but there was was no one present from the tour company yet. After a little while, Martin, and his fluorescent green clipboard, showed up and rallied the group. And as with any tour, there is always that one person who can't seem to show up on time. Yes, we had one of those. It was actually a group of four people. It never ceases to amaze me how selfish some people can be. It's like only their time mattered. Martin was gracious and waited for the first part of this foursome, but told them he had to go and would pick the other late party along the way. It might have been better to leave them behind - but hey - I'm not driving.
The first stop was Mrs. Macquarie's Garden. This was one of the places we visited last night, but it was in the dark and where I was able to take the night pictures of the Opera House, downtown and The Harbour Bridge. Of course, I snapped a couple more pictures of these iconic landmarks.
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| Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge |
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| Obligatory Selfie in Front of the...you know. ;-) |
I also snapped a picture of Mrs. Macquarie's Chair, which was carved out of the sandstone for the First Lady. It was impossible to get a picture of this without a throng of people wanting to put their butts down on the rock and have their picture taken. Just as I snapped this, an Asian couple tried to butt into the line and there was nearly an altercation. Time to move on.
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| Mrs. Macquarie's Sandstone Chair |
We all piled back on the bus and headed for Rose Bay. Martin had indicated that the best coffee in the Sydney area could be purchased at the coffee shop at Rose Bay, so Laureen made sure to have one. I had a sip - same burnt flavour I've come to expect from most places. I think someone noted that Russel Crowe has a house somewhere in the area.
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| Rose Bay and Some Average Coffee |
Back on the bus we headed for Gap Park where there was some breathtaking views of the entrance to Sydney harbour.
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| The View from Gap Park |
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| Obligatory Selfie at Gap Park (Tasmania is directly behind us) (not visible) (too far away) |
Next stop, the incredible Bondi Beach. I'm not sure what else to say about this place, other than it's as gorgeous as the pictures show it to be. The sand is powdery, the water is blue and the sun is hot. Everything one would want in a beach vacation. It was a little more crowded than I would prefer and it reminded me a little of Waikiki in Hawaii as I surveyed the landscape. It's stunning and it made me which that we were not touring around, but staying here for a week or two so we could spend time digging our toes in the sand. Maybe another time.
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| South Bondi Beach |
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| Central Bondi Beach |
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| North Bondi Beach |
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| Obligatory Bondi Selfie |
This was the last stop of the bus tour so Martin, our driver, dropped us off near the Opera House and we made our way on foot to
The Tea Cozy for the next part of our day.
In 2012 and 2013 I did my Masters degree in Leadership at Royal Roads University on Vancouver Island. The cohort we had was nothing short of incredible, and I have stayed in contact with a few of them. Not nearly as many as I would like. One of the individuals had made a move to Australia a few years ago and I was able to follow her and keep in touch via LinkedIn. A few weeks before we left to come to Australia, a post in my feed came up from her and I reached out to see if she was interested to get together for a quick catch-up. She agreed, and we made plans to do so on the Saturday in between the two other things we had set up for the day.
For nearly two hours we sat under the cozy umbrellas, enjoyed some incredible scones and drank their home made iced tea while catching up on what has taken place in our lives over the nearly 10 years since Royal Roads. She was just as kind, brilliant and full of life as I remembered from the couple of residencies we participated in. We reminisced about some of our other cohort members (yes John, we talked about you) and how amazing the group was. We even talked a bit about a reunion for 15 years (that would be 2028) and how much fun that would be. Anyone interested?
We needed to start to make our way down to Darling Harbour for our dinner cruse, so we found a spot by our table and took a selfie to commemorate the in-person connection (after all, we travelled over 13,000 Km's to get here) and then said our goodbyes. That was a lot of fun.
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| Me, Carola and Laureen |
The last part of the day today was a dinner cruise through Sydney harbour with Captain Cook Cruises. We boarded the ship and had a nice meal while seeing the various landmarks once again from the water.
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| Cruise Ship in the Background |
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| Entree Time With a Glass of Wine |
We made out way back to the hotel and began thinking about tomorrow when we meet up with Steve and Margaret. It will be fun to re-connect with them again!
Curt & Laureen in Sydney, Australia.
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