Autumn in March

When one is living in SE Asia for a finite period of time, the goal is to get to as many interesting places as possible. That being said, it is not at all surprising that Raye and Paul would take a four day weekend and run off to Australia! Deciding exactly which part to visit took some time but Sydney won out at least for the first go around! There were great resources from friends who had lived there so creating an itinerary was fairly easy. It was quickly decided to spend half the time in Sydney itself and the other half in Hunter Valley to get a feel for Australia’s wine country.

After 24 hour flights to the US, an 8 hour flight to Sydney actually seemed short and flying through the night made for very efficient use of time. A quick transfer at Brisbane still yielded a late morning arrival in Sydney with plenty of day left to explore! It was an absolutely beautiful early Fall day with not a cloud in the deep blue sky. The bridge climb was scheduled for 4:15 so there was ample time for lunch and exploring the Rocks section of the city beforehand.

Up (way up!) on the Harbour Bridge

The bridge climb is a truly unique experience. It is incredibly well organized much like a well oiled machine! Our group was ten people plus our guide Michael. Everyone was outfitted with bridge climbing overalls and everything that could possibly fall off was tethered including the people to the bridge itself!

It wasn’t a physically difficult climb but who cares—we got to climb a bridge-how cool is that!! And, the view from the top (or summit as they called it) was indescribable! We lucked out and got a day with almost no wind and not a cloud in the sky. Raye and Paul were lucky enough to be at the front of the line so got to maximize bridge height time. For many the Sydney Harbor Bridge will just be a way to get across the water but for Raye and Paul it will always be just a little like Mt Everest without the snow!

Bridge climbing can really build up an appetite so dinner that night was spent at Sydney landmark The Australian. It was a wonderful suggestion from friend Ari Fox who said to try one of the really unusual pizzas. We had trouble choosing between Emu, crocodile and kangaroo because all seemed equally adventuresome and delicious. We had to pick one so we chose Emu and decided to save the other two for another time. It was yummy especially when coupled with their home brewed beer. After dinner, we took a walk over the bridge to take in the night views and check out Luna Park.

The next day we took the train and a bus to Bronte Beach and then spent several hours walking along the coast to Bondi Beach. The coastal landscape was rocky much like Hawaii and the water a very deep and absolutely gorgeous shade of blue! Once we got to Bondi Beach we walked along the edge of the water on the sand. We tested the water temperature which was way too cold for any more than wading, although there were plenty of brave people swimming and of course surfing! We noticed hordes of jelly fish on the beach and wondered why people weren’t more concerned! Before heading back to town we had a light lunch in a cute little restaurant that overlooked the water. Since this was our last full day in Sydney we packed in as much as we could.

After getting back to the city from the beach we boarded a ferry that took us under the bridge and around the harbor. It was a great way to see everything from a slightly different perspective! We took a slight detour from our ferry ride to take a somewhat different ride—on the Wild Mouse-an amusement park ride that we found in Luna Park that dated back to the 60’s and was a favorite of both Raye and Paul.

We decided that dinner that night would be a real treat so we made a reservation at a restaurant called Est, another recommendation from our friend Ari. We both agreed that it was one of the best meals and service we had ever had. Right in the middle of our dinner all the lights went out for the annual lights out hour but there were plenty of candles to create just the right atmosphere.

We got up bright and early the next morning, checked out of our hotel and picked up our rental car for the two hour drive to Hunter Valley. On the way out of the city we got to drive over the Harbor Bridge and gave a little wave to latest set of summit seekers.

The trip to Hunter Valley was fun and relaxing and we were glad to have had almost two years of driving on the left practice! We found our bed and breakfast (Spicers Vineyard Estates) without any difficulty and were very warmly greeted. We checked out several wineries and made some kangaroo sightings before having yet another amazing dinner.

After dinner we soaked in all of the serenity and beauty that surrounded us. The sky was very clear and for the first time ever we were able to see the Southern Cross constellation above us. It was just sitting there in the sky the way the Big Dipper is in the Northern hemisphere. It reminded us that we weren’t in Kansas anymore!

After a good night’s sleep we enjoyed a delicious home made breakfast and then we packed up and took in a few more wineries before heading to the Sydney airport and our flight back to Singapore. It was a short but very sweet vacation and really gave us an appreciation for the land down under!!