On Friday, November 9, 2012 2:38:43 PM UTC-5, Joy wrote:
> This covers the Sydney part of our trip.
> Saturday, October 27 - We were picked up and taken to the airport for our
> flight to Sydney. Once again, our plane left late, but this time it didn't
> matter, since we didn't have a connecting flight.
> We stayed in the same hotel where I stayed on my first few trips to
> Australia, but it has changed hands. It was never elegant, and there is less
> information available than there was when I stayed there. Still, the
> location is good, because it's right on a main street, where a number of
> buses run. It is also within walking distance of the central railroad
> station.
> After we settled in, we walked around the area to see what was there. Dan
> found out he could get free wi-fi at a couple of nearby places, so he went
> out to do some communicating. He sent an e-mail on my behalf to Barry. While
> he was gone, I called the desk to ask about messages, and was told there
> weren't any. We had dinner at our hotel.
> Sunday, October 28 - Irene & Dave arrived at the airport at 6:15 a.m. They
> were at the hotel a little after 7:00. They were able to check in, but there
> was no room ready for them, so they brought their luggage up to our room. We
> would have vacated the room so they could rest after their flight, but they
> decided to walk around with us instead. We stopped at Starbuck's, a couple
> of blocks from the hotel, and got some pastries for breakfast.
> Irene & Dave were finally able to check in, and went to their room to rest.
> Dan and I took the bus to Circular Quay, and walked around for quite a
> while. We looked at possible cruises, but didn't find one we wanted to do.
> We sat on a bench for a while, by a large open area. A white-haired man
> walked up to a nearby stop, wearing a cardboard sign that said, "Free Hugs".
> I watched for quite a while, and he never pestered anybody, but hugged
> anyone who came to him - male or female, young or old. Finally I went up and
> got my free hug. As he hugged me, he said, "You and I are still young, yeh?"
> We watched a street performer on the way to catch the bus back to the hotel.
> He was a juggler, who had a fairly spectacular act, once he finally got
> around to doing it.
> Later we all went walking, and came across an anti-cruelty(to animals) event
> in a park-like area. There were all sorts of booths, some with literature,
> and many selling things, including food, that contained no animal products.
> That evening we walked down to the Darling Harbor area and then had dinner
> at a steak place, where three of us had kangaroo steak. After we got back,
> Dan went out again to check email, among other things. He found an email
> from Barry, saying he had left us a couple messages. I called the hotel desk
> again and asked about messages. A rather snarky woman said that a light on
> the phone would flash if there were any messages, and then I should press
> '2' to get them. There was no flashing light on the phone. I pressed '2' and
> found two messages from Barry, as well as a couple that were obviously for a
> previous occupant of the room. It was too late to call Barry, so I decided
> to do it in the morning.
> Monday, October 29 - We went downstairs for the hotel's pricey breakfast.
> They had a number of things that weren't bad, but the toast is made by going
> through a roller gizmo that turns it black.
> After breakfast, we went back to our rooms and I called Barry. He suggested
> we take a train to meet him. He told me which train and what stop we needed.
> I called Irene & Dave, & they checked on the computer and found the time. I
> called Barry & told him what time we'd be coming.
> We walked to the station and managed to find our train shortly before it was
> ready to leave. Barry picked us up and drove to a mall, where he went into a
> Woolworth's supermarket and the rest of us looked around the mall. Then he
> drove us to his house, where he and Irene fixed sandwiches for lunch. At
> Dave's suggestion, we ate in the back yard, because it was a nice day. We
> had a lovely visit, and Barry drove us around and showed us various beaches,
> including Manley. He ended by driving us to the dock where we could catch a
> ferry back to Circular Quay. He would have come with us, but he couldn't
> find a place to park close enough to the dock. We walked quite a way, then
> had dinner at The Rocks. After that, we walked some more until we got to a
> train station, and took the train back to the central station, then walked
> to the hotel.
> Tuesday, October 30 - We walked the couple of blocks to the youth hostel for
> our 7:25 pickup for our tour of the Blue Mountains and Featherdale Wildlife
> Park. We had a clear day, so we could actually see the mountains, and the
> view from them. Every time Barry has taken me there it has been foggy, so it
> was nice to be able to see.
> There were three types of ride you could take on the mountain. We took the
> Skyway, which had a floor that turned transparent during the trip. The view
> was quite spectacular. We walked around at the top for a while, then took
> the Skyway back. After that, we got in line for the funicular, planning to
> take the cableway back from where that ride ended. However, the line was
> very long, and we'd been standing a lot by that time. I started feeling
> light-headed, and decided I'd better sit down. There weren't many places to
> sit, but I finally found a couple of granite blocks by the elevators, and
> sat on one. After discussing the situation with Dan and Dave, Irene joined
> me, and we waited while they took the two rides.
> Apparently the funicular takes a steep drop. The described it as being like
> a Disneyland ride.
> Next the bus took us into a small town where we could get lunch. We had
> lunch and walked around for a bit, then boarded the bus again. The
> Featherdale Wildlife Park is a great place to see all the native Australian
> animals, but the tour doesn't allow enough time to do it justice. We were
> able to see wombats, koalas, dingoes, crocs and assorted other critters,
> including a lot of birds.
> We had the option of taking the bus to the youth hostel, or being dropped
> off at the Olympic Park, where we could catch a ferry back to Daring
> Harbour. We chose the ferry. We walked a while, looking for a place to eat
> that was closer to our hotel. My jaw started to ache, and I didn't think too
> much of it. Then my chest started hurting. I had some nitroglycerine pills
> in my pocket, so I took one. After a few minutes I took another, and then a
> third. Finally, I said I needed a place to sit, so they chose a nearby
> restaurant. Once we were seated, I asked Irene if she could read the
> directions on the nitro bottle to find out if I could take another one. She
> said we should call an ambulance, but I thought I was feeling a little
> better, so I suggested we wait a few minutes. Sure enough, the pain went
> away, and I was okay. We had a good dinner, then walked back to the hotel.
> On the way, we stopped for ice cream.
> --
> Joy
> "Listen for differences. Seek them out. Don't surround yourself only with
> those who see the world as you do." - Grant Cornwell
Thanks again, Joy. Sorry you had what must have been at least a slight health scare.
