9/19 and 9/20 - Arrval, drive to Cronulla, and walking in Sydney

09/19/2012
Arrived in Sydney for our hospitality stay with Kevin & Jenny in Caringbah (a southern suburb).  We settled into our room, had a nice introductory chat and then had a lovely drive to Cronulla.

 

The beach is beautiful...

Kevin cooked a fabulous dinner for us and we shared some wine, checked the news, chatted some more and then retired for the night. 

09/20/2012 - Today we took the train ($2.50 senior ticket is good for all day on all trains, ferries and buses) from Caringbah to the City Center and then walked through an historic building converted to a lovely mall, past wonderful historic places to Sydney's Circular Quay.

We went to the coffee shop at the Museum of Contemporary Art for a Cappo (Cappucino) and marveled at the views.

Then we walked over to the Opal Shop near the Opera House (Kevin knows the owner and Di got a deal), then looked closer at the Opera House and the Sydney Bridge.

Close look at the tiles of the Opera House

Sydney Bridge, finished in 1932!!

Then we toured the Rocks (a shop/eatery neighborhood) and back around to the the Opera House over to the Royal Gardens.

Police Station in the Rocks

Wonderful old buildings

Bridge from the Rocks

Luna Park - early 20th Century Amusement Park.

Memorial in the Rocks

This hefty thing doesn't hold the bridge...

... This holds the Bridge.  Fabulous Engineering!

The views of the Opera House from The Rocks across the bay are incredible.

We walked back to the right of the Opera House and into the Royal Gardens.  The gardens reminded us of Stanley park in Vancouver, BC.  Though it has just become Spring, the flowers are already blooming quite nicely.

Then we walked by the Barracks Museum (old prison and then used as Military Barracks, passed by Hyde Park, and went by the old hospital buildings (beautifully restored to Drs offices and a specialty hospital). 

We got to the Circular Quay station and took the train back to Caringbah.  What a good day we had.

9/16 thru 9/18 - Glass House Mountains and Preparing to Leave QLD

09/16/2012 - Glass House Mountain Drive and lunch at the 'Secrets by the Lake'.

We saw the weather report and knew we had to get any last ditch tourist drives done before the rains arrive, so we looked at Ron & Dot's suggested excursions and zeroed in on the Glass House Mountains. 



We decided to ride down to the mountains and are glad we did.  Fields are starting to green up with good veggies.




We got to the overlook and found wonderfully different mountains.

I would have trouble with pronunciation... so I'm relying on the camera.

It is said that Lt Cook thought these looked like  the glass furnaces in his hometown.

The mountains were once lava plugs and the volcanoes exterior disintegrated over the last  25 million years






We did the 800 meter walk around the Lookout - hoping to see a koala or some of the other wildlife known to be here, but alas... none were seen. 

We did see a "Squiggly Fir" tree - moths lay eggs, but the larvae don't burrow into the tree, they just make these squiggly lines.

It was a very pretty walk.








We headed over to Mary Cairncross park for a different view of the mountains.  It's a great picnic area in addition to a nature walk.

We did the 45 minute Rain Forest walk (we took over an hour because of the birds we heard and tried to see.  We also caught a look (bad picture though) of a wallaby - so we have the sign.

 

 The beautiful bird is a Regent
Bowerbird. 

He knows he is COOL!





We never saw the Green Catbird (sound like a cat or baby crying).  Dang!

This is a huge Rose or Flooded Gum (Eucalyptus). 






There was a Palm Grove, too. 

It was a magnificent walk!


Then we went toward Lake Baroon to have lunch at Secrets on the Lake. 







The carvings on the doors, the sofa, and everywhere else are excellent.

Their food is great... Thai Green Curry Chicken was so tasty!

Lee is into Flat Whites and I love Skinny Cappuccinos.  Starbucks are hard to find and we have adjusted.








Dessert was a banana cake and a carrot cake - to die for!!!




We got back home and were quite content... another great day.



9/17 and 9/18 - The last 2 days we have prepared to leave for the rest of the trip.

We met with Nola & Michale & Brenda to get keys, directions, and information for our Tasmania trip.

Tomorrow we head to Sydney and a hospitality stay for a week.

Thank you Ron & Dot!!!  Your house is so comfortable and well centered for your guests.   It has been wonderful.