Perth to Sydney

Perth to Sydney – Thursday, April 12

Our neighbors Joy and Geoff very kindly drove us to the airport for our flight from Perth to Sydney. All went well –there was no hassle and it was an easy 3 ½ hr flight to Sydney. We left Perth at 11:30 a.m. and arrived in Sydney at 5:30 p.m. (2 hr time zone change). We took a taxi to a Balmain East – just a short distance from downtown Sydney. Our hostess, Lisette, met us at the door and we moved in for 4 nights. After visiting a bit with Lisette we felt the need for a little walk and a light supper so she gave us directions to the local Bowling Club (lawn bowling). We had a nice braised beef in Irish stout pie which was more than we needed but we ate it anyway with a bottle of beer. Lisette gave us some tourist brochures, bus and ferry schedules, etc. and we settled in for the night.

In the morning we had breakfast and then a short walk to see the harbor – just down some switchback steps from the house. Lisette then offered to take us on a tour of Sydney to get our bearings. She drove us all around the city with a couple of stops to get out and take pictures. She then dropped us off at the Sydney Opera House and went on her way. It was lunch time so we found a sidewalk restaurant on the Opera Quay and shared a very tasty pizza. Then we walked to the opera house and signed up for a 1 hr tour which gave us a nice overview and we were able to see the large hall which is used for orchestra concerts, the medium size hall which is used for opera and ballet and a smaller venue used for plays. The Australian Ballet Co. was rehearsing so we got to watch a few minutes of that. Currently the Ballet being performed is Don Quixote. We decided we just were not going to be here long enough to take that in and the seats available on short notice would not be very good and the tickets are very expensive. We’ll just have to settle for seeing a few minutes of rehearsal. It was pointed out to us in the tour that the name, Sydney Opera House is not really appropriate because opera is only a part of the many types of performance that take place in the numerous venues. We enjoyed the tour very much – the architecture is amazing and the setting is so beautiful that it’s difficult to describe.

From there we went next door to the Botanical Gardens which are quite large so due to time constraints we took a tram tour around the grounds. It was very beautiful and would have been nice to stroll around instead of race around on the tram. Maybe we’ll have a chance to go back before we leave.

Next we walked over to the circular quay which is the central ferry, train and bus terminal. We checked on the ferry schedule for getting home and then walked around the Rocks neighborhood and decided we should eat something before we get home so we stumbled upon a German Restaurant and split a plate of Nuremburg sausages, sauerkraut and mashed potatoes. It was very good and we chose to accompany it with a stein of German beer. We tried to figure out where to get the bus home and ended up taking the ferry, which was easier.

Saturday – we went to the Easter Show at the Olympic Park. This was a huge show kind of like the Royal Winter Fair they have in the UK or like a very large State Fair. There were lots of things going on –a horse show with four classes going on at once in the big arena all afternoon. Getting there was not easy as the ferry was late, then bus was late so we got there around noon. We stayed until about 7 pm and took the train back but it stopped before Circular Quay so we had to find a bus to get to the ferry but it all worked o.k. We were hungry because we didn’t eat much at the fair for lunch so walked up Darling St. and ended up at the Bowling Club again where we had a light supper. The waitress remembered us from our previous visit and when I told her we had been at the Easter Show, the conversation turned to horses and it turns out she also has a horse so we had a nice horsey chat.

Sunday –We took the ferry to Circular Quay and then the Manly Ferry to the city of Manly. There was a large crowd waiting for the ferry since Manly is a popular weekend destination for its beaches, shops and restaurants. The ferry to Manly is larger than the other ferries so there was plenty of room. The half hour cruise was very pleasant and picturesque. The beach was just a couple of blocks from the ferry landing. We walked around the area and visited the artisans market and since it was lunch time we had some fish and chips at one of the sidewalk cafes. We finally learned to order just one and split it. We took a walk along the beach – there was a nice paved walk for pedestrians and bicycles and went to the next beach with benches along the way. We took the ferry back to circular quay and then another ferry home. The weather while in Sydney was perfect all three days with today being the absolute best.

Just after we arrived at Lynette’s, we had a little thunderstorm but it did not last long – hardly enough to do much good – they have pretty serious drought conditions right now.

For dinner we wanted to treat Lisette so she took us to her Football (Rugby) Club which is really an excuse for a casino. They have a very nice restaurant in one area and the rest is a room full of slot machines. Kangaroo was on the menu and Lisette said that it is good so she and I tried it while John stayed with the roast of the day – lamb. It was all very good. Afterwards we strolled through the slot machines and blew $5 each. Lisette actually turned her $5 into $15 and we left – none of us being avid gamblers.

Monday morning it was time to head home. Lisette arranged for a taxi to pick us up at 7:00 a.m. for the short trip to the airport. Security in the Sydney airport was very good – and quite time-consuming. The process took about an hour and a half before we got to our boarding gate with lots of waiting in line. We finally settled in for the 13 hour flight to LA. Since it was a day time flight I found it just about impossible to sleep – John had quite a few naps. Our connection time in LA was 2 hours but our plane was a little late. We had long lines to clear customs and then pick up our luggage. They would not take them at the luggage transfer point because there was now less than an hour to catch our Mexicana flight. We had to carry our luggage to the next terminal over to check in. When we arrived they said check-in was closed for the flight. Fortunately, our baggage was already tagged for the flight and Qantas had given us our Mexicana boarding passes so we talked them into taking our luggage and letting us catch the flight. We had originally planned to spend a couple of days in LA but towards the end of our time in Australia, we decided that we would like to fly straight home. The only reasonable flight I could find was to Guadalajara so I booked that. Upon our arrival in Guadalajara we caught a taxi to the bus terminal and just managed to catch the last ETN bus direct to San Miguel. These buses are very comfortable with only 3 seats in each row so that they are very wide and recline fully with a comfortable leg rest. The trip was 5 hours with brief stops in Leon and Guanajuato but we managed to doze the entire way. One more short taxi ride from the San Miguel bus terminal and we were home after about 30 hours of traveling. We were happy to be home and the dogs were happy to see us.