Into Sydney

Today was a Thursday… kinda cold, kinda overcast, kinda threatening rain. So glad we went to Manly Beach yesterday!!

But today, had wonderful adventures in store… First, the Older celebrated a birthday while we were here and instead of a present, we sent him on an adventure. In case you don’t know- he LOVES all things coffee. He hopes to open a coffee shop with curriculum and educational resources for the community (and the homeschooling community)- it is his dream. So when I was searching for things to do in Sydney and The Coffee School popped up, the plans began…

We jumped on the free bus, road to the train station. Took the train to Sydney’s Central Station and walked with him down to class. It was actually kind of him to allow us to come with him- as we needed to get to Sydney, and he was the master of the train schedules.  He was pretty pumped about the whole thing, but when he saw all the professional coffee machines, he was over the moon. So we left him to make coffee- lattes, cappuccinos, macchiato, long black, short white, mocha. May have more later…


We, however, headed deeper into the city for another adventure. Our dear friends, the R family(can't wait to see you) sent us a link to an amazing display at the University of Sydney. Could we find it? Yes, we could!! Could we find it before the rain came?? Barely!

University of Sydney has a beautiful campus. Lots of old, English looking buildings- could some of our homeschooling friends do a little research and tell us the period and style of the architecture of these buildings? Ha ha

And in one of them was a Lego replica of the Roman coliseum- no kidding!! It was incredibly detailed and if you know Lego creators, you know they have a great sense of humor! One half was as the building stood today-crumbling, grassy floor, with tourists, ‘gladiators posing for pictures’ and the popemobile sitting outside. The other half was built to replicate the building as it was in its ‘glory days’- gladiators fighting each other, crocodiles, even Caesar teasing a bear with a lego steak. There were vendors outside, people wearing togas and even the cages under the floor for the animals.  It was so fun!

 The front was pretty cool, you can see where they old and current split is on this picture.

The back had tons of fun little scenes with gladiators and tourists.


Essie took many pictures, so some are a little blurry, but she had a blast! Hope you enjoy some of them.

See Nero in the corner? You can just make out the bear's head.

The gladiator fighting the alligator (or is it a crocodile?) was not fairing too well. 

actually, none of the gladiators look like they were having much fun....

but, the tourists look happy ...

the fountain was beautiful! 

The vendors were selling and soldiers were lining up....

It was really awesome!

After a train ride back home, navigated on our own, probably because the Tall One has a keen sense of train timetables as well - and a short ride on the free  shuttle...some of us were pretty tired. <smile>

But, TADA we made it home safe and sound.

Manly Beach

The day after the big boys went to Olympic Park, we headed to Manly beach. And we returned to spend our final day in Australia there because we loved it so much and wanted the Traveler to see it. The first time we went, we rode the Rivercat under the Harbor Bridge to Sydney Wharf. We got to ride the ‘big ferry’ all the way over to Manly. It is a beautiful ride, passing lighthouses, the opening to the harbor, the Opera House and provided an amazing view of the Harbor bridge. 

We joked about the name, saying ‘Manly’ in a very “manly’ voice. The Tall one had the deepest, most 'Manly' voice, but Essie made us laugh the most! And then we got there and saw this…. 

It REALLY was named Manly beach because the aboriginals found there were “of ‘manly’ appearance”- how hilarious is that?

The Older had done some research to find some yummy fish and chips…

Fish Mongers won the poll. We got our lunch ‘take away’ and went to the beach. How about this for a lunch scenario! Isn’t it gorgeous! (Nope, that is not even a question!) 

Then we played on the beach and played Ultimate Frisbee on the beach- FINALLY! FRISBEE!!

It was glorious and beautiful! We walked along beaches, 

Saw this awesome sculpture called The Shell and The Wave.

It is a tribute to the Surf lifesavers of Manly beaches. Having been a lifeguard at POOLS in my younger days, I cannot imagine ‘guarding’ these beaches! The surf is amazing! 

We walked along rocky spots .......

 

and we climbed some rocks in some wooded areas. It was beautiful! 

Then we headed back of course on the ferry. Essie took the camera and snapped these pictures (along with about 40 more- good grief!  HA) on the way back.  

It was one glorious day!!

Trip to the Olympic Park

One of the first things we did in sydney was visit the Olympic Park. It amazes me the entire thing was built for the olympics, but it was, and it was amazing to see. I wanted to also see the Saltmarshes in the park, so we did some hiking out of the main urban area.

Let's get to the pics.

Here is the Anz Stadium in all its glory. This thing was huge. I can't even begin to explain how big it was.

Here we have the train station. This was also custom built for the olympics. The train comes in underground, so you don't have any tracks visible to people in the park. 

Of course, the cauldron that was lit for the games. It looks like a spaceship to me. ;) Seriously though, it was very cool to see it in person. We watched the opening ceremony with this exact cauldron being lit... Talk about surreal. 

After a quick game of giant chess... (three foot tall pieces) Ok, not so quick, but I won though. :) We headed to the outer edges of the park. This part was the more rustic area, lots of landscapes and creation to look at. 

This was called the "Brick Pit". Basically it consisted of a huge circular walkway around and above a body of water. It served as a conservation center for the local frogs which lived in the area. As you can see, it is very tall and very large.

Another site we walked to, was the bird wetlands. It was amazing to see hundreds of birds in some places, and water only a foot or so deep, strechting out hundreds of yards.

A little family of ducks right here... :)

A cool surprise and little side path led us to Shipwreck cove. At first I was like "Woah! Real shipwrecks!"
But then I read the sign.
It seems, people used to just wreck ships they no longer needed in this bay. So, there were a few ships remaining from the wrecks.

I almost fell into the bay getting this pic... not even joking. 0_0 The rocks were covered in some rather slippery brown silt. So glad I didn't fall in!

The last thing we saw before going back to the stadium... Were the Saltmarshes. I think they put the boardwalk at the end of the trail because everyone wanted to see it... We walked over 6 miles to get here, yeah, the park was that big. ;)

This place was one of the coolest places we have visited in my opinion. It was for one, dead quiet, except for the distant sound of cars on the highway.

For those of you who know the smell... It smelled like mosquitoes. If that makes any sense. It was  a warm, damp, and moist atmosphere. Add a little salt to that air, and you get what it was like. To me, it was such a calming and relaxing place.

The trees were not tall, but the walk was made so you walked under them. You can see from the shadows there were not many gaps in the trees at all. 99% of the walk was in the shade

And that was our trip to Sydney olympic park. It was a long day, (we walked over 10 miles) but very cool to see all kinds of olympic history here. Will definitely be remembering this trip for a long time.

Austin

Road Trip to Sydney

On our way to sydney, we stopped at several places along the way. The ride was easily over eight hours so, to make it easier and more enjoyable, we split it up over the course one and a half days.

 We started off in Melbourne. At the Federation square to be exact. This outdoor park/ shopping center takes up a whole block in Melbourne.
In other words.
It is huge.

There were lots of abstract sculptures... Tons of clothing, food, and jewelry shops, and some great views. It was good to be able to walk around before hopping in the car.

This is called a Paradise Bird Flower. Saw this on the side of the road, and they are all over the place. :)

And some purple flowers... Don't know what these were called.

Totally random here: We stopped and looked at a submarine. No where near the coast...
It was quite huge. Those little red dots are people.

This stop was a welcome one, as it was after some hours of driving. In a town called  Gundagai, there is a statue made in remembrance of the early pioneers and their dogs. It is called "The dog on the Tuckerbox"
   In the first days of australian Pioneers, food was quite scarce. So, the dogs would guard the men's Tuckerboxes (Lunchboxes) So no one would steal the food.

Here is the poem that made the tuckerbox and dog famous.

'Nine Miles from Gundagai' by Jack Moses

I've done my share of shearing sheep,
Of droving and all that;
And bogged a bullock team as well,
On a Murrumbidgee flat.
I've seen the bullock stretch and strain
And blink his bleary eye,
And the dog sit on the tuckerbox
Nine miles from Gundagai.

I've been jilted, jarred and crossed in love,
And sand-bagged in the dark,
Till if a mountain fell on me,
I'd treat it as a lark.
It's when you've got your bullocks bogged,
That's the time you flog and cry,
And the dog sits on the tuckerbox
Nine miles from Gundagai.

We've all got our little troubles,
In life's hard, thorny way.
Some strike them in a motor car
And others in a dray.
But when your dog and bullocks strike,
It ain't no apple pie,
And the dog sat on the tuckerbox
Nine miles from Gundagai.

But that's all past and dead and gone,
And I've sold the team for meat,
And perhaps, some day where I was bogged,
There'll be an asphalt street,
The dog, ah! well he got a bait,
And thought he'd like to die,
So I buried him in the tuckerbox,
Nine miles from Gundagai.

This wagon is over 150 years old. Looks like it too. ;) The area on which it is sitting happens to be a ruin of an old hotel and saloon.

The remains of these walls and ruins belong to a place that was called "The Limestone Inn". It was started and built by Mr. and Mrs. Carberry. It was opened in 1858. What made the inn so popular was the fact it provided lodging on the way to Sydney from melbourne, and Mrs. Carberry was an excellent piano player.
   unfortunately, in 1861, the hotel was robbed by a man who went by "Jack-in-the-boots". Four years after the robbery, they sold the hotel. A few years after that, (1876) It was closed and left to fall apart, and here it is today.

Can you tell I love old buildings? ;)

The last thing we stopped to look at was something called "The Giant Merino". Australia is known for their incredible quality of wool. So, this 97 Ton concrete Merino Ram was made in 1985. Eventually it was moved to a more popular location in 2007. It is attached to a wool gift shop. It was huge, around 35 feet high.

That was some of the stuff we saw on the way to Sydney. Lots coming up soon! Manly beach, The opera house, and MORE!

Austin

Parramatta

The stay in Sydney suburb of Parramatta was so wonderful!!

We were so blessed during our week in Parramatta. We got to stay in this wonderful apartment…

Photo courtesy of www.stayz.com.au 

 I’ll only show a few pics of the rooms- you may be getting weary of seeing our lodging.
Here is the main living area:

Two boy slept here: 

The whole apartment was wonderful and Margarie was so helpful in giving recommendations about things to do. She took great care of us. Thanks Margarie!

So this was home base but we were very close to lots things to do and lots of public transit. Now in the small town where I grew up, there is no public transit…. And in the small town we live in, we have never used the bus… but here we used public transit of one form or another almost every day. The Tall One and the Older became masters of the schedules… the rest of us were a little slow on the uptake, but did finally get it figured out.

Thanks so much to Stephani at the information desk in Parramatta for introducing us to the system and making it understandable to us - YOU ROCK!!

So our public transportation options were:
A) The free shuttle- this took you all around the city of Parramatta. It ran on a loop and came every 10 minutes. This was great to get us to the train station or the wharf. 

Picture courtesy of www.busaustralia.com

B) The River Cat- this awesome boat took us up the Parramatta River to the Sydney Harbor. We saw some amazing views and got some incredible pictures from this boat.   Here we are: 

The River cat picture courtesy of university of Woolongong  http://www.uow.edu.au/informatics/maths/research/groups/asearc/research/4thAnnResCon/2010arcuowscampus/index.html

C) The Train- We only rode the train one day, but it was pretty fun as it was a new experience for us. We saw some homeschoolers from the area who were out on a field trip, how fun is that. 

The train took us to Sydney Central, right downtown. Wait till you hear about the adventures that day. Totally cool! 

D) And finally, the Ferry- which took us over to Manly beach. The ferry was huge with lots of people and lots of fun. 

  Ferry picture courtesy of http://www.withincooee.com/new-south-wales/sydney/

Riding on public transit was really fun for us, as we don’t get to do it very often. I must say the other folks who rode regularly didn’t seem nearly as excited as we were about the ride. Hee hee

Stay tuned, coming pretty quickly will be the wonderful places we went while riding on the Sydney and surrounding areas public transit system.

P.S.  there were also busses in Sydney, but we were concerned we would end up on the wrong bus, so we stuck to the trains and waterways.

And FYI… if you ever travel to Sydney, on Sunday they have these wonderful family fun day passes. These handy little passes allow everyone to ride any public transit all day for a greatly reduced rate!! You can save big bucks!!