Auckland, NZ - We made it!

Hello, New Zealand!

We arrived into AKL around 5:00am this morning. The flight was a piece of cake (only 12 from LAX), and customs were a breeze. We were out of the airport in no time. However, this did pose the problem (which we were well aware of), it was way too early to check into the hotel. But, we figured it couldn’t hurt to stop by - best case senecio, they’d be willing to hold our bags for us until the room was ready. 

Good news! The Holiday Inn we stayed at was very willing to hang onto our bags for a few hours. Perfect- after 24 hours lugging them around, we were thrilled to store them safely as we explored the area. 

Now, by this time, it was hardly 7:00am. So, we went to a cafe down the street to grab some drinks (smoothie/coffee). We’re back to Flat White territory. Ryan’s thrilled! And, then we headed out to explore the area. Despite the drizzle, the landscape and nature is beautiful!

We were able to get into the room earlier than expected, which was great news. We were both eager to shower after all the traveling. We relaxed for a bit before heading out to the Post Office for some food. Quality spot- both food and cider were delicious. The beer selection was decent, too.

NSW, AUS - Too Soon

It's time to head home, and we're not ready to go yet..

The days have flown by down here in Sydney. It's been the perfect combination of busy sight-seeing and relaxing scenic walks. But, there's so much we haven't done, so many places we have yet to explore. We knew it was going to be a short trip, but didn't anticipate this amount of reluctance to leave. We'll happily return someday - until then, one last dip in the ocean.

NSW, AUS - Pylon Tower

Since we didn't make any decision while shopping on Saturday, we ventured back out on Monday to find children's books and artwork.

It was harder than it should have been to find a bookstore. We found the right mall, but kept walking circles without finding any books. The lady working the information center was helpful once we found her, and she directed us to Dymocks.

Dymocks had just the section we were seeking: Australian Children's Books. There were three full shelves of popular and classic kid's book. We spent at least 40 minutes pouring through books with the simple goal of finding a couple "good ones" to bring home. As we searched, we defined "good ones" as books that felt Australian and had a well-written plot.

After much deliberation, we settled on three:

Satisfied with our purchase, we headed back to The Rocks with high hopes the art we liked hadn't been sold. Fortunately, it was buried right where we left it!

As previously decided, we chose a traditional Aboriginal dot painting. It has vibrant colored dots of red, orange and white, along with black symbols that look like arrows pointed at a black circle.

The map actually shows a watering hole with emu tracks leading to it. As the story goes, the members of the tribe would lure the emus to the watering hole using an Emu Caller. (It looks similar to a mini didgeridoo, but is played differently.) Then, while the emus were distracted and drinking water, others would steal the emu eggs from the nest. These eggs were an essential food source for the tribe.

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Our last stop was the Pylon Tower; it's a lookout point attached to the Harbor Bridge. We expected a pretty simple climb: a tower with a bunch of stairs and a look out on the top. It turned out to be pleasantly informative! Many of the tidbits our climb guide shared were explained in the Tower. There was a complete history displayed along with general facts about the bridge.

And, I was excited to find the name of Vincent Kelly - I remembered the story, but forgot the name.

A bloke called Kelly fell 150 feet (nearly 50 meteres) off the deck of the bridge into the water and survived with two broken ribs. When they got him out his boots were split right open and were up around his thighs. They gave him a gold watch. 

According to our guide's further detail on the event - Vincent was a decent diver. The day he fell it was because tripped over his toolbox. The toolbox hit the water first, breaking the surface tension. And, Kelly followed it down, falling into the water straight as a pencil due to his diving experience. 

Not only was he given a gold watch, he was also granted 11 days off work to recover. Then, it was right back to continue construction! 

NSW, AUS - Rugby

We started the day by hiking up the equivalent of 33 flights of stairs to attend mass at St. Cecelia's. This seemingly usual activity turned out to be one of the most unusual of the trip, being a Catholic mass..that's not exactly a good thing. 

When we first walked in, it had the feel of a first communion mass. The seating chart was posted on the doors, and there were young girls in fancy white dresses. My thought was, "Oh, how exciting!"; I don't know if that was a shared feeling. 

We were greeted by a warm and welcoming woman. But, as mass progressed, it became less and less like the environment we know back home. It seemed that any time a song played, it was general talking time. It was very irreverent and distracting. It was quite the experience. Ryan said he was glad he joined because he wouldn't have believed the behavior if he hadn't seen it himself. 

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And, for the big event: an NRL game! 

When setting up this one, we basically figured "When in Rome..." So, we grabbed tickets to a rugby game; it seemed to be popular around here. Little did we know, we would love it! 

We traveled down to Olympic Park which was very impressive. The whole area has been very well maintained since they hosted the Olympics back in 2000. We arrived relatively early and were able to admire the sight a bit before heading into the ANZ stadium. 

The match up was Parramatta Eels vs. St George Dragons. Before arrival, we hadn't really looked at the team colors or mascots on either side; but when we first entered the stadium, the Eels mascots were hanging about for photos. Of course, we had to grab one! 

As it turned out, Parramatta was awesome! They dominated the entire game. And, we loved it. 

Check out the game highlights! 

NSW, AUS - Shopping

We only had two recommended must-visits for shopping, so we started with the furthest out and made our way back to Manly. 

1st stop: Paddy's Market

This turned out to be more familiar than we expected. It was basically a flea market with a produce section. We did the obligatory walk through the aisles to view everything, but spent very little time truly shopping. There were a couple shops that we found unusual, i.e. costumes, European spices, but most of the spaces were spot on what you would picture. So, we hopped along to find some food and our next recommendation. 

2nd stop: The Rocks

This was the polar opposite of of first stop. First, it was outside, spread over almost two city-blocks. Scattered throughout the shops, there were various food carts. In one corner, you could sit, eat and watch a dance performance. There were kiosks to shop for art, jewelry, and souvenirs. It had an elegant feel to it.

Unexpected Shops: Aboriginal Art 

While in Sydney, we've been on the lookout for Aboriginal art. Anytime we saw an art gallery, we popped in to take a peak. One store in Manly had a lovely lady working, and she offered us some history on the work. 

The oldest, most traditional form of paintings are created with dots and a few basic shapes. Each piece is actually an arial map of an important location to the Aboriginal people. Additionally, many paintings told tribal stories through the use of basic symbols. 

The more modern pieces are significantly more abstract. There are a variety of forms. I was continually drawn to the style of Bush Medicine Leaf and another style that looked like feathers. Although truly beautiful, these contemporary pieces don't have a piece of tribal history attached to them. 

Knowing more history on the paintings, we were more excited to stop inside anywhere that we might find Aboriginal artwork. So, when we found a store/gallery in the same area as The Rocks, we couldn't resist browsing. We spent a long time looking at all the pieces and stories. The man working was very friendly and helpful. There was one piece we really liked, but decided to keep looking. (I still want to go back for it!) 

NSW, AUS - Birds!

We were startled this morning by crazy birds flying into the window! Fortunately for us, we had the windows closed or they would have flown right onto the kitchen table. At one point, we had three of them hanging around and pecking at the windows.

After a bit of research, we learned these cockatoos are "common pests" around here. They can be relatively destructive, too. That seemed about right considering the amount they were pecking and clawing at the windows.

This certainly was a moment that reminded us just how far from home we truly are.

 

NSW, AUS - Costal Walk

Today we walked from Coogee up to Bondi.

This has easily taken the #1 spot of all the activities we've done. 

Basically, we bussed down to Coogee, and walked (mostly) along the coast up to The Icebergs. The views were breathtaking, and we had a great time climbing around on the sandstone. We really took our time walking and admiring. Start to finish, it was about a 3 hour tour. 

At one point, the path was closed due to the storms in early June 2016. We were disappointed to leave our costal path, but the detour turned out fascinating. It took us through the center of a cemetery. It was like none I had ever seen. Each resting place actually looked like a bed; the photo doesn't do it justice. 

 
It was a quick and interesting detour.

Then, we were back to more of the same- walking, climbing and admiring. And, we loved every bit of it! We spent a good bit of time watching the surfers trying to catch a wave, too. 

Our costal walk ended at Bondi Beach when we reached The Icebergs. 

It's a 50 meter, ocean-fed pool. There was no way I could pass on hopping in this one, even if it was 17C! The plunge in was freezing, enough to make Ryan reconsider his choice. But, he made it through 100m before calling it good. I swam another 300m through the waves crashing over the side. It was a great way to complete the costal walk. 

We finished our journey with a meal upstairs at The Icebergs. The food was okay, but the view was incredible!