Day 50 Tuesday 19th August
This was Adi and Lucy’s last full day so we all had a lie in (even the boys didn’t stir til 8.30am) after breakfast Bob and I went to talk to the Tourist Info lady as we were having trouble finding accommodation for Wed and Thurs night. After several phone calls she found out that there were 3 conferences in Brisbane and there was no room at any of the inns ! We phoned the manager of the apartment we were rented and he was able to let us extend our stay for 2 extra days – we were worried we were going to have to sleep in the car . It was a lovely sunny day again so we all went for a walk around the marina and had lunch. We crossed the road into the town and found another internet café where we showed Adi and Lucy the wedding photos – we weren’t impressed with the photographers name across the faces but otherwise they looked good. We returned to the apartment so that Adi and Lucy could pack their bags as they had to be at the airport for 7.30 tomorrow morning. Adam and Tj had said they would drive over to us for dinner again as they had just dropped Toby off at the airport so Bob and Adi went out and got Indian and Chinese takeaways for us all for dinner. The alarm was set for 5.45am so we had an early night.
Day 51 Wednesday 20th August
We were up and away by 6.30am, having packed some of their bags and put them in the car last night. No time for breakfast we were on the road and a good job we weren’t late getting away as the traffic on the gateway motorway was heavy. Once at the airport I went in to help with the luggage and the boys while bob parked. It took forever to checking as the girl on the desk was obviously new to the job and wasn’t bending any rules without her managers say so. Several times she had to go and ask – mind you we didn’t help by having 19 kgs excess luggage ! Finally after Charlie charmed her by cooing in the right places and smiling , she melted enough to let them get on the flight with no charge – god knows how. By now there was no time left so we said our goodbyes and they went through to boarding. We then went home for breakfast, a shower and to tidy up the apartment which we had left hurriedly earlier. Adam phoned to say that TJ had got a job in a private hospital and would be starting tomorrow so we arranged to meet them at the railway station in Brisbane. As parking is so expensive in Brisbane and we still had to return the hired cot and highchair, we drove to Wynnum railway station and left the car in a free carpark and caught the train to the city. However, when we got there Adam said they had just been told that their references for a house they were hoping to rent for 3 months had been approved and they could move in today so we walked up to their backpackers place to meet them instead. Adam and Tj were packing up their belongings and then they had to go to the bank to get some cash for the rent and bond so I spent an hour on the wireless internet with my new computer . When they got back from the bank we all piled into Adams car and went to the house – it is lovely, ultra modern and only a few months old. They have to share it with a german couple who have a bedroom downstairs but its not far from the centre and in a nice area, and the germans go to Sydney every weekend to their own home. Caroline the owner of the house, completed all the paperwork and showed us round – she had lived in this house for only a few months while she had another one built next door. When all their luggage was stored in their new place we set off for the bus stop to check out the route Tj would need to do in the morning for her new job. We walked up the road and round the corner to the bus stop, 10 mins on the bus and it stopped right outside the hospital so no problem there. Adam and Tj hadn’t stopped for breakfast yet so we found a café while we decided what to do. They wanted to check out travel passes so we hopped onto another bus to the city (Bob and my rail ticket for 6$ each covered us for unlimited bus and ferry travel in the city too). The buses have an underground road system so that they don’t get stuck in the traffic with bus stops underground too – its an excellent system. Then we went into the city which we were now beginning to find our way round, I bought a pair of “crocs” sandals (there is a world shortage and this was the first pair in my size I had found in Australia) a few bits and pieces and then we set off to find the bus back to Adam and TJ’s house. We got on the wrong bus and ended up about 1 km away so we walked the rest. To celebrate the days events we went to the big shopping centre to the Hogs Breath Café for dinner, as always it was very busy so we had to wait nearly an hour but we were all too tired to go looking elsewhere. As usual we were the last ones to leave and as it was late Adam drove us to Wynnum railway station to pick up our car and go home to our very quiet apartment.
Day 52 Thursday 21st August
It was so quiet this morning, the sun shone through the window and we sat in bed reading before getting up for a leisurely breakfast of whatever was left in the cupboards. Adam rang to say he was at home and he had free broadband if we wanted to come over so we packed up everything from the food cupboard that we didn’t need and took it over to him. I spent an hour downloading stuff and putting the photos on picasa and updating the blog while Bob put his feet up and watched the Olympics on Adams 42 “ plasma screen tv. Back towards home we spent a couple of hours walking round the village near our apartments, visiting the library and looking at the estate agents windows. When we returned to the apartment, Berrin, the manager spoke to us about coming in to photograph the marks on the walls the previous tenant had made – oops – I had used some jif and got them off yesterday while I was cleaning up after Lucy and Adi had gone – oh he said, I was going to charge them for that! Later, Adam phoned to say that he and TJ were food shopping and could they come over with a ready cooked chicken and a bottle of wine as it was our last evening. After they left, we finished emptying all the cupboards and tidying up and packed the majority of our bags for an early start tomorrow.
Day 53 Friday 22nd August- Brisbane to Sydney
We had hoped to keep the car until around midday but we had collected it at 10am so we had to return it at 10am or pay a whole day rental. So at just after 8am Berrin arrived to bring us our bond back for the apartment, he said his wife was very impressed that we had cleaned off marks on the wall that we hadn’t made. (the apartment had be totally painted the week before we arrived, I didn’t tell him I wasn’t sure which marks the previous owners had made and any that the boys might have made playing with their cars and toys so I had cleaned them all off). We loaded the car and set off for the car hire company where Adam met us and took us off for breakfast to while away the time until around 1pm when we needed to be at the airport. We looked for an internet café with a printer as my computer had a 99$ cash back on it but we had to download a claim form and fill it in and post it to them with an Australian bank account number to get the cash back - it was very complicated to apply for. So Adam said he would use his Australian bank account. Just outside the airport we found an outlet shop – similar to the big ones in the uk – so we spent half an hour walking round and as we did the noise on the roof told us it was raining (the first we had had in Brisbane). When we got to the entrance we were amazed to see not just rain but torrential rain so heavy that we could not see across the carpark. We did have our umbrella with us but it would barely protect one person let alone three so Adam was voted in to go and get the car – well it was his car. Adam dropped us at the airport and we said our farewells as we wouldn’t see him now until May next year. We checked in with no trouble at all and sat down to wait for our Jetstar flight to Sydney. The flight was only 1hr 10mins but when we came out of the airport it was total confusion, traffic everywhere and it took us 15 mins or more to find Alan who we were going to stay with in Sydney. Alan’s wife Lynne was at home waiting for us when we arrived an hour later, having done every back street and short cut through the streets of Sydney trying to get out of the traffic. Alan had to leave straight away as he had a company bowling evening that he could not get out of so Lynne cooked us a lovely dinner and we saved Alan a plate for later. Their house is a lovely 30’s built brick house with 10 or 12 ft ceilings with beautiful cornice and decorative plasterwork ceilings but it was very cold for us, having just come from Daydream Island and then Brisbane where it had been much warmer. That evening it took quite some time to get warm, Bob and I both put on socks and t-shirts in bed to try to sleep. Tomorrow we would have to ask for a hotwater bottle!
Day 54 Saturday 23rd August - Sydney
Alan and Lynne didn’t work at the weekend so they offered to take us around to see the sights today and to orientate ourselves. Our first stop was the Olympic Village from 2000, where we walked round the main areas, stopped by their tourist info shop and picked up some leaflets on things to do. Outside the main arena were metal tubes engraved with the names of everyone who had anything to do with the Olympics, in alphabetical order. We found a Paul Gallard and a Lucy and Adi Smith. From here we drove past the old brickworks and into Centennial Park. We then headed for the city and over the Harbour Bridge and underneath it to an area called the Rocks. Here we found a street craft market where we bought a couple of gifts and we walked the cobbled lanes looking at the unusual shops selling all sorts of arts and crafts. Although the sun was shining, the wind was very chilly so back to the car and through the Eastern Suburbs to the entrance to Sydney Harbour where the river meets the South Pacific. We climbed up the rocks, stopping now again to see the waves crashing against the cliffs, A spectacular vista, looking out across the ocean we realized the next land would be South America – thousands of miles away. Next stop was Bondi Beach, everyone had said they were disappointed with it, expecting more – so we were pleased that we weren’t disappointed – perhaps because we weren’t expecting much ? Bob was disappointed that there were no topless bathers or skimpily clad females but it was only about 10 degrees! Alan took a couple of photos of us, and we did walk on the beach – it was very clean soft sand. Finally he wove his way through the city pointing out all the major places of interest and any that we should put on our list to look at during the week. When we got home, we realized that we had not had lunch so Lynne made a Chicken casserole which we ate hungrily. After dinner we went upstairs to Alan’s’ office as Fran had phoned to say that she was at Harvey’s’ in Oxford so we could webcam and see the new baby. We had a cup of tea and chatted about what we could do the next day before bed. Alan did bring an electric fan heater into our room which made all the difference to us.
Day 55 Sunday 24th August
I woke early, having slept much better being warm, I couldn’t get back to sleep so I spent an hour writing up the blog, by now I was 20 days behind. Also Alan had connected me to his broadband so I could download the photos and blog easily. At just after 8am we showered and went into the kitchen to find Lynne cooking breakfast and making sandwiches to take with us for the day. We had decided to go to the Blue Mountains an hour or so away as we wouldn’t be able to go there under our own steam in the week. The morning was bright and sunny with very few clouds so if the temperature would just rise a bit, it promised to be an excellent day. We arrived late morning and our first stop was a village called Leura, very quaint lots of antique shops. I saw a wooden tube to put Adams wedding certificate in for $15 which I was going to buy but Bob had disappeared with all the cash so when I caught up with him he said if we come back this way we will go and get it. We bought some salad and drinks to go with our sandwiches and moved onto a valley below the Blue Mountains where everyone goes for the fantastic view of the thick rainforest covering miles of the valley below and the Blue Mountains in the distance. We then headed for the other side of the valley, driving back via Leura and Bob and I went to get the wooden tube – horrified when I looked closer (with my glasses on ) to see that it was in fact 159$ and not 15$ - we didn’t buy it ! The other side of the valley was just as spectacular, it was called ECHO Point, it was quite haunting especially with the Aboriginal man playing his didgeridoo in the background. Now it was lunch time so we found a free picnic table on a parkland and sitting in the warm sunshine, ate our sandwiches. Next stop was SCENIC WORLD where we had an icecream before making the choice of a Cable Car across the Gorge, or a train ride down 250 metres into the gorge a walk along a boardwalk through the floor of the rainforest and a cableway ride back up. Lynne, Bob and myself plumped for the latter and set off, leaving Alan with the camera to take our photos. The trip on the railway track dropped quite fast into the undergrowth and we were seated at a 45 degree angle backwards so it was very strange and difficult to get out of at the bottom. The temperature was much colder down there because the sun didn’t penetrate the thick foliage. The walk on the boardwalk was very educational, plaques every few yards pointing out facts and information about the area. Then up into the cable car where we dangled metres above the tree tops slowly edging our way back up over the ledge. We left around 4pm to make our way home, where we met Alan and Lynnes youngest son Simon and his girlfriend Nicole who live in an apartment attached to the back of their garage. Their oldest, Nick, was travelling Europe for 3 weeks so we didn’t get to see him. After dinner, Alan put the heater on in the lounge and we settled down to watch the closing ceremony of the Olympics – unfortunately we all began to nod so didn’t see it all and went off to bed before the end.
Day 56 Monday 25th August
Alan and Lynne were out the house before 7am in the morning so we were on our own. We got ourselves breakfast and set off to explore Sydney via bus and ferry. Lynne had kindly spent some time last evening drawing a map of the area, showing us where to find the newsagent to buy a travel pass and where the bus stops were and the numbers that would be useful to us and where they went – this was invaluable.
We found the newsagent, bought the tickets and boarded the bus with minutes, the ride into town was slow and the driver was a bit heavy on the brake so Bob wasn’t feeling good by the time we arrived. We walked a short way and found the skytower where we paid our 22$ and got in the lift to go to the top – some 260 metres above the city. The views were fantastic – I didn’t feel sick at all and we spent ages just looking out the 360 degree windows and taking photos as it was a very bright clear day and you could see for miles. After a cup of coffee we went to go back down the tower but there was only 1 lift working and it took 4 mins each trip with 10 people at time so we waited for 30 mins in the queue to get down. Next was OZTREK a so called 360 degree cinema ride round sites of Australia which was rubbish. We left the building and were heading for the Power House Museum but it was a long walk so we took a monorail which travelled about 15 ft above the street, over the river and stopped at Paddy’s market just round the corner from the Power House museum. Inside we decided to stop for a snack before walking the museum as it had 3 floors. The museum was very interesting, lots of hands on exhibitions, from space travel and computers to historical exhibitions about the people who emigrated to Australia in the early 1900’s. They also had 2 full size steam engines and a very old train carriage with 1st, 2nd and 3rd class compartments, several airplanes and a mock up of a space craft. Time rushed by as we enjoyed ourselves and before we knew it a lady was telling us they were about to close – it was 5pm. We left the museum and walked to Darling Harbour about 15 mins away and caught a ferry to Abbotsford where there was a bus waiting to take us he 5 mins drive to Five Dock where we were staying on the west side of the city. This was much more pleasant travelling. We realized we hadn’t eaten for hours again so we bought a bag of chips and ate them on the way home as we were going straight out again to a quiz with Lynne and Alan. The quiz was very good, we came 4th, it was different to Bobs way of doing it but a most enjoyable evening.
Aug 31, 2008
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