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Intro | Sydney (Ourselves) | The Outback | Cairns | Melbourne | Sydney (Package)

 

Sydney (Package) - (Continued)

Thursday, our final full day of sightseeing in Australia, began like many other days of this vacation; that is, Traci going out for an early morning jog. This time she did five miles but said she had a tough time contending with the crowded city sidewalks due to all the people going to work. I had waited for her to return from her run so that we could eat breakfast together. We were looking forward to eating at City Extra at the harbor. We had stopped there the previous day for scones and hot chocolate. Their breakfast menu looked tasty so we decided to give it a try. During our walk to the restaurant, we noticed that the Majestic Princess cruise ship that we saw depart a week and a half ago had returned. Circular Quay was bustling with tourists this morning. Our pancake breakfast at City Extra hit the spot. I enjoyed it much more than Pancake on the Rocks where we dined during our first visit to Sydney earlier in this vacation.

After our good, hearty breakfast, it was time to begin our itinerary. We would be exploring the city on our own via the Hop On Hop Off (Captain Cook Cruises) tickets included in our vacation package. We stopped by the Number 6 Jetty to pick up our reserved tickets and then boarded the boat when it arrived.

Hop On Hop Off tours are narrated sightseeing tours that make stops throughout the city. If it is a place of interest for you, you hop off and explore. After you are finished exploring, you wait to hop on the next Hop On Hop Off vehicle and continue your sightseeing. Traci and I have done Hop On Hop Off tours in several cities around the world. These have always been bus tours until now. Sydney was the first time we did one on a boat.

Hop On Hop Off Captain Cook Cruises

 

 

 

Sydney is a beautiful city to see from the water - especially on a sunny day like we had that day. Our first stop, took us all the way towards the mouth of the harbor to Manly Beach. Manly has a different vibe from Bondi Beach where we visited the previous day. Whereas Bondi is in an urban environment, Manly feels more like a laid back beach town. There are pedestrian-only streets, beach shops, souvenir shops, eateries, boutique-style hotels, and other places that put you in vacation mode. The beach is large and pretty. Although we were there on a sunny day, it was a little too cool and windy to do much more than look at it. However, we did see a group of school children, presumably from the school across the street, having recess on the beach. I thought to myself how cool that would have been when I was a child.

Manly Beach

 

Traci and I spent about 2.5 hours walking around the Manly area before we caught the Hop On Hop Off boat to our next destination. As part of our package, we had tickets to Sydney's Taronga Zoo. I am not a big fan of zoos anymore. I guess the safaris we've done over the years have spoiled me to the point that I would rather take my chances on getting a glimpse of animals in the wild instead of seeing them in an enclosure. Nonetheless, Traci reminded me that we had already paid for the tickets as part of our vacation package; therefore, we should get our money's worth. With that, we got off the boat when we reached the Taronga Zoo stop. The interesting thing about this stop is that you must take the sky ride in order to get to the zoo entrance. You can get some really nice views of Sydney from Taronga. Traci and I did not spend much time at the zoo. We looked at a few animals for an hour and then caught the Hop On Hop Off boat back to Circular Quay.

The Hop On Hop Off tour and the Taronga Zoo were the last items on the sightseeing itinerary of our vacation package. Traci and I spent the rest of our time in Sydney just walking - a lot of walking! We made our way to the Opera House. We walked around the entire exterior looking for the perfect spot for Traci to pose with her Sydney Half Marathon finisher medal she earned when she ran the race a week and a half ago. It is a cool medal that contains an etching of the Opera House.

From there, we walked up some steps and walked through the Royal Botanic Gardens. There are lots of trees and lots of bird sounds coming from them. We were not that far from the streets so we could still hear the sounds of the city as we walked. Nonetheless, it was a nice change of scenery.

We continued past some of the buildings such as the old hospital, art museum, etc. that we were told about during the I'm Free Walking Tour we did when we first arrived in Sydney. I was amused by how it seemed Traci and I had switched roles during this walk. Normally, I am the one who remembers a lot of details from the sightseeing excursions we do. This time it was Traci who recognized these places and recalled some of the tidbits our guide had given us.

We eventually found ourselves walking through Hyde Park past its intriguing fountains and sculptures. And then, it was across the street to once again stroll through the shopping complexes near Pitt Street. This time we were looking for the Asics store. They sponsored the Sydney Running Festival. Traci wanted to see if they had any apparel left over from the events; however, they did not have anything.

We hit the streets again. By this time, it was rush hour and the sidewalks were very crowded - especially at intersections where people were waiting for the 'Walk' signal so that they could cross the street. I wanted to check out Darling Harbour. It is a harbor somewhat adjacent to Sydney Harbour. We used the long wide pedestrian bridge to get there. Like Circular Quay, there are lots of activities and attractions available at Darling Harbour; however, since we were very hungry at this point, we looked for somewhere to eat. We ended up at the Harbour Bar & Kitchen restaurant in the Harbourside Shopping Centre. We shared a delicious plate of barbeque chicken wings and baby back ribs while enjoying a view of the harbor.

We picked up the pace of our walking in hopes of making it back to the Opera House to hopefully catch the 7 PM light show. I knew we had at least a 25-minute walk to get there from where we were provided we did not make any wrong turns and that we did not have to wait too long to cross the streets. However, I guess the light show was just not meant to be for Traci and me. It was already 7:10 by the time we reached Circular Quay. We were sure the show was over by then. Oh well, our journey there was not for naught. Traci purchased a Sydney hoodie she had had her eye on at one of the shops at Circular Quay. The shopkeeper was kind enough to let Traci in after she had already closed her shop for the day. Whew!

We stopped by the Searock Grill so that Traci could order the lemon tart with passion fruit ice cream. She had seen it on the menu when we had lunch their the previous day. Finally, we stopped by my favorite gelato stand so that I could order my last gelato in Australia. This time I got a scoop of the Copenhagen honeycomb & toffee flavor. Delicious!

Back to our hotel we went after a long day of walking. Traci and I were astounded by how many steps we had put on our pedometers that day. I had registered about 30,000 steps. Traci had over 40,000 since she had gone running before we did all the walking. Normally during this trip, my daily pedometer readings were between 13,000 steps and 22,000 steps.

Goodbye, Australia. We had a great visit!

 

We packed up for the last time on this trip. It was a little easier since the international flight allowed us to check up to two bags per person for free instead of just one per person as mandated for the domestic flights we did in Australia.

The next morning, we were picked up from our hotel at 7 AM in another luxury class Mercedes-Benz. I could get used to this. The rush hour traffic had really slowed things down but our driver knew a way to avoid all the madness and get us to the airport with plenty of time to spare. I was surprised at how far the drop-off point at Sydney's international airport is from the check-in counters. We had to take elevators, escalators, and walk down long corridors with our luggage to get there.

Our flight from Sydney to Los Angeles was pleasant. It was not a full flight; therefore, I was able to get a window seat and Traci had the aisle seat as she prefers. There was no one seated between us thus allowing us more room. Thanks to the jet stream, our trip across the Pacific was only 13.5 hours as opposed to the 15 hours we endured in the opposite direction. Also, since we crossed the International Date Line we gained a day making it appear as if we left Australia on September 28 and arrived home on the same day. During this flight, I spent time working on this trip report. I still enjoy writing them after all these years. They are a fun way for me to reflect on our travel adventures.

After landing in L.A., it took us about 2 hours to get through customs. At this point, we had one last flight to get home. We were aboard the airplane ready to push back from the gate for our flight to Washington Dulles when the pilot announced there was a mechanical problem with the plane. Everyone was required to deplane. I was just thankful they discovered the issue before we took off. We were led to another gate where we boarded a different plane of the same size. It was a full flight. In fact, Traci and I were not even seated together during the 5-hour trip.

The mechanical issue ordeal only delayed our arrival at Washington Dulles by an hour. My co-worker Bob picked us from the airport. Bob likes to travel too. We take turns shuttling each other to/from the airport for trips.

Australia was an awesome trip. We wish we could have stayed longer than two weeks but we were limited by vacation days at work. Speaking of work, I experienced the worst jet lag of any trip we've done when trying to get back on east coast U.S. time. I could not sleep for longer than an hour or two at night but was practically disabled by sleepiness at work during the day. This went on for about a week. Despite this and the long flights, I look forward to traveling to that part of the world again - maybe to New Zealand, South Pacific Islands, or other parts of Australia. Sydney 2023 Cruise Port of Call...

Magnets Purchased on this Trip: (click to enlarge)

Entire fridge magnet collection...

 

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Intro | Sydney (Ourselves) | The Outback | Cairns | Melbourne | Sydney (Package)

 


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