Nope, not our alarm clock set for 7:30am. The hotel fire alarm at about 6am. I had to explain to a very befuddled Scott what was going on. Fortunately, it was probably just someone trying to take a shower (there were warnings posted in the elevators explaining how showering might set them off) and not an actual fire. Just drifting back to sleep when the alarm clock went off. We had to get a bit of an early start in order to see a bit of Sydney before driving down to the timeshare, so we got up and decided to hit the Krispy Kreme next door for breakfast.
We decided to take the back stairs down into the parking lot instead of the main stairs through the lobby. WEEEOOOOO!!!! WEEEEEOOOOO!!!! Whoops, that fire door wasn't labeled as having an alarm. Go, go! Walk away, and try to look normal. Doughnuts were pretty delicious although two of them was probably one too many.
O.K. Let's get outta here! We loaded up the car and headed out to the Sydney Opera House and Royal Botanical Gardens. The day was a bit...moist...and we were sadly lacking in bumbershoots and jackets but that's O.K. It just meant that the attractions were not nearly as crowded as they could have been.
People walking to the top of the harbor bridge.
We saw A Folly for Mrs. Macquarie and her Chair. Also many beautiful flowers and birds.
Not to mention cool trees. This one had fallen over and could not be stood back up without risking breaking the trunk.
During a particularly moist time (A.K.A torrential downpour), we took shelter in a gazebo by the rose garden.
Very neat greenhouse.
Mrs. Macquarie's Chair. This was as far away from the garden entrance by the Opera House as possible, so as we were sloshing along, a common phrase was, "This better be one awesome chair." It was O.K. but the view was a bit lacking due to some tree growth and dock building since Mrs. Macquarie's time.
This cheeky guy really wanted a bite of our toasted sandwiches.
"Wild" cockatoo.
"Wild" parrot?
Weird succulent flower.
Government House.
You may notice from this picture that we are getting on the harbor bridge. This is a little odd since the bridge is north of Sydney and we wanted to go south. Navigation fail. Also, we expect to receive a toll bill in the mail any day now since you cannot pay cash for the toll, but instead must purchase a pass ahead of time. Too bad we didn't plan on taking a wrong turn that left us no choice but to go over the bridge. Trust me, we tried to pay this fee while still in the country, but the whole toll "system" is very broken. Do not get us started...
Just in case you needed verification that Australia is an enormous country/continent, this sign says 939km to Melbourne.
Dark City anyone?
Finally made it!
Lovely view of entrance.
Living room of timeshare.
The actual condo was also quite nice, but I'll post more pictures of that later. After we unloaded the car, we again were pretty hungry and needed to stock up on some food. We were directed by the check in desk to a relatively close IGA (I have only seen them in northern Michigan until now, but apparently they are in 45 countries) in the neighboring town of Surf Beach which was blissfully right next to a pizza place. The pizza was quite good although they did not use mozzarella cheese. I also got a "spider" to drink which I thought was like a root beer float, but ended up being a pink drink with ice cream in it.
After eating and shopping we were pretty tired, so called it a night, but we did see some kangaroos on the way home! Again sadly no pictures.
Government House.Sadly, we didn't have too much time to spend as we still had a four hour drive down to the timeshare we were staying at in Tomakin, NSW, so we grabbed a quick bite at the Opera House outdoor cafe and got on the road.
You may notice from this picture that we are getting on the harbor bridge. This is a little odd since the bridge is north of Sydney and we wanted to go south. Navigation fail. Also, we expect to receive a toll bill in the mail any day now since you cannot pay cash for the toll, but instead must purchase a pass ahead of time. Too bad we didn't plan on taking a wrong turn that left us no choice but to go over the bridge. Trust me, we tried to pay this fee while still in the country, but the whole toll "system" is very broken. Do not get us started...
Just in case you needed verification that Australia is an enormous country/continent, this sign says 939km to Melbourne.
Dark City anyone?It was a looooonnnng and pretty dull drive south along the coast although I did see three echidnas (although sadly got no pictures) and we stopped at a roadside stand to buy fresh mangoes.
Finally made it!
Lovely view of entrance.When we first arrived, we were a bit nervous because the property at the entrance was under construction and made it look like a bit of a dump, but once inside the Moorings, it was much nicer. The resort had a small indoor pool, "hot" tub (not actually hot, just bubbly), a tennis court, small playground, a game room, an "adults only" game room, docks, boat rentals, and BBQ's (actually outdoor gas griddles).
Living room of timeshare.The actual condo was also quite nice, but I'll post more pictures of that later. After we unloaded the car, we again were pretty hungry and needed to stock up on some food. We were directed by the check in desk to a relatively close IGA (I have only seen them in northern Michigan until now, but apparently they are in 45 countries) in the neighboring town of Surf Beach which was blissfully right next to a pizza place. The pizza was quite good although they did not use mozzarella cheese. I also got a "spider" to drink which I thought was like a root beer float, but ended up being a pink drink with ice cream in it.
After eating and shopping we were pretty tired, so called it a night, but we did see some kangaroos on the way home! Again sadly no pictures.
Posts
1 comment:
Very cool. So would like to go to Australia some day. But very sad you didn't get to see the penguins. :(
Post a Comment