Notes From: Australia
After our week in the Auckland suburbs, we decided to plan a downtown stay for Sydney. We still rented a car because we knew there were some adventures with distance but mostly it was walking around the city blocks. (And that’s good too because driving with a right wheel and a left lane is taxing on the American brain.)
The house was comfortable, the view was high, and the snacks were plenty. We especially enjoyed that fruit breads were available all over the place. I’m pretty sure Will ate his weight in banana bread, whether you’re measuring by pounds or kilograms.
Since people will ask about Vegemite, let’s just put it here. We took the smallest dollop from the smallest bottle and even then it was too much.
We travelled all around the city seeing the major Sydney things. Most major cities have hop-on, hop-off busses. They are totally touristy and yet so worth it. It’s a quick way to get a layout of the city, decide the parts you want to explore further, and do it all without driving. (See above: brain drain driving.)
After a couple days in the city, we needed some fresh air and took the van out to the Blue Mountains. It’s easy to see why they get that name. As the eucalyptus trees interact with the horizon, the mountains look bluer the further you gaze. It was pretty incredible with waterfalls, Grand-ish canyons, and the famed Three Sisters. We all loved the exploring time.
The boys and I made a day trip down to Melbourne for the Australia Open. (Another major sporting event perfectly timed with our trip. Sooo convenient.)
Melbourne was a busy and modern city and the tennis tournament was the same. Our draw was lucky with Alcaraz and Swaitek scheduled for our time in Rod Laver stadium. You don’t see as many tourist fans to this tennis Major because it’s just so for away. The locals were great to us though and the blue courts were beaming. Just one Major left for us to see. (The grass courts of Wimbledon.)
On our flight each way, we flew over the Snowy River Mountains. No sighting of brumbies, but we all felt a little more Jim Craig having seen it.
Some Australia Highlights
Bondi Beach was booming. Perfect weather, waves, and water. Even with the strong Summer sun, the sand stayed cool to walk on and play in.
Speaking of cool: the boys took surf lessons and killed it.
We took a jet boat tour of Sydney harbor which was exhilarating.
We really, really enjoyed the new Wonka movie in the cinema. We followed up with dinner the way Wonka would have it: frozen yogurt. (You can tell a lot about a person by what they put in their self-serve yogurt cups. I could have identified each of my family members by seeing only their bowls.)
The Land Down Under
We enjoyed this week in The Emerald City. For a third stop, it was just enough foreign while also staying familiar. I’m glad to have finally seen the Australian continent of this beautiful world.
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“Notes From” is a series where I share observations from recent adventures. You can read more of these in the “Notes From” category.