Joe trying Victors new boat
After the Christmas cheer had passed we planned our departure form KL. The grueling job of packing our rucksacks was eased with some cold beers and a small box of somethings being left behind.I was entrusted with the purchasing of the bus tickets for Singapore. This resulted in us having to be up about 5.30am ish Fri 28th to grab our bags wave goodbye to the luxury of Max & Joanie's apartment and hop in a taxi for the bus station down town. Six hours of a journey brought us across the strait of Johor and into the heart of Singapore. We had a few hours to kill in the airport and then were greeted by Victor in Sydney airport at 7.30am Sat 29th. We were truely grateful to be collected especially at such an early hour in the middle of Victors holidays. We dropped our bags in Victor & Craig's apartment in the centre of Sydney, grabbed a cup of tea and flushed the toilet to check the direction of flow. Tests are continuing.... The beach was next on the agenda and a short drive brought us to one of Sydney's lovely beaches for a swim in the South Pacific. At this stage we did begin to feel we were squeezing a bit too much into the last few days of 2007!
We stayed a week in Sydney in total. Our days were packed with regular swims on the many beaches and a few boat trips. We went for an afternoon of kayaking in Royal National Park which was followed by some rather tasty apple pie with ice cream. Another day we rented boats and paddled out from Rose Bay into Sydney harbour to Shark Island which we carefully circumnavigated. Joe, being the better at steering a kayak, took the rear seat. This also meant I couldn't take too many rests!! Our efforts were rewarded with a fine lunch of fish and chips from a nearby shop. Our lack of seagull spray meant we had to be extra vigilant.
One morning Joe tucked Victor's surfboard under his arm & I grabbed my bikini and we got a ferry out to Manly Head, across the harbour. There was a massive swell and Joe braved the waves to catch some surf. Most of the other people surfing were about a third of his age and ripping it up, but I can safely say he did Ireland proud!! We went to a selection of fine restaurants in the city and got a small taste of what it has to offer. There are plenty of parks to wander about in and enjoy the shade from the trees, while spotting fruit bats dangling from their feet and beating their wings gently to stay cool. The waterfront is lined with beaches or harbours and public walkways, with plenty of opportunity for coffees, pies or ice-cream.
For New Years Eve we were generously treated. Victor & Craig got us tickets to access a park with a full view of the opera house and Sydney Harbour bridge. We had a fine picnic dinner with a group of their friends and then sat back to watch the fabulous fireworks ringing in the new year!!! There were two fine shows of pyrotechnics; a short display for the youngsters at 9pm ( which had everyone ohhing and ahhing!) and a huge display, launched from the bridge, a few high rise buildings and many boats in the harbour for midnight. It was all arranged to music and had us all upstanding and gobsmacked.
For our last day in Sydney we took a tour of the art gallery and the Opera house. It was lovely to see inside the opera house's different concert rooms and also to appreciate the massive job which its construction presented (even on holiday were still engineers!!!).
The evening of Jan 4th once again found us packing. Now with a two man tent to fit in my rucksack, I said goodbye to a few more clothes. Joe chose to wear his new boots on the plane and squeeze his new sleeping bag into his hand luggage.
AT 6.30am Jan 5th we bailed into another taxi, waved goodbye to a very tolerant and kind Victor & Craig and headed to the airport. Sparing a thought of course for my brother, David, who climbed even closer to middle age!! We blew our last few Australian dollars on a noodle breakfast and headed to Christchurch, New Zealand.
Posts
