We have spent the past couple of days in Sydney Australia. It's a beautiful city right on the water. We were very lucky to have visited ~9 years ago when we brought Matt to Australia to celebrate his high school graduation. At that time we did all of the stuff you need to do as a first time visitor - we held Koala bears (they actually aren't that nice and have super sharp claws!), we ate Kangaroo (much better tasting than you would imagine), we saw Kangaroos in the wild - it was a very cool experience, Craig and Matt swam with sharks in a cage (amazing!), we dove on the Great Barrier Reef (equally amazing) and we spent about 2 weeks traveling around the country. Australia is a beautiful country. It's too bad it is so far away.
Here's a picture from within the cage when Craig and Matt were with the sharks. For me, this picture validated my reason for staying on board the ship! That said, definitely was a once in the lifetime experience for them.
Since we had visited before, this time we only stayed for a couple of days and spent the time relaxing. We did revisit a few places. One was really special. You may remember the post about the Craft Brew Tour in Auckland. Towards the end of the tour when we were just hanging out with Chris, he asked us about our favorite beer experience. Not the best beer ever tasted, but the best experience drinking a beer. We both went back to our first trip to Sydney. When we brought Matt the last time he had just turned 18. That's the drinking age in Australia - so he was able to legally drink once we arrived. The first night we walked over to the Sydney Opera House. They have a really cool bar located right on the water. Craig had Matt go up to the bar and order for the three of us - and when Matt walked back to the table with our beers he had the biggest grin on his face. The beer was good - but the experience was priceless. We definitely had to go back this time - missed Matt - but it was fun remembering that first trip.
OK, the reason for the title "Aussies, POMs and Yanks..." We met a great couple - Keith and Pam - when we were walking around the harbor. Craig said we'd call them our "Crazy Aussies" - they loved it. They were from Queensland Australia visiting Sydney with some of their friends from the UK. We had a chance to talk to them for a while - sharing stories and laughs. Pam and her childhood friend grew up together in Australia. At 21 they moved to the UK and lived for a few years. Pam moved back home and married an Aussie (Keith). Her friend stayed in the UK because she fell in love with a POM and married him. We were like "POM"? She said it was their name for folks from the UK - "POM" or "Pommie". Still a bit confused - she explained it stands for "Prisoner Of the Magistrate" - ha! Goes waaaay back... And, of course, they refer to us as Yanks. Although when they first met us they asked if we (ok, probably because of me) were from Canada. This made us laugh as the first time we visited with Matt that was a consistent theme - folks thought I was from Canada :).
Here's a few pictures of Sydney and Darling Harbor from our visit. The first is a view from our hotel room - it was "waterfront" - and literally felt like we were on the water.
We went for a walk on the Sydney Harbor Bridge - something we hadn't done the first time. There were gale force wind warnings with gusts over 40mph - so it was a bit of an adventure! That said, it provided some great views.
We also took a ferry over to Manly - it's a really popular place in the summer with a nice beach and surfing. We were surprised that even with the cold there were people out in the water. The ferry also gave a different view of the Opera House looking at it from the bay.
The last pictures are a few that brought us smiles as we thought of home.
Palm trees...
Statues of cranes doing their mating dance. We saw none here but share a home with them in FL.
And, finally, when we pulled up Yelp to look at nearby restaurants - the first one that popped up was "Kansas City Shuffle". We had to go by to check it out. Unfortunately they were closed so we weren't able to hear the story behind the name - but had to grab a picture.
Tonight we are staying at the airport hotel for an early morning flight to Tokyo. It's a 10 hour flight - but we are looking forward to returning to the Northern Hemisphere and summer!
Until the next time...hope all you Yanks always remember to Enjoy The Ride.
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