Shopping, Sun, Sand, and Surf

Playing around near Darling Harbour.

My mom wrote most of this post too...(Mom, when did you do all of these?)

Um, yes, that is my dad planking in a water feature.

Saturday, November 12 began with a walk to Darling Harbour, a harbour just beside the famous Sydney Harbour.  It was quite a diverse shopping center with many restaurants, cafes, and and tourist shops.  There were various fountains and water features as well. 

This is made entirely of Legos!

After using yet another one of Aubree’s fabulous coupons and eating the most delicious pizza, we donned our swimsuits and took a bus to one of Australia’s most iconic destinations, Bondi Beach. 

Busy Bondi Beach

Bondi Beach is a large expanse of a fine white sand gashed out of rock platforms that borders the most beautiful aquamarine water.  Unfortunately, because of the cove’s shape, the swimming area is known for its dangerous and sometimes deadly rip currents.  Perhaps some of you have seen Bondi Rescue featured on one of the cable stations – I have not, but was quickly informed that the show features all of the happenings at the beach, including many swimming rescues.  While we were there, we ourselves saw three successful rescues – and each time, someone in our group could be heard saying, “Bondi Rescue!”  The beach was very popular for tanned and toned bods and a great place to people watch, and as we discovered, it's apparently one of Australia’s topless beaches. We chose not to participate in this custom.  

Listen to the signs...

...or you might get "Bondi rescued"!

Sculpture by the Sea, an annual outdoor sculpture exhibition, was taking place while we were there, so we walked along the oceanfront and saw several unique pieces of art.

Sculpture by the Sea piece

After returning to Sydney, we took a 30-minute ferry boat ride through the Sydney Harbour to Manly, a peninsula lined with fine restaurants and tourist attractions.  The ferry gave us a stunning view of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge spectacularly lit up in the evening sky.  We ate at a German restaurant that featured many kinds of sausage and delicious sauerkraut.  The evening was topped off by some delectable chocolate treats from Max Brenner Chocolate Bar.  -Sue

Sydney Opera House view from Manly ferry.

Lots more posts to come...our day in the Blue Mountains, time spent in Melbourne and along the Great Ocean Road, my adventures with Morgan in Uluru, etc. Thanks for reading!  -Aubree

Harbour Bridge view from Circular Quay.

Darling Harbour and Fenced in the Gardens

Monday was a beautiful sunny day in Sydney.  While Zack worked and before he got home for his birthday celebration, I explored some other parts of the city we hadn't gotten to on Sunday.  I first walked around Darling Harbour.  This is a touristy area with several seafood restaurants and water features.  In this picture, you can see the track for Sydney's monorail.  We never rode it while we were there; we just walked everywhere.

I grabbed some fast food for lunch and ate it on some steps overlooking the water.  Several seagulls gathered around and were eyeing my food, waiting for me to drop some so they could snatch it!  It was about 70 degrees and sunny, which was a nice change from the cold rain we had been getting in Melbourne.

After walking back by the Harbour Bridge and Opera House later in the afternoon to get some sunset pictures, I meandered through the Royal Botanic Gardens.  I saw several strange birds, which I'll talk about in another post.  Anyway, I didn't know they locked every gate at 5pm, so I found myself trapped inside!  This is a picture of the fence near a fountain where I was trapped.  I could see the whole city off to the right, and I needed to get out and back to the hotel before the Birthday Boy got home from work!

Apparently this happens quite often, because a sign like this was posted at every gate.  So I called the ranger, and fifteen minutes later (and after about six other trapped folks had joined me), he came and let us out.  I got home with plenty of time to spare before Birthday Boy left work.  Zack is actually headed back to Sydney for work on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, but I think I'm done with Sydney posts, so tomorrow's blog entry will be about something else.  Hope you're having a good weekend!