As I type this entry at about 9:00 pm on Christmas eve here in the YHA hostel in Sydney, I bring to a close probably the best day I have had here in Australia! Granted no riding, but unlike last night when one of the other persons in my 4-bed room was ill (and rude actually) and was up banging around pretty much once an hour, I got a very good night's sleep. Then started day with a great run from Hostel to the far end of the botanical gardens on the water out near the opera house and back. That route made me realize how beautiful a city Sydney really is and also retraced some of the cooler spots we saw here in 1992 (the rose garden in the park, the giant chess set in Hyde park, etc.).
After the run and b-fast I headed over to the Sydney Aquarium and Wildlife Experience and splurged on a $50 entry ticket to both. Aquarium was cool but not "wow," but I really enjoyed the wildlife exhibit. They had insects/spiders, snakes/reptiles, koalas (all asleep), birds, roos, and some other stuff--was able to get great photos of lots of interesting stuff (see below). The only thing I did not get a good photo of today or on this whole trip was an emu. I saw them 8-10 times in car and on bike but they were shy/ran away when they saw me. I was surprised the wild life exhibit did not have any emus.
On the walk back from the wildlife place I stopped at a mall for one last minute shopping item. As last photo showed, it was scary crowded everywhere I looked--mall/store was worse than this street scene. I got the item I was looking for though!
Regressing, despite the bad sleep, yesterday was also a pretty good day. I bought a transportation system "day pass" and took trains and ferries around the town doing some checking on my travel arrangements for Thursday and also quite a bit sightseeing. Probably best part of day was taking ferry 30 minutes across Sydney harbor in the afternoon to Manly beach/wharf (really another Sydney suburb). That was great because I got a 20-minute power nap on boat ride over which perked me up quite a bit. Then in Manly there were lots of excellent souveneir stores right near the ferry dock. Some were cheap and tacky where I got the cheap tacky stuff I wanted (e.g., t-shirts), some were nicer but still reasonable and I got some nicer presents (e.g., small but original aboriginal art works). On the way back I got great photos of city and operar house. Best part of that was it freed me up to do what I did today without a list of things to do hanging over my head!
One funny thing also happened on Manly ferry ride. When I awoke from my nap, for just a second I thought I was on a train. At this momenet I looked out the window and saw water--it was somewhere between very confusing and terrifying until I quickly realized where I was. Laughed out loud when I did.
Enjoy the photos. I enjoyed taking them. Next time we speak I'll be a few km away from here--that makes me a bit sad to type but I am looking forward to seeing Nola and friends back in the states too. More on that subject in next/last post to come.
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