Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Sydney, Australia, 2nd stop of a 6-stop tour with Grand Circle Travel (Cairns, Sydney, Christchurch, Queenstown, Auckland and Fiji)
Click on photo to enlarge, then right-click
on the enlarged photo to save image.
We were in Sydney Feb 14-17, 2008.
44 tour members and our Kiwi guide Andrea, posed for group
picture with the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge in background.
Down Under : Sydney, Australia !
Feb 14: We went straight from Sydney airport to downtown
Darling Harbour...
From the bus I took a photo of an approaching monorail
which loops around the city ...
and a shot of 2 ladies soaking in the sun from the balcony
of their apartment.
Someone on our bus asked me to zoom it in, so I did !
We headed to Nick's Restaurant right on the harbor !
Grand Circle treated us with a fantastic dinner. Here we sat with
Jeannie and Bob from Tennessee.
Here's Andrea talking to Hal & Jane, Lee, Lorraine, and Annabelle.
By now we started to have a common bond with other members
of the tour. This bond grew bigger day by day as we traveled together.
Here's the 2 of us at the Darling Harbor.
Friday Feb 15: We headed for the famous Sydney Opera House.
Here's Andrea, counting heads as usual and making sure we stayed together !
We got a break: Time for pictures ! Here we are in front of
Joe & Sharon
Here are Jeff & Betty. We learned later that day that they
Here's Lorraine, with that famous bridge in the background !
We're getting ready to go inside the Opera House...
Oops, not yet...Here's Lon & Evelyn.
Our guide gave us a rundown on the history of the Opera House...
From the design contest to the lengthy construction period...
The acoustics of the concert hall was great for the audience
The unusual design and construction of the shell were very unique.
We were in awe learning and looking at the details...
This was definitely an experience to remember !!!
Leaving the place with Bill & Frances and with Jane goofing around with us.
Jane and Nghiem graduated from Northwestern University in
This could be our Christmas card this year !!!
Our bus took us to the park where we can see both the Opera House
This could be the Christmas card for Lon & Evelyn if they want it.
Another memorable picture of Lorraine and Annabelle.
This is not bad of a picture except for the grey sky !
This fig tree is beautiful. Note Jane walking down the hill at lower left.
Here we were at the famous Mrs. McQuarie Chair, the chairshaped
The bus took us to the famous and popular "Bondi Beach"
This cute dog wants my ice cream ! Should I give him a lick?
It's a beautiful beach.
It seems they just had a centennial celebration last year.
We've never seen a pine tree like this, which is called "Jesus" pine
As the bus left the beach area I took this picture of Bondi Beach
After visiting the Costello's Opal factory and shop, another chance to
Above is one clock, but below is a better one. Here we ran into
The clock really works: It's Friday the 15 th !
Had to take a picture of the stain glass. Beautiful !
I had to take a picture of this controversial sculpture of Queen
While everybody was taking the optional "Sydney By Night" tour
He is an architect, imprisoned for 5 years by the communists in 1975
Like us they have 3 kids and 3 grandchildren, all doing well.
The next day, Sat Feb 16 Andrea took us on a walking tour of the Rocks
This statue is of Captain Bligh, who brought the prisoners here.
To the right is a building built with blocks still having unique
This area now has many good restaurants and shops to browse around !
Surely we will come back here for lunch and Arts & Crafts show.
Here's a map of the "Rocks" area.
Andrea now signals that we need to line up for the Harbor Coffee Cruise.
We were too early, but Andrea wants us to have good seats,
...and waiting...
Here we are, on the right side of the boat. So are a million others.
What a jovial group !!!
Here's the side of the Opera House that can only be seen on a boat.
Here's another shot of the bridge and the Opera House!
This must be a sailing school or something. All the sailboats are the same!
Lee and Jane taking pictures of seagulls.
I got one!
Here's a sailboat towing a bicycle!
Jim & Audrey like it.
I like this shot.
And this shot.
Sherril and Janet.
In the afternoon, there happened to be a huge Dragon Boat race
In this group the Vietnamese Australian Dragon Boat appeared
Moments after I took this picture, the Vietnamese team members
We walked back to the Mercure Hotel through China Town
It was well done and very entertaining indeed !!!
.
To see our next blog, Christchurch, New Zealand, click here:
on the enlarged photo to save image.
We were in Sydney Feb 14-17, 2008.
44 tour members and our Kiwi guide Andrea, posed for group
picture with the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge in background.
Down Under : Sydney, Australia !
Feb 14: We went straight from Sydney airport to downtown
Darling Harbour...
From the bus I took a photo of an approaching monorail
which loops around the city ...
and a shot of 2 ladies soaking in the sun from the balcony
of their apartment.
Someone on our bus asked me to zoom it in, so I did !
We headed to Nick's Restaurant right on the harbor !
Grand Circle treated us with a fantastic dinner. Here we sat with
Jeannie and Bob from Tennessee.
Here's Andrea talking to Hal & Jane, Lee, Lorraine, and Annabelle.
By now we started to have a common bond with other members
of the tour. This bond grew bigger day by day as we traveled together.
Here's the 2 of us at the Darling Harbor.
Friday Feb 15: We headed for the famous Sydney Opera House.
Here's Andrea, counting heads as usual and making sure we stayed together !
We got a break: Time for pictures ! Here we are in front of
the famous Sydney Harbor Bridge, aka... the coat hanger!
Joe & Sharon
Here are Jeff & Betty. We learned later that day that they
climbed that famous bridge in the background all the way
to the top. It took them about closed to 3 hours !
Here's Lorraine, with that famous bridge in the background !
We're getting ready to go inside the Opera House...
Oops, not yet...Here's Lon & Evelyn.
Our guide gave us a rundown on the history of the Opera House...
From the design contest to the lengthy construction period...
The architect that won the contest was Jorn Utzon from
Denmark, who oversaw the construction project but was fired
by the Aussies after the frame was finished because it took
too long. He went back to Denmark and never returned to Sydney.
The acoustics of the concert hall was great for the audience
but bad for the musicians so they had to hangs discs at midair
to bounce back the sounds they create without long delays.
The unusual design and construction of the shell were very unique.
We were in awe learning and looking at the details...
This was definitely an experience to remember !!!
Leaving the place with Bill & Frances and with Jane goofing around with us.
Jane and Nghiem graduated from Northwestern University in
the same year. What a pleasant coincidence !!! Of course
we never knew each other until this trip. Wow!!!
This could be our Christmas card this year !!!
Our bus took us to the park where we can see both the Opera House
and the famous bridge at the same time. This is where we took the
group picture shown at the beginning of this blog.
This could be the Christmas card for Lon & Evelyn if they want it.
Another memorable picture of Lorraine and Annabelle.
This is not bad of a picture except for the grey sky !
This fig tree is beautiful. Note Jane walking down the hill at lower left.
Here we were at the famous Mrs. McQuarie Chair, the chairshaped
rocks, in the middle of Mrs. McQuarie Point.
The bus took us to the famous and popular "Bondi Beach"
where it was time for Australian ice cream...
This cute dog wants my ice cream ! Should I give him a lick?
Nah !
It's a beautiful beach.
It seems they just had a centennial celebration last year.
We've never seen a pine tree like this, which is called "Jesus" pine
tree here because at the top of every tree is a tiny little cross. Check it out!
As the bus left the beach area I took this picture of Bondi Beach
from my seat window. It turned out to be one of my favorites !
After visiting the Costello's Opal factory and shop, another chance to
blow some money away on jewelry, we were on our own having
lunch and browsing around inside the Queen Victoria Building...
Above is one clock, but below is a better one. Here we ran into
Penny and Audrey, having the same idea...
The clock really works: It's Friday the 15 th !
Had to take a picture of the stain glass. Beautiful !
I had to take a picture of this controversial sculpture of Queen
Victoria with her legs not kept together. Wow, what's the big deal ?
This statue was rejected in England and the Aussies brought it
down here and put it in the middle of the city of Sydney !!!
While everybody was taking the optional "Sydney By Night" tour
Sherril and I were invited into the home of my high school classmate,
Nguyen Ky, (not to be confused with Nguyen Cao Ky, ex Viet Nam Premier)
that I had not seen in several decades. We were both in the same graduating
class at the famous National Prep School "Khai-Dinh" in Hue, Vietnam.
He is an architect, imprisoned for 5 years by the communists in 1975
when the war ended, escaped by boat with his family in 1980 and were
picked up at sea, sponsored by the Aussies and brought to Sydney
where he's been living since that time.
He and his wife cooked up a feast for us. We never had so much
Vietnamese food and local Australian beer in one night !!!
Like us they have 3 kids and 3 grandchildren, all doing well.
They are very lucky to end up in Sydney, a beautiful city
envied by millions of people around the world !!!
The next day, Sat Feb 16 Andrea took us on a walking tour of the Rocks
District, a historic area where it all started years ago when the British
decided to send prisoners to Sydney, some for as little a crime as stealing
just a loaf of bread ! The Rocks District is often referred to as "The
Birth Place of Australia"
Here's a street musician, an Aborigine, blowing a Didgeridoo !
This statue is of Captain Bligh, who brought the prisoners here.
To the right is a building built with blocks still having unique
signatures of the prisoners.
This area now has many good restaurants and shops to browse around !
Surely we will come back here for lunch and Arts & Crafts show.
Here's a map of the "Rocks" area.
Andrea now signals that we need to line up for the Harbor Coffee Cruise.
Here we're waiting with George and Lorraine.
We were too early, but Andrea wants us to have good seats,
on the right side of the boat to have better views, she said.
...and waiting...
Here we are, on the right side of the boat. So are a million others.
What a jovial group !!!
Here's the side of the Opera House that can only be seen on a boat.
Here's another shot of the bridge and the Opera House!
This must be a sailing school or something. All the sailboats are the same!
Lee and Jane taking pictures of seagulls.
I got one!
Here's a sailboat towing a bicycle!
Jim & Audrey like it.
I like this shot.
And this shot.
Sherril and Janet.
In the afternoon, there happened to be a huge Dragon Boat race
to celebrate Lunar New Year.
(This is Jane's photo)
(This is Jane's photo)
In this group the Vietnamese Australian Dragon Boat appeared
to be in first place.
Moments after I took this picture, the Vietnamese team members
stood up and cheered for their team.
We walked back to the Mercure Hotel through China Town
and saw the Dragon Dance. This gate is the entrance to the
Sydney China Town.
It was well done and very entertaining indeed !!!
.
To see our next blog, Christchurch, New Zealand, click here:
.
.
Labels: Australia, Down Under : Sydney
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
