Last leg Sydney

Last leg Sydney

On to Sydney. We’ve been flying on JetStar which is Qantas’ budget airline. They charge $5 for a tea or coffee. The only food or beverage that is free is tepid water. However they don’t charge for exit row and the rest of the plane is pretty cramped. We try to remember to ask. 

Now where in Sydney. I believe we tell you told you how nice the Australians are. Let me give you two examples. Today we tried to take a bus but we didn’t know the process and we’re clearly messing up. David is the bus driver how much do we owe you and he said no worry I may just get on. But that isn’t the best thing that happened to us. It was not David‘s fault but he left $100 in Adelaide at our hotel. As soon as he realized that he left the money he texted the whole hotel and they texted back let us know where you’ll be in Sydney and will express post the money to you. I was a bit skeptical but is soon as we got to our hotel in Sydney there was $400. I’m not sure that would happen in the states

We started off today at the Sydney opera House where David’s friend Ed gave us a tour. Then we had tea in the green room which was pretty exciting for me the opera house is every bit as amazing as one would imagine it would be. Then back to the botanical gardens for a tram ride and guided tour. Then up to Chinatown for Yum Cha. We call it dim sum but that’s not what the Chinese Australians call it. Anyway it was delicious and then we went on a two hour ferry ride around the harbor. I was soaking up the sun before I head back to Ithaca. There’s a tiny island in Sydney bay where they used to bring criminals. Those were the days where if you stole a loaf of bread in England they shipped you to Australia. It was decided not to build a prison but to chain the prisoners to boulders on the Island. Once a week they would deliver bread and water. The water around the island is shark infested. The survival rates were low. 

Now we’re struggling with American Airlines trying to get our boarding passes and they kicked me off so I have no  seat from LA to New York. Ps I have a seat now 

Sounds of silence David will post pictures

Sounds of silence

This was pretty amazing and I wasn’t expecting it to be so amazing but first a little crankiness. So it started at 6:30 when it was still 100°F and we walk up a incline for quite a while in the heat and the first thing they did was to serve champagne. OK you really don’t have to be a healthcare provider to know that hundred degree heat and champagne is not a good idea. No I did not drink the champagne I only had water.

 Now to how great it was. Next they had a Didgeridoo  player who was amazing. David will post a video of him. Next we went to dinner and at our table were two Canadians, two Chinese, two Japanese and an east and west German couple. This made for a wonderful conversation especially when our new German friend mentioned that the wall did not work well for them and probably wouldn’t be a great idea for us. The food was exceptional there was a desert bar which honestly I didn’t touch because I was quite full. This was all outside and they turned off the table lights/candles. Then our star expert gave us a talk about what we were saying in the sky. We saw the Milky Way and this was David’s first time seeing the Milky Way since he was 13 years old. What was interesting is we could see some of our constellations such as Taurus and Orion but they were upside down. For the final act they had two telescopes set up and we could saw 2 dwarf galaxies. Quite a night. 

uluru and Kata Juta

Uluru and Kata Juta David will add pictures in the future 

First I need to apologize for the Homer Simpson remark about Kata Juta. Both Uluru and Kata Juta are sacred to the Aboriginal people   Today we visited both   In 105 degrees F temperature. I didn’t make the entire hike but went back to the bus and downed 1.5 L in 15 minutes. David will add information and pictures. These 2 mountains began millions of years ago when this area was under water. This was, of course, before the dinosaurs. They are both sedentary rock. At some point Uluru tipped back 88 degrees so it stands tall and Kata Juta only rose 15 degrees. This happened over millions of years. The Aboriginals have been here 350,000 years. Currently in the national park where we are staying and touring there are 200 Aborigines living here. 

More quick crankiness. Sometimes I tire of water and all of Australia’s drinks are carbonated. I hate carbonation. 

Tea facts. This country knows how to serve tea. And unless I’m at a take away on a bus trip they serve a pot at a time. I don’t have to ask for milk not cream it automatically comes. What is curious is, although, they serve many Indian teas no one serves Darjeeling. I must find it out why when I get home. Trish didn’t know. By the way Trish trusted me enough to allow me to make tea. Of course she watched my every move. When I didn’t heat the pot by pouring in hot water and throwing it out I got a dressing down. She’s a hard taskmaster. 

Have I mentioned when. I go to the washroom the soap is hot. Not meant to be hot just is from sitting in the heat

At 915 pm we left to see the Field of Lights. It was still 96 degrees David and I were both underwhelmed. To me it looked like we were ants or maybe wallabies and there was a room the size of a casinos show room filled with robot heads from I Robot. The most interesting fact was we kept hearing beeps from the field. David thought it meant a bulb was burning out and it was a way to locate the bulb. Turns out it was a snake repellent. When we got back to the hotel at 11 it was down to 90 degrees