Australia Week 1 with photo blog #5
Sydney and north with friends
Our first week in Australia was a whirlwind trip – seeing as
much country as our friends could manage in a short time period. Our first day
was stressful in advance but not in actuality. On our previous QE cruise we
were able to do the Australian Immigration on the ship between Auckland and
Sydney but this time we had to do it on land and we had a train to catch. I
stressed for several days but it went very smoothly and super quick.
We had to get an Opal Card (can keep it forever 😊)
to add money to for local and regional trains, ferries, and buses. It really
worked well but we didn’t want to load too much since there are no refunds (and
you have to put specific amounts on, not just what you need). Anyway, we used it
a lot that week.
We took the train to meet Robyn and Cecilia, friends from our previous cruise on the Queen Elizabeth north of the city on Day 1
to go out on their yacht with them. It’s a life we aren’t used to at all, so it
was great – rain threatened throughout the day so we didn’t get the sails up,
but it was still really fun. Stan got to “drive” most of the back, with lots
and lots of instruction. Very fun day on the water and another easy train ride
back into the city and dinner and our last night on-board for this segment.
Day two was mostly getting settled with another friend (actually Robyn's cousin, Colleen) – or at
least getting our stuff set into her apartment. That night we went to a bar with
her to a rotating bar/restaurant so she could show us the sights. It was fun.
We had to adjust our packing to take just a minimum of items with us for a four
night trip and leave the rest neatly in her apartment.
We met our friends again on Day 3 – finding our way to a
different train station near their home. They toured us around the famous Blue
Mountains, including all the trams available to go up and down and across the
gorges – very fun. Then we had a tour around to the east of the mountains (though
I’m still a bit foggy about exactly where we were) through farm land and back
to stay with them overnight. This was our first marathon car ride for the week
(if you don’t count the sailing day).
Day 4 came plenty early, after enjoying a new little cottage/studio
they have built in their back yard. We were the first occupants – nice little
space. They had offered to take us on the scenic route to other friends in Maitland
(Hunter Valley), a couple of hours north of Sydney). We took at least 4 – 5 hours,
taking small local car ferries and driving along the Hawkesbury River (further
upstream from where we had sailed a few days earlier). It was a great trip,
seeing even more of the bush around Sydney. We arrived at our friend’s place in
Maitland about tea time, but our driver (and tour guides 😊)
wanted to beat most of rush hour, so they took the quicker way back home.
We met Carol and Terry on a Prinsendam cruise of the Mediterranean several years ago and then enjoyed a nice hike at Watson's Bay with them when we were here three years ago. This time we went to their place on a hill overlooking Hunter Valley - beautiful location. We were in for another really interesting day on Day 5 – into
the Barrington Tops – way out in the hills to the west in a very remote area.
Our friend had been a part of the team that mapped and photographed the area to
get the wilderness and heritage designation. After going over the top we went
down into sheep station country on the other side. They are in such a huge
drought on that side that the brown ground is all that is showing. There were a
few cattle but an area that would have been all sheep 30 years ago was almost
empty. Terry had worked on a sheep station for a short while when he was
young and took us by that place, then to a famous Australian station (Beltrees)
where we explored the large sheep shearing shed. The British Royal family has visited
there in the past but it’s now more B&Bs and educational with a modified
beef operation.
We had a beach day on Day 6, exploring several beaches,
beach towns, and favorite family spots with them. We then went to their holiday
house for a nice picnic lunch on the balcony overlooking the sea. While we had
planned a little dip in the sea at their local small beach, it got a little too
cool and then some rain came in (back at the house, our “drying” laundry was
drenched.
Our last day with them (Day 7 in Australia) was a morning in
Newcastle, where our ship had actually visited after we disembarked. It has
been a big coal port (still is) but is working really hard to improve its
waterfront area to appeal to the tourists and locals. It has a very nice promenade.
We also went to the ANZAC bridge – which goes between two beaches and looks out
over the city and the sea. There are ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Corp)
memorials in all towns – remembering those lost in WWI.
We then took a 14:00 train back to Sydney, and a couple of
days to explore on our own. It was a non-stop 5 days of seeing everything our
friends could fit in – we so appreciated their willingness to share a bit of
their world with us. Such fun.
Stan's Photo Blog - Trip Report #5
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