Sydney!

Howdy all!

Bayard here -  Pete invited me to do a guest appearance on his blog, and I’m honored to oblige.  I want to send a shout out to all the people of New Zealand and Australia we have encountered so far, who have been friendly and kind without exception – most especially Pete’s father Ron, and Ron’s partner Angela – they have been most wonderfully generous in their hospitality.

We arrived in Sydney a couple of days ago and (thanks to our hosts) have already seen weeks’ worth of amazing sights and experiences.  Ron came and got us at the airport and gave us an introduction to the Aussie rail system, then we met Angela near her work and we went to lunch.  We also went for a memorable shopping trip where we ran into a helpful fellow who commented on the bread I was considering buying – “Contains Lutien,” he said, “Good for Men’s sexual health.”  You see how helpful people are here? 

The next day, Ron took us on a comprehensive tour of beach beauty spots north of Sydney, including a refreshing swim at an orange-sand beach.  We got some more fish and chips (we’d eaten this twice in NZ) at a shop near a beach.   Through it all, of course, I took hundreds of pictures, the best ones will go on Facebook when I get home.

Yesterday was a tour of the city of Sydney, with full use of a “Daytripper” all day public transport pass (we took ferries, trains, and buses all day for a reasonable one time price.)  We saw Aboriginie street performers, the vast botanical gardens, walked around the striking and famous Sydney Opera House (an architectural feat so ambitious, it took 15 years to build instead of the initially planned 3) not to mention the well known King’s Cross district, which was colorful to say the least.  My absolute favorite part was seeing a never-ending swarm of flying foxes – giant fruit bats with a wingspan of up to 6 feet! 

Today Ron and Angela took us on a nice walk in a National Park and we went to a little beach/camping spot to relax, have tea and then lunch, and then on to another breathtaking beauty spot.  We encountered a small kangaroo on the trail, and one goanna (monitor lizard) in the first spot, and an even bigger one (about 5 feet with his tail) at the second scenic spot! 

Tomorrow is the great northern adventure - we head up north for 12 days in Queensland, with a fair bit of that spent on the great barrier reef - we can’t wait!  Thinking of you all – take care and see you in a couple of weeks!

Bayard