August 31, 2010

We're still seeing the sites here in Sydney and nearby. Sunday we went to the Australian Museum which was a very good museum. I really enjoy museums and I know Gary went just for me because he's not always a museum kind of guy. But he did say he enjoyed it too. They had an impressive indigenous exhibit. Someone also suggested we see St. Mary's Cathedral. It reminded me of Notre Dame in Paris on the outside. Tomorrow is the first day of Spring in this part of the world and flowers are coming up and blooming. It's delightful to see. We also took a ferry ride to Watson's Bay just because we bought a ticket that would allow us on any bus, ferry or train for a week. It was very relaxing. We then walked around a weekend market and went back to our favorite shop to purchase yet more souveniers. We visited one of our favorite restaurants for dinner.

Monday we went by train to Bondi Beach which had been recommended to us by my cousin. It was beautiful! Although we didn't walk in the water, we walked along the boardwalk for a long time and just soaked in the sun, the serenity and the fresh air. It was lovely, as they say here quite a bit.

We are on a time limit for internet use, so I'll have to say good bye before I'm cut off. However,
I just want to say we are on our way home tomorrow and we are so excited. It's been a great experience and we are so grateful!

August 28, 2010

G'day, Mates! We have arrived back in Sydney as of yesterday and we are happy to be back in the sunshine. Our last full day in Auckland it rained but we walked to the Auckland Museum anyway. It contained many native Maori artifacts and they were interesting. However, it made me realize how fortunate we were to have seen the Maori cultural centers first. It all felt much more real while we were with the Maori people. We also went up to the observation decks of the Sky Tower which was very interesting. We could see the whole city in a panoramic view as we walked around the Sky Tower. We stayed up there for quite some time enjoying the view, even in the cloudy, drizzly conditions.

Our travel from Auckland to Sydney was uneventful, just as we like it. The flight attendant even gave me a second Hokey Pokey ice cream treat! Hokey Pokey seems to be a favorite around here. It is yummy vanilla ice cream with little, puffy toffee and caramel treats in it. I'm sure I could eat several of the little cups at a sitting given the opportunity!

We are staying at a Holiday Inn near the airport here in Sydney this time. There isn't much to do within walking distance so we bought an unlimited train, bus, ferry ticket for the few days we'll be here. We went to the Haymarket district where we shopped a little in the market which had all kinds of things to be purchased or eaten. It was so crowded with people doing their Saturday shopping, especially in the produce and fish and meat section. The Haymarket district is very close to Chinatown so we felt a bit like we were in Hong Kong. We decided to eat in Chinatown which was a good experience. The food was delicious. Then we stood in line for and "Emperor's Cream Puff" which is exactly what it is -- an egg custard filled cream puff. They were yummy so we understood why so many people were standing in line for them.

By the way, we've noticed at breakfast that Rice Krispees are called Rice Bubbles and Raisin Bran is called Sultana Bran. I'm getting a kick out of finding words, spellings, and phrases that are different from ours. I guess it's the librarian in me. I've also noticed that books are so much more expensive here than at home, especially kids' books.

Will sign off for now. We're in the last stretch of the trip and we are ready to get home. It has been a wonderful experience and we have a few more days to experience more. We'll let you know what we're up to in the next couple of days.

August 25, 2010

Hi. It's been a week since we've blogged so I'll hit the highlights. We flew to Auckland, New Zealand. Our first snag was a cab driver who had only been in the city for 15 days and barely spoke English. He had trouble getting us to our hotel but did call someone for help. He was very nice but still charged us $84. We don't know if that's fair or not. Anyway, the Best Western which was medium priced was not even medium quality. So we moved to a better hotel at the same price with breakfast included. Much better. It was a suggestion from a travel agent who booked a couple of day tours for us. It has rained a lot since we've been in Auckland. Our first full day here we just wandered around in the rain and our moods matched the weather. It made us appreciate the sun all the more the next afternoon. While it was raining I suggested we each get a tattoo so Gary said he would get one if I did. Well, he called my bluff because you all know I hate needles. Just a bit of sarcastic humor.

We went on an awesome tour on Sunday to several places. First we went to an Agrodome, basically a big farm. We saw ostriches, deer, sheep, alpacas, cows, bulls. One black and white cow had a black heart shape on her side. It was so cute. We saw some Scottish cows that were black except for what looked like a white blanket wrapped all around their middles. They had long fur, about 3 or 4 inches. Our guide let people get off the tractor-pulled vehicle we were riding in to feed some of the animals. Gary did it but I stayed put. Our guide also took us to see a sheep sheared and to feel the wool. Stinky but amazing. We then saw a wool carding machine that was 106 old that had been imported from England. They explained all the processes the wool goes through to make yarn. I kept thinking of all the people I know who knit and would have enjoyed seeing this part of the tour. Then, of course, we ended up in the gift shop where they sold items made with wool, alpaca and possum yarn. NZ has been overrun with possums so they used the fur for yarn and say it makes the wool softer. A pair of possum socks were $43. Crazy!

We traveled on to the Waitomo caves where we went into the cave, saw the beautiful formation of stalagtites and stalagmites and then rode in boats for a short way in the dark where we saw glow worms on the ceiling of the caves. They were like a thousand points of blue lights and were really incredible. I'll spare you the details of the life span, what they eat, etc. unless you really want to know. Now the childrens' song "Shine, little glow worm, glimmer, glimmer" takes on new meaning for me. We arrived at the cathedral part of the cave and were asked to sing to hear the acoustics. I suggested we sing "Twinkle, twinkle little star" and it was really appropriate because the guide then turned out the light and we could see some more glow worms at the pinnacle of the cathedral. Awesome!

We then traveled to Rotorua to see Te Puia Maori concert. Maori are the native people of New Zealand and descend from the Polynesian people from the other South Pacific Islands. In the 1830s the British arrived and the island life changed. We saw a welcoming ceremony by the Maori people and then were invited to enter their meeting house which was incredibly decorated with weaving and tiki carvings, each having special meaning. The Maori then gave a beautiful concert of singing and dancing. I took a special interest in learning about the Maori as I am also interested in the native peoples of our country. A guide told us that all NZ children learn the history of the Maori in school, not just the Maori children.

Yesterday we went on another tour where we saw the meeting house and the area where many Maori chiefs and the British signed a treaty in 1840 to share the resources of the country and live in peace. That is a very shortened version.

We also took an afternoon boat ride where we saw a whale and her baby as well as a pod of dolphins. Some people were prepared to swim with the dolphins but the dolphins kept swimming away from us. It was really fun the watch the whales and dolphins. It was also a beautiful day for which we were very grateful.

August 18, 2010

Today found us at a place for lunch called Aqua Dining. It was a very fancy place that overlooked an olympic-size pool and Sydney Harbour. The food was gourmet which we weren't prepared for, but we stayed. I had an appetizer (which are called entrees here and entrees are called mains) which consisted of fried zucchini flowers filled with a mushroom confit surrounding brussel sprout salad on a soft cheese. The main was barramundi fish on spinach and surrounded by sauteed basil gnocchi and asparagus. Gary had scallop soup and fried prawns. We each had a glass of wine. They did order beef cheek on the menu so imagine this to be a Michael Symon kind of place.

We took the ferry over to the other side of the harbour and went to a jeweler that had been recommended to Gary. I had been to several jewelers and places that just sell opals. I did lots of research on opals and had a peace about the place where we finally went. I had been there last week and found the opal that really made me smile. Gary was very generous in purchasing it after trying negotiating. He did well. I now have a black opal which is the rarest form of opal, followed by a boulder opal and then white opals which are the kind we usually see in the States. Opals are mined in Australia only. Black opals are not really black. They are blue/green opals with lots of brilliance found in black rock. It is gorgeous and will represent my birthday, anniversary, Christmas gifts for the next couple of years! I am so grateful.

Tomorrow we fly to Auckland, New Zealand so you'll be hearing from us next from there.

August 17, 2010

We had a wonderful day today in a very "touristy" way. We started out in a cafe having a muffin and "flat white" which is a fluffy, steamy cup of coffee and milk kind of like a cappuchino. You can't really get a plain cup of coffee. But this is really good. I think maybe Gary described this in a previous post. We went to the incredible Sydney Opera House for a tour which was very interesting and awe-inspiring. This is an awesome feat of engineering. We went into the symphony hall where a few of the musicians were beginning to practice for tomorrow night's symphony which I really wish we could attend. The cost per ticket is over $200. We are going to pass on that. We purchased a set of pictures where they superimposed our images in front of various scenes of the opera house with a CD of pictures of the construction of the opera house. Pretty cool. We then went on to the Botanical Garden which was also beautiful. The day was gorgeous, as have almost all of the days we have been here. Gary said Melbourne was much more rainy and chilly. But we are getting closer to Spring here.

We walked on to the State Library of New South Wales which had a wonderful exhibition of one of the most famous governors of Australia, Lachlan Macquarie. Gary read a book called Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia's Founding by Robert Hughes so he was interested as well. Okay, end of history lesson. I was very interested and found the library quite amazing. It was a beautiful old building, very "stately" (no pun intended--okay, pun intended).

Signing off to skype with Krista and family...

August 16, 2010

Hi! First you get to see pictures before you read my comments. The first picture is pretty self-explanatory. Don't miss the cute, cuddly koala on the tree branch. We were on an excursion by tour bus yesterday, Sunday, to the Blue Mountains and we were at our first stop which is Featherdale Wildlife Park. It is a preserve for Australian animals and many just roam free. We were walking along when suddenly a small kangaroo came hopping across the trail paying no attention to us at all. The white kangaroos were enclosed but the white peacock was not. That was the first time I had ever seen either a white kangaroo or a white peacock. In the next photo of kangaroos, notice the baby's head peeking out of the mother's pouch. Adorable! The next picture shows one of the rock cliffs of the Blue Mountain Range, although the pictures just don't do it justice. We saw some breathtaking views of the mountains and valleys below. The last picture is of the three outcroppings of rock called the Three Sisters. Wish I had asked the reason they are called that. These last two pictures were taken at a place called Scenic World where we took a cable car ride across Jamison Valley, walked around on a boardwalk in a temperate rainforest, then went back up the very steep incline in a railway car to the top again. It was awesome and somewhat scary. I'm really glad we did it. We had lunch at a golf club called Katoomba Golf Club where Gary went to get a score card. Of course, the distance between the holes is measured in meters, not in yards. Our tour guide showed us many sites on the way to and from the Blue Mountains and gave lots of good facts and stories about Sydney, the Blue Mountains, and Australia in general. It was well worth our time and money.

When we arrived back at our hotel we set out for my favorite place called Guylians for quiche, salad, a sweet roll and hot chocolate. Delicious! We slept well last night!

I told Gary he needs to write the next post for what he did today. I shopped a little, found a bead store and purchased some pretty beads. I also found the opal pendant at a jewelry store that I'd like to have. We are thinking about it. Tonight we were invited out to dinner by the woman Gary was working for while here in Sydney. She was very nice and we enjoyed ourselves very much. She took us to a wonderful fish/seafood place.

Friday, August 13

Tuesday was a rainy, chilly, windy day so I spent a good bit of the day in the room just enjoying reading, writing, emailing and napping. I did venture out to lunch at the nearby church coffee shop. I was introduced to another American woman who lives in downtown Chicago. Her husband works for IBM and is training people just like Gary is doing for his company. She has relatives in Parma, Cleveland Heights and other parts of the greater Cleveland area. It's a small world after all. My plan was to go to the Museum of Contemporary Art but I wasn't going to get soaked. Our highlight of the evening was skyping Krista and the boys. We really miss them. Rob is off in Arizona with his guy friends and will arrive home Friday night.



Wednesday was a beautiful day so I walked quite a ways to the David Jones store (kind of like a Nordstrom). I found a lovely blouse for only $645. Luckily my better judgement prevailed and I passed it up. On the bottom floor they have what they call a foodhall where they sell delicacies of all kinds. It was like a huge food court so I had lunch (spinach and tomato pizza) while I sat next to two ladies enjoying sushi. I couldn't look. Then I hit the bakery for some cookies.

Thursday I went out for awhile to a nearby park where people were lunching and reading and just enjoying the day. I spent a good part of the afternoon researching different parts of New Zealand for our trip there next week. We were planning on going to Queenstown on the South Island which was recommended to Gary until I learned that it is peak ski season and air fares were around $912 per person. And it's cold and not much to do unless you like to ski. So we are going to Auckland on the North Island which is close to places for day trips. It's about a 3 hour plane ride to Auckland but about half the air fare that it would have been to Queenstown. The weather is milder, like it is here. It's been sunny and chilly and breezy, but we are comfortable in the jackets we brought. We're loving the sun! We've only had 2 days of rain since I've been here.

Last night we went to Guylian Chocolate store that serves lunch and supper. We had quiche and salad which was delicious and then, of course, hot chocolate. They gave Gary a chocolate shake which he had not ordered but went ahead and drank anyway because he didn't want to complain. Then they brought his "super hot chocolate" with lots of whipped cream and he finished that off too. I had a yummy berry muffin with my hot chocolate. I mentioned to him that it is a good thing we are walking so much to work off all the extra goodies we are enjoying. He makes fun of me talking about food in the blog, but food is interesting to me, especially in another country. So I'll keep writing about it.

Today I had lunch at my favorite coffee shop at the church down the street. I invited a delightful elderly lady who sat alone at a table too to have lunch with me. She has always lived in Sydney. We had a lively conversation about many things. She wondered if I had climbed the bridge. No way. No way. No way. She said she never did it either because of her fear of heights. She gave me more ideas of places to go. There is lots to do in Sydney. I spent part of the afternoon going to opal stores which are everywhere since opals are mined in Australia. We are thinking of buying a necklace and earrings, but I don't think we are getting any deals just by buying them here. I am learning a lot about opals which I've always loved. I wanted an opal engagement ring but we were told they are not very strong stones and wouldn't hold up well in an engagement ring. We shall see.

Bye for now. We are going to skype Krista now.

Hello again from Down Under. First of all, since I didn't label the pictures, yessterday's post included the kookaburra, a koala (which I'm sure you all knew) and a picture of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. For those hearty souls looking for a challenge, one can choose to climb the bridge on the outside of it for a fee becasue they do strap you on so as not to fall. I haven't looked into it because I am not one of those hearty souls, but I met a lady on the ferry who was about my age and who told me she did it even though she has had surgery on both legs and her back. She said she wants to climb it again and that it's just wonderful. More power to her or else she's a little "off in da head" in my book!

The first picture attached to this post is of a boat in that is part of the Maritime Museum in Darling Harbour around the point from Sydney Harbour. The second is a view on our way to Manly Beach. The third is yours truly at the beach all snuggled up warm while some of those people were in swim suits on the beach or in wet suits in the water. Most people were at least wearing jackets but some brave souls were trying to bring on Spring. It is still winter here, although it is mild for the most part. The last view is just more of the cove around Manly Beach. It was beautiful and watching the water is quite calming. It reminded me of my trips to California with my sister Carol and my niece Lisa who is nice enough to live near the Pacific. Now we're half a world away seeing the Pacific. It's unbelievable! Scroll down.........

9 August 2010 - Okay, so by now you can tell that the style of this blog has changed since Janet's arrival. Now you will be hearing about mostly the touchy-feely stuff and about food. More pictures of birds and less of buildings. Oh well, guess that's the difference between a librarian and an engineer.

Starting my final work week here today, so got to go....

August 8, 2010

I tried to add to the blog last night but I'm finding that the wine every night with dinner is keeping me from making a lot of sense much less staying awake to write. I'm such a lightweight; after only one glass of wine I'm pretty sleepy. It's before dinner now so I'll let you know how we've spent the weekend so far.

Saturday morning we found a pancake restaurant. Yippee! It was yummy. They serve crepes too so we'll go back. We took the ferry to the Taronga Zoo. Mostly we wanted to see the Australian animals so we sought them out first. I must say that the Cleveland Zoo Australian section is very good in comparison. What I really did enjoy was seeing a kookaburra bird up close and personl. It is a beautiful bird and even though it didn't "laugh" for us, I was so happy to see it. Gary took a couple of pictures which I plan to have him add to this post. The kookaburra made me think of Girl Scout days when we learned a song that went like this: "Kookaburra sits in an old gum tree, eating all the gumdrops he can see. Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra, save some there for me. Ha Ha Ha." Of course, they don't eat gumdrops but that's the silly song. We saw a trainer feeding a brown bear. He was tossing apples to the bear and basically playing catch with him because the bear caught almost all the apples in its mouth. A peacock opened its feathers beautifully for us. We saw baby and adult elephants being fed which was cute because the babies were chasing the trainers for the food. We covered most of the zoo and then took the ferry back to the hotel to rest awhile. Oh yes, we also walked around the street fair that I spoke about on my last post.

We found a really good Italian restaurant for dinner. Okay, I had sangria this time and delicious vegetarian lasagna. Gary had veal marsala. We were hungry because we skipped lunch after such a big breakfast. We then went to a Guylian Chocolate Restaurant for dessert. Gary had a hot chocolate with whipped cream for $9 and I had a plain hot chocolate $8 with a shortbread cookie $3.50. This is on par with Godiva chocolates I suppose you'd say. Oh yes, there was a piece of chocolate candy in my cup before I poured in the hot chocolate from the pot. Yummmmm. It was my kind of place! We waddled on back to the hotel to call it a night.

This morning we found ourselves back at the pancake house where I had Monte Cristo crepes (ham and cheese) and salad. One thing we've noticed here is that most people eat salad without salad dressing. You have to ask for oil and vinegar if you want salad dressing. Gary had pancakes and sausages. We than took a ferry to Manly Beach. There is a lovely city there but the main attraction is the beach. The water is beautiful and many people were in the water. Those people in the wateere were wearing wet suits so it must have been cold but there were lots of people laying on the beach, playing volleyball, building sand castles, etc. We walked all around the beach area and went to a very small art museum about the area. After an ice cream cone and wandering around their street fair, we caught the ferry back to Sydney. It's only about a half hour ride with beautiful views of the water and Sydney. This is definitely family day. We saw lots of children with parents and little and big dogs too. Pretty soon we'll head out to dinner but Gary's going to download pictures now so I'll sign off for now.

Friday, August 6

Yesterday the jet lag seemed to get to me. I had to drag myself out and felt groggy all day. Gary had said the 3rd day was when the jet lag hit him too. I wanted to check out the Catholic Church down the street. It's called St. Patrick's and is one of the oldest and busiest Catholic churches in Sydney. They have 11 Masses on Sundays and 5 Masses on weekdays. It is run by Marist priests and there are 6 at this parish. It is a beautiful church. There were several people in there when I was in there about 3 p.m. Today I went back for Mass at 10:30 a.m. and then went to their coffee shop for lunch. There was a wonderful, warm, sweet aroma wafting from the coffee house. It was such a welcoming aroma and the people inside were very welcoming too. The shop used to be the convent chapel that has been restored and is beautiful in itself. The shop is run by a nun and 6 different volunteers per day. They are open Sunday through Friday from 10:00 until 2:00. I visited with the nun and a couple of the volunteers, one of whom had just taken a month-long trip to Alaska and Vancouver and had found it lovely. By the way, "lovely" is a word used often here. The volunteers were interested to hear that my parish in Ohio has a coffee shop too. I will go back there for lunch again while we are here next week. It's fascinating to talk to the locals. They definitely had the gift of hospitality.

I have been doing some research on opals in different shops around here. Opal shops are everywhere here. I'm sure we need to be very careful in making a purchase. I asked Gary to ask his co-workers for a reputable jeweler.

Today I wandered around a steet fair and through several shops selling all kinds of souveniers and clothing. Scarves are definitely the thing to wear here. Gary and I are going to a market this weekend, kind of like West Side Market or Soulard in St. Louis except they include clothing and souveniers. I'll compare prices with those of all the shops I've been visiting. I'm fascinated by the aboriginal art. I'm looking forward to it.

We went to a place called Wolfie's tonight for dinner. Very nice but very pricey. I'm off to dreamland!

By the way, I didn't realize that I needed to bring a certain cable for my camera to download my pictures. So I need to retrace some steps with Gary's camera so I can show you some of the places I've been.

Good day, Mate! Jan signing on to share my experiences so far. The trip went smoothly but was very loooong! I slept a good part of the trip both to Los Angeles and also to Australia. They keep the plane dark so everyone will try to adjust to the time change. I'm surprised the flight crew can see what they are doing. I arrived in Sydney about 6:00 a.m. and after customs (where a beagle had to sniff my luggage because I claimed the snacks I had as bringing food into the country) I stood in "rank" meaning "line" to wait for a taxi. I arrived at the hotel about 8:00 a.m. just as Gary was preparing to leave for work. I settled in and went online to let everyone know I had arrived until the computer needed a power source. I was just ready to leave the hotel and had pressed the button for the "lift" when Gary appeared to see how I was settling in. He walked with me down to the quay, pronounced "key" and returned to work while I ate lunch and meandered around for a couple of hours. Finally, my body was screaming for sleep so I went back to the hotel for a nap. Ahhhhh! When Gary arrived after work we walked to dinner. I love walking to everything we need or want.





I slept well and woke about 8:00 a.m. So it seems as if I have adapted to the time change. I did have to think awhile about what day it is. I went to the bank today to change more money and to learn about the coins they use for currency. The bills are easy and the rate of exchange is almost equal to US money. I am beginning to research opals because Gary said we can purchase opal jewelry here for my birthday. He had told me this on my birthday. There are opal sellers everywhere. It will be interesting to search out a good, reputable place to purchase. I've visited an aboriginal art dealer, a couple of galleries of contemporary artists and want to go to the Contemporary Art Museum. I've been in a book store, of course, as well as an UGG boot store and gift shops. Yesterday I saw a gentleman on the quay by the harbour who plays the didjeridu, a long wooden horn that is very difficult to play. When I was in the aboriginal art dealer store, I asked about the rainsticks. He looked at me like I had two heads and asked me what I meant. I indicated what I thought were rainsticks but are really the didjeridu. Gary saw him last weekend and bought one of his CDs.



I also wandered into a huge building called The Customs House which turned out to be a public library! I couldn't believe it! It is a 3 story library but the children's dept. is very tiny. It was explained to me that there aren't many children in the city so I'd need to go to another branch to see a bigger children's dept. Under the main floor, much of which was clear, was a layout of the city of Sydney. It was amazing. I took a picture, but the lights reflecting from the ceiling made it unclear. It was an experience. I suppose my "library blood" just draws me in! I was told by a library employee to visit a newer branch that has won some awards for being green. I may go check it out.

31 July 2010 - Saturday:


Quantas flight this morning from Melbourne to Sydney as will be working the next two weeks in the Sydney office.


Hotel is again in the downtown near the Circle Quay harbor area which have good view of from the room on Level 12. (See pictures below.) After arriving and getting settled in went exploring on foot to the harbor area. Early dinner at an Italian restaurant in the harbor area.

Circle Quay has tons of restaurants, cafes, shops and stores - pretty touristy. Public transportation also big in Sydney - centered mostly on buses, rail and boats. Do not use electric trams in city area like Melbourne. Sydney also a great place to walk and even more hilly than Melbourne (and steeper hills, too). Then walk from hotel to the office is couple of blocks as in Melbourne. Roamed around Circle Quay for a while after dinner.


Weather here seems nicer than in Melbourne. Sydney is north of Melbourne, but in Australia, need to go north for better weather vs. going south in the US.


Pictures below are all views from hotel room.






Sydney Harbor Bridge.

One of the ferries that run constantly through Circle Quay.

View from the hotel room.

Another....

A new interesting tid-bit - the toilets in Australia do not have toggle handles - rather two "buttons". One button is for half flush and second is for full flush - you figure it out!!