4/10/10 (sydney)

Sydney

We knew that Australia was big. It was ginormous that it even filled a movie title all by itself. We decided to dedicate a day to walking around Sydney and exploring the sites. We laced on our matching Solomon trekking shoes and we were off. We couldn’t leave without seeing the Sydney Opera House so that was our first stop. On our way there we walked through the Royal Botanic Gardens, which reminded me of Golden Gate Park because of its rose garden. Seeing the Opera House was a bit surreal. Everyone has seen it on millions of postcards, ads, movies, etc that I almost couldn’t believe I was there. 

It was incredibly hot and though it was very sunny we could feel the UV rays hitting us. Jon felt a mild heat stroke coming on so we decided it was time to get some refreshments and lunch. We weren’t quite sure where to go and sat down on some steps to consult our guidebook. A lady stopped to ask if we needed help and offered us several suggestions. We chatted with her for several minutes. What a sweet lady! We took her advice on Darling Harbour where there were lines of restaurants all up and down the harbour. We settled on a brewery and had some burgers with chips along with a pint of their beer. For some reason we have been drinking a lot more beer which is unusual for us since we tend to lean more toward wine back home. Must be the hot weather.

After lunch it was time for our scheduled nap back at the hotel. We have become accustomed to naps and try to carve out time out our busy traveling schedule for them everyday if we can. I can’t tell you how many times we have pulled off to the side of the road and snoozed for a good hour. It felt so good. We are going to need to move to a place that will allow for siesta time in my work schedule.

Since we stayed in the night before we decided we needed to check out the nightlife in Sydney. We walked a few blocks from our hotel and there were clubs everywhere along with a few seedy places scattered in between. People were dressed to impress. We found a small Thai restaurant for dinner. It was probably one of the best meals we’ve had since we started traveling. I might even consider going back before we leave. We’ve noticed how pricey everything is but they were very reasonably priced.

When we got back to the hotel we came up with a game plan for Sydney. We couldn’t keep staying in hotels and decided the best option was to rent a camper….again! What can we say?! We are addicted to camper life. But this time we decided we would roll around in style and go for a bigger camper so Jon can stand up in it. We loved the hippie camper but it would be nice to have some more room.

4/9/10 (christchurch)

Christchurch - Sydney

For some reason Jon and I have a tendency to book really early flights, probably because they are usually the cheapest but it’s no fun getting up at 3am. We flew Jetstar, which is a budget airline and they are not kidding. We got the last two seats on that particular flight since we extended our trip. I’m not sure if that’s the reason for our seat assignment. We got the very last row of seats by the toilets and Jon barely fit into the seat. We usually reserve an aisle seat for him so that he can stretch his legs a bit but there were only the middle and window seats left. I felt so bad that he had to be crammed in there. Luckily, the flight was only 3 hours. And the airline didn’t even offer us water. However, we went through customs with no problems at all. 

Our friend’s sister picked us up at the airport and dropped us off in the city to explore. We walked around CBD and found a huge underground mall with a food court. We hadn’t booked a hotel yet so Jon found an Apple store for us to use the internet. Very smart of him. Jon was able to find a hotel near the city center and we were pretty tired so decided to check into our hotel. The only challenge was that our friend had our luggage and we waited till she got off work to retrieve it. In the meantime, we took a much needed nap and explored the neighborhood around our hotel. The area is called Darlinghurst and it reminded us of the mission district back home with trendy shops and restaurants. There were lots of things right outside our hotel including a yogurt shop next door so kudos to Jon for finding this hotel.   

We were invited to go out with our friend but we were still feeling a bit tired so we decided to stay in. Jon reminded me that I’m middle-aged and not as young as I used to be. Is 32 middle-aged??